help: Southeast boater planning trip to Pacific NW
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URL: http://www.professorpaddle.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=13579
Printed Date: 15 Sep 2026 at 4:00am
Topic: help: Southeast boater planning trip to Pacific NW
Posted By: ppodgorski
Subject: help: Southeast boater planning trip to Pacific NW
Date Posted: 18 Nov 2013 at 1:38pm
I am planting the seed with some buddies to do a boating trip to the PNW sometime next summer. I was hoping to get some guidance from those here in the know.
Background:
Most of the people will be from North Carolina, so we typically boat rivers / creeks like the Cheoah, Wilson Creek, Watauga, New River (WV), Gauley (WV), Ocoee, Nolichucky, Chattooga, etc. Some guys are good enough that they do the Green Narrows lite, but that is the minority. Use that skill set as a base for river recommendations.
We are thinking June is probably the sweet spot in our calendar to travel and we will have a full week. We don't want to ship boats, so anywhere we go, we will have to have access to rent / demo a boat. But we can ship our paddles, pfds, helmets, etc.
Looking for day-trip rivers, not multi-day rivers.
Looking to camp / rent a rustic cabin in a town as base camp for the week so as not have to constantly be breaking camp every day. Hopefully somewhere with a town nearby for dinner and drinks.
Any suggestions on where to stay and what rivers to boat that meet those criteria?
Is June a good time of year, or should we adjust our travel dates?
I did some initial research on staying in the Hood River OR area, but any suggestions on either further north into Washington or further south?
Thanks
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Replies:
Posted By: Ellingferd
Date Posted: 18 Nov 2013 at 1:48pm
Hood River or Seattle/Leavenworth. You will have access to boat rentals in the seattle/leavenworth area, as well as Hood River (i believe the kayak shed has a rental fleet, pretty sure next adventure in portland does too). If you guys are doing the green "light", then you would be looking for class IV and IV+ rivers in washington. Keep in mind that most runs here are considered "in" with what you could compare to 200% on the green and "out" at a comparable 100% on the green. Just a heads up when you are meeting up with folks and asking about flows. Additionally, if someone says something is "too low", take that with a grain of salt.
You guys would be wise to get on the following runs: Cooper, Ingalls, Peshastin, Wenatchee playboating, Lower Icicle, Fall In the Wall, Skykomish (all in the Seattle/Leavenworth proximity). Going further north, you could hop on the NF Nooksack, and the Chilliwack just over the border. Also near that zone would be the Cascade and Ruby/Granite.
In hood river, you would have close access to the husum section of the white salmon and the farmlands section. Green Truss and the Little White would be out of range given what you have said about your skills as they are both difficult, class V runs. Beyond those runs, I don't know much else about the Hood River area, and there may be more to paddle around there, but you will probably have more different kayaking to do up north. You can always take a day or two to spend in Hood River.
Also, late may to late june would maximize the likelihood you have good water levels.
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Posted By: ppodgorski
Date Posted: 19 Nov 2013 at 7:48am
Thanks for the beta, this is exactly what I'm looking for to get people to commit to taking the trip.
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Posted By: po_standish
Date Posted: 19 Nov 2013 at 9:24am
Hey P. We boated a couple times together when you lived in DC. Heard you moved south. Hope you're well. We did a similar trip mid June from out of town. Camped at the simple, but effective spot up at the Buck Creek trail head (find Northwestern Park near Husum and keep going on Buck Creek). Good location. Lots of boating nearby, but water level dependent might be hard pressed to fill a week. I would add the Klickitat was a nice Class 3 float (only to fish hatchery) and might be fun as a very simple overnighter if you wanted to do the length of it. It was pretty, not that far away, but was kinda different than the stuff near Husum. Also look into the Wind. I think it has a section to consider; possibly w/some portages. I think it was high when we were there so only some ran it. Also Hood River is supposed to be fun, but was too low on our trip.
Lots of other fun stuff to do in the Hood area. Good food, biking, fishing and great weather.
Not sure about Next Adventure rentals. They really screwed a friend who rented a boat. I would pursue other options first. We usually pick up boats in Seattle at Aqua Sports in Redmond. Have fun!
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Posted By: Ellingferd
Date Posted: 19 Nov 2013 at 11:07am
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Wind wouldn't be running that time of year. Early spring season for the upper wind. Can't say much about the lower wind, but it wouldn't be worth planning a trip around the lower wind given the quality that is elsewhere. You could also add the cispus drainage to the list for seattle area boating.
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