Robe @ 5.1ft

Friday afternoon I got the call from D1 that robe was in his targets. He had run it earlier in the week and was excited to take a few beginners down the run.

Dave and I met up at 7:30am and departed Renton meeting Brad X. in Everett around 8:20. The three of us carpooled up to the Granite Falls parking lot where we met up with Jeff Bowman. First we walked down to Granite Falls and took a looksie. WOW thats some nasty stuff. Jeff told us that apparently Chris Joose has run Granite Falls (Its Confirmed now, low water but down the same). Scary Stuff

So we all got suited up and ran the shuttle up to the top. We hustled down the trail and put on around 10:20. Once on the river we all bombed down to the first major Rapid. Tunnel Rapid where we started to scout.

It's is really alot like the Wall on Tumwater in the sense that it has multiple ledges around a bend against a wall. But the features are a bit nastier. This rapid at 5.1ft had a sieved section in the middle that was super nasty. D1 and Brad ran safety only to watch me and jeff boat the leadin and then walk the entrance. We both got back in a finished up the lower half of the rapid and wished we could have had another few inches of water in the river. (Video of Jeff 7.5mb)

D1 and Brad portaged under the train tunnel which is a great trail that bypasses the corner in the river and pops out on the other side. Of course you miss the newly formed drop or changed drop rather. Last Sunshine is just after the Tunnel rapid and it is a mandatory run if you pass the last exit point. You might be able to portage it but it would be really really tough. If your looking to skip it, you best skip it all. There are a few different options that might become nastier and/or easier at different flows. We opted to take the far right line and then move center. I ran a little horseshoe move that turned out to be quite a pleasure. (Video of James 14.4mb). Jeff ran down the tongue just left of my line. (Video to Come) Just below this drop is a stretch of Class III+ that dips underneath a log. Beware of the Log as D1 got a little friendly with her. At low flows go left underneath, at medium and up (5.5+) go right over the top.