I think the first time I rowed it was at 10 or 9k. Don't have my boat journal in front of me at the moment. Id say a -IV. I've done it at lower levels since but I remember thinking that the higher the better....more fun/bigger waves. The Wavesget bigger and some large holes come out but most were avoidable enough. Haven't been up on it since November so can't comment on the wood situation. Probably not a super safe place for a beginner at 10k but definitely manageable for an experienced boater.

IMO 5K-7k cfs is not cranking on the sauk

Edited by SPerillo - 18 May 2013 at 6:48pm

I checked,the highest I did it was 9560.

Yeah,the high water helps with the flat stuff at the end. Love the Sauk on a sunny day though. Great views,no one around(it feels) and lots of bald eagles

Check the description again.

There are a number of different gauges on the Sauk. Sauk @ Sauk, Sauk @ Darrington and Sauk above Whitechuck. None of these paint a perfect picture of what the level on the middle Sauk is, but they're all useful.

It seems you are referring to the Sauk @ Sauk gauge, which is the one that is the used as the default gauge. On that gauge 9000 cfs is what I'd call a fluffy medium. Its bigger water than at 2-4k on that gauge (i'd call 2 low and 4 low end of medium), but still mostly a class 3 run, with several III+ rapids and Jaws can certianly be considered IV-. It is bigwater 3 though, compared to low levels that are more technical 3.

The note on the description about "cranking at 4000" refers to the Sauk above Whitechuck gage... which is currently around 2100.


Again, the deal with Sauk gages are.. the "above Whitechuck gage" is not far from the put-in, but the Whitechuck river comes in right before the put-in so that alters your actual flow quite a bit. And the Sauk at Sauk gague is something like 20 miles downstream and several sizeable creeks and the Suiatte river come in to add to that flow. So looking at both of those gages is ususally a good idea to get an estimate on your actual flow.

Eventually I'd like to use the newer gage in Darrington for this run, but still collecting data to determine what a good range of flows on that gage are.

What time JP? I want to swim by and heckle you.

im doing an overnighter on the sauk this weekend.  putting in at bedal on saturday.  if anyone would like to join, i might be able to carry some of your gear on the cataraft.
pm me if your interested.

i'll be taking out at darrington

"Sauk Talk"  I like it!

Meeting at IGA and changing behind a tree at the take out may have been the industry standard for trips on the Sauk, but at Adventure Cascades we feel that our guests deserve better.  Our little shop on the corner is complete with parking, a clean bathroom and private changing stalls. It is also a great place to hang out after a trip.

Stop by if you need a warm, dry place to change into your boating gear.

Well, there is certainly a place on the river for each and every one of us. We just have to be conscious about when, where, and how we mix and match in so far as some of these adventures are concerned.

Sorry to hear you are under the weather- I got a really bad sinus infection this winter that had me down for about 6 weeks, despite two different perscriptions of antibiotics. Life sucked for a bit, so I sympathize.

But back to more Sauk Talk...
Despite the vaguely defined nature of the Sauk (perhaps because of it), I take that run w/ a wary approach when it comes to rafting it. Its changeable nature and spread out, wide riverbed leaves some room to get caught off guard by features that otherwise aren't very formidible.

Fortunately I rafted it last year (it may have been around "10,000-", come to think of it.) So it is somewhat fresh in my mind. Thanks for lettin me R3 along w/ your trip, BP- that was a great trip!

"10,000 minus some change" was the guage reading, according to my log, but not the flow we were boatin on. That has always confused me a little, but then again, I never stopped to think it through either. And the wide glacial valley allows the flow to greatly disperse. I remember a healthy fun Medium.

What really impresses me the most about the Sauk is its glacial history and its relationship to the Skagit, Suiattle and N. Stilly.

Basicaly my impression is that those rivers all shared real estate like some gigantic Co-Op. "Oh sh*t! This huge glacial morain is blocking my flow, dude!! Where am I to go?" Said one of the rivers.
"No problem, bro, just re route through here for a few thousand years till we sort it out"

That corridor from Darrington to the Skagit has had water flowing in both directions at alternating points, and arguably the Sauk/ Suiattle is "supposed to" be flowing into the N. Stilly drainage, not the Skagit. I mean, I ain't no Fluvial Morphologist, but just looking at the map, its pretty obvious. So I have sought out some litterature on the subject and was pleased to find some, but unfortunately don't retain the details too well. Too many riverside "safety meetings", I guess. Gonna try to brush up on it this week, because the forces involved are of titanic proportions. Anyone here who can flesh out their own insights to this history, please share!

I couldn't find whatever resources I discovered online in the past regarding the monumental history of the Sauk/Suiattle/Skagit/N.Stilly.

But then, not surprisingly, AW's N.Frk Stilly page happens to hold the most concise summary of these amazing geological events.

Here's the URL...

http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River/detail/id/2237/