My wife and I are moving to Olympia over Thanksgiving. Soon following I would like begin meeting the local paddling community and hopefully begin to explore some of the outstanding paddling the area has to offer. My background is 30+ years of paddling, all either C1 or raft. Six summers mixed in there were spent guiding on the Ocoee in TN, Arkansas (Browns, Gorge, Numbers & Pine Creek) and Colorado (Gore) in CO. During the last decade or so, I have done a lot more slalom and creeking than anything else.

I am pretty comfortable on anything up through 5.0. Once into the 5.2 range, I like to know the group I am paddling with a little better. Hence, starting out, I would love to get plugged in with anybody looking to get out on anything III and up to the comfy V range.

My quiver right now includes a Zastera Bala (wildwater C1), Vajda Supremo (slalom C1), Vajda Supremo II (slalom C1), Pyranha Shiva (C1) and a Stinger I am getting set up as a C1. My wife is learning to paddle in a Remix 69, but the process has been put on hold as she is pregnant right now. We also have a 13'6" Sotar set up for paddle rafting, and we likely will get a frame once settled.

In preparation for the move, I got rid of two boats and think I found a third a home as well. The above is the herd after culling. Yes, my wife tells me I have a problem. She has six bikes, so I think we are pretty even.

Many thanks in advance for advice and to anybody willing to let me tag along and learn some great new runs. With a side hobby of photography, I promise to get some good frames along the way...every now and again. See for yourself... http://knu2xs.500px.com/whitewater

Edited by knu2xs - 02 Nov 2014 at 6:53pm

I live south of olympia and have been familiarizing myself with the hwy 12 corridore pretty well & could definitely use a partner on class 3-4 stuff. still aquiring some of the more expensive gear(drysuit) but my buddy and I also have a 12" otter raft setup & 4 creek boats.

Knu2xs--

Welcome to Washington, man-

My brother paddled C-1 for years (slalom+gnar). I am of a similar
"Whitewater Vintage" as yourself- not too many 30+'ers out there who still "get after it".

Since you are new to the region, DEFININTELY try to get up to the Seattle region to check out some of the local offerings.

The Skykomish is awesome at any flow, but nov-dec is typically when it pumps the most volume. Great deepwater class III+ with Boulder Drop, the "Mona Lisa" of Washington class IV rapids. All thd tribs upstream need at least 10,000 on the main Sky guage to pump adequate juice.

The Green (of Washington State) is a South Seattle class III+/IV. Its very classic once you put some water in there. Once you got more than 2200 cfs its fair to start calling the Upper Gorge a straight up IV. Add more water, and the classic flavor will please someone of your experience.

Of course, The Tilton is gonna be your Olympia III+ (IV-) staple. The Toutle is near you too.

On the Peninsula you want to target Matheney creek for some IV, but theres plenty of other stuff to run out there too. Matheny is a good place to start. Humptulips is more II+/III but it is beautiful and still kind of an adventure.

To your south is the direction to go if you want to get verticle. Might as well just start planning a weekend to get introduced to the White Salmon if you havent been. White Salmon is awesome for boaters with the class IV-V skill set because you got lots of options. So if the White Salmon is about 3' or higher you know you can go down there and get some quality boofing in. And of course, if you're feeling extra hungry for gourmet boofs and all you can eat gradient, El Dub is just next door :)

Not quite so far south from you is a delectable pair of creeks that host IV-V classic washington boofs. East fk Lewis is pretty user friendly. It deserves a IV rating. Its got two waterfalls in particular that get described as having class III+ lines. Pretty user friendly, but lots of novices get some class IV swimming done there. Beautiful run with quality pool drop rapids in an intimate canyon setting. Canyon Creek (of the Lewis). Is a renowned favorite. It gets described as class IV but I think that's sandbaggin the run a bit. It probably deserves at least "Class V lite" status. Its almost like a simple, easy version of the Little White Salmon (but thats a very broad comparison).
Definitely need a well oiled boof for that run. You'll love it from the sounds of your resume.

Honestly those are the basic runs you'll likely zero in on. Depends on how hungry you are for action, how often you plan on getting out, how quickly you tune in to the local weather (its all about watchin that Langley Hill Radar, man), and lastly how far you want to drive.

Within 3 hours of you in every direction you will find a cornicopia of goods. Make sure you at least get out on some quality local waters soon so you Give Thanks proper-like around the table later this month.

If you are hungry for that Roman numeral V its probably good to ease into Washington and get to know peeps so you can hit your crux spots with people you trust. I respect that man, especially as a fellow Old Schooler. I initially when I moved to Wa I found the geology unfamiliar and intidating. But then again I am a timid boater w/ physco-scars from 3 decades of boating.

The Class V Crown Jewels of Wa, in my opinion, would list roughly as follows:

Little White Salmon-World Famous
Robe Canyon (Sfk Stilliguamish upstream of Granite Falls, Wa)<<<My personal favorite class V run in Wa.
Icicle Creek (spring melt usually, although it was just running)
Ernies Gorge (Nfk Snoqualmie)- its a difficult run.
Top Tye (flows off of Stevens Pass into the Sky)
Tumwater (can't leave this one out. It runs most days out of the year. I tend to forget about this one because its all about BIGWATER CLASS V and it SCARES THE HELL OUT OF ME so I try to avoid it. But you can "cheat" and run it when its low like everyone else does. Still packs some power)

Of the Class V "lite" runs, I'd say the best ones with well beaten pathes to the put in are:

Canyon Creek Lewis ("The best boating in Oregon is in Wa State" as the saying goes)
The Cooper (supposedly it was in recently but its usually associated w/ that Eastside Cascades spring runoff, mid summer or slightly sooner. Gets called "IV" by a lot of boaters. Guidebook rates it V. Pretty user freindly, and super quality)
FallInTheWall (Snoqualmie Pass. I heard people call this class III. I wonder what they would rate it if they ran it w/ water in it. I call it "mini golf class V" pretty much follow the water and gravity and bang down the rest. But gapers get hurt here. Its VERY steep and shallow worthy of a IV rating at the very least).

Well sh*t, this post is getting too Herman Mellville. I'm out of here.
Welcome to Washington! If you make it up north towards Seattle or Hwy 2 Zone, gimme a shout!