GIANT BEAVER

This run is great and highly recommend it. Just be careful of the V+ drop, it's right after IV read-and-run.

Also, Trad's: do I get no love? Did you get that video of the first drop?

How many wood portages in the part of the Upper stretch you guys did?

Just got back from a run on the lower Granite/Ruby run...and at 7000+ on the Methow gage, it was smokin. I guesstimate we had about 800 cfs on Granite and 1500 cfs below the confluence on the Ruby River. There was definitely some wood worth mentioning in there.  On granite, there were a few spots with logs that were pretty easy to spot and avoid, and 2 spots of interest... about a mile into the run there is a section where you can the road up above from the river for a long stretch and then the creek goes through a rapid between rock cliffs. There is a small eddy here and then a riverwide log just downstream. You can duck under the log on the far left side.... however the water is pushing out towards the right and middle, so you want to make sure you get to the left as soon as possible. The next major hazard is an ugly double log jam. It's about 1/4 mile upstream from the confluence with Canyon Ck. You can take out on the left and portage. We carried up to the road here and walked around since the portage at river level looked like a pain. There is a turn out here so it is easy to check it out from the road...oh and same for the other log I mentioned. We found both of these by road scouting.

My boating partners told me there was a riverwide log on Ruby about 2-2/5 miles past the confluence... I did not see it, as I had an extended out of boat experience  after an unintentional rodeo session on a huge nearly riverwide hole... My buds chased my boat down for me and I hoofed down the road a ways to catch up to them. From what I hear, they went over that log. Maybe one of them can reply here.

All in all it was a very fun day, with plenty of water.


Oh, and we went up and had a peek at the big double drop on the upper run.... that thing looked heinous. The hydraulics looked evil... even from a 1/4 mile away.

I was on the river Saturday with Joe and we had planned on running the upper section but the flows went up to 7300 on the Methow throughout the week and turned what sounded like a low flow the weekend before to a pretty full on ride this weekend. The upper looked doable at that level but you would want to know exactly whats coming and where to run it (or portage it).  The V+ looked pretty sick at that flow.  SInce none of us had ran anything on Granite Creek we decided to run the lower which also turned out to be moving rather quickly and after putting on we were glad we didn't try the upper at that flow. What an awesome section of river though and I highly recomend the lower at that flow!   Get it while its good.

Right on, it's great of you to sign up as streamkeeper! Are you planning any trips soon? I'd love to hit the class IV section at this flow. The class V section is above my paygrade, but I'd be willing to scuttle along the bank with a camera. How about Sunday?

I'll be elsewhere this weekend. If you go prepare for some very continuous, crankin' whitewater at this flow. It was really moving at 7300 on the Methow, and it's over 9000 now.