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Ian Foley
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  Quote Ian Foley Replybullet Topic: Colo boater looking for PacNW info
    Posted: 08 Jan 2008 at 3:52pm

I currently live in Denver, but my wife and I have been thinking about moving to the PacNW.  My motivation is boating, and her motivation is lush green forests.  My favorite boating is IV+ /V- creeking, but I am happy with the occasional play run, or harder stuff with portage & scout options.

What really interests me about the PacNW is the longer season.  Colorado season is just too short.  There are options to extend the season, but the time that the good runs are at a solid medium or above is limited. 
 
For boating, I'd love to have access to afterwork / lunchtime options to get some weekday boating in.  I'd also like to have multiple options for day runs in a 2-3 hr radius for weekend trips.
 
I like snowboarding and snowsports also, and close proximity to those would be nice, but not at the sacrifice of boating.  I'd like to not have to put my boat away for 6+ months like I do in colorado.
 
I have looked at seattle, portland, and eugene, but I'm looking for some personal opinions.  We are relatively liberal, but its not really a big deal to us.  Wife is a doctor so a mid to large city would be best for jobs vs. small town.  Looking for a good city with good schools for kids, decent culture (restuarants, museums, wifey stuff), but kickass boating. 
 
Any comments on length of season, quality of water, type of runs, afterwork boating options, best locations, pros and cons of locations etc.
 
I have been doing a lot of net searching on this and I apologize if this is the millionth time someone asks. 
 
Thanks folks!
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James
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  Quote James Replybullet Posted: 08 Jan 2008 at 3:59pm
First check out this thread...

Here is a good thread with discussion on area's and rivers ect...

Beware of the Hampsters... they are a pretty hairy lot.
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justin
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  Quote justin Replybullet Posted: 08 Jan 2008 at 4:26pm
I think that James means that the Hamsters are Hair boating a lot.  I bet you'd love it up here in bellingham.
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  Quote Ellingferd Replybullet Posted: 08 Jan 2008 at 8:54pm
It all depends if you want to ski or not. If you want to ski then avoid the Oregon areas (Hood River, Portland, etc) because Mt. Hood sucks and dont let anyone tell you otherwise. There is more than enough boating in Oregon but it cannot offset the crappiness of Hood if you are interested in skiing. Otherwise, the Seattle/Bellingham area offers the same quality of boating, and some of the best skiing in the world, in my opinion. If you want it all then washington (north western washington to be specific) is where its at.
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  Quote Ellingferd Replybullet Posted: 08 Jan 2008 at 8:55pm
Oh yeah, and then there is skook, which is a weekend trip from seattle, and could possibly be a day trip from Bellingham if you really wanted to.
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  Quote justin Replybullet Posted: 08 Jan 2008 at 9:23pm
The skooks not that close to bellingham, but it is pretty darn close.  
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  Quote Otter Boy Replybullet Posted: 08 Jan 2008 at 10:32pm
Hey Ian,
 
The Pacific Northwest is one of the best places in the world for kayaking. There are a lot of places with great water, but we have an incredible season. You can boat all year around if you're motivated. Our season usually starts in October or November with the fall rains. Things are kicking until mid January or so. Mid January to April is OK. It can get drier, but there is still plenty to do. Then the spring meltoff comes in late April through June (through July in good years).
 
The difference from Colorado is there is always something running. In the summer a lot of the bad-ass class V eases off to IV with the lower water (I'm thinking Tumwater Canyon on the Wenatchee or else the Cascade). About the time things dry up here, British Columbia is going off.
 
Keep in mind that you're close to some great destinations on the west coast. California tends to go off a bit earlier than Oregon or Washington, while British Columbia is a couple months later. The end result is great water all year around. And I haven't even begun to list all the creeking in the Columbia Gorge.
 
I'm paddling all the time, so I can't speak to the skiing here. There are plenty of lush forests though.
 
- Otterboy
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  Quote Ellingferd Replybullet Posted: 09 Jan 2008 at 7:25am
If skook were running at noon you could totally make it a day trip from bellingham. Its only 3.5 hours to the wave from bham. Granted it would be a lot of driving, but if you really wanted to, you could.
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Ian Foley
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  Quote Ian Foley Replybullet Posted: 09 Jan 2008 at 7:48am
Thanks for the info folks!  This is just what I have been looking for.
 
Skiing is in the mix, so I appreciate the mt hood comments.
 
Any comments on weekday boating opportunities for the 9-5er's.  One thing that it great about Denver is that in the summer I can boat everyday afterwork with runs in a 30-45 min drive.  Of course thats great for about 2 months then its gone. 
 
I'd love to be able to get some afterwork or lunch break boating in.
 
Thanks!!!!
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Courtney
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  Quote Courtney Replybullet Posted: 09 Jan 2008 at 8:46am
If you want to be really close to both ski and river, look around the North Bend area near Snoqualmie Pass and the Everett / Monroe area for Stevens Pass.  There are some great rivers very close to both of them. 
Courtney
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James
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  Quote James Replybullet Posted: 09 Jan 2008 at 8:48am
Seattle or Bellingham

Both have 30 - 45 minute class V runs.

Here is a little map you can play with

Robe is almost enough of a reason to move here as it is.
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Hydro
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  Quote Hydro Replybullet Posted: 10 Jan 2008 at 1:41pm
There's a few of us who have migrated from Colorado.  I was in Durango, then Bozeman, before coming to Seattle.  I can tell you I have way more fun skiing the Cascades with the ridiculous snow amounts we get than I ever had in CO or even MT.   Winter goes off, and the boating here in the PNW is superb.  Always feels like there's too many rivers with too few boaters.  
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