The Bennet Book has a whole bunch of runs that go during the rainy Season, from November to March or so. Pretty much the whole first 150 pages or so is chock full of them. Many of these rivers are in South Western Washington, and most of them I've never paddled.

 

I love the Wind, Chehalis, Grays, and Tilton and I'm down to run them when they come in.  My first choice would be the Gray's since I've only run it once and it was BADASS.  I think it rivals the Cascade.  The Upper Wind is just so great.  I love that run.  I've only run the covered bridge section of the Chehalis and it was super sweet at high water.  I would love to that again.  The Tilton is pretty good too although I would do the others over it any day..
I also need revenge on Yellowjacket Creek!
Bring on the Rain!

I looked into access on the Puyallup last year and current "access passes" are in the $400 range. That said, I'd love to get into that gorge, too. I've also heard that S. Prairie Creek has some very sharp, unfriendly rock that cracks boats. That said...

I have checked this out before, all the way to calling and showing up to talk with Campbell Land Management. The bottom line is that at one time you could buy an access key for the day or weekend, per person or per car. Due to high volumes of dumping and abuse of the land they discontinued that policy.

The current policy is now the sale of access per person or per family per year only. There are no monthly or weekly usages allowed.

At last the family access was around $400.00 per year. I have posted the details on who you can contact at Campbell land management on the Puyallup Gorge river page. So far I don't know of anyone that has done this. If there is significant interest I am sure that 8-10 people could split that fee up, the problem would be getting Campbell to issue access to the group as one family, which they indicated to me that they would not do.

Considering the dense amount of goods, sporatic nature of beta and variety around this area .... I would not trust anyone but myself to make that call.

I am pretty sure that there have been guys that have run it before. Was it on cascade classics?

If there's any other way to access it from upstream, I'd be down. I mean, I'd even do a three day trip if it meant I could put in upstream of the put in requiring an access fee. Otherwise, $400 is, like, a whole tour of California rivers living high on the hog. $13 for one day is reasonable. I don't see myself padling that stretch more than once anyway. Who needs a year pass? If I'm gonna go that route, I'd just get a ski pass somewhere.

And the Grays-- Really want to check that one out!!!

S. Prarie creek is a great run. There are some hard drops, a big 25-30' waterfall and some difficult portages. We paddled it with a crew of 6 or 8 a few years back, and I remember it was challenging getting everybody into eddies. All in all it was a good time and I'd recommend at least one run down before you write it off.

That was me getting the beat down on the Grays.  That flow was too high.  We climbed/hiked out from that spot.  It took 5 throw bag tosses to get me out of there.  The toss that got me was done with a coiled rope and extended the full length of the line (60ft).  Don't be fooled by that gauge!  The Naselle and Gray's don't directly correlat as led on in the guide book!  Although I would like to try at that high flow again, I found half the flow to be super fun all the way to the take out!

PS the video is posted on PP too...

14kayaking2:

I agree there needs to be a revised addition of Bennet's book. I wish it could be just that: a revised addition. I think overall it is a great book full of lots of info that is still rellevant today. It would be great if he could turn it over to a group of people to add and update the info in it, rather than reinventing the wheel and starting a whole new one from scratch.

Then again, maybe the internet is the new medium for such info. as mobile devices get better, more of us are using them in more and more remote places. On the other hand a book is cool because it is truly a stand alone "device"-no need for a sattelite connection that trees and canyons can block, or some weak-ass cellular connection that is unreliable.

yeah.  I agree with that Wetmouse.  It really doesn't need a reinvention...more revision.  But a serious one at that.  In the last few years a lot of new "creeks" have opened up, and so has the average ability risen.  It makes it so that a fair look at all of it is not a bad idea.  Digital is great, but still not like having the text anywhere, anytime.  Also the digital age definitely takes a bit out of the adventure.  Though the argument can be made for guides too.  In my opinion making the revision would be the adventure in itself...  Find a fair group of boaters interested that have a like mind in classifying....  It would be fun to be working toward something like that, and quite rewarding upon completion. 

Hey I'm having trouble finding that video..got a link?


Edited by 14kayaking2 - 17 Sep 2008 at 8:08pm

Count me in for some of the IV+ type stuff!  Not sure about full on V yet, but I'm always looking to check off runs in my guide book, even if it's only to say, "Well, I don't need to go back and do that again!"  Chehalis, Tilton, etc,  as well as stuff up on the Peninsula - Matheny, Dungeness, Grey Wolf??  How about the North Fork of the Tolt?  It is supposed to be a Class V canyon and it is not far from my house.  Access is tricky and I can't get O'Keefe to write back to me with any beta.  Maybe even the Raging River in Fall City.  I know there is a lot of wood and may require a low water scout/saw mission.  Would like to check out the upper stretch of the Rapid for wood clearing as well.  Ok, I'm rambling now...

NF Tolt does have some class V and some class IV and some swift currents.