Is the Wenatchee done?
Printed From: ProfessorPaddle.com
Category: General
Forum Name: Whitewater Forum
Forum Discription: Open Discussion Forum. Whitewater related subjects only
URL: http://www.professorpaddle.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=13362
Printed Date: 29 Apr 2024 at 9:14am
Topic: Is the Wenatchee done?
Posted By: SupaSta
Subject: Is the Wenatchee done?
Date Posted: 27 Jul 2013 at 2:34pm
I haven't been paying attention, but with the ongoing heat wave, it seems like the snowmelt is probably over. Please tell me I'm wrong  ------------- Life is short, paddle hard! |
Replies:
Posted By: SupaSta
Date Posted: 27 Jul 2013 at 2:54pm
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Never mind. I looked it up. It's gone ------------- Life is short, paddle hard! |
Posted By: jP
Date Posted: 29 Jul 2013 at 12:32pm
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Pretty much- at least the basic "10K State Play" version.
But... You still got Tumwater, which has just dropped into "Tumwater Lite" flows- more fun and more accessible to the average boater. And the "Haus Run" is good, even if it is short. I guess it depends more on how far you gotta drive to get here. But yeah, if you are lookin for goods for the playboat, pretty much done. ------------- 🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋 |
Posted By: otterend
Date Posted: 04 Aug 2013 at 6:26am
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At 1400 cfs, the Play Run from Leavenworth to Cashmere is a fun run in an IK. Put away the hardshell at this level.
Lots of good surfing holes, wide surf ledges, even a few boof rocks. The classic spots have gone to sleep (Rodeo, Turkey Shoot), but many others have come to life. At this level, I'd say there are more surf spots than at the typical run levels above 5k, just smaller (which is just fine for a ducky). Big Bend, Grannies and Snowblind have a series of ledge waves, each surfable in turn as you work your way down. Interesting to see the back side of the boulder the creates Satan's Eyeball and the jumble of rocks and ledges collected at Drunkards. Novices will find a friendly level at which one won't get pounded. It's a nice run to take a friend or spouse to introduce to 2+\3-- water. (An easier Class 2 is the Upper Wenatchee, a nice long run from The bridge at Plain to the Tumwater Campground at the HWY 2 bridge). Pack a sandwich and make a day of it in the sun. Lots of Osprey and vulture and a variety of ducks out with their fledgling young. The river channel still has plenty of depth for an IK in most places. The water is warm, in a NW kind of way. Often you have to eyeball where it's running low, but not a big deal if you have to portage a couple of times. |
Posted By: FLUID
Date Posted: 05 Aug 2013 at 12:31am
| Not true at all !!! the Wenatchee is a big river bed. I based a kayak school there because it is awesome at most levels for beginners. especially at these flows where the water is low and warm..... probably the best platform for any new paddler..... low, warm, safe...... and you cant tell me you cant get down there's more than enough water, we did a clinic in there one year a long time ago at these flows and found new surf waves and crazy features to play with... explore outside the box, im sure its done for most but if I was truely a beginner or lived in Ltown as a beginner I would be on that river everyday... |
Posted By: jP
Date Posted: 05 Aug 2013 at 11:02am
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Originally posted by FLUID
Not true at all !!! What's not true? Otterend's statement about putting away the hardshell in favor of an IK? The man is simply expressing his own opinion/preference. Yeah, I agree with most everything you said, Chris. Particularly about how awesome the Wenatchee zone is for kayak instruction mid to late summer. But IMO, rapids like Rock and Roll and Snowblind, even Boulder Bend, could stand to be padded out with 1000 or more CFS for those rapids to be ideally suited to "beginner beginners" But my comments on this thread were directed toward the context of Supastar's query (State Play). I mean, I'm still push'n rubber down it, running 7 loads (or at least 6 loads with the added weight of a lunch cooler, roll-a-table, ect.) and not getting stuck. But an IK will slither over some of those sandstone benches better than a hardshell now. Pretty scrapey. Saw a bunch of Open Canoes from BC out there yesterday, caught up to them at Rodeo Hole. It is pretty out there and I always like seeing the riverbed. All those diagonal bedrock benches and shelves are rad with their potholes full of granite gravel. Worth paddling it just to see the beauty that lies underneath the surface. But like I said: it really comes down to how far you are willing to drive for what kind of experience. I got no reason to drive anywhere else. The Wenatchee is my oyster. Hey, any of Y'nz recall how I used to be an anti Wenatchee snob? I barely ever tapped into it because I'm not a play boater and it appeared to be a bland raft trip. I was wrong. I just had other stuff I wanted to do at the time and the Wenatchee didn't fit that agenda for me. So I didn't see what it had to offer. Well I have done a complete 180. It is a great raft trip, a great place to learn to kayak, and very charming in many other ways. So as long as you aren't expecting "5-10K State Play", and just wanna do some old fashioned "cruising" (that old fashioned term needs to be revived, btw), it does have enough water to paddle. ------------- 🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋 |