Best class III scenery??
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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=9142
Printed Date: 16 Apr 2024 at 6:09am
Topic: Best class III scenery??
Posted By: Travisimo
Subject: Best class III scenery??
Date Posted: 20 Jan 2010 at 1:19pm
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There is a paddler heading here from the UK with my company Feb 20-21 I'd like to either hook him up with a group or take him down something cool... Any beautiful peninsula runs? I'm almost embarrassed that I don't know the answer to this myself. I've always wanted an excuse to see more scenery, maybe this is a good one! ------------- H2O please |
Replies:
Posted By: jP
Date Posted: 20 Jan 2010 at 1:40pm
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Tilton E. frk Humptulips.
Those are the first two that immediately spring to mind. And they seem to run fairly often.
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Posted By: dragorossinw
Date Posted: 20 Jan 2010 at 2:22pm
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Sandy R gorge ------------- Tony Z dragorossinorthwest@yahoo.com www.nookiekayaking.us www.dragorossi.com www.donkeyfIip.com |
Posted By: BRoss
Date Posted: 20 Jan 2010 at 3:12pm
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Amazing scenery on the sandy gorge for sure. I think it might push the limits of class III though at least at anything above low flows ------------- "That boated a lot better than it looked." "It always does until it doesn't." |
Posted By: justin
Date Posted: 20 Jan 2010 at 3:26pm
| The nooksack canyon stretch is short but beautiful. Also the Sauk is pretty and remote feeling. |
Posted By: Wiggins
Date Posted: 20 Jan 2010 at 3:53pm
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If you don't mind crossing the border I would also suggest the Chehalis in BC at low-med flows. If you call Western Canoe and Kayak they can usualy give you an idea of what the river is doing. The Chilliwack around 1.0 might be good as well.
Middle Pilchuck Creek is very scenic (despite all the auto parts) and is a lot easier to catch if you don't care if the waterfall is in. Look for flows between 500-1000 on the DOE gauge.
Don't forget the Sky! We tend to overlook the scenic nature of that run. If walking Boulder Drop is out you can always put in below it and run to Big Eddy.
Kyle ------------- I smell bacon |
Posted By: dave
Date Posted: 20 Jan 2010 at 5:58pm
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The Green River Gorge, upper and lower has some very amazing rock formations and cliff wall scenery. One of the most spectacular runs close in to Seattle.
------------- Nomad |
Posted By: Kiwi
Date Posted: 20 Jan 2010 at 9:07pm
| east fk humptulips, you can also have him run perfection falls on donkey creek, you drive by it on the way to the put in. |
Posted By: tiziak
Date Posted: 21 Jan 2010 at 8:44am
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Hey Slickhorn, Kris and I were up looking for the Vance putin. We were skunked due to a late start but we never really found the correct putin. Any advice?
------------- If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there. Daniel Patrinellis 360.434.4616 |
Posted By: JoesKayak
Date Posted: 21 Jan 2010 at 9:01am
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Depends on what kind of scenery: For mountain views, you want clear weather or at least a high ceiling. The Sauk has great views on both the middle and upper runs. One of the best close in runs for views is the upper MF Snoqualmie.... it's more of a class 2 run, but if you have a long day you can get your ww fix by continuing down the middle. For gorge/canyon scenery, which is usually still good on a rainy day, the Green River Gorge and Tilton were already mentioned and are both good, but may be pushing it if you really want a class 3 run. The Sandy gorge has been mentioned too, but in my opinion the scenery isn't better than what we have on the green or Tilton... Personally, I don't like that run all that much. I think many of rapids on it are more hazardous than they are fun. There's some nasty seives in there. Also, Kyles suggestion of middle Pilchuck is a good one too. |
Posted By: JoesKayak
Date Posted: 21 Jan 2010 at 9:42am
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It sounds like the MF road is open now at least to Taylor River. http://www.wfl.fhwa.dot.gov/projects/erfo_mfsnoqualmie/ NF Snoqualmie is a nice run too with some nice scenery. You need to like walking too though. |
Posted By: Kiwi
Date Posted: 21 Jan 2010 at 9:53am
| good, that road closure was a major bonerkill when I got there at 6 in the morning to try and do infinite bliss on mt. garfield. is their any good whitewater on the mf snoqualmie below taylor river? |
Posted By: jP
Date Posted: 21 Jan 2010 at 1:00pm
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Really? Dingford has III? Didn't know that. Cool.
Yeah, You're right. Tilton and Upper green Gorge both have some class IV moments along the way. And both impart a remmote enough feeling to make one want to bump the rating more towards class IV. Then the Lower Green Gorge (really quite beautiful) is barely class III according to most people. I guess I'd rate it II+ / III.
I was gonna mention the Sky but sometimes when I think in terms of scenic criteria I tend to exclude stretches with roads alongside them. still, on the Sky you get some wider vistas of mt. Index, ect. And if you really want strictly class III, you may want to ask yourself if having road access along the river is a good thing for your friend, too. I don't know. Depends on his skill level (navigating, rolling, ect.) and your skill level (leading, rescuing, ect.) Condideration of both of your skill levels should be factored in for sure if you're both going somewhere you've personally never been. But that's your biz to sort out.
I've run the NF Snoq, and like Joe said, you gotta do some hiking for it. Yet it doesn't have as much character as the Green or the Sky. You gotta ask if it's worth the trouble, in this case. I mean, he's coming to visit and has limited time, so you want to give him the most bang for his buck, huh? ------------- 🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋 |
Posted By: JayB
Date Posted: 21 Jan 2010 at 5:23pm
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Originally posted by slickhorn sorry, the section of the MF Snoqualmie beginning at the Dingford confluence has some III. Not Dingford proper. The section above dingford looks fun IV creeky, but make sure you locate Lost Key before running it, scariest drop I've ever seen that I would totally committ to from above. Major injury potential. What's the story with Lost Key? Is that the sieve-pinch ledge looking thingy in the AW photos? Cool to hear about your Dad's renewed stokage. ------------- -Jay |
Posted By: dragorossinw
Date Posted: 21 Jan 2010 at 5:32pm
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Originally posted by BRoss
They said Class III Scenery, they didn't mention no Class IV (+) Rapids!Amazing scenery on the sandy gorge for sure. I think it might push the limits of class III though at least at anything above low flows ------------- Tony Z dragorossinorthwest@yahoo.com www.nookiekayaking.us www.dragorossi.com www.donkeyfIip.com |
Posted By: James
Date Posted: 22 Jan 2010 at 10:25am
Lost Key is at the bottom of the burnboot stretch and hardly what I would call quality. It has a very narrow window when it runs and it is very short with a hike in and hike out depending on if you run all the class II back to the road. There were access points but most of the little roads have been blocked off now. |
Posted By: jP
Date Posted: 22 Jan 2010 at 1:47pm
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One of these days I'd like to catch that stretch at a decent flow and run it. Not that's i'd feel any obligation to Lose my Key.
This off topic, but I'd rather paddle class II than hike a boat any day. ------------- 🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋 |
Posted By: JayB
Date Posted: 22 Jan 2010 at 3:28pm
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Thanks James. ------------- -Jay |
Posted By: SOPBOATER
Date Posted: 24 Jan 2010 at 10:16pm
| Narrow as well as the Gorge run on the E. FK. Humptulips are very scenic as well as have decent class II-III whitewater. Also they run fairly often as the narrow canyons allow you to run them very low yet don't get nasty at high flows either. |
Posted By: jP
Date Posted: 25 Jan 2010 at 9:32am
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Yeah- My predominant bet for class III scenic stretches is on the O.P. Great to see you out on the W. Frk Satsop, Kris. We'll hook up down there one of these days...
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