Welcome ernie. There are clubs, but professorpaddle is free. When I moved out here this website was my best way to meet folks. The second weekend of june is the Professorpaddle Ball in Cashemere WA, on the banks of the wenatchee, there will be lots of opportunities to meet people there.

You coming during a good snow year, so you have that in your favor. There is some good stuff on the OP and a few people living out in that direction that you could hook up with. Keep following the forums and you'll get an idea of how this works.

See you in May.

Yo Ernie-
Yeah, c'mon out! The Upper Yough n Gauley are my old "stomping grounds". Some people have said Washington class IV is a little gnarlier than West Virginia class IV. But really I think its just different geology, and takes a little gettin used to. Washington certainly has more diversity as far as the geology goes, as well as a diversity of micro climates that dictate which regions offer the best flows throughout the seasons.

People post informally on here all the time announcing plans to meet here or there to boat stuff- at least the Seattle staples such as the Skykomish, Green, and Middle section of the Middle Frk Snoqualmie. Class III runs with at least a class IV rapid each. You'll want to come out to some of those trips as that's a pretty good way to initially meet people.

And of course May kicks off Wenatchee season, as Jed mentioned. Plan on heading out there for a few weekends to get some sunshine east of the cascades while the westside is getting pelted with hail and late spring rains. Definitely show up at the Professor Paddle Ball June 9 & 10. The Cooper might be a run you'd want to put near the top of your list. It's easier than the Upper Yough, listed in the guidebook as a class V, yet seems to serve as one of the "intro to creeking" creeks for a lot of folks around here. Whatever it should be rated, its certainly less consequential than the Upper Gauley, and it is a blast to do 3 laps down it on a hot summer day.

Make contacts with the Olympia crowd- they may be convienient for you to hook up w/ geographicly, depending on where you'll be.

Yeah, there may be something to it, but to keep it in perspective I think its different geologic traits. It could be that the narrow canyons have a more confining feel, and I'm sure the squeezed up currents in there used to really mess with old school, lower volume boat designs (mid 90's and prior). Modern creekers handle these places fine though.

Another aspect is the continuous nature of some runs out here: sh*t keeps going and going. Its good to be in shape, and its good to be comfortable w/ read n run skills because eddies can be scarce/unserviceable.

Lastly, what passes as "pool/drop" out here is more dynamic much of the time. A "pool" out here is often really short with swift current leading into the next drop or rapid.

Waterfalls and ledges often have rolling lips, rather than the classic cartoon style waterfall such as Ohiopyle falls or Wonder Falls. So the delayed boof gets employed quite a bit.

It just takes a littel getting used to regional differences. But pound for pound there's hundereds of options year round. Lots of variety and lots of water. You'll love it!