Sequim is the palm springs of western WA, and hence a
popular retiree paradise. Break out your
slippers and blue blockers! You could
also fit in by becoming an organic lavender farmer.
Boating wise, because of the rain shadow your
backdoor rivers, which include the Dungeness and Gray Wolf, run predominantly
with snowmelt. You can catch them with
the occasional rain event, but really they’re best April-July. The Gray Wolf is a long adventure starting
with a hike down from Deer Park. Very
beautiful up there, starting in the ONP, and a good adventure! The Dungeness has two primary runs that could
be combined for a longer day. My
favorite is the upper from Gold Creek to the Dungeness Forks Campground. It’s mainly lower volume, creeky class III /
III+, with lots of twists, turns, and interesting rock formations. And usually some wood to spice things
up. It makes for a good solo
venture. I did it this past season and
it was cleaner than I’ve seen it in years.
Still some wood, but not bad for OP adventure standards. You could also explore much further upstream
on the Dungeness, as the road goes up this drainage for miles. Many years ago a
few of us hiked our kayaks maybe a mile or so upstream from Gold Creek to run
the gorge that is just above the upper run.
We portaged a lot…
Driving west
or south from Sequim you quickly leave the rain shadow and find rivers that
reliably run all winter. Heading south
on 101 it’s maybe 30+ minutes to the Big Quil, and another 15 to the Dose. You can find class V on both of those. Heading west you’re 30-45 minutes from the
Elwha and Lyre. I’m not a huge fan of
the lower Elwha runs, although it would be fun to boat the old dam site. But the GC is beyond description! I’ve never done the Lyre, so report back if
you get there. Beyond those it’s another
30+ minutes to get to the Sol Duc, which has lots of options, and some good
play boating. Just past there you hit
Forks, where you’ll have lots of winter boating options. And if you don’t find boating in Forks, I suppose
you could tear yourself apart with the internal conflict of deciding between beastailty
and necrophilia.