Lower Elwha (class II) beta: anyone run it?
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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=13361
Printed Date: 30 Sep 2025 at 6:03am
Topic: Lower Elwha (class II) beta: anyone run it?
Posted By: jP
Subject: Lower Elwha (class II) beta: anyone run it?
Date Posted: 27 Jul 2013 at 11:38am
Hey again- I have another class II inquirey, this one regarding the Lowest stretch of the Elwha. Anyone run it this year, or since the dams have been removed? Curious about any changes for the worse as far as wood is concerned, or if the access details have changed...
Thanks
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Replies:
Posted By: wday
Date Posted: 27 Jul 2013 at 6:58pm
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these guys should know: http://www.atkayaking.com/ - http://www.atkayaking.com/ if nobody posts here. id like to get out there this week to check out the lower dam removal. will
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Posted By: Canale
Date Posted: 29 Jul 2013 at 8:45am
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Be careful if you head out there. The stretch between the dams is very different now. All the sediment has caused the river to become very braided and most of the rapids have been filled in. There is a ton of wood now too. The lower dam site is a pretty impressive rapid now, pretty sketchy as it may still have construction materials in it. I haven't been below the lower dam site in years but I would imagine that it would have changed a bit, all that sediment has to have done something. On the plus side, it's been so dry lately that the turbidity of the water has really decreased, it's blue again now instead of that dead gray color. If nothing else it would be worth it to come check it out just to see all the changes, the huge beach that's formed at the mouth is really impressive.
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Posted By: jP
Date Posted: 29 Jul 2013 at 12:02pm
Well we made it out there and satisfied our curiousity. Jed and Adam were able to provide us with a report about the middle section between what used to be the two dams. Their report described hideous class II+ wood infested gnarl.
Our plan was to avoid that by putting in lower and running to the mouth, hoping that most of the woody debris would be contained in the section upstream of us. I think this ended up being the case for the most part, but we still had our share of wood to contend with. Namely the "Dead Ent Gauntlet" we had to run.
Concerned about time constraints due to the possibility of eccessive wood portaging, we put in beneath the Elwha River Rd. Bridge. It shaved off some of the run. Soon after putting on there was a braided channel with most water going left into a classic dog-leg wood hazard. But it was steep and fast, and every bit of class III+ to make the move into the eddy above the wood.
After this we saw several gigantic structures manufactured presumeably by some agency or another to "provide fish habitat". It was after this that we began funneling into the "Dead Ent Gauntlet". Gradually the channel narrowed between clogged clusters of wood on both sides of the river with no break in between. This was one of the choke points that Morgan of Olympic Raft and Kayak pointed out to us, although it wasn't on his arial photo. After the narrow part of the gauntlet was a sharp dog-leg to the right. We hugged the gravel bar, and it was good that we did because a spanning log forced us to portage and it had a lot of swift current going under it. It was the only mandatory portage though.
There was another brief choke point, and then we saw a high wall on R. Left composed of packed sediment. Immediately after the landscape begin to unfurl into the marine mists among fanned out braids of shallow gravel, yet a boatable channel remained all the way to the salt water.
I gotta say that it was worth the wood dodging to go all the way to the ocean and experience that- I have always wanted to explore this stretch. Having said that, I was also very methodical about how we approached these hazards. There were definitely three spots that are above the paygrade of your average class II beginner, with the usual PNW wood-gnarl consequences.
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Posted By: jP
Date Posted: 29 Jul 2013 at 12:17pm
While I'm talkin "trip report" style about this 'lil adventure, I also gotta thank Morgan from Olympic Raft and Kayak. We stopped in to get some beta from them and they were super friendly and helpful. They had blown up printouts of arial photos of the river (though it looked like more water was flowing through the photo). Morgan pointed out the two likely choke points and ended up being spot on.
Those guys are taking a big hit right now due to these changes. In the long run it should prove to be a good thing for them, having these dams removed. But right now they can't really run any raft trips down the Elwha. Most raft companies are small bussinesses, so that's gotta hurt.
I know most peeps pack up their rigs successfully and rarely forget any gear, ect- but these guys do have a limited retail selection. I'm just suggesting that if you ever find yourself out on the north end of the OP and in need of a new paddle or other piece of gear mid-weekend, remember that option. Those guys may be able to hook you up, so try to give them a little support. Our paddling community is stronger when these outposts can remain where they are.
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