NW(3)

2006 NW Trip

Last two days of the trip. Friday, we awoke to more snow in Portland and the East Fork Lewis River flowing a nice 1100+ cfs. Time for some creekin’ in the snow. This creek was on my short list after doing some pre-trip research. Roadside class III-IV, scenic and waterfalls! Troy had to be home to get some sleep before his night shift and Mark and I had a drive back to Seattle ahead of us, so we left early and we ready to launch around 9:30am. The snow got thicker as we drove up the river and it covered the roads by the time we arrived.

Snow on the shuttle road and Troy unloading the boats. Photos by Lance Jones

There are several sections to run on the river, plus some nice tributaries, but we opted for the popular waterfall section. Start at waterfall and end at waterfall, with some nice rapids in between. Hard to beat that! A couple strokes from the eddy on over Sunset Falls. Troy took the line on river right, Mark and I opted for the river left route. There is a small hole above the lip to rob your speed and the goal is to aim left over the drop to avoid the worst of the hole at the bottom.

Mark at Sunset Falls. Photo by Troy Norman Lance at Sunset Falls. Photo by Troy Norman

Headed downstream and entered the tight rapids section of the creek. Troy decided to go for a ride in one of the first holes he found and came out minus one drain plug. But after adding some foam to the hole, we were ready to take on the next two drops. ‘Screaming Left’ forced most of the flow toward the undercut right wall at the bottom and ‘Dragon’s Back’ fed into a nice hole requiring a line up on the fold to avoid the maw. The main rapids finished with ‘John’s Swimming Hole’, which of course had a nice sticky hole at the bottom.

Mark heading LEFT. Photo by Lance Jones Troy watching that wall as he tries the right side. Photo by Lance Jones

Troy riding the Dragon’s Back. Photo by Lance Jones Mark avoiding the ‘Swimming Hole’. Photo by Lance Jones

Next up was the finally, Horseshoe Falls. From the top, all you could see was several slots, but you could tell that the river right was NOT the way to go! Squeeze through the middle slot and then ride the fan to the lip. Now that’s FUN!

Lance at Horseshoe Falls. Photo by Troy Norman

We said goodbye to Troy and hit the road North for one last day before we had to come home to the drought. The snow eventually changed to rain and then started to clear. Tried to find the end of a rainbow, but it kept running away just as we were about to reach it.

Made it through the Seattle traffic and met Dave and Amber for dinner and made plans for a quick run down the Lower Sultan in the morning. This would be Dave’s second run since moving to this land of whitewater. This run being 15 miles from his new home. I don’t think he minded skipping his propose fence building project for the introduction to his backyard creek. I think they made a smart move from Paris, TX. I also think he might need a creekboat to get ready for the spring rains/snowmelt.

‘Texas’..umm.. ‘Washington’ Dave’s new home. The dog, waiting for a fence, watches Lance and Dave as they plan the route to the river. I guess she’ll have to wait a little longer. Photo by Mark Cumnock

Dave at one of the nice drops on the Lower Sultan. Photo by Lance Jones

After the quick morning run, Mark headed back to Bellingham to return the van and catch an early morning flight back to Birmingham and Dave and Amber took me to the Seattle airport for the red-eye flight home. Along the way we made a stop at the REI store, now this place is huge and contains a mountain bike trail and 65-ft climbing tower.

All in all a great trip with some great folks, breathtaking scenery and beautiful clear and cold whitewater. Every run, except for the ash-laden Toutle had extremely clear water, a rare sight in the south. Time to figure out a way to make another trip, this time I’ll aim for a month or two later.

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