WA boaters?

[peeforward]

i got to seattle last fall and didn't get much chance to paddle around here before the snow came. everything must be high right now. any insights on where to go to knock the rust off? any WA area boaters out there? I used to paddle 80-100 days a year for 6 or 7 years and did a lot of creeking but the last couple of years have found me doing much less boating. where should I go to get my groove back? good playspots right now?

[cloudpeak]

Try Split Rock on the Skykomish. It's at the take out for the Boulder Drop run.

[kayaktheworld]

What kind of runs have you done throughout the rest of the country?

[peeforward]

well it's been a couple of years but i've mostly paddled in alaska. not sure if this will mean anything but i've run ingram creek, 6mile hundreds of times, upper upper willow, little su a lot, magic mile of the kings, honolulu creek, bird creek and falls a bunch, campbell creek a lot, ship creek a lot, and a bunch of other runs that i can't think of right now. (a few of them are around 500+ ft/ml with good volume) i lived back east for a while but paddled pretty mellow stuff while there except for the occasional run on the upper blackwater. i paddled the upper youqh a lot and ran all of the gauley, new and cheat sections all the time. i spent a winter boating down in chile paddled the futa a bunch (never ran zeta), and ran a bunch of creeks around pucon. nothing super rad. i've done a fair bit of paddling around costa rica too and a little bit in slovenia but almost all of what i would consider class 5 has been in AK where i've spent most of my life. whew! that was long.

[peeforward]

Try Split Rock on the Skykomish. It's at the take out for the Boulder Drop run.

i paddled the sky and boulder drop last fall at around 2000 i think. is there better play when the water comes up?

[cloudpeak]

You might prefer the Sky at 5,000, or try the Wenatchee.

[kayaktheworld]

The wenatchee is the best play in the state and maybe the best play on the west coast. The wave at split rock on the sky comes in pretty well at 5000 CFS. The paradise ledge hole on the green river is a really good spot for cartwheels and trickywoos.

[peeforward]

thanks guys! i've got a three day weekend coming up (yep, i'm a weekend warrior these days) and i think i'll do some touring at steven's and try to hit the wenatchee play run. (water/weather dependant) maybe a little air under my butt will get my head back into boating. anyone else interested?

email me at forward@u.washington.edu

[Yonder_River]

I'll be moving up to Seattle in two months and looking to hook up with some boaters too. I prefer mostly IV/V, but don't mind getting in the playboat sometimes. I'll contact you when I'm up there.

[peeforward]

cool. i would have said the same thing a couple of years ago but i need to get my head back into it before i run true class V again. i'll be studying all summer but won't have any real obligations for the month of june. i think we'll still have a lot of water then.

[Conundrum]

Tons of creeks up there.

Try www.washingtonkayakclub.org to meet some paddlers.