Trailing a Strap

On the front of my boat, I have a 4' orange strap. On the back, I have a 6' orange strap. These straps have several useful purposes. The main purpose is to have a strap you can grab onto if you flip and the boat starts to get away from you. It's also useful if someone else needs to haul your boat or attach a rescue rope. Finally, it means that you will always have a strap handy to attach your boat to a trailer for transport, or to secure the boat when it's rolled up.

Why not trail a rope? Ropes will compress between rocks and woody debris, and when the load is reduced will decompress, which can wedge the rope. Straps don't do this.

The length of these straps is important. If the strap is too short, of course, it's ineffective, but if the strap is too long, it can cause problems. A 6' strap in the back of the boat is short enough that it won't accidentally wrap around your paddle.

The color of the strap is not critical, but it does help if it's a light color to contrast with the water. It does need to be a floating strap, and in my opinion that is way more critical than color. A bright neon strap that sinks is useless compared to a darn green one that floats.

Sometimes, hardshell kayakers will come over to me and tell me I have a strap dragging. Many of them will toss it into the boat, and that's fine as long as they don't secure the trailing end to anything. After all, when I flip, the strap will come out of the boat and trail behind, which is where I need it.

38 - 5/19/2012 - Green River Gorge

On the previous Sunday, a friend of mine died at the Nozzle on the Green. It wasn't a high flow or anything like that. We don't really know what happened, other than his raft got stuck on the right rock and something happened as he tried to remove it. He was a great guy and I'll miss boating with him.

A small group of us decided to run the Green - 3 IKs and a hardshell. The weather was sunny and the flow was a relatively low 1200 cfs. We started out at the fish hatchery across from Kanasket-Palmer. Everything went pretty smoothly until Mercury. Yes, once again I flipped my IK at Mercury, though this time was somewhat unique. I was trying to take a left line and got pushed right again, but this time I ended up in a huge hole and was paddling hard to get out but not making much progress. The last boater dropped into the hole and I thought his wake would allow me to get out, but that didn't happen. I turned the boat around and tried to surf and pull to the side, but I flipped. Knowing that the final boulder ledge was not far away, I quickly got the boat back over and got back in. I ran the final set of drops without thigh straps, but made it fine. We then ran the Nozzle and spent some time studying it before continuing on.

Another great day on the Green. There were no other boats on the water, though.

37 - 5/18/2012 - SF Snoqulamie

The river was flowing 900 cfs and I went with my next door neighbor.

36 - 5/17/2012 - Middle Middle

The snowmelt really brought the river up, and we considered running the SF Snoqualmie, but we decided that the 2500 cfs flow was within our range. There were 3 IKs, a raft, and a couple of catarafts on the trip. Most of the trip was just the usual fun class III, and we played around quite a bit. At Right Angle Drop, it was time to concentrate. I ran the center line there, and ran the far right at Entry. Once in House Rocks, the Goal Posts was a very small drop, but the main drop was much bigger than normal, with a breaking wave in it. The second half of House Rocks was easier for me, but one person went over the little rock on the right and had to really dig out of the hole. The next rapid ("3 Holes") was pretty big, but that just allowed us to practice bigger water moves.

I'm looking forward to a run at a slightly higher level in the near future.

35 - 5/13/2012 - Lower Cispus

The second day on the Lower Cispus was pretty similar to the first, though we got an earlier start. The weather was sunny and warm, and the flow was around 2000 cfs. We had one new boat in the group, and one person switch from a cataraft to an IK.

At Lion's Jaw, I took the far right slot, which is the biggest drop on the river. I would always take this line, except that it is the are that has the highest likelihood of a hidden log, so I only do this if I run the Cispus two days in a row or if I can get someone else to lead and give me a signal.

At the end of the trip, we heard about a problem on the Green River. The original report was that someone in an 18' raft got stuck at the Nozzle and drowned. I found out later that it was a friend of mine in a 13' raft. It's very sad when a fellow rafter dies on the river.

34 - 5/12/2012 - Lower Cispus

A few days each year, the Lewis County PUD opens the gate at the Lower Cispus takeout for people who don't have a key. I like to help the cause by attending these events. We had a couple of rafts, 3 catarafts, and 4 IKs, and a flow of around 2000 cfs. The weather was sunny and fairly warm.

I had the first flip of the day, just after lunch. I decided to push the limits at a big hole and got munched. I got back in the boat pretty quickly, but when I got my paddle up, I knocked my knife out of the scabbard and saw it go into the river.

At Lion's Jaw, I took the center line, which led into a big ledge wave that required a hard brace. The IKer following me didn't brace hard enough, and he ended up flipping. All in a day's play...

33 - 5/10/2012 - Middle Middle

We had 3 new people on this trip, but I really don't remember anything about it.

32 - 5/7/2012 - Middle Middle

One of my friends and I took advantage of the nice weather and good flow to run the Middle Middle. The flow was around 1400. We took our time and enjoyed the rapids.

31 - 5/6/2012 - Lower Green Gorge

My friends and I got up, had breakfast, and helped clean up the camp before running shuttle. I helped a friend shuttle so he and his girlfriend could spend the night on the river. We got back and a small group of us kayaked and rafter from Shangri La down to Flaming Geyser. It was another sunny day with a good flow, and it was a nice relaxing run.

30 - 5/5/2012 - Green River Cleanup

After a great run at The Nozzle
(photo courtesy Brian Vogt)

We had camped over night at Shangri La. I ended up in a group of people who planned to run from the uppermost put-in down to Flaming Geyser. This included a couple of people who had not solo rowed the Green Gorge before, which made for an interesting day. When we got through Ledge Drop 1 section, one of the people considered pulling out, but decided to go for it. This turned out great. We had a fun trip. The weather was sunny and we had a flow of around 2000 cfs, which is one of the higher flows for the Green River Cleanup.

After the run, I went back to camp and had a great dinner and enjoyed the evening with friends.

29 - 5/4/2012 - Green Headworks

We thought about running the SF Stillaguamish, but the flow on that was too high from the rain, so we decided instead to run the Green Headworks and head over to the WRRR camp on the Green early.

We put in at the upper put-in above the gate. The flow was around 2000 cfs, which is a little high for the Headworks run, but it makes most of the run a little easier because the rocks are covered. Everything went well until we got to Ledge Drop 1. One person flipped at the bottom, and then took a while to get their boat turned back over and get back into the boat, and ended up flipping again in the next rapid. It took quite a bit of time to get everyone back together to run the final rapid.

28 - 5/3/2012 - SF Snoqualmie

The original plan had been to do 10 days of kayaking in Washington and Oregon, but the river flows all went way up, which made it too dangerous for us to do this. So, my friends came out for a 4 day weekend to attend the Green River Cleanup and do some local boating. They arrived on Thursday evening, and we did an extended run on the SF Snoqualmie.

The flow was around 1000 cfs at the put-in (the gauge read lower, but there are a lot of creeks between the gauge and the put-in) and it was raining, hard at times. We ran all the way into North Bend and took out at the train trestle.

27 - 4/28/2012 - Green River Gorge

The Green was running around 1900, which is a great flow for my little cataraft. The weather was sunny for the 4th weekend in a row! The road where we normally put in was blocked just past where we start, making it hard to turn around, so we decided to use the uppermost put-in. The usual way people handle the Green is to drop boats at the put-in, and then meet at the takeout. However, it seems that many people have gotten lazy with this, so I was the only one of 4 boaters to do this. Eventually, we got on the water and moved fast.

I was a little nervous when we got to Mercury. I wanted to see where I had flipped the previous time, and I wasn't disappointed. It was obvious why I had flipped.

Otherwise, the run was just plain fun. The father of one of the boaters in the group ended up making burgers and hot dogs for us at the takeout. Great guy!

26 - 4/27/2012 - SF Snoqualmie

When I got home from boating the previous evening, I had a message from someone who wanted to IK the SF Snoqualmie the next day. My shoulders were a little sore, and at first I didn't want to go, but I decided I could still boat if I took it easy. The flow was just a little lower than the previous two days, and the weather was still great.

25 - 4/26/2012 - SF Snoqualmie

I had originally expected this to be the first day of a 10-day IK trip that would mostly be in Oregon. However, between the recent warm weather and the run that followed, all of the rivers we wanted to run looked like they were going to be too high (and this turned out to be true as the days progressed), so we decided to put off the trip until July.

The Middle Middle, which would have been our usual choice, was running 3700 and rising, and the only person who wanted to boat was an IKer friend. So, we did another day on the SF Snoqualmie. The flow was slightly higher than the day before, and the weather was quite different. When we got there, we had sunshine. By the time we were in the rapids, it was cloudy and dark. 10 minutes later, we were pelted by rain and hail, followed by thunder and lightning. This was another very quick run.

24 - 4/24/2012 - SF Snoqualmie

Some friends wanted to get in an after work run while the SF Snoquamie was running high. The gauge said 900 cfs, but with the low-elevation creeks running high, it was probably closer to 1300 at the takeout. We stopped and surfed, but the 3 mile run still only took us 30 minutes.

23 - 4/22/2012 - SF Stilly

With other rivers running high, I decided to go and run the SF Stillaguamish. It was running around 6.3', which is a good medium flow. We had another sunny day, and the snow that had been at the put-in the previous time was gone. The initial class III section was a lot of fun. The rapid above the old log jam was very fun - I think this is my favorite level for that rapid, as it makes it hard and forces me into some tough places but it isn't so hard I can't handle it.

22 - 4/21/2012 - Middle Middle extended

There were all kinds of possibilities for a nice Saturday. The Middle Middle was flowing around 2500, which was a great cataraft flow, so a friend and I decided to take our catarafts and do an extended run of the Middle Middle and Club Stretch, which has an easier takeout.

The weather was beautiful, but we were the only people on the river as we started out. We passed a small group of kayakers at one point. Then, at A-Frame, we saw a group of boats and people. At first, I thought that there was a group of Sheriff's rescue people doing an exercise. This would have made sense given the helicopters flying around the area. But, it turned out to be a group from BEWET (Boeing's whitewater club) dealing with a wrapped raft - in a place where there's no reason for a raft to go. They didn't seem to need our help, so continued on.

The rest of the Middle Middle run was lots of fun. At Second Island Drop, I found a lost paddle from BEWET. When we reached the takeout for the Middle Middle, I left the paddle. We continued down the Club Stretch, where there were many more boaters. We talked to a canoeist (with his kids) who had apparently flipped earlier. He asked if the rapid above was the worst of it - he was going to have a long day if that was a hard rapid. As we floated down, we met 3 other groups of beginning kayakers and their instructors.

The final views of Mt. Si were spectacular.

21 - 4/19/2012 - Middle Middle

There were just a couple of people available, and the flow was down to 1100, but it was still a nice run. I decided to try out my new drysuit to make sure it would be OK for my upcoming 10-day trip. During the float, it started raining on us pretty hard.

20 - 4/18/2012 - Club Stretch

A friend wanted to try out her new cataraft frame on something easy, so we ran the lower Middle Fork Snoqualmie - known as the Club Stretch (because the kayak clubs use it for instruction). This is an easy class II+ section below the Middle Middle that has great views of Mt. Si, especially at the end.

The run was uneventful. There are usually logs blocking some rapids, but the run was clean. The one thing that was not so great was that my drysuit started leaking. I may have a zipper problem.

19 - 4/15/2012 - Green River Gorge

The flow on the Green was just 1100, but it was a beautiful day and well worth the trip. There were 4 of us in IKs and we were the only people in the upper gorge.

Everything went great, but I had an interesting run at Mercury. I had decided to try to run the left-of-center line at the bottom, but it turns out that you can't get there from the center of the rapid. I moved right, but couldn't get back to the left. In the end, I found myself on the far right, where there was just one small slot to get down. This was a 4' drop right into a hole, where I found myself upright. The problem was that the exit was to go into another hole sideways, where I found myself upside down. I knew that The Nozzle was coming up quickly, so I got the boat reflipped in one move and was back in before The Nozzle. My paddle was under me, but I went through and was able to get the paddle out before the next little rapid. It was a great feeling to get this self-rescue right.

18 - 4/14/2012 - Middle Middle

A friend wanted to do this run for his birthday, so there was quite a large group. The plan had been to meet at the takeout at 11, which normally would get us on the water before noon, but one group of people were over an hour late, making a dozen of us wait. A few of us had commitments later in the day, so we had to push it a little. Otherwise, it was a beautiful and fun day, with a flow of around 1100 cfs.

17 - 4/12/2012 - Middle Middle

We had a small group for this run - 3 IKs and a cataraft. The flow was in the 1500 range, and it was a nice enough evening for a quick run.

16 - 4/1/2012 - Middle Sauk

The Middle Sauk finally has a gauge, but it hasn't been completely calibrated yet. It seems to read a little on the high side. The great thing about this gauge is that not only will it give us a more accurate reading on the Middle Sauk run, it will give us very good estimates on the Whitechuck (Middle Sauk minus Upper Sauk) and Suiattle (Lower Sauk minus Middle Sauk).

With the temperatures and flows dropping, but still 1100 on the Upper Sauk gauge, we had a group of 4 boats on the run. I took my 11' cataraft, which was perfect for the flow. I had a pretty straightforward run. I ran left of where I wanted in Jaws, but I still had a good run. We had nice weather through lunch, and it didn't start to get cold until the end of the run.

Over the past 5 years, I've averaged 8 days in April. It will be interesting to see how this April goes. We have a good snowpack, but it's colder than usual.

15 - 3/29/2012 - Middle Middle

This is the time of year when we start doing the Thursday evening Middle Middle runs. A day earlier, the flow was a low 800 cfs, but steady rain brought the flow up to over 1700 cfs with lots of creeks adding to that. A couple of us met at 5PM to do a quick run. The water level was excellent and despite the rain it was fairly warm. We splashed our way through the run and did the whole thing in under 2 hours.

15 runs by the end of March is a bit of a record for me, especially without any extended trips so far this year. I hope this pace continues and I can get a little bit ahead on my 2014 goal.

14 - 3/17/2012 - Middle Middle

I had thought we would run the Green, but it was a little too high for one of my friends and we figured it would be nice to run something close to home. We just had 3 people on the trip, but the flow and the weather were good, so it was a fun run. Just below Cable Drop, I wasn't paying attention and got flipped by a little rock and a wave. It was no big deal, and it was good flip practice.

13 - 3/11/2012 - Green River Gorge

A couple of us decided to run the Green Gorge after we heard reports that the problem logs had been cleared out with the recent high water.

The flow was around 1100 cfs when I left my house for this run, but we got lucky and the flow came up to around 1400 cfs before we got on the river. We put in just above Ledge Drop 1, and got ourselves into the flow. There was a log on the left of Ledge Drop 2, which forced me to go right of my usual run. I smacked into a rock and ended up swimming the tail end of the rapid, but that was no big deal.

We made our way down through the early class III section. Just before Mercury, my paddling partner said he wanted to see my run through Mercury. This resulted in me getting a bit self-conscious about it, and I went too far left. Before I could get back over, I got very friendly with another rock. In this swim, I let go of my paddle. When I got to the side and was ready to hop back in my boat, we saw the paddle going downstream. My friend got out the spare paddle, and we headed through the Nozzle. As I ran the next section, I started thinking about whether I would replace the paddle now, or just use one of my backup paddles. I also thought it would be a good idea for me to get back into the habit of carrying my own spare. Luckily, my friend found my paddle, so I didn't need to worry about the first part.

The rest of the run was easy, though we were wary of new wood. It was also considerably colder as we exited the gorge. Such is the way of the Green.

12 - 3/10/2012 - SF Stillaguamish

Not many people wanted to boat, but we put together a quick trip on the SF Stilly. The flow was in the high 6' range that morning and was still climbing, so I decided to take my 11' cat boat (Cubby). In the end, we had over 7', but it was pretty easy in the cataraft. The hardest part was the put-in, where we had to lift the boat over a snowbank and then lower it down to the bank.

The rapids were a lot of fun. This run used to scare me, but I've gotten more used to it over the years and I enjoy going up to do this run.

11 - 3/4/2012 - Middle Middle

Hanging out below A-Frame Drop (courtesy Mike Curtis)

In the morning, I woke up early and confused. I turned on the light and saw that I was late for work and wondered why my alarm didn't go off. I got up and started getting ready for work when I realized... it was Sunday, and I was going boating!

A little bit of early snowmelt brought the Middle Middle up to around 1280 for the day, so a group of us did a quick mid-day run. The weather was nice - some clouds, but a lot of sun. We had 3 rafts and I ran my IK. At that level, everything is pretty straightforward, so it was just a fun time.

10 - 2/25/2012 - SF Snoqualmie

The plan was to run the Middle Middle, but then the snow came and we didn't want to have a vehicle stuck at the put-in, so the plan morphed into running the SF Snoqualmie. I took my Stiletto out for the first time in nearly a year. The flow was around 800 cfs, possibly higher due to the creeks, and there was just two of us kayaking. We met a couple of people rowing a 16' raft down the river to practice for the Grand Canyon, though the SF is so small and steep that it's not really relevant practice.

Near the end, I decided to do a practice flip, so I went and surfed the rapid that I usually flip in, and helped it flip me. (Or is that just my excuse... LOL!)

9 - 2/18/2012 - Butte Creek (OR)

Preparing to flip in Splitting Hairs (Brian Vogt photo)

A group of us went down to the Molalla drainage for the weekend, and the rain brought Butte Creek up to a point where we thought we'd have a chance to run it. On the way to the put-in, we saw a group of people scouting Splitting Hairs, which is one of the harder rapids on the run. We followed these people to the put-in (after getting a little lost) and figured out where to get in the river.

Right away we realized that it was going to be boney. We had just barely enough water for most rapids, and not enough for some. At Butte Creek Falls, it took me over a minute to slide sideways down the main drop, still upright. A couple of rapids below, I got stuck and had to get out of my boat. When I put the boat back in, I had to jump a ways to get in. When I hit the boat, the boat pushed down onto a rock and stopped, but I didn't. I grabbed onto the boat and swam below it until I could get back in. Almost immediately, I ran into more rocks and fell out, so I had to get in again.

About a mile downstream, we came to Splitting Hairs. I had already decided to run the left slot, but I thought there would be more water. I entered too far left and ended up stuck in a crease in the rocks. As I pushed through, I flipped and then ended up face down on top of a rock in the river. I got out of the boat, reflipped it, and then went back upstream to help direct the others.

After this, there were lots of little class II+ and III rapids until we came to a steep blind drop. We checked it out and decided to walk around. This brought us to the middle of the biggest rapid of the day. We paddled across and then decided to walk around most of the rest of the rapid. There just weren't any good lines that weren't risky because of the low water. We had a hot lunch (tomato soup, courtesy of Brian) and finished the portage. Just before getting down to the river, I slipped and landed hard on my bottom.

We continued down the river, finding another easy class IV rapid and several nice class III ledges. The scenery was fantastic right through the end of the trip. I look forward to running this again someday with a bit more water.

8 - 2/11/2012 - Middle Middle

We got less rain than expected, but warmer temperatures brought a little bit of snowmelt and the Middle Middle was running around 950. Putting in below First Island drop, we had a group of 5 IKs, surrounded by a couple of good-sized groups of hardshellers. We passed the group ahead of us, expecting that they would slow down to surf, but they ended up passing us back below Second Island Drop. All in all, it was a fun run.

I have now IKed the Middle Middle 142 times, which means that most likely I will hit 150 this spring. I may have to come up with some way to celebrate this.

7 - 2/5/2012 - EF Humptulips Overnighter (Day 2)

Approaching the Falls portage (Brian Vogt photo)

I woke up early and started packing. We built a fire and finished all of the leftover wood from the night before, and got going while it was still sunny. It turned out that we were much closer to the Falls than we had thought. The big drop above the Falls was just around the bend from camp, and the Falls was just a few hundred feet below that. I led the portage. There was almost enough water to float through the portage channel, so the portage was pretty quick. The clouds began to come in, but it continued to be warm and pleasant for February.

There was one log near the end of the Falls section that could be a little problematic at higher flows. We were able to duck under on the left, but this log could end up falling down into the river. Hopefully, high water will float it out. This log made me feel nervous in the Gorge, but that's not unusual. Luckily, there were no logs in the rapids. At Surf 'n' Turf, the higher flow made it easy to run the left slot, which is one of the most fun runs on the trip.

At the end of the Gorge, the 3 trees in the river had gathered a few more pieces of wood and we had to do a quick portage. That was the last of the wood and we made it to the takeout in good time.

6 - 2/4/2012 - EF Humptulips Overnighter (Day 1)

This photo is from 2009, but our 2012 campsite is just downstream on the right

We had been trying to get in an EF Humptulips overnighter for a few weeks, and this week cooperated beautifully. The ideal situation with this run is to have a big rainstorm followed by sunny weather, and that's exactly what happened. The plan had been to drop camping gear at the put-in for the Falls run, and then go up to run the Narrows. My right elbow was bothering me, so I decided that I would just wait for the others to run the Narrows, but everyone else decided to just get an early start on the Falls.

We carried our gear down to the river and got our gear loaded. I decided for this trip to use a larger drybag in the front of my boat, and that worked out fine. I had my biggest bag in the back, with a chair strapped to the top. In the front I had a load of firewood and my other drybag.

We got on the river just after noon. The temperature was around 50 and it was sunny - a perfect day in the lush river valley. The waterfalls were flowing nicely, and the river flow was just a little higher than I had run it before (which was fine - I've always run it pretty low). We didn't have any problems with trees, which we had been concerned about.

We passed up a couple of cramped river-side camp sites before coming to an area that looked promising. There was a large flat bench about 15 feet above the river on the right. I commented to someone that I wondered what it would be like up there, and a few minutes later we stopped. One person went up to the bench and beckoned for us to come up. There was a lot of devil's club (a thorny weed), but behind that were many clearings. The ground was a little boggy, but because of the recent dry weather, it was perfect for tents. I had a spot with a nice view of the river and lots of sunshine for drying out my gear.

We hung out and had dinner in the moonlight. Oddly, I was the last person to go to bed, though I went to bed at around 8PM. We still had a lot of firewood left over.

5 - 1/15/2012 - Green River Overnighter (Day 2)

I got up early and started packing. We left camp at around 10AM, just as it started to snow hard. I got stuck once more on the way down, but only for a minute or so. Near the end of the run, I got ready to go down one side of an island when I realized that what I thought was a bridge in the distance was actually a log. I was just barely able to get back upstream and get into the other channel.

When we got to the takeout, I had to walk about 1.5 miles to get my SUV. As I exited the park, the ranger pulled up and informed me that the park was closed due to the snow, but he was going to let me drive back in to get our gear. As I walked on, I saw him ticket someone who came into the park past the "Do not enter" barrier. I thought it was a little unfair to ticket people, even if they had passed the gate. Anyway, I walked up the hill and got the SUV and we went back to get the other car. I took one person home, and as I was leaving the area, I had some problems. As I was going down a hill, people in front of me suddenly stopped. I tried to slow down gently, but went into a skid because of the trailer and slid off the road. A friendly local helped me get the trailer unhitched and the wheels dug out (I was carrying a heavy-duty jack and a folding shovel), and it only took 5 minutes to get out.

Later that week, we would have a 2+-day power outage because of an ice storm.

4 - 1/14/2012 - Green River Overnighter (Day 1)

Earlier in the week it appeared that we'd have a good flow on the Green, but by Saturday the flow was around 750, which is quite low. I decided at the last minute to switch to my cataraft because despite the lower flow I'd be less likely to flip.

We met at the put-in and unloaded. The original plan had been for me to leave my vehicle at a friend's near the takeout and then leave the other vehicle at a friend's near the put-in, after which I would walk back to the river to meet the group. Luckily, the friend near the put-in was home and gave me a ride.

We got going at around 11AM. The weather was cold, and it looked like it might snow. We pushed our way through the shallow rapids. When we got to the Gorge, this was a bit tougher. I got stuck a couple of times and had to spend a few minutes extracting the boat. The real challenge came at The Nozzle. It was tiny! Also, there was a boat stuck on the right rock, so we had to wait. When I went in, I had a good line and dropped my oars to allow me to slide through, but that didn't happen. The current on the right rock grabbed my stern-heavy boat and pulled it to the right before I could get to the oars. Luckily, a pair of boaters were on the left rock and were able to toss me a rope. I was going to tie the rope when one of them yelled to me to clip it in. I thought for a moment and remembered that I carry a carabiner in my PFD pocket, so I pulled it out and clipped on. A few moments later I was out. One other person in the group got stuck sideways in the drop and had to be helped through.

After that, things got much easier. We had a quick lunch stop in the gorge and went on down to camp. About 10 minutes before we reached camp, it began to snow and sleet. When we got to camp, we set up the kitchen tarp and then set up our tents. We hung out for the rest of the evening and had a great dinner. I retired early because it was getting cold.

3 - 1/7/2012 - Green River Gorge

Flows came down during the week and we ended up with just under 1200 for Saturday. We had a group of 5 IKs, putting in at the fishing access near the Palmer hatchery. Things went smoothly until a few rapids below Let's Make a Deal. One person broached on a rock and flipped after getting unstuck. At the bottom of the next rapid, this person got in front of me and got stopped by a wave, which resulted in me getting sideways in that wave and I flipped. In the lower gorge, I flipped on another wave. I got back into my boat quickly each time, but I was glad I didn't have my helmet camera on.

The last hour or so was very cold, and we were happy to get to the takeout and get warmed up.

2 - 1/5/2011 - SF Snoqualmie

I work from home about half the time, and I can do an entire SF Snoqualmie trip and be back to work in under 2 hours. One of the people from the Cedar River trip the previous weekend wanted to get in a kayak run, so we met up and hit the SF. The weather was quite nice, especially considering that it was supposed to be raining hard all day. The run was clean and we had no problems.

1 - 1/1/2012 - Cedar

This is the traditional January 1 trip, where WRRR members and friends get together to start the year off with an easy boating trip. We had around 30 people, probably the biggest New Years trip so far, with all kinds of craft: several inflatable kayaks, a paddle raft, an oar raft, a cataraft, a hardshell kayak, and even a standup paddle board! The flow was excellent and the weather was sunny and fairly warm.

I took my GoPro helmet cam and got video of the entire run.