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.