50 - 8/7/09 - Lower Lower Sauk and Lower Lower Skagit

Continuing the trip, we got up and left camp at around 8:30AM. The current was still reasonably fast, and there were no problem logs in the river. As we approached the confluence with the Skagit, the channels got more and more braided, and we had to choose carefully.

Once on the Skagit, the current picked up and we moved pretty quickly. The confluence of the Sauk and Skagit is below the town of Rockport, so we had to use a fishing access downstream. We chose to use one about 4-5 miles down, which had a nice beach that we could drive onto to load the boats.

As we got near the takeout, we noticed some houses next to the river. There were PVC pipes sticking out of the bank, and at first we thought they might have been drainage pipes or pipes for pumping water out of the river, though they were quite a way up the bank. Looking at the aerial view of the houses on Google Maps, it appears that the houses used to be quite a bit further from the river. These pipes were in the back yards, possibly part of a sprinkler system, and were uncovered when high water eroded the bank.

All in all, I'd say it was a fun overnighter on a nice section of river. I hope to do it again sometime with a larger group of people.