I bought a key to the NF Snoqualmie gate, and I had been wanting to make use of it. I had expected to get a chance earlier, but spring took a long time arriving. Three of us went out for the day. I drove down to the takeout and walked to 1.2 miles back to the gate. We then drove up to the other gate, rigged, and walked the .3 miles to the put-in.
The flow was very good - around 1100 cfs - and the rapids were fast and busy. After about a half mile, we were running the right side of an island when we saw a tree blocking the entire river. We got into an eddy just above the tree, and planned our portage. The problem was that there was current coming in from the left, around the island, and the current pushed into the tree, making it hard to get to the eddy. The plan was to have the strongest boater paddle over and then help the other two of us with ropes.
The first boat went over, made it almost to the eddy, and flipped, going under the log. He was able to get to shore and come back up. He cleared branches away and threw the rope. The second boat was tied off and the boat and boater pulled to safety. Then it was my turn. I was not careful with the rope, and when I took off, the rope came off and I didn't make the eddy. I realized I wasn't going to make it, and I tried to dive out of the boat. I did everything wrong, and I ended up with the boat on the log and I went under it. I caught my drysuit leg on a branch and had to pull it off. I immediately knew it was ripped. I was swimming with my suit filling with water and my paddle going downstream. I yelled for the second boater to go get my paddle, and she did. When I got to shore, I got out the duct tape to patch my suit, and then the two of us remaining pulled my boat off the log.
The rest of the trip was uneventful and lots of fun, despite my torn suit. I wear a lightweight wetsuit under my drysuit when it's cold, so I wasn't uncomfortable. The one rapid I was a little worried about turned out to not be a problem.
I let another group know about the log so they would be prepared for it the next day. They had no trouble because they knew to take the left channel around the island.
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