Location: Skykomish River: Split Rock to Big Eddy
CFS: 4,440 !!
Who was there? Me, Brad, Craig, Wendy, Jason [Garza]
The story:

Well, another day, another kayak run.

Today started off a little differently than normal.

Flat tire.

And I didn't even go kayaking yesterday, damnit! Didn't bother patching it. I'll jack it and patch it later when I don't have other stuff I want to do.

Got to Craig's and Brad did the second shuttle. Wendy was meeting us at the river. She was going to run from Railroad Bridge down while we did Split Rock down (we'd meet up at Railroad).

Today was to be an interesting day, as Craig was going to IK (Inflatable Kayak) Split Rock down with Garza in Todd's IK. It was going to be Garza's first time doing this river, and his first time in an IK, so Craig set him up with his two-piece dry suit.

Well, I only had one glove. It turns out that I left my righty in the trunk of my car back at Craig's, so I got to go bare-handed; something I hadn't ever done (even on my very first Yakima run I had gloves on). Today reminded me why it's nice to have gloves. Let it be said that I'll be more conscious of having all my gear together before the next run.

Well, Brad, Craig, Garza and I put in at Split Rock. Garza and Craig tried a little paddling in the eddy to get the hang of the dual IK. They weren't doing all that great in the eddy, but Craig said "Whatever, let's go" (or, something to that effect), and off they went. River order was Craig/Garza, Brad, Me (batting cleanup with my tow-kit).

Split Rock to Railroad Bridge We all started out great. This was the highest we'd ever run the river at before, and the sheer amount of white from split rock to Railroad was a wee bit intimidating, but I figured, after last week, this couldn't be harder. Lot of powerful waves leading up to the major Railroad bridge rapid, but nothing we couldn't handle.

Railroad Bridge Proper Fuck. The final waves leading up to the drop at Railroad Bridge were huge. I saw Craig/Garza go over the last one that leads to the reversal on river left, and then I saw them get buried with water. I figured they flipped, but then I saw Garza bobbing too much above water to be out of the IK, so I figured they were fine. As I got closer, I saw that they had indeed flipped and were stuck in the hydraulic of the reversal. So, I pulled in to help them out, but they took up the majority of the eddy space after the reversal and I started to get swept back into the current.

Didn't matter though, because as I spun around for a second, I saw that Brad was swimming with his boat floating separately down the river. Well, at this point, Craig and Garza both still had their paddles and were holding onto the IK and seemed to not really be moving much, but Brad seemed to be in a worse position, so I raced down after him. Picked him up river right while I used my tow kit to bring in his boat. But now Garza was floating down river with the IK and his paddle and Craig was further upstream near an eddy.

Brad had me pull out my throw rope (I had it strapped to the back of my seat on the left hand side, so I had to pop my skirt first) and give it to him so he could try to help out Craig if necessary. Then, it was off to get Garza...He was floating pretty fast, so I didn't want to bother with my skirt (in hindsight, I've determined that the extra 10 seconds to put the skirt on are probably worth it, because if I take in too much water getting to him, I won't be of much rescue help.)

Well, none of that mattered, as when I tried to paddle out to him, I couldn't move -- my tow kit was still attached to Brad's boat. Brad fixed that problem while I took the time to seal my cockpit. Then, it was off to get Garza with my tow-tether trailing behind me. I pulled up to Garza and he was dead tired. He couldn't grab onto my grab loop of the kayak, but he got a good handle on my tow-tether, so I towed him in that way. That took quite a bit of paddling getting him and the IK into an eddy, but I caught the eddy right near the end of the calm section before the little class II started up.

It turns out that Craig never gave good clear instructions to Garza on how to seal the two-piece dry-suit as he took in a lot of water throughout his pants (which was a big reason why he couldn't kick anymore in the river...legs were too cold). By this time, Wendy put in at the bottom of Railroad Bridge and came up to meet us. Garza was too tired from that pretty long swim, and Brad ended up busting-up his right hand on a rock, so the two of them decided to call it a day and so they started the hike back to the car with Brad's boat.

And then there were three.

The new river order was Craig, Wendy, Me (batting cleanup once again with my trusty tow-kit). The little class II before Fisherman's was actually a bit beefier then normal which was rather surprising, but nothing the three of us couldn't handle. Wendy was getting a little woried, and I just told her that if she flips, to calm down, relax, wait, and then roll. She has a great roll (which we saw plenty of on Friday at the pool session), so it was just staying calm enough to convert that into a combat roll.

Fisherman's Big, big water. I'm starting to wonder what Wenatchee is going to be like now, because this was just really, big water, There were pretty much no rocks at all on the entire run as they were all covered or washed out by the big water (did I mention that this was big water? big.) I was getting splashed a ton into the eyes despite my glasses, so I ended up having to blink or close them temporarily. On one such blink, there was a sudden drop (maybe 3 feet or so) and in the next second I was up very, very high. I still don't know if I went over a ledge, or if I just dropped into the bottom of a wave and then rode the whole thing. All I know is I was just in a big shock.

And then the ledge came.

Towards river left, 2/3 through the rapid, there's a ledge that you can normally see (4000 cfs and lower) and you'd normally hug the right of it. Well, at 4500 cfs, it was kinda covered. I ended up boofing of the ledge, but I didn't have a strong stroke before leaving the water and I ended up planted with my stern (back end of the boat) getting submerged by the hydraulic of the water dropping over the ledge.

Man was I getting worked. I was paddling and paddling and paddling, and I wasn't moving an inch. It kept making me stern squirt and I had to keep my hips loose so that it didn't flip me. I was paddling for over a minute like this and getting ass-tired. I was really contemplating flipping myself so that it would flush me out because I was getting tired of it all, but I just didn't want to give up (I'm a wee bit stubborn like that). "Come on bitch," I yelled (still not sure if I was yelling that to the hydraulic, the boat, or me), and finally I turned a little sideways (perpendicular to the main current), and with my stern out of the main hydraulic, finally got out.

Now, I can't forget to mention that all during this, Wendy was continuing on her merry way, and on the second or third to last major wave of the rapid, she got flipped. And then, amazingly, she rolled. She did it! Her first real combat roll. I was screaming congratulations at her, but then had to turn my attention back to the hydraulic that I was completely stuck in.

Well, once I got out of that hydraulic, there wasn't much left.

Except of course for that rock with a hole right after it which I went into.

Yeah.

So, At the very end of the rapid, there's this big rock attached pretty much to the shore. I'm familar with that rock due to a swim I did back in November or so. Well, right near to it is a little smaller cousin rock that you need to stay to the right of. Normally, that's not a problem. You see the rock, and you move to the right of it. Well, at this level, the rock was completely covered. Out of sight, out of mind, right? Well, I went right over that rock, got flipped immediately in the succeeding hole, and then got worked for a bit. I had no purchase with the paddle for a good 6 seconds or so, so I just waited it out for a while. Finally, I felt myself get out of the main hydraulic, and I rolled....right into a wave that shoved me back over. I got some air on the first roll though, so a second later I was back up again with my second attempt, and I decided to just lie back and float in the calm section we were now in, as I had no energy after those two huge hydraulics. That reversal/hole, whatever, really worked me. It was pretty reminiscent of Lunch Hole, only not as bad (as, obviously, I was able to roll out of this one). I definitely felt it ripping stuff from me, but it wasn't nearly as enthusiastic as Lunch Hole (hell, Lunch Hole even unzipped a pocket on my PFD...it really wanted to undress me....). This one didn't even unbutton my shirt...

I'll also mention at this point that my right hand (no glove, remember?) was freezing. Be nice to your hands. Put gloves on them. They'll treat you better that way.

Reach for the Sky Well, now it was time for my favorite little Class II rapid. This is a nice little wave train on river right a couple minutes after the end of Fisherman's. I had very low expectations though. Our numerous previous runs demonstrated that the waves only have kick at low water (1800-2300 cfs) because higher water (3000) seems to wash them out into nothing. Well, apparently we need to re-work that thinking because these had, potentially, the most kick that they've ever had. I watched Craig flying through these waves. We had just finished telling Wendy that this was going to be absolutely nothing, and as soon as I saw Craig flying, I though "Oh shit."

Well, Wendy flipped on the second wave of the train. I was about to enter the train and saw her rolling, and I thought she got up. I was yelling with excitement again over her second combat roll when she flipped upside down again. One more failed attempt, and then the arm came around the boat.

And then I was underwater.

Apparently, it's necessary for me to pay attention the water immediately in front of me, as opposed to just watching my other fellow kayakers. Well, I quickly rolled again and then checked out the Wendy situation. She was floating a bit far from the eddy, so I started going after her first (her boat had decided to go a different way down the river, so they had already parted ways). As I got closer to her though, Craig was yelling at me to just get the boat, that he'd get Wendy, so I went after her boat instead. Gosh I love my tow-kit. I recommend you get one too. Anyway, I got the boat to shore and Wendy hopped into the IK to float down to meet me. Then, it was onto ...

The Little Class II before Proctor's Creek Wendy's boat decided that this would be a good rapid to prove to her once again that she could combat roll. So, it flipped her, and she rolled. She had a failed first attempt, but her second attempt had her back up in the nice warm air. Take that, boat.

Proctor's Creek This was a lot easier than I had expected. Most of the rocks (and resulting hydraulics right after them) were all washed out. The only big thing we had to worry about was the submerged rock right after the big rock, which I've had a number of up-close and personal experiences with. Wendy was going to far river left and was about to go right into it when she finall moved river right at the last minute. She told me that she heard me yelling "Right! Right!" The odd thing is, I never yelled it. I was thinking it mighty hard, but I didn't bother yelling, because she had yet to hear anything I had tried yelling to her on the water. I recently watched Life is Beautiful where Roberto Benigni showed how powerful that positive thinking can work. Maybe that was it. Who knows.

Well, at this point, we were pretty much home free.

The Little Class II before Highway 2 This had some decently sized waves, but nothing that bad. We got through it just dandy, so we moved onto our last rapid of the day.

Highway 2 My mind started wondering by the time I got to this rapid. I don't remember what the hell I was thinking about, but when I finally snapped out of it, I realized I was 1/4 way through the rapid. It seems that at high water, there's really not much to do at all for the first 3/4 or so, and therefore I had just spaced out.

But then some big waves woke me up.

Wave! Sploosh! Wave! Sploosh!. And then I saw it. A big motherfucking wave. I mean big. I didn't know what the hell I was going to do.

So, I kinda stopped paddling.

I'm not entirely sure why I did this, but it seemed to be the right move. As I approached to the start of it, I took a couple very, very light strokes, and I ended up paddling up the entire front face of the rapid, and then right down the whole back of it. I used to think that I got the most air during "Reach for the Sky." No more. At 4500cfs, the last big wave of Highway 2 will toss you pretty damn high up in the air if you paddle it right and don't try to crash through it.

Man that was fun.

And then that was it. We were done. All in all, it was a great trip. I had two separate rolls and a lot of up-close-and-personal experience with a bunch of hydraulics, Wendy got two combat rolls, and Craig got to IK the whole thing. Of course, Brad got a little injured, and Garza just got plain tired. I'm currently blaming Brad's flip on the fact that he had willed Craig and Garza to flip in the IK during one of the rapids, so it was his retribution. Garza is thinking that it's from that bad JuJu of putting Brad's boat up on the car backwards. Regardless, it was still a great paddling day.

Until next time kids, Excelsior!

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