Robe Canyon: Fall 2011

Robe Canyon is a pretty girl. When Robe gets big hang on!! She will beat you up if you don't give her the attention she deserves. Flows can be a mystery, especially in the winter months when it rains. Even though the gauge is at the take out, what lies upstream can be described at times as 'anybody's guess'. To figure out what the flow might be there are tools like geometry, statistics..  engineering calculus perhaps, but nothing can really train you for Robe Math. You just have to go and hope for the best on those rainy days. What am I talking about? Well, Rob McKibbon describes it this way, "it's the only run where you want it to be lower at the put in and HIGHER at the take out. HAHAHAHAHH!!" I never know what he means when he laughs like that.

To say Robe Canyon has a flashy nature leaves much of the story to ponder. There is just so much more to it!! Robe Math and all, she's a pretty place to spend the afternoon.  Off Broadway, Hole In The Wall, Conversation, Last Sunshine, Hotel California... just a few of the goods. In the meantime, here's a small video snippit on Miss Robe dishin' up some big water love. oh yeah

Paddle safe.

music: AWOLNATION -Sail

Chelan Gorge: final release

Chelan PUD has offered releases the last three years on the Chelan River via a flow study made possible in part by American Whitewater. I recently read the original write up on the first feasibility study in Chelan Gorge. At the time I had only been boating a few years and had a different perspective. If Chelan was the only river to paddle in the region I could see pining for releases. However, Tumwater Canyon, Icicle Creek, and the best playboating the state has to offer are an hour away. Not to mention, Chelan looked nuts. I thought these guys were crazy. Things change.

This is the last year and last weekend of the flow study, then it's up to somebody other than me to determine how many times per year this jewel will have enough flow to kayak. Rowdy as always, it's good to be back!! Big intimidating bedrock drops set in a dramatic gorge. Warm water and hot temps... couldn't ask for more.
And while Tracy Clapp, Britt Gentry, Forrest Hubler, Rick Williams, John Gangemi and Bo Shelby all got to go in first back in 2000, we get to refine the lines and discover new things about the run. And there are always the un-run drops. Or should I say un-run DROP! During the last day of the last flow release Rob McKibbon aka Superchamp first D'ed the biggest drop of the run, Pinnacle. We all looked at it for a long time and worked through many different rescue scenarios if things were to go awry. In the end, I think there were 6 throw-baggers with multiple bags, two guys at the Sieve Drop just downstream and I was in my boat, in the water, 5 feet away from the bottom hole in Pinnacle. It's about as safe as it's gonna get. It is by far the most intimidating drop on the run. Rob made it look easy.

Professor Gnarly, the aptly named ledge hole at the bottom of Entrance Exam was handing out the big smackdown as well as some passing grades. Mostly smackdown. Professor Gnarly is a stickler, pay attention.

 

cruising to Chelan

"you only get to run a drop blind ONCE"

Dave studies Entrance Exam for his 2nd lap

 

Ellie doesn't think the Prof looks so bad

 Fish employs DOUBLE EXTRA SAFETY at Entrance Exam

 

Meat Locker safety crew

comin' in hot!!

 
 winna winna, chicken dinnah!!
Adrian

 Fish sets safety at Meat Locker

 Rob scouts Pinnacle  dan p photo


Brad tries to move the sieve rock @ Sieve Drop

Rob at Pinnacle  dan p photo 


Rob, Scott, Totten, Alex and the whole gang will be back next year, pending release dates. Chelan is always a good time. Can't wait for next year!!!! SYOTR

Tumwater Canyon is a Summertime Classic

the goods...

End of summer and it's been wet on the west side of the Cascades. Drizzly wet and definitely not sunny. Wishing for hotter temps, I've been travelling a bit. Weekends have been filled with sun while the west side sulks in the beginnings of what is predicted to be an epic wet winter. The cloudiness takes a little bit to acclimate to if you haven't lived in an environment like this. I moved from a small town in Indiana where it hardly ever rained. When it did, though, some of those storms would shake the house!

Coming from all that sunshine and moving to Seattle right before the flooding began in the fall of '90 was quite a wake-up call. I stared at the TV. I was 16. I didn't even know what 'whitewater' meant. The news choppah hovered in front of 287 foot tall Snoqualmie Falls as it thundered off an impressive 78,000 cfs into the canyon below. It was foolish to try and get a view from the 'viewpoint'. The spray was BLOWING and the water was chocolate milk. As I sat and watched, my brain filled with terror. Where can all this water go?!? I believe it's still the all-time high flow. It was so unbelievable to see. I had no idea that the world of kayaking even existed. Glad I came to my senses.

It stays dark pretty much all winter on the western slopes of the Cascade mountain range. And things can get depressing, I won't lie. There is one savior amongst the wet and mossy ruin... when water runs through your veins, whether you paddle or not, you know. The plop plopping brings new meaning. Good friends are on the way...

A calm moment in Tumwater Canyon

Logan experiences peaceful reflection on the Tum

As we wait for our good friends to show up, the rivers remain low. However, one safe bet for some end-o-season goodness is Tumwater Canyon. Tumwater, in the spring, is the second closest thing Washington has to the Zambezi (the closest example would require removing several large dams from the Columbia and lettin' that ol' girl RIP!!). Only big-water class V stompers like Marco Collela and Darren Albright paddle the Tum come spring-time. After high water and the Tum comes down a bit, the rest of the kayakers like to come out and have a go, too. Low-water Tum is also a good training ground for the up-and-comer, too. Even at low water 1500 cfs, sunny and hot is always on the agenda cuz that's the way we like it!!

The weekend started about 10am Fri morning when Totten showed up. It took a few minutes to get my affairs in order, but soon enough we were on our way to Bavarian loveliness. The sunshine always puts a smile on my face. Today was no exception. Fuqua, Rob, Logan, and several other smiling mugs joined in for a splendid day on the river.

Totten and I find sun and good times

Once at the put in, things usually move along at an easy pace. The rocks down by the water are so warm and radiate the blasting furnace of heat pouring down from above. Tumwater is so goood. 

put in

A few minutes to warm up and you are the top of The Wall. Also known as Quarter Mile, The Wall is the longest rapid in Tumwater and certainly has the most boofs! It's my favorite, followed very closely by 2 others. The Wall starts out with a fun ledge boof out over a chundery hole. Plop through a few more holes until you get to the next ledge about 30 yards downstream. Then eddy down a bit before the next pitch. Take a breath, peel out. Line up, and figure out what holes to try an miss!! Get throttled down through and around the "Airplane Turn". Don't flip!! Eddy. A little bit of fun be-bop, then the last pitch. More boulder garden fun!!

little D getting cutesy above The Wall

what a cute little man?

Rob pushes little D out of the way

does it get any cuter than this?!?!

yours truly...   dealin'

Hans & Fish cruise through The Wall

kickin' it

what a cutie

Totten, Yeager and Adrian

A long runout will put you at the top of the short lake. Paddle for about 10 mintues to find a 25 foot dam. Runnable with enough water, scrape-able in most other seasons. Most people walk around and put in for... The Dam Rapid. Kayakers aren't the most creative people when it comes to thinking up names for things. The Three Amigos! are the next three 'tweener' rapids. Then... Chaos.

Careful... the dam is serious

Fish spocks a line at the dam

Hans and Fish, kickin' it...

yes that was really stupid and a LOT of fun!!

Kris Yeager kills the boof at Chaos

A-trian droppin' bombs

yeah buddy!!

By now Totten and I were all fired up!! Logan and everybody else was, too. We all dropped into Chaos one by one. Totten got a little janked up on a rocky ledge an flipped. Ouchie. Everyone else made their way through. I boofed the crap outta that bottom ledge. Screw gettin' stuck in that one.That hole is just MEAN. The runout from Chaos is really fun, with a steep-continuous Idaho-kinda feel. Now you're at the rusty bridge. A great little beach to lounge in the sun and finish a run, or... prepare...    for the gnarliest are yet to come. 

P.O.W. is STEEP and FAST, with LOTS of HOOOLES an stuff. I've been running the left line lately, super fast with a big hole to punch half-way down. Enter center, aiming for the left side of a wave. Steer a little left as you crest the wave and drop in. 20 yards down, start aiming right, until you can see the curtain of water pouring off the side of the giant mid-stream rock in the very center of the rapid. This is the crux. As that curtain of water comes in to view, so does the apparent sluff of the river bed. It all tilts a little left and pinches down into a frothy deep hole. This hole can ruin your day. I've seen it happen. Punch the %#^k*Ng shist outta that hole. Blow through the curtain, drop over a couple quick ledges. Then the main 5 foot slurper. It all happens really fast!! To finish, just downstream of the slurper, is the most fun hole to get stopped in you could ever imagine. I call it the Typewriter Hole. Hit this thing DEAD SIDEWAYS and maybe drop an upstream edge, just a little. Roll. Cartwheel. Whatever strikes your fancy. This is a rodeo creeker's wet dream. Hold a  brace 5 more seconds... ahh, eddy. The hole autofeeds you into the right eddy, no matter how you hit it!!! That's some good business, raht thurr. Good practice for the Payette.  P.O.W. is just so good!!

Super Joe cleans up

playboat style...

Everyone has smiles at the bottom. The  next half mile consists of some technical fun boulder gardens, straight down to the final chapter in Tumwater Canyon. Last Exit. Last Exit hands out a BEATING if you don't to come correct. She's a pretty gal, but you best know yer biznass if you come a-callin'. She don't like pretty boyz that talk a lot. She's a sweetie who deserves respect. I've been entering right, off a three foot boof, then slip out to the center. As I pull out I can see the riverbed heaving. It's a sight to behold. Have some right angle, going off this next big ledge, don't get pushed left. Having a clean line off this ledge will set you up to miss the line of rocks below, but don't go too far right. You'll go into a deadly rock syphon-cave against the right bank. Don't do it! Then, water carries you toward a big boulder. Catch one of the waves in front of the big rock to surf you right, and away from the scuzzy rock pile immediately downstream. Don't ask why it works, just know it does. Then either eddy quick (recommended) or bash down through some holes to the very bottom of the rapid. If you caught the eddy (recommended), you now have the choice to power-drive across the main jet of current to the left side. Carve past a large center hole and drop down the final pitch, carving across a beautiful twisting flume to a lovely pool of green on the left bank. Holla at will. Slap some high-5's an do it again!!

Hans & Fish saddle up

style..

Rob wonders, which way ?

I'll give 'em the 'ol  1-2...

hang on, Rob!!

duct tape DOES hold in class V

Rob McKibbin, champin' it!!!

Exit is high-speed

...and badass

Totten

oops

I'm tellin' ya, it don't get a whole lot, much better. Walk back up to the cars, have a beer. Relax while everyone runs shuttle. What? We're going again? Yeah!!

Sat morning we woke up at Logan's and proceeded to cook the biggest pile of bacon I've ever seen. I laughed when I saw it! There was just so much. We made some eggs and lazed around. I went back to get another piece later, and it was ALL gone!! We better paddle 3 laps today. Met up wit all the bro's at noon, there were at least a dozen of us. Blair, Chipper, Adrian, Totten, Logan, Yager-bomb!!, EVERYBODY!!!

blue angels runnin' Exit

I love Tumwater, but even more I love good times on the river. This weekend had no shortage. Smiles all around. Thanks goes out to everyone for rallying over to the east side for some hot sun and cool whitewater!! See ya next time. Hopefully the river will have enough water...

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