Hans checks in from Washington

With the ongoing Cali drought in full effect, I decided to pay a visit to my old friends Bruce Weide and Pat Tucker in the North Cascades of Washington. Pat's family homesteaded a "stump farm" near Darrington, in the early 1900's. The property now serves as a retreat for the Tucker clan and is known to the locals as Tuckerville. It is also close to some great wilderness whitewater runs.

I flew in to Seattle and rented a car and drove to Seattle Raft and Kayak. At the urging of EJ Lloyd, I passed on all the larger volume river runners and demoed a Jackson FUN. It didn't dawn on me till later that when it is 98 degrees in Seattle, all the glacial fed rivers go to flood stage! Which is what the local Darrington rivers (Sauk and Skagit) are. So, when I pulled my boat out of the back of the rental car, Bruce looked at me and said "I think we have tupperware in the cabin bigger than that".



Bruce had back surgery 9 months ago that repaired and fused two vertebrae. Also, added a couple of metal rods. So my expectations for river difficulty were low, because he sounded unsure of his ability to boat. But, in classic Bruce style, when I showed up he was ready to tackle anything below class V, of course. We decided to drive and scout some of the local runs. All of them (Sauk, Suiattle, and Skagit) looked intimidating to Mr.California - big, cold, opaque with glacial milk, and worst of all, full of wood. We decided to do the Skagit the next day because it seemed the easiest and had a road right next to it (for obvious reasons!).

The Skagit is a big river, and for us it was extra big. The guide book said that the best flows were from 2000 to 8000 cfs. Because of the high temps, today it was 12000! Couple of practice rolls in 38 degree water (can you say ice cream headache!) and we're off. We started out unsure, but slowly gained confidence in the class 2 rapids. The sceanry was incredible. Jagged peaks, glaciers, cascade rain forest, and wildlife. After eight miles of pretty moderate rapids we came to the S-Turns. These are a series of class 3+/4- rapids that drops through a narrow basalt canyon for about a half mile. As we approached, I thought about my little "tupperware" boat and my friend Evan Jackson. As it turned out, the S-Turns were big fun! Big crossing waves, much like River Rat on the Kings, only bigger. Wish I had pictures, but I was to afraid to eddy out. Both Bruce and I had so much fun, we bike shuttled and ran S-Turns again.

On boating day two, we decided on the upper Sauk River. Again, both of us were nervous because of the nature of the river (wood and high water!) and that neither of us had done it. As had happened for us on Brush Creek, at the take-out, a guardian angel was waiting to save our butts. Kelly boated a Cat with oars, and had run this section of river maybe a thousand times. He also taught river rescue and first aid. He needed a shuttle, and we needed help. All good!

We put on at Bedal campground, where at 11am it was already 90 degrees. The first class 3 rapid ended with a snag protruding dangerously into the heart of the rapid. Either miss it or limbo. We all missed it. I asked Kelly if anyone had ever thought of cutting down the snag with a chain saw. Revealing his wilderness ethics, he explained that this was a wilderness area, and that the snag "had more right to be here than you". End of story. We had a great day with Kelly guiding us through the many channels and log jams. He was full of information and was quick to point out things of interests. Like the house that washed away in a flood and now resided in a log jam. Or the 18 wheeler that went for a swim that didn't turn out so good. We finished with a rapid named Rocky Road (class 3) that was the highlight of the run. The run was so good (scenic beauty and rapids) that we ran it again with Kelly the next day. It was as good or better the second day.




I had to take the boat back to SRK and pick up my wife in Seattle. We ended the week with a few days of strenuous hiking near Darrington. It was a great trip for me for two reasons. One, I was able to boat in an area that I had never been before. It was incredibly beautiful and had challenging whitewater. I would recommend this as a kayaking destination to anyone. Second, and most important, I was able to boat with a great friend, who had overcome serious surgery and was able to enjoy kayaking again.