Wynoochee River

The first 2 1/2 miles is a relatively calm prelude to the action soon to come in the gorge.  We had one mandatory portage for a riverwide strainer early on, and I had another where I made the wrong choice at an island that forms on the top bend of an oxbow. The left channel was clear. I went right and had to make a swift exit in current.  Landslide Rapid is obvious as it looks like a roadblock at the end of a straightaway. 

Landslide Rapid From Bottom of the Portage

The portage was a big chore no doubt. Luckily there was a usable handline set up to climb up the steep dirt gulley.  We considered river right but there was a vertical tree, shown in the photo, blocking that eddy area. From river right it would be a quick portage, but you would have to launch into whitewater. Soon after Landslide there is another big drop. We saw branches river right mid-rapid, and wood on river left at the bottom. We took the safe way down and portaged. From the bottom it looked fine to paddle down. Next up we saw a train car on the banks of the river on the left. What a sight to see. 

Train Rapid Boater in the Middle of Train Engine and Train Carriage

The must-make move in Train Rapid is not hard. You have to line up correctly going into it and make one move to the right with help from the current.  It is a surprisingly narrow gate on the right in between a metal fin and the rock riverbank. After Train there are a number of fun chutes.

And dozens of waterfalls from creeks pouring off the gorge walls from high above, some as high as one hundred feet. 

And some unique wood formations. This reach is dam controlled at the Wynoochee Dam upstream. Flow can change instantly by hundreds of times. This increase in flow lifts up even the big old growth trunks and redeposits them further downriver. 

There are many blind corners in the gorge and even some in the flats. Its always best to send a scout ahead and scout from land. We were properly nervous about wood. We saw a couple rather large fish. One had a reddish hue that I guess is Pink Salmon. There were lots of flies for fish to munch on close to the surface. The take out was a nice amenity. A dry, clean, cobble bar to change clothes and partially dry gear out before the hike out. Once up the initial hill, the hike through the new growth forest was nice. 

Due to the number of portages (we did 5, of which 3 were mandatory), the hike in and the hike out, there is some pay-to-play for this one. We were on the river for slightly under 4 hours, which included a 20 minute lunch break. With a little more flow, fewer portages, and confidence one gets from having run it, we would probably shave off an hour on the next trip without any effort. This one is in my Top 3 on the Olympic Peninsula, behind EF Humptulips and NF Quinault.