Paddle with Terry Fox

Short boat surfing

Tom began his association with Wolf Bauer and the Washington Foldboat Club (later the Washington Kayak Club).

Trip Report

2018 Hobuck Hoedown Results

Despite the low water, the cold weather, or the put-in blockage, a fearless wiener roasters – on 11 hard-shell kayaks, a tandem canoe and a solo canoe - gathered on Saturday, March 2, to run the Skykomish from the Big Eddy to Sultan, Class 2.

The Illinois River in Oregon had been on my bucket list for a few years. As this is a challenging Class 4 32-mile stretch, we were aiming for the optimal 1000-1500 CFS range and a nice warm weather. Bill Petty, Doug Nicholson, Bob Metzger and I chose April 20 as our launch date and headed to Grants Pass, OR the day before. Bill has run the river about 10 times, Doug has several times, Bob once about 20 years ago, and this was my first.

The Jarbidge (a Shoshone word meaning “monster” or “devil”) is a privilege, primarily for self-supporting kayakers with solid paddling skills and willingness to portage fully loaded boats through the land of poison ivy and rattlesnakes. The stunning deep narrow canyon through the Southwestern Idaho desert, combined with the exciting whitewater, made the four-day Jarbidge/Bruneau trip priceless.

Clean-up Summary

Trip report

Trip Report

Trip Report for Chiwaukum Creek

On March 30, 2019, twenty-eight boaters gathered at the Chehalis River Campground in British Columbia. One third of the group was the WKC crew, and the rest were the Vancouver Whitewater Club (VWC), to which I also belong. There is no gauge published on the internet, but there is a stick gauge at the take-out. On the beautiful sunny Saturday morning, the water was at 9.3m. It was at the lower end, but some Vancouver folks had been running the river at that level the last few days.

Occasionally, people describe a river as a “gem”. For me, no river is more gem-worthy than the Metolius. Its headwater bubbles up from the ground; crystal clear cold water creates a small pool and starts the river. This spring water guarantees enough water for boating even in the dry months of the year.

The annual end-of-summer run is upon us – woot woot! It’s called the Annual Flip-Flop when the Bureau of Reclamation begins releasing water from Rimrock Lake through the Tieton Dam in Yakima County, to aid in successful spawning and incubation of the Chinook salmon eggs in the Yakima Basin, it also helps serve irrigation interests downstream, which in turn provides good boating through much of September. It usually begins Labor Day weekend and they slowly increase the release throughout the month, hitting the peak near September 15th.

Having heard the South Fork of the Salmon is fantastic whitewater, this river had been on my bucket list for a few years. Rated Class 4-5, it was more challenging than other multi-day trips I had done, and I wanted to go with someone who is familiar with the run.