Wenatchee River May 9th, 2025

Thank you, Mary Keppler and Washington Kayak Club, for a wonderful kayak trip on the Wenatchee May 9th 2025.

We met in Cashmere to set up our shuttles.    I was sleeping as I waited because I took my wife to work before taking the car for the day. We put in at the raft launch in Leavenworth.
• Dennis Keller
• Mary Kepler
• Phil Meyer
• Joel Martin
• Nevan Baus
• Jeffrey Holden

Water Level was about 6,500 ft3/s.   This was a fantastic level.
Playlist of all Videos and Summary:
Video Play List

Go Pro Summary:
Go Pro

We had a few waves to warm up before going under the bridge in Leavenworth and into Boulder Bend.   I tried to start my camera but ended up just getting behind and snuck down the right side of the river.    The waves were still big and exciting though.   There are some rapids after Boulder Bend and then some easy water to recover.

Then we come to Happy wave.   Mary was already surfing as I dropped in from above.   Happy wave was 30 feet wide and about 4 feet high.    Plenty of room for a few boats.   It was a fantastic surf.  For me it is one of the top ten waves that I have surfed.   So wide and clean with a big eddy to get you back up for another try.   I found that I could just slide in from the eddy.   There is a parking are just downstream of the wave so you can park here and just play.

I personally think it is worth starting in Leavenworth for this Boulder Bend and the Happy Wave.
We floated though Peshastin relaxing and enjoying floating down the river.    I missed a common kayak put-in at the Fish and Wildlife site.

Then we floated into Rock and Roll.   I followed Mary back and forth to avoid the holes and ledges on the left.   We easily avoided Satan’s Eyeball which is on the right.    A lot of big waves and holes in this long rapid.   

After Rock and Roll the river calms down because of the dam.   While Dennis and Mary ran over a small ledge on the left channel the rest of us hauled our boats around the right side of the dam.   Make sure to portage this and look before you consider anything else.   The dam on the right channel will kill you.  The left parts of the dam have rocks and trees in some places that could be dangerous.   You will need to know exactly where to drop off the ledge. 


There are some fantastic waves on the Wenatchee.   At least 5 have excellent eddies so you can try many times.   Here are some surfing videos:
Mary

Jeff

We stopped for lunch at the corner with a special wave.
Lunch Wave

I took Drunkards drop on the right, but many took it on the left.   There were some big waves here and a big surf wave that I did not try.   Next time.
Drunkards Drop

Mary demonstrated some great surfing at Turkey Shoot.   We all tried Turkey Shoot and there were a few rolls.    It has a nice foam break for some side surfing.
Turkey Shoot


The last big rapid was Snow Blind.   I ran it down the left and avoided some of the waves and pushed off a raft that I caught up with.
Snow Blind

Then a final Granny’s to finish off the run.
Granny's

What a fantastic River and a great group of people to kayak with.