Skagit

A small group of us ran the Skagit from Newhalem down to the bottom of the last S bends rapid. We had two kayakers and one packraft. We typically do not use the Goodell Creek access for the put in, we have found that there is a small turnout in Newhalem off of Ladder Creek Ln just downstream of the footbridge that crosses to the powerhouse. The rapid that drains from the powerhouse is runnable but not really worth it, there are no real waves, bushwhacking up to get into it would suck, and the rapid leads into the left wall which you'd want to avoid. We put in just below this for the series of fun class II+ rapids in this section. The first of which has changed a little since the flood, more of the channel now goes left into the wall, but both sides of the river go. The next rapid was the most significant change we saw on the whole river. Where flows used to take the river right channel only, there were two big holes on the river left side of this channel that created some fun waves. These holes are completely gone and there are no longer any features on the river right side. A new channel that takes roughly half of the river volume has cut its way through the huge boulders on the left and has created an awesome playground for eddy hopping, surfing, splat rocks, small boofs.. it's really a fun rapid, try not to blow through it too fast! After this, the large midstream boulder that used to create the 'ocean wave' is still in play thankfully. The Goodell Creek rapid seems to have changed a little bit, the river right side feeling like it's cleaned up a tad with less rocks and holes. Unfortunately the floods totally wrecked the awesome eddy at the Goodell access point and now the mystical tree filled eddy is just a giant beach.

As for the flatwater section, there are a few notable changes. The river right channel (where the crashed boat is on the river left bank) has a nasty nasty strainer that most of the flow leads into. The massive rootball a couple turns down has disappeared, and it appears the new channel cutting though the trees on river left has gotten a bit larger. The corner wave has changed a little bit and is no longer creating that fun double surf wave, much of the channel here now flows over the cobble bar to the right. Prior to the flood, there was a nasty jagged steel cable pointed upstream in the cobble bar near the corner wave, I was unable to locate this again so tread lightly in the area. There is a new logjam on the river left a little ways down from here that is easy to avoid but is definitely new.

The S Bends have changed, in an unfortunate way in my groups opinion. The first rapid seems to have lost all of its waves, and now features characteristics more like a chute, rather than a big wave train. The rapid no longer has the drop into the big V wave followed by a few haystacks depending on the flows. The second S Bends rapid seems to feel a bit bigger, not sure if this is because the first one is so mellow now but it felt big and fun still. The massive boulder just below the second rapid has been washed out, no longer creating that big fun hole. We were sad but pleasantly surprised to see that a few new rocks fell into place here and instead of one big hole, they create somewhat of a new rapid, though it's not as big as the others. We called it 'S Bends 2.5'. The third rapid seems to be pretty much the same, with the best line being to hit the hole in the center on approach and then ferry left to hit the fun ledge wave next to the big boulder. We took out on the beach on river right just below the last S bends because the flatwater section afterwards.. ain't nobody got time for that!

All in all, the Skagit has become a lot more chill besides the new wood here and there, but it's not really much more of an issue than it used to be. The rapids are easier, but the flatwater section felt more exciting than before, faster eddylines, little waves etc. Really wish the Skagit saw more of the natural flood cycle to keep the riverbed naturally dynamic, it's not like the three reservoirs upstream are running out of water anytime soon..

Pleasant float.

As part of hydropower licensing for the Skagit Hydroelectric Project a group of us paddled the reach from Newhalem down to Copper Creek, stopping at key sites along the way.

A very pleasant float.

Did this section yesterday on packrafts; yesterday flow gage said 4370; today it says 4130; either way, it was easily floatable the whole way with no pull-overs. We did stop to scout the S-bends before hitting them, as the wave train looked pretty significant, but there was an easy line to take and we had no troubles. Even if one wanted to ram the wave train, the whole river seems super safe (albeit COOLLLDDD), so I wouldn't even worry about just gunning it for fun. There was no wood we had to be concerned about the whole run.

He means a diagonal wave, sometimes called a 'lateral,' at a 45° angle from the bank as opposed to 90°. The crux seems to be the lateral wave that sits just below the tongue leading into the wave train on the first S-Bend drop, trying to flip you back and left. Just power through it.

Family trip on the Skagit River. Aki rows his grandma, uncle, and cousins down the river.