Chewuch

A couple weeks back I made my way to Winthrop and took some town laps before camping upriver and running the Methow the next day. My brother and I had to come back and float the whole section while the flows were still nice. We put in at the five mile bridge, we found the easiest access to the river was on the upstream side of the bridge on river right.

After plopping in we were treated with fairly continuous II+ rapids with some great waves and a few decent sized holes. This section tapered off relatively quickly and settled down to class II gravel bars intermixed with logjams and short flatwater sections. None of the wood was impassible at these flows but as the river drops the lines might get a lot tighter or disappear altogether requiring portaging. We stopped at a few spots along the way and noticed lots of beaver activity the entire way, possibly why there is so much wood on this section.

This class II section is really remote feeling, the forests remain intact along the riverbank and there was tons of wildlife to be seen. Just as we were noting how wild the run was feeling we began to see rich peoples cabins scattered along both sides of the river. This section once we reached the houses settled down to class I-II. We noticed a lot of sit on top kayaks and flatwater crafts along the banks and couldn't help feeling a little upset that these folks are presented with amazing access to the river only to not utilize the rivers whitewater potential.

Just as you're starting to wonder if there is anything else on the run the canopy around the river opens up and there is a distinct horizon line ahead. This marks the Fulton Diversion Rapid, a fun class III rapid that has a few more options at these higher flows than when I was on it a few weeks back. Hey diddle diddle down the middle works great, there are also options along the side that offer technical lines through scattered holes. The section from here down to Trapid has a lot less surf waves at this flow than at 1350 and just flushes through a bit faster. Trapid is fun to run middle right over the largest ledge where a fun boof awaits. Don't worry about swimming here because it's all pretty much swift flatwater and class I until the takeout. Takeout at Heckendorn Park on the river left side not long after passing over the highway 20 bridge over the Methow just south of Winthrop.