Chiwawa

I ran the Chiwawa River in WA yesterday (5/28/01) with 3 friends. We had 2 kayaks and a 14' cat and ran the Huckleberry Ford to Wenatchee River section. At approximately 1 hour 20 minutes into the trip we came up to a new downed tree (pine needles and branches still intact) that spanned the entire river. It's 20 - 30 river minutes before the bridge near Goose Creek campground, in the Big Meadow Creek Gorge. It's a heavily forested area making portage for kayaks difficult, and pretty much impossible for rafts. There isn't a good eddy for an oar boat above the tree, but there is a log to side up to on river right about 80 feet above the tree. We had to line the cat around trees and thick brush, a saw would have helped tremendously. Lining the cat added about 1 1/2 hours to what should have been a 3 hour trip. The tree poses a serious hazard to boaters.