Cooper River

Thanks to 3 'locals' two of us first timers got the guided tour of the Cooper with precious little need to scout.  We did scout the 1st slide drop since you can do that before you get in your boat.  And we scouted the S-turn rapid and Wall of Voodoo.  Other than that all went well with verbal beta.  'Go right' was the refrain at most blind horizons, with few exceptions.  Sure is nice having local guidance.  Thanks guys.

What a pretty creek!  Waterfall at the put-in.  Grey towers of rock.  Dark green mixed conifer forest.  Sparkling clear water.  A few logs in the water but nothing scary.  It reminds me of how Oregon's gem Opal Creek used to be, before the forest burned.  Protect this place!  As best we can.

The inflow to the Cle Elum Lake was rising the day we were out there, from ~800cfs to ~1200cfs.  Twas a sunny day and it must have been due to snowmelt.  The flow was described to me as 'the high end of low' which seems about right.  The holes were barely there and the bony spots weren't stupid yet.  It was a fine flow for this first timer.

My opportunity to run this coincided with the annual Salmon la Sac Slalom.  Having the skills to hit the gates on class 2 in a slalom race is a large part of what you need to successfully run the Cooper.  The other part has to do with boofing edges to stay out of holes.

We ran a lap on the cooper the weekend of 7/8/2022. THere is a lot of wood in there this year. The first drop has 3 logs in play and there is significant amounts of wood on the shores in nearly every drop. Sharks fin requires a wood portage. Many folks use this run as a 'step-up' class 4 run, which I don't think is appropriate this year. If you flip you may get pushed into the wood on the banks. It is still definitey runable and fun for those comfortable at the grade and/or who know it. If you scout the first rapid and don't feel extremely confident I wouldn't put on! Heads up out there!

A fun day on the Cooper at a good with friends: Thomas O'Keefe, Omar Jepperson, Emma Johnson, and Boris Startsev. These are photos of all the major drops.

What a great way to spend an afternoon. This was day number 2 of 5 in the Pacific Northwest

This was another great rapid. While scouting this I stood on a nest of red ants that proceeded to climb into my booties. There's nothing like being bitten by insects while running challenging whitewater.

Fun times on the Cooper River in July. Resevoir inflow was 755 cfs.

Celebrating Web's Bachelor Party with some kayaking on the Cooper. It was at a nice level but a touch low. Cle Elum Reservoir inflow was 832 cfs.

Put-in for the Cooper at a pull-out at FR 46 mile 3.2 (just beyond spur road 117). We drove up to check it out but opted for a run on the Cle Elum. Reservoir inflow was 1095 cfs and those who ran it reported good flows and a good run.

Our 1st class IV run.. Had a great time

Plowing down into Norm's Resort. For years there has been a log blocking the exit of this drop requiring boaters to portage around. I was one of the people who moved this log and took one of the first runs down the Cooper with no portages in years. I love this river!