Matheny Creek

With water washing over the big gage rock and knowledge that the last section of road accessing the Upper was washed out, we decided a run on Middle Matheny was the prudent choice for our Friday after Thanksgiving #OptOutside adventure. Flows were 20,000 cfs on the Queets at 10am and 18,000 cfs at 2pm. We put in a couple hundred yards downstream of the 2160-80 bridge on river right and used ropes to lower boats. The whitewater was fun and consistent class III with lots of good moves and the beautiful Matheny Creek scenery and clear water; a few spectacular Douglas fir trees still line the banks. We took out just upstream of the 2160 bridge on river right where a rough trail accesses the river. Flows dropped over the course of our run with levels at a near optimal level for the lower (a few inches of the big gage rock showing) and we briefly considered continuing downstream. Ultimately we decided to save it for the next day. Boaters on the trip included Tom O'Keefe, Cyn Taylor, James Girton, and Leanna Girton.