Methow

I was in Chelan for the 2022 US Open of Paragliding and we had a day that was too windy to race gliders, so I pulled the packraft out of the car and did a personal first descent of the Methow from McFarland Creek river access to just above Pateros.

The river was flowing well with snowmelt but wasn't terribly cold and I was able to get by on this 90ºF sunny day with a pair of shorts and long sleeve splash jacket in a decked packraft. I saw no other boaters out on the river except for a raft group that was already nearing the take-out when I was shuttled upriver. Although there were a few pieces of wood on the banks and near couple bridge pilings, no wood was in play and there were no atypical hazards on the run.

I stopped for a break at the formal river access that is located about 1/2 mile downstream of the Burma Road bridge. This river access has two trails from the parking area to the river and a restroom but requires a parking pass. It's a much more functional put-in or take-out than the Burma Road Bridge but you can't back a raft trailer to the water's edge like to you can at the bridge (but there is a lot more parking at this site).

The rapids were fun in a packraft and there was just enough punch that I chose to avoid a couple holes so I didn't get a packraft beat down out there on my own.

I took out at the Douglas County PUD river access that is about 3/4 mile upriver from Highway 97. There are several red buoys in the Methow that help identify the take-out site which is screened a bit by vegetation. After letting my gear quickly dry in the sun at the take-out, I was headed back to Chelan. Total time on the water for the 17 river miles from McFarland to Pateros was about 2-1/2 hours--pretty quick at this flow!