Stillaguamish, S. Fork

Ran this section at 9.6 feet. The river was clear except the usual places. With a newer paddler with us, we portaged at 48°04'18.0'N 121°35'29.5'W, though the rest of us could run near the left shore between logs. Near the Red Bridge Campground 48°04'12.3'N 121°38'57.9'W, I always run the left channel. There is a fallen tree at the corner, but boaters with Class 3 boat control skills can easily miss it by staying close to the island. The right channel is still completely blocked. Took out at the Boardman Creek bridge. The log jam right above it was not there today, but it is best to check before the trip.

May 4, 2020. At Triangle Y Camping Club/Marble Pass the river makes a broad horseshoe away from road. The downhill leg of that horseshoe has a nasty logjam...current goes through left but at 6.1 feet on gauge the overhead logs and water level logs were beginning to make a tight window. Road/river scouting and portage difficult. Google Earth shows river wide sweepers, but this new structure is worse. Strong team with keen danger intuition preferred. More serious wood at Red Bridge but you can easily scout from closed campground.

I ran this run from the Ice Caves bridge at Big Four down to the gravel bar at the bridge. Starting at Deer Creek is a better idea, just to avoid the worst logjams at low water.

This run is steep, and filled with logjams, but the logjams just move the water into another channel, so if you are careful, you never have to portage. Despite the steepness, the rapids are all class II with a few II+ rapids. It's very strange to have such a steep river without bigger rapids.

This run can be combined with the run down to Verlot, but remember: When this run has enough water to make it exciting, the run below it becomes closer to class IV, especially in the long rapids in the middle of the run.