Toutle

Kayak'd the Toutle Easter Sunday 4/24/11 - Lots of fresh wood in the river, especially at the start of the run in the upper part of Stairsteps and Tempest. The wood in Stairsteps is not a major hazard but will be in play for rafters. In an IK I was able to skirt around it pretty easily except that it put me in a bad approach for the lower part.

The log in Tempest is another matter. It is DANGEROUS! It's right in the middle of the hole, pointing upstream and just above water level. If you didn't get out and scout you would not see it until it was too late. If you go far right and get every bit of the hole in Tempest, you MIGHT miss it, but then you're all up in the hole at Tempest which is not a great place to be. And, if you flip or fall out there, you most certainly would come in some sort of contact with the wood. Who knows how much is submerged. Sneaking the hole in Tempest is really not possible because there just isn't room between the log and the rocks to make it. Trying to sneak the hole would almost certainly bring the log into play. The only real run is the slightly left of center run. It is clean and runnable at 2,000 (and above, likely) but may get boney at lower flows.