Twisp

Took an early morning lap on the lower Twisp the other day. There is an access spot where Poormans Creek Rd butts up against the river just a couple miles up the river from Twisp, this was the put in.

This is an interesting river, the action and gradient are nearly continuous and there are few eddys along the side, even at 620cfs, which seemed like the perfect flow for this river. There were three rapids that stood out, the first being right around the bend before the Twisp River Road bridge and the next being about a quarter mile downstream. The second rapid had a really clean hole on the right side that proved to be a lot of fun. Not too far downstream is a rotary screw trap which is easily avoidable on the left half of the river. Just around the corner is a riverwide logjam that must be portaged at this flow. I used the eddy river left about 40 feet upstream of the structure and made the quick and easy portage to the other side.

From here down to the highway 20 bridge is nearly constant action with class II+ boulder garden features and some pieces of wood here and there. As you pass under the highway bridge, the river pushes up against the right wall where there are several old cars jammed up against the bank. Keep off the bank but enjoy the rapid that flows by because it is the last of the three rapids that stood out to me. Just downstream the riverbed opens up and flows into the Methow, you are able to run one rapid on the Methow before pulling off in the big eddy river right.

I made a crucial mistake during my run, I put in at ~8:30am and did not bring sunglasses. This is a generally east flowing river, so bring your sunnies if you're going out for a morning lap!