Tye

This run is getting more attention as of late. Put in is about a mile up a single lane potholed road along the Tye river.
There is a sign that says 'private road no turn around' and the river bends away from road. Put in here. The take out is at the road junction with the FR68 Foss road. The run is barely a mile long, pool droppish, and has some great boofs. There is a lot of wood hanging in from the banks and a couple class V penalty boxes, though the overall difficulty remains class IV. For first timers it's wise to scout carefully, or go with someone who knows the lines. Levels can greatly effect the difficulty. The Tye typically holds water late into the season, so this can be a great option when other local creeks have dropped out. Laps are easy, no hike in or off and hot laps can take less than 15 minutes. And of course there is always the option of extending runs downstream.

I did a road scout today, and found at least 4 wood hazards in Mind Bender, making the first 2 sections unrunnable. This is some BIG wood, and will probably be there for a long time.

DO NOT put in at the base of Alpine Falls unless you really like flatwater paddling. You're looking at a small amount of class II followed by 2 miles of slow moving, braided channels. In addition you get one large nasty log portage.

The class IV+ stuff is a lot of fun, but access this section from the Foss River Rd. or from Highway 2 when you first see the river after passing Foss River Rd.

Take out at the confluence with the Foss, or at Highway 2 to avoid more flat water/ class II.

We put-in at Alpine Falls. The first part was a little slow (you wouldn't miss much by putting in further downstream where the river nears the road). After portaging a big log jam we came to a section with some great IV/V boulder gardens. We paddled down to the Beckler confluence but not much action beyond the first Hwy 2 bridge that comes shortly after the confluence with the Foss. The Skykomish at Goldbar was at 4000 cfs.