Cowlitz, Clear Fork

River report - April 18, 2004

GAUGES: There was talk of the gauges being off from last year but we determined (through video from this trip and one in June 2003) that the gauge reads the same now as it did then. We had 2000cfs on the Cowlitz@Packwood gauge both times and 870cfs on the Cispus@Randle last year with 1100cfs on that gauge this year. The video showed the same water level (on the trip some thought it was higher, some thought it was lower, the video showed basically the same levels both times with maybe a few drops more this trip).

WOOD: There is basically the same wood as last year and we ran with 3 portages. One of them is runnable, one is about 10 feet, the other is 'The Bad Neighborhood' (which is cleaner than before). The log jam shown in one of the photos here hasn't been there for awhile. Other than that, most wood was in the same places that I remember them in last June. However, I did say 'most wood' - so nobody runs it blind and finds a piece that I didn't mention. This is just to say that it's good to go!

Happy paddling!