Waptus

The Waptus & Cle Elum loop checked all the boxes. Beautiful hike. Wilderness paddle. Towering gorges. Wide open mountain views. Great surfing. Multiple access points depending on your whitewater appetite. What more could you ask for? — On 4/25/26, Ariel, Robin, and I paddled the Waptus and Cle Elum. We had so much fun Ariel and I repeated the next day! We put in below Waptus falls and took out at the last bridge before the reservoir. Calculated inflow to Cle Elum resevoir was low at 1300 day one and 950 day two. There was one river wide sweeper clogging a drop on the Waptus that we portaged river left, otherwise the runs were clean of wood. — The hike was really pretty! It felt like a fun blend of Eastern and Western Washington forest. We stepped over or around about a dozen or so easily navigable blowdowns. Only a couple small snow patches remained of this year's dismal snowpack. We crossed hour creek climbing over a little logjam to keep our feet dry. The camp with a view of Waptus falls was a nice spot to grab lunch and inflate the boats. (47.4403667, -121.1193259) — The paddle started out with some chill class II with some peekaboo mountain views. The evergreens grow right up to the bank and tower over the river. About halfway down the Waptus some fun little class III’s start to emerge. One of which was clogged by a sweeper, portage river left. A far left sneak underneath was possible, but a rock clogged the landing pad at our flows complicating the move. At 900cfs, the Waptus was starting to feel a little boney. I wouldn't want to go too much lower. (47.4256720, -121.0958390) — We splashed through a few more fun class IIIs until we got to the z rapid, which was certainly the crux of the Waptus. It could be scouted from river right, and it's possible to portage the first half of it. But the half portage puts you in at a kinda messy part of the rapid, so make your own judgement call with what looks easier. It felt III+ or IV- to me. Pushy, meaty, with a few barely submerged f-u rocks in speedy current. The good news is that it is short and there is a nice recovery pool below. It also serves as a good litmus test for lower China. If Z felt scary, maybe consider taking out at the confluence / Davis peak bridge. If it felt easy & fun, you might really enjoy lower China! (47.4227123, -121.0896349) — Almost immediately after the confluence with the Cle Elum is Waptus hole. We got out of our boats river right at the confluence to scout it out. We ended up taking the sneak route far right, which was a bit complicated by some guard rocks on the right, and some current pushing us left towards the hole. Maybe next time if I'm going to scout and sneak it anyways, I'll just take the easy portage route on the right. (47.4186172, -121.0876249) — After Waptus Hole there were a few fun rapids until you hit the calm stretch before China falls. It was probably 75 yards long with a couple good eddies to take out on river right above the falls. Portage was easy. The falls are an impressive sight! (47.4146599, -121.0930718) — From here on the whitewater felt mostly IV- with a couple rapids that felt almost class IV to me. Really fun high quality whitewater though! There were a couple holes I was glad I didn't end up in and a couple undercut rocks that looked a little spooky. But otherwise, dang! What a fun ride! And despite the low flows, still plenty of water. I can see going quite a bit lower for a more technical, rockier run, with longer recovery stretches. And the scenery… wow. Impressive gorge walls with more towering trees above. What a cool section. — On day one we actually took out at the bridge below the gorge. I ran the half mile back to the Waptus lake trailhead to grab the car. Maybe next time if all we are doing is this fun triangle (Hike / Waptus / Lower China), I'd start the hike from the bridge to have the car waiting for us. (47.4030457, -121.0974408) — Day two we passed under that bridge and headed all the way to the last bridge before the reservoir. The river opened up with big views of the surrounding mountains. We managed to pick the correct channels to avoid running aground or portaging wood. Braids here are active. There were some really fun surf waves along the way! Eventually we took out at the last bridge and called it a weekend. Good times (47.3557135, -121.1068667) \---