Clearwater (MF Nooksack trib.)
to MF Nooksack
| Difficulty | V |
| Length | 1.5 mi |
| Avg Gradient | 360 fpm |
| Gauge | Mf Nooksack River Near Deming, Wa |
| Flow Rate as of 1 hour | 220 cfsbelow recommended |
| Reach Info Last Updated | May 31, 2019 |
Projects
The Nooksack River has its origins on the slopes of Mt. Baker traveling down to Puget Sound at Bellingham Bay. It flows through the traditional homelands of the Nooksack Indian Tribe and Lummi Nation . Over its short distance, the North Fork, Middle Fork, and South Fork all provide [...]Read More
River Description
This steep creek flows into the [Middle Fork Nooksack](http://
www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River/view/river-detail/3116/). Despite being just over a mile in length, Clearwater has more action and quality packed into it than all the other regularly run rivers in the area combined. Thirty-one distinct rapids with no drop being more than 7 or 8 feet which provides for good consistent action. If you need a description of every rapid you should probably go run something else, but to get you stoked I'll describe a few.
There are rapids like Slide for Life where you fly off a clean seven foot boof ledge, then paddle for all you're worth to get up on a rock and slide out and down about eight feet to avoid a sticky hole. Then you stay on the gas to bust through another hundred feet of holes and ledges. There is also Pinball; one of the smaller in between rapids that you wouldn't think much of until at high water you find yourself being slapped around like pinball. These are just two rapids out of thirty that would get descriptions like this. One hazard to mention is Rocky Road, the last rapid on the run. This is the trashy non descript rapid that can be seen from the take-out bridge. It has a nasty unrunnable sieve at the top that is the only mandatory portage on the run. Below the sieve, the rapid remains steep, trashy, and technical. It's probably walked more than it's run, and everyone who has run more than once has got a carnage story.
Of course the same high gradient that marks this river as whitewater gem has attracted hydropower developers. American Whitewater aggressively fought a project on this creek that would have significantly impacted the whitewater run ( [proposed project map](http://www.americanwhitewater.org/
resources/repository/3583_clearwater_hydro_project.gif)). While plans for construction
River Features
Put In
Take Out
Trip Reports
Log in to add a report2009 spring update. Most of the rapids are the same as last year except Island drop has some minor changes and a piece of wood at the bottom that could be a issue. Scout! Also the Middle fork guage seems to be about 250 cfs off at flows from 500-2000cfs. So right now this is how we have been predicting whether the creek is running:
1100-1600 while the guage is rising would be a good flow range.
1300-1800 while the guage is dropping would be a good flow range
This is the rapid immediatly below Orange Slice. Approx 4 boofs within 1 minute....
Bark no bite describes the ledges perfectly in great this double-drop rapid.
Slide for Life is in the first and only real gorge on Clearwater. The whole run is non stop, but the beginning of the run is IV/V warm up before it really gets going in this section.
Bark no Bite is a beautiful double drop about half way into the run the lands into the only pool on the whole run. The name was bestowed because the hole at the bottom looks really sticky, but everyone flushes quickly. If there was carnage upriver, this is also a good place to look for gear.
Ski Jump is right after Bark no Bite. The creek splits around an island and comes back together right before the creek ramps down about six feet to a bed rock ramp and launces down about four or six feet depending on water levels. It feels alot cooler than it looks.
When you pull upto the take-out of Clearwater and see this rapid, don't worry the rest of the run is nothing like this. You'll want to know when this rapid is coming though, so you don't get sucked into the sieve at the top. This sieve is the only mandatory portage on the run.
Newer configuration. Line down far river right.
http://plungepool.blogspot.com/2007/03/clearwater-revisited.html