The green river killer

Wednesday, November 25, 2009.
Green River 2200 cfs, class III-IV 6 mi.

It's funny how sometimes you don't plan on going paddling, it just happens. And on those days it seems to turn out perfectly. On this day the water level was ideal, the weather was warm, with blue skies and sun, and we were the only ones on the river, just the way we like it.

Wednesday morning; Chris called me out of the blue with intentions of paddling the Tilton, Green, or Middle Snoqualmie. We opted for the Green, because I haven't run it yet, and Chris hasn't yet this year, also it was the most water the Green has seen all year. We met at the park-and-ride at 10;30 am, coffee in hand with full tanks of gas.

The drive east through the Green river valley was really nice, a serpentine road travels through farmland and low lying marshes. It's a shame that all those nice residences and farms will be destroyed if the green floods this year. The dam that lies upstream is failing, and because of that they cannot control floodwater anymore. Initially the folks at the Army Corps of Engineers gave the GRV a one-in-four chance of flooding this winter, they recently down graded to a one in twenty (still not awesome for them, but further proves my friends point that you should never build in a floodzone regardless of dams).

We put on around noon and began surfing, eddy-hopping, and playing our way into the Green river gorge, a six mile gorge with limited options for egress, all options include a long hike through clearcuts and open expanses until you find the road. The river consists of big holes and wave trains that are all easy to read-and-run, no scouting necessary and almost no wood present. The gorge is pretty spectacular, large trees that tower on either side of the river, making you feel insignificant in your little piece of plastic.

This was the first trip that I have paddled my playboat on in over a year. I had a lot of fun and was reminded how much fun it is to surf on a wave, but I was also reminded how much I don't like paddling that boat. Sore ankles and spending much of the trip fighting the swirly water that boils up from the river bed in an attempt to flip me over and give me an ice cream headache.

I enjoy paddling with Chris because he is perpetually stoked about boating. After catching a good surf, or throwing a huge wave-wheel over a peaking wave the gorge would echo with the sounds of hoots and hollers from the both of us.

The only rapid that made me nervous was a rapid called "Mercury", a shallow, boney rapid with a high potential for beat-downs, and no good line through the nastiness. "Stay center-ish and pick your best option" Chris hollers over his shoulder before we dropped into the fray. I picked my best line but still managed to smack a rock with my butt. Better the butt than the smiley side though.

After several miles of playing down the river I was pooped, sweaty and tired we took a break on a rock in the middle of the river. I had forgot how hard you work when your paddling a cork down the river and trying to catch every wave you can on the way downstream.

The rive ends with a 1/4 mile hike out of the river gorge below the last significant rapid called "paradise ledge", named after the perfect surf hole that is created at the correct flows. After the hike back to the car we packed up our boats, changed into dry clothes, and drove back to the put-in to pick up the other car and made our way back home. A perfect day on the Green. The river rarely disappoints.