Fluid: As a lifestyle.: Tumwater Canyon

I miss Tumwater.

She's not in right now. Well, maybe really low, and my boat already has two welds in it. So I have to look at pictures and the little bit of video that I have, of beautiful Tumwater, to get my fix.

Tumwater is a class IV run with one or two class V or V+ rapids depending on river levels. This is a great place to step up your game or refine your creeking skills. Its all roadside and easily scoutable/walkable. There are also a ton of local veterans who can usually be talking into guiding you down or helping with shuttle. There will be people on it all weekend in the Spring months and plenty of oportunity to watch others take their licks while you take notes. Durring the late spring and early Summer months, Tumwater is one of the few runs in Washington where you can show up at the takeout and will more than likely run into a crew.

Tumwater was a huge mental roadblock in my first season of creeking and I was always sick to my stomach when I got to the top of POW or Last Exit. Actually, Exit still wiggs me out, but I love it at the same time just like strippers. But now Tumwater is an amazing playground that is only 3 hours away. It also happens to be right outside Leavenworth, a great way to entice non-boaters to come along for the journey.

Adrian boofs the last ledge in The Wall

I missed the normal Tumwater season that is around from late winter into mid summer (depending on your taste for level) due to my trip to the East Coast for the summer. I was able to get a couple laps in while waiting for the Chelan release in early September. Levels were low, I think 1200 cfs or so, but the sun was out and the water was beautiful. Adrian and I spent Friday running lap after lap waiting for the Seattle crew to show up for the weekends festivities in Chelan.

Tumwater starts off with, in my opinion, the rapid with the most bang for your gas money. Peep's that put in at the dam miss this gem of a rapid. The Wall is prolly between a third and a quarter of a mile long. With tons of different lines and quality features, you can spend the whole day here working on your skills or just playing around.

Totten flying through The Wall

Scott teaching me how to Boof

After some boogie and a dam comes Chaos. Generally, the rest of my day is going to be on par with my first boof into Chaos.

Adrian boofing Chaos

Tumwater Canyon, Chaos, Adrian Wigston, Scott Waidelich

Adrian, Scott and a mystery boater in Chaos

Totten takes flight in Chaos

A little more Boogie and you get to the crux of the run for most people: POW. Now, depending on how your day has been going up to this point in the trip, it's either Perfection of Whitewater or Prisoner of War. Both happen to me regularly.

Adrian watches as Rob gets Awesome

Then theres guys like Rob. Rob makes up lines in POW that nobody else even sees. Then he talks Sam into running them as well. Good on ya. According to Rob, it's a playboat run anyway.

A couple turns in the river and you get to the end of the run. The beautiful green pool above Last Exit is where most people get out and carry their boats to the car. Others have one more rapid left for the day.

Sara and Stokes waiting at Last Exit

Last Exit is the biggest rapid on the river and while I personally do not think its the most challenging, the pucker factor is by far the largest. The potential to get your head kicked in is very large. You do not want to roll in this rapid! Its shallow, sharp and fast. There are also a couple of sieves that are not really in play, if you're in the middle of the river. The rapid ends with a massive hole that takes up the majority of the right side of the river that can be boofed, or in my opinion, avoided. This hole is not much at lower levels, say sub 2000cfs, but it turns into a man eater as the levels start to come up. There have been some scary swims in there in the recent past.