Top Tye Creek!!!
Top Tye Creek is kinda like those ice creams that I used to get at Dairy Queen as a kid. They take an ice cream cone and dip it in molten chocolate that instantly hardens into a hards(ish) shell. You’re taking awesome and making it AWESOMER. This is possible with some things in life; ice cream first and foremost, then cars I guess and finally Creeks. Top Tye is one of these.
Top Tye Creek is kinda like those ice creams that I used to get at Dairy Queen as a kid. They take an ice cream cone and dip it in molten chocolate that instantly hardens into a hards(ish) shell. You’re taking awesome and making it AWESOMER. This is possible with some things in life; ice cream first and foremost, then cars I guess and finally Creeks. Top Tye is one of these.
Top Tye Creek is AWESOMER.
Back in the day, this was considered a beast and is in one of Tao’s videos: ‘Twitch 2000’. They make it look pretty intense but this creek is definitely in the boatable range for anyone who is decently confident in their ability to hit a delayed boof and doesn’t mind a little beating now and again. I would say a solid class IV boater who feels good on CC Lewis would be fine in here.
There is an entire section above this portion of the run that is even bigger. No one in this day’s group were feeling froggy enough to jump, with the obvious exception being Rob. Rob McKibbin ran every major drop on the river this day and while I don’t have it on film; it’s the first top to bottom, no portage descent that we know of. I could be wrong, maybe the older crew has beaten him to it, but I kind of doubt it.
Top Tye is a great place to tie your creeking shoelaces. It’s steep, with must make boofs that will teach you the error of your paddling ways. It’s also very much a pool drop run though, so even if carnage happens there’s a good chance you’ll stay in the eddy below the feature.
There’s a fine line with flows here. Too little water and the F* you rocks are out in force, screwing up the best intentions. Then there’s the high water days that take all the fun out of your heart and fill your stomach with dread. But those days are good too, sometimes. This weekend the river level in the Skykomish was around 8800 cfs and dropping. The sapling, that we use as the gauge down at the takeout, was about 4-6 inches out of the water. This is a low flow, perfect for first timers and veterans alike.
I apologize for all the POV but it’s so hard to get out on the bank for a run like this. It would be like stopping at the bottom of each hill on a rollercoaster. Not gonna happen!
Enjoy:
Stay Safe
