Solo Tumwater POV at 13,000 cfs

Some POV footage of a couple solo laps on the 3 Amigos section of Tumwater.

Level was a little over 13,000 cfs.


Solo Amigos from daniel patrinellis on Vimeo.

10,500 cfs in Tumwater Canyon

I was playing around in Tumwater, minding my own business, when a crew of chargers came blasting through.


Sam Grafton, Ben Kinsella and Ben Marr completed top to bottom descents of Tumwater Canyon at 10,500 cfs. That's no joke.




I pulled the camera out while these guys ran Perfection of Whitewater and Last Exit.


Check it out.




10,500 cfs in Tumwater Canyon from daniel patrinellis on Vimeo.

Jah Bisson runs POW at 9,000 cfs

Jeremy Bisson is a beast. A kind and super under-rated paddler; Jeremy really doesn't mind letting it all hang out sometimes.


After a couple great laps from the Dam to the Red Bridge on Tumwater Canyon, Jeremy decided to fire up POW.


Needless to say; I offered to shoot and "set safety"...







Paddler: Jeremy Bisson
Music: Willy Moon - Railroad Track

Sam Grafton runs POW at 6500 cfs

Sam Grafton is a bit of a Boss around these parts

This Spring has been off to a slow start in the PNW. Tumwater hasn't hit Nuclear levels yet but it has been hanging arounf the 5-7,000 cfs range for a couple of weeks.







I was in the area, shaking off the cobwebs and got a call from Sam. He wanted to do a quick Tumwater lap before heading back over the pass. I agreed to the Dam rapid and the Amigos, but decided that Chaos and POW were a bit above my current paygrade.


Sam laughed at me.

Sam boated down to POW while I ran shuttle and grabbed my camera. Sam's mom also stopped by to say hello.

In true Sam form; after I gave him a little bit of grief about not having a beautiful line, he ran it two more times for me so I could shoot photos and some video.

Water levels are rising; keep your eyes out for some good media coming out of Leavenworth in the near future.

Clear Fork of the Cowlitz

Is the sh*tz!

Brock was so stoked about getting back into the Cowlitz that he had to sing to us about it.

I had heard that there was this awesome run, close to the Cispus river that, was a rowdier, bigger version of Ernie's Canyon. I asked around, talked to the fellas and I was informed that while The Clear Fork of the Cowlitz was indeed super sick, it was off the table for the time being.

There had been a large rain event in Washington a couple years back and the entire river was full of wood. Not unlike the demise that befell it's southern neighbor Canyon Creek.

Then, last year, I heard a rumor that some of the Portland crew had gotten back in there. Then I heard about these two crazy brothers that showed themselves down at high water. I was interested.

Then Rob invited me on a trip and that made the bells go off: "maybe you shouldn't be doing this run Dan"

So, water levels came down and I forgot the fear. The 4th of July weekend presented a glorious 3 day weekend and Joe Howard was willing to throw his gear in the truck and go on an adventure. We decided to meet up with Brock, a Clear Fork veteran and see what we could do. Brad Xanthopoulos decided to do a last minute rally and meet us at the take out.

The Bennett book will give you a decent idea of where to start your journey. There is a turnout a little bit past the La Wis Wis campground. This leads to a dirt trail that leads you into the woods. Somewhere in these woods is the put-in to the CF Cowlitz.

The nature of this run is a little different from the Snoqualmie, Skykomish and Tumwater drainages. There is no shortage of sharp rocks, but the run is essentially bedrock. Not so much lava like the White Salmon or Little White. Maybe more like the Cooper. You're gonna lose some plastic. And, when logs pile up, they create some really nasty strainers so be on your toes. Depending on water levels you could have close to half a dozen wood portages.

Brock finds the goods. You will be rewarded for all your effort.

Lessons learned: Wear a drysuit you hate, because it's gonna get punished. Wear good shoes as even the chargers are gonna have several involved portages. They are not super technical, but they were a bit sketchy for us and we had bright sun and no ice or dew. Be prepared for a long day! Take snacks and extra fluids. This thing only comes in when it is "hot" in Washington, so you're gonna need the extra energy humping that boat of yours over all those logs and sieve piles.

So, long story short: CF Cowlitz is another great creek to add to your hit list. Make sure your skills, equipment and nerves are on par and up for the challenge. The description of this run being tougher than Ernie's is debatable. Then again I did not see this creek with a lot of water in it. So the nature of the rapids might change drastically.


Here is a video I put together showing most of the major rapids. I had the big camera with me and for some reason didn't pull it out until it was time for booty beers. I think I was just too gripped all day!





Get in there and have fun!

Joe and I woke up early and got a quick lap on the Ohane before we jetted up to Leavenworth to meet the crew.

There is no better place to be than Leavenworth Washington on a nice summer day.

Here is a video from the whole weekend. Joe and I did the tour-de-stouts in Washington. We started with CF Cowlitz, then a lap on the Ohanepecosh. Drove straight through to Icicle Creek for a couple Ricochet rounds and then into Tumwater Canyon and some decent flows. A solid weekend in the books for sure.





Another solid weekend in the books.

Stay Safe.

Last Weekend - Tumwater Canyon

Oh Snap! Tumwater is good to go!

I was fortunate to catch a bunch of the Leavenworth locals while they were out having a good time and screaming down Tumwater Canyon at mach speed. 

Tumwater was around 2500 on Saturday and by Monday it was down just under 2300cfs.

It pains me to say, but with how quickly it was dropping; Tumwater will be out fo the season pretty soon.

Where are they? Sorry guys, we're slow like that.

Doctor Pat aka Popeye.

Here we have some chargers showing us the lines through Last Exit. This rapid is tough at any level, but 2000+cfs and it feels like you're riding a railroad boxcar down a ski-slope. Intense!

Kiwi's always boat a little strange; Mike Nash decides to playboat his creekboat.

John Fuqua in Exit.

Willie Kern

Adrian Wigston in Last Exit:





Jah Himself takes the meat line:

Ellie Wheat jumped out to grab these shots of Scott Waidelich and I.

This guy was crushing marriage vows less than 24 hours prior to the shot. 

Alternate lines happen:

Afternoons in Tumwater are the best. Every drop is backlit and your view as you drop over pour over after pour over is perfect.

On our last lap of the weekend; the team was down to two. Jeremy Bisson and I went skin to the wind and rallied down The Wall while Adrian and Scott shot the next series of photos.

Until next time.