Deer Creek trip report - NF Stillaguamish river

Deer Creek, WA just outside of Oso, where Deer have been coming for century's to become Elk.

     This was a good weekend. I was able to get back into Deer Creek, near Oso Washington. This is only the third time I have been on this run so our relationship is still in the "Honeymoon Phase", and its been almost two years since my last excursion in this oft overlooked river.

     One of the cool things about Deer Creek is the complete lack of Beta about the run. Aside from some tribal knowledge there isn't a lot out there about the adventure in pain that is Deer Creek. I've Google'd the run several times trying to get names for the rapids to almost no avail.

Pictured above: Nothing helpful.

     The thing that sets Deer Creek apart from its closest of kin; Robe Canyon, is the continuous nature of the river. Deer Creek starts with a bang and doesn't let up until you literally paddle out of a hole in the canyon and into a shallow river bed. Robe canyon, by comparison, is the very essence of "pool drop". Every rapid dumps into (usually) a large pool where a weary boater can collect their whit's or their brethrens gear. Deer Creek is like a late night bar fight, it just doesn't let up.

Perpetrator of most bar fights in the Green Lake area, Brad to the X.

     The first two runs I had on this awesome stretch were eventful in their own way, but also a little easier. Last year the river access to the put in was easily accessible from a clear cut that you could drive right up to. Maybe a half hour hike was all you had to endure. Now, however, the logging road has been closed and you get to enjoy a roughly 3 mile hike into the creek.

Rapids stack up quick.

     The hiking isn't bad, as far as boat hiking goes. The road is very well maintained and there is plenty of parking at the gate. As the miles melt away and your back starts to cramp, you reach the clearcut that marks your departure from the well manicured road and your foray into the dense forest surrounding the river. Devils Club abounds and there are more rotting logs and stumps on the hillside than there are rocks in the river. Good footwear will be an essential tool here as you WILL take a fall and a tweaked ankle here could lead to a long night.

Joe Howard

Brad Xanthopoulos, who needs a backpack?

Cut 'em all down...

     Our hike in was actually very pleasant. A light mist of a rain was present for the majority of the hike and kept us from getting too warm in our drysuits. The warmer air temperatures and cool rain created this very eerie glowing effect in the trees.

More Green than you know what to do with.

The greens just pop out at you when you are in these forests after a rain has washed through. It was like walking into a Pixar movie.

Looking back up the hill from the put-in.

You reach the water just before your knees give out.

The put-in.

I love the "fog" effect that the weather was giving us this afternoon.

Looking downstream from the put-in.

Joe and Brad had been in here more recently that I had been so we had a quick discussion on the most recent wood situation. There wasn't any wood in play this trip but I could see it becoming very serious very quickly as eddies are conspicuously lacking in most of the larger rapids on this run.

Unreal scenery - Deer Creek, WA

We put in just a touch after noon and I was immediately breathing hard. There is nothing but quality class III+ ledgy warm up before the gradient picks up and the canyon walls get that vertical, impregnable look that so many of these quality runs have.

Quality Boogie - Deer Creek, WA

Quality Boogie - Deer Creek, WA

That "you're not going anywhere but downstream, my friend" type of topography.

Quality Boogie - Deer Creek, WA

 After your shoulders are good and tired, you pull up to the first of the big rapids on the run; Hudson.

Hudson - Deer Creek, WA

Hudson - Deer Creek, WA

As the weather looked terrible when we set out I left the SLR in the truck so please enjoy the screen shots and the less than ideal point and shoot photos.

Joe Howard in Hudson - Deer Creek, WA

Joe Howard at the crux move in Hudson - Deer Creek, WA

Hudson POV - Deer Creek, WA

Hudson POV - Deer Creek, WA

Hudson POV - Deer Creek, WA

A little bit downstream comes this awesome drop that we are leaning towards naming Loco:

unnamed rapid - Deer Creek, WA

This rapid handed me out a little bit of a beating. I started a little too far left and got pushed all the way left and dropped into a hole above a house rock that looked suspiciously undercut.

Gettin wild - Deer Creek,WA

Brad X

Fun ledges and pour-overs everywhere...

unnamed rapid - Deer Creek, WA

Bad Panorama of an awesome drop - Deer Creek, WA

This double drop is just SWEET! Scout on river right and decide where to go.

Joe Howard in Double Drop - Deer Creek,WA

Joe Howard in Double Drop - Deer Creek,WA

Brad X in the double drop - Deer Creek, WA

Brad X in the double drop - Deer Creek, WA

There is a certain order to the world. Things you cannot change. Dogs hate cats, tax season is never far off and I will always blow my line on an easy drop:

POV of Double Drop - Deer Creek,WA

But it went as well as can be expected I guess. Didn't hurt at least.

POV of Double Drop - Deer Creek,WA

None of these pictures properly convey the vibe of the river on the day in question. The slight mist on the top of the water and the glowing overcast clouds above us created this muffled, heightened sense of awareness. The feeling you get when you're sitting in your living room alone watching a scary movie and you know there's nothing behind you, but still...

This river-wide hole is waiting just downstream of the double drop.

Big Holes - Deer Creek, WA

Scout on river left or just run it.

Joe Howard gettin' some - Deer Creek, WA

The last big rapid on Deer Creek is a two tiered drop that forced you to start center and work right to avoid a really nasty undercut rock on the left side of the channel. Scout from  river left or right.

Last big rapid, easy to scout on river right.

 That's fog and rain in the trees in the picture above. Unreal!

Last big rapid - Deer Creek, WA

Last big rapid - Deer Creek, WA

Then there is this fun little chute.

Tunnel of Love - Deer Creek, WA

I'm calling this thing the Tunnel of Love, only because Groove Tube is already taken. Stay center, these hole will mess with you.

Tunnel of Love - Deer Creek, WA

Tray to stay a little more left...

Tunnel of Love - Deer Creek, WA

After that it's really just more fun boogie for another mile or so. But do not let your guard down, it just seems easier by contrast.

Brad enjoys his scenic rivers with a side of blood.

Quality Boogie - Deer Creek, WA

Quality Boogie - Deer Creek, WA

Quality Boogie - Deer Creek, WA

The run was over before I was ready. The whitewater section of this run probably only makes up for about half of the mileage and its over as abruptly as it starts. You round a corner and there is a tight braided channel around a cliff and then the canyon disappears and you are back to civilization and safety.

 

Gaging this river can be a bit difficult. As I stated in my last trip report for Deer Creek, a good rule of thumb is if Robe Canyon is way too high and its still raining; Deer Creek is in. It might be high, but its in. The online gage undated twice for us on 17Jun2012. Once at around 7 am and we had ~4300cfs and then again in the evening it read ~3400cfs. I'm not sure where in the middle we caught it but it didn't feel low and it felt like it could up the "fun" factor with some more water.

Logistics are easy. There is an abandoned gas station across the street from the takeout and plenty of parking. The area isn't too sketchy, doesn't have that "meth" look to it so cars should be reasonably safe.

Sick Playboating Video

I just dig this video and want to share:

Lower Icicle Creek, Wenatchee play runs & Tumwater @ 9000cfs

Weekend Adventure Number: 40,921.
Mission: Get the fuck back on the water.

Another weekend spent on Icicle creek and another weekend well spent.

I woke up Thursday morning with a headache, dry sweat and a pit bull laying  next to me.

Could be worse I guess.

With three weeks on the couch and the Professor Paddle Ball creek race only two weeks ahead, I decided that I should probably try to see if I still fit in my boat. Maybe do some light stretching and even a few practice laps on the run in question were in order.
It was decided; back to Leavenworthless.

Woody Goomsba. Ambassador of Leavenworth.

      As the mountains warm up, Icicle Creek (proper) gets massive, like a Grizzly bear gorging itself on Huckleberries and Golden Retrievers . The lower section of this run, a two mile continuous class IV stretch opens up and fun is to be had. Ricochet, the more commonly run section of Icicle Creek, becomes more of a giant vengeful high speed washing machine and the hole in House rapid looks like the end of the world.

Above the Plunge - Icicle Creek, WA.

 I knew driving up to Leavenworth that the Ricochet section of the run was going to be above my pay grade but I needed to work on my boating and wanted to see the boating family at large. Plus the weather in Port Orchard was going to suck.




The Wenatchee River, outside of Peshatin (right next to Leavenworth)becomes the boating Mecca of the PNW during late spring and early summer. A large volume play run, the Wenatchee is a great place to take non-boaters on their first IK or raft trip and becomes a great place to meet old friends and make new ones.  For those reasons, as well as the close proximity of the other runs in the area (Nason Creek, Icicle Creek, Tumwater Canyon, Ingalls-Peshastin and a couple more that I’ve never run) the camp grounds at Bridge Creek and Hay Canyon can turn into some pretty good impromptu parties.  These areas provide a staging ground or leap pad for some quality trips.

The lower section of Icicle Creek is very short, only 2ish miles, compared to it’s Big Brothers upstream. It’s a lot of fun though, very continuous class IV with potential for a class V swim in a couple places.

Snow Creek Death trap - Icicle Creek, WA.

The put in scenery is breathtaking. Snow Creek Death Trap is a vibrant display of natures disregard for our safety on the water. Massive boulders at chalked into the river where the stream bed drops between 50 and 60 feet. What could have been and might once have been and amazing drop or series of drops is now just a pile of Chaos. There are sieves into sieves, with sieves at the bottom. But its one of those scary rapids that no one runs but everyone secretly says to themselves “I see a line… I think”.

Here we have Kiwi Mike showing us the proper putin:

     The run starts out with a bang: Bridge Drop is the first rapid, and one of the biggest. A solid class IV rapid; it’s full of big waves and a couple sizable holes. Shallow rocks can make rolling a headache and is not advised unless you are on very good terms with your Dentist. If you have a problem here it’s prudent to take out at the bridge immediately below, as the crux of the run is right around the corner.

Putin rapid - Icicle Creek, WA.

Bridge Drop - Icicle Creek, WA.

Bridge Drop - Icicle Creek, WA.

     Cabin Drop, the crux rapid and the best drop on the creek, gets its name from the gorgeous cabins that adorn both sides of the river here. I’m not sure where the property lines start and stop and as far as I know, there haven’t been any recent issues with access, but if you need to scout please keep a low profile.

Cabin Drop - Icicle Creek, WA.

      A classic Washington boulder garden with two big boofs is what you get when you drop into this gem. What can cause problems here for newer boaters or first timers is the lack of speed that you have as you come into the main ledge. There are as many lines for this one as there are boaters in the state and the one that is right for you is the right line by far.

Cabin Drop - Icicle Creek, WA

I prefer to line up for the first clean boof half way down the rapid:

Cabin Drop - Icicle Creek, WA

Boooooffffff       Cabin Drop - Icicle Creek, WA

... because its one of those clean moves that you start to grin about before your paddle even connects for the stroke.

Then I line up just to the right of the V in the hole of the final ledge.

Cabin Drop - Icicle Creek, WA

In this Photo: Not taking my own advice.

Doesn’t always go to plan…

Carnage @ Cabin Drop - Icicle Creek, WA.

Carnage @ Cabin Drop - Icicle Creek, WA.

Sadly, that’s about it for the run. There are still two more very fun drops, but nothing as hair-raising as the first two. The run has one serious hazard, a sieve that collects wood, about halfway down the run in the center of the river.

Sieve Thing - Icicle Creek, WA.

Due to the continuous nature of this stretch of Icicle Creek, I think its worth hangin with someone that knows the run for your first lap as scouting can be difficult.

The shuttle is short and there are tons of climbers driving around so your odds of being able to thumb a ride for shuttle are pretty solid. People are friendly here so just smile!

After a couple of laps on Saturday and even a play run under my belt I was starting to get back into the groove with this whole kayaking thing. I was even able to watch Sam Grafton, aka: the Baddest mofo this side of Rob McKibbon, run POW in Tumwater Canyon at ~8,500cfs

POW - Tumwater Canyon, WA

Sam Grafton - What's the big deal guys?

Kiwi Mike telling Sam to just "Harden the Fuck Up!"

Sam Grafton in POW - Tumwater Canyon, WA.

Sam Grafton in POW - Tumwater Canyon, WA.

Sam Grafton in POW - Tumwater Canyon, WA.

Sam Grafton in POW - Tumwater Canyon, WA.

Sam Grafton in POW - Tumwater Canyon, WA.

Huge Props to Sam Grafton. He ran POW at around 8800cfs, solo. Yeah there were guys with bags to help in case of a swim, but that's about as effective as using grocery bags for gloves in an alligator wrestling contest.

A quick conversation with Sam immediately prior to his run:

Cold beers were had and again I had to sleep with a miserable, paco pad stealing dog.

Sunday morning I was up bright and early for more practice laps down Icicle and was stoked to run into a couple of rafters busy tearing it up.

 Good times.

A little after my growling stomach and need for coffee dragged me off the river and into Leavenworth, I got the call from Sam that he and Ben were going to run Tumwater. My gear was immediately thrown back in the truck and the camera was pulled out of the dry bag.

Tumwater is one of my favorite runs in the state. It’s fun in the 1500-2500cfs ranges, scary above 3000cfs and a nightmare above 5000cfs. Today's flows were somewhere in the high 8,000 to low 9,000 cfs range and my mind was blown. Sam still thought this was a good idea.

Sam Grafton

Their plan was to put in at the Dam and run down through Chaos. I thought this was a terrible idea, but then again, some people think cucumbers taste better pickled.

Ben Hawthorne

I don’t need to talk; the pictures speak for themselves:

The rapid below the Dam.

Dam Rapid - Tumwater Canyon, WA.

There is normally a fun boof here on the right, but now it’s a couple feet under water.

Sam Grafton - Tumwater Canyon, WA

Ben Hawthorne - Tumwater Canyon, WA

Sam Grafton & Ben Hawthorne - Tumwater Canyon, WA

Chaos.

Sam Grafton in Chaos - Tumwater Canyon, WA.

After shaking hands with Ben and Sam as well as grabbing a fresh set of underwear, I headed off to Peshastin for one last play run on the Wenatchee. Adam and I had Turkeyshoot to ourselves for the better part of an hour and life was good.

Another Solid weekend in the bag.

Cheers.