Decisions, decisions, decisions, I wish it didn't have to be so hard. Right now I am trying to plan out the next year. Not an easy feat considering the upcoming move to Boulder. I have a tenative polar job lined up, 6 months away locked in a steel box in harsh weather conditions.. psssshh.... been there!! I think the food would actually be better this time around.
Anyways there is a 'job' offer for me next summer to go work as a camp host at the Turn Point Light Station, which if I am going to be driving from Boulder through the Rockies.. stopping over in Omak and heading up to the island... I might just pack up the whitewater kayaks, grab mom and Jeff to act as my support crew, rustle up a handful of boaters and tackle one of the above creeks/rivers.
I first spotted Cascade Creek when driving over HWY 20. It kept peeking at me through the trees, little snippets of tempting glacier fed whitewater splashing it's way through boulder gardens and dense tundra. What frightened me... is what i couldn't see from the road or through the trees. Of course I searched and searched for what creek this was and finally found the relevant beta on www.americanwhitewater.org. Where of course, I was slightly turned off by the following comment which was posted last year.
"Do not run this stretch of water!!!! Full of log jams and debris. A friend and I attempted this area on August 10, 2006. We ended up losing our boat and all of our gear. I was pulled under a log jam for about 30 seconds and managed to climb out. We had to hike 2 miles through thick wilderness to the bridge on road 1550. This stretch of water is UNPASSABLE. Do not attempt!!!!"
Maybe I will have to be Cascade Creek on the back burner for now, or at least until I get a little bit more beta on it.
Moving on to the TYE, a pulse pounding creek that 'D' from River Recreation tipped me to when rafting down the Wenatchee with them. Although the rapids and large drops look significantly bigger then what I could see of Cascade Creek, I am at least a little more at peace of mind due to the nearby roads that parallel the creek. My biggest worry, only from looking at the beta, is a 'rapid' called CRACK IN THE EARTH, http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/Photo_detail_photoid_4755_
I might be making up demons in my head... or maybe not facing the right ones... still... There is something exciting about planning all of this.
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