Lower Lower White Salmon River - Packrafting WA - 2.3ft - Class II-III+(V) скачать в хорошем качестве

Lower Lower White Salmon River - Packrafting WA - 2.3ft - Class II-III+(V)

While the middle section of the White Salmon has better rapids, the Lower Lower (Columbia Gorge) has the best scenery. Even though its only been about 15 years since the dam was removed, the forest seems to be coming back to life and compared to my first float in this section in 2021, the "bathtub ring" is hardly visible at all and vegetation in the canyon is returning in force. I can only imagine this run in another 15 years, the gorge walls will be absolutely incredible. From Northwestern Park there are some easier rapids to start off but it is pretty constant boogie. At a certain point the river will turn from breezy class II to bouncy class III boulder gardens. As soon as you see the walls close in, you're at Pipeline, a fun flume with a narrow finish with an easy to avoid pipe on the river left side toward the bottom. From here down the gorge is at its most beautiful, little waterfalls trickling in from the sides, beautiful basalt walls and lush vegetation beginning to regrow. The site of the old dam is almost impossible to recognize but if you look hard enough you can still find it. The rapids calm down a bit and once you hit a hard left bend you know you are approaching Steelhead Falls. The rapid above Steelhead is unfortunately one of the best rapids on the run but since it flows right into Steelhead the consequences are quite high. Since I was solo I skirted the left side to avoid possibly flipping and I pulled out a few eddies above where I normally would if I was with a group. While portaging Steelhead I passed a group of rafters who were also portaging. A few rafts had launched already ahead of me but I tried my best to be respectful and wait for a reasonable opportunity to pass. The rapids below Steelhead are fun and smaller but the canyon walls are awesome. I have pulled out at the Powerhouse before but I like to do the full runs so I continued down to the Columbia. There is one more really fun class III rapid below the powerhouse before things quickly mellow out. There were some territorial geese at the confluence but I was able to avoid conflict. This section took me about an hour and a half solo and there were no significant wood hazards as of 6-30-2025 but due to the everchanging nature of the river this video should not be used as a guide or reference to any current hazards or rapids.