NF Nooksack Powerhouse Run - Packrafting WA - 650cfs - Class II-III(IV-) скачать в хорошем качестве

NF Nooksack Powerhouse Run - Packrafting WA - 650cfs - Class II-III(IV-)

Took a nice mellow float down the Powerhouse run on the North Fork Nooksack in my Kokopelli Recon. My buddy and I had run the canyon and the bends earlier in the day and we decided that we wanted to get a little bit more boating in without resetting shuttle. We packed the boats in my car and we ripped up to the site of the old Excelsior Group Camp that washed away years ago. After reaching the water we boulder hopped a quarter mile up to the powerhouse and then ferried across and back across again to get past the dam outflow before walking up and checking out the rapids upstream. The rapid just upstream of the powerhouse is pretty sweet, and due to wood and a couple of pin spots deserves a IV rating but the moves are all a step easier. We put in below the nasty V+ section upstream and went on our merry way. The powerhouse rapid was fun and we took the left to right channel before hopping back across to avoid the wood at the bottom on the right. After this rapid, the river takes on a lot mellower pace and most of the hazards you will encounter are wood, so stay alert and scout from the road whenever possible. Just below the washed away group camp there are some metal and concrete hazards, likely old foundations from the bathroom and BBQ grill. There are a few small hits before the river narrows into a very short canyon where a gauge can be seen on the right side, there is a stick gauge but I think it is a lot easier to reference the AW gauge. Below the gauge the river continues on its woody way. None of the rapids on this stretch exceed class III difficulty, but the prevalence of wood makes playing around a bit stressful. After a short portage because we chose the shallow channel, we bounced through some wood and quickly found our way at the takeout, which is the put in for the Horseshoe Bend section. The entire float took us roughly an hour and a half from car to car but the float from top to bottom took about 45 minutes. This video was recorded on 7/9/2023 and there were several wood hazards on this run, many pieces that were very in play. I ran this section earlier in the summer with a bit more water and it felt a lot easier to avoid the wood hazards, and it would likely require several portages at any lower water. Due to the extremely dynamic nature of this run, this video is not to be used as any reference to hazards or rapids as conditions could very well change. While most of this run is class II, I do not recommend anyone paddle this unless you are a confident class III boater as a missed move could lead to a nasty pin.