Trip Report: Whitewater Kayaking the Upper Wind River
When: 01/09/2019
Location: Upper Wind River
Conditions: 5.6 ft on the gauge
Duration: 2.5 hours
Difficulty: Class 4+
Kid Friendly: Is you kid a straight up BOSS?
Pet Friendly: No
Usefull links: FIND THE LEVELS HERE!! | Take out info
The Full Report:
Ohhhh the Wind River!! One of my favorite places on the planet! This river is a PNW classic by all means of the word. There is a race held here every year, which if you are not a kayaker is still an absolute blast to watch. The river itself is broken up into 2 main sections called the "Upper Wind" and the "Lower Wind". This report is about the upper, which is most often run in the winter and spring due to rain or snowmelt. The Upper Wind is a class 4+ run. But at higher water above 6.5 Ft. it gets closer to a class 5 run. And after 7 Ft. and up it’s one long class 5 rapid. So, know your levels and ability well and never put on when the river is spiking!
This river starts out with some fun class 3 warm-up rapids and a couple cool surf waves. After you round a big bend is when the action starts. The first rapid is called initiation, you'll want to start middle then cut right towards the right bank. After this, you can eddy scout the rest of your way down. The next big rapid is called "Rams Horn" which is the biggest rapid on the run. But if you know the line it can go quite well. Run this rapid on river left maybe 5-7ft off the left bank. If you run this clean and look back, you'll feel like you're on top of the world! ( A lot of the pictures I have here are from Rams Horn.) After that is a couple more miles of fun class 4 and then 3 or 4 miles of class 3. I suggest having a local show you down your first time. But expert boaters would have no trouble showing themselves down. All in all, it's a beautiful place, with very fun rapids to run!
The Full Report:
Ohhhh the Wind River!! One of my favorite places on the planet! This river is a PNW classic by all means of the word. There is a race held here every year, which if you are not a kayaker is still an absolute blast to watch. The river itself is broken up into 2 main sections called the "Upper Wind" and the "Lower Wind". This report is about the upper, which is most often run in the winter and spring due to rain or snowmelt. The Upper Wind is a class 4+ run. But at higher water above 6.5 Ft. it gets closer to a class 5 run. And after 7 Ft. and up it’s one long class 5 rapid. So, know your levels and ability well and never put on when the river is spiking!
This river starts out with some fun class 3 warm-up rapids and a couple cool surf waves. After you round a big bend is when the action starts. The first rapid is called initiation, you'll want to start middle then cut right towards the right bank. After this, you can eddy scout the rest of your way down. The next big rapid is called "Rams Horn" which is the biggest rapid on the run. But if you know the line it can go quite well. Run this rapid on river left maybe 5-7ft off the left bank. If you run this clean and look back, you'll feel like you're on top of the world! ( A lot of the pictures I have here are from Rams Horn.) After that is a couple more miles of fun class 4 and then 3 or 4 miles of class 3. I suggest having a local show you down your first time. But expert boaters would have no trouble showing themselves down. All in all, it's a beautiful place, with very fun rapids to run!