The Farmlands section on the White Salmon is awesome.  This was my second trip down, and once again the run did not disappoint.  The last time down was at a flow of 4.5 feet on the Husom gauge, so it was quite a bit lower for this one.  Note that the gauge does not correlate directly to the flow on this section.  Warm weather, rain, or other environmental factors can affect the river level on this one, so the Husom gauge is only a good guess as to the flows on the Farmlands.

Peter, JP and I had driven down that morning from Seattle, and were pleased to run into the other three at the put in, looking to share shuttle.  Peter’s girlfriend, Missy, has come with us to run shuttle, so we were all set to go at the put in.  We hiked down and JP, Peter and I opted to do the 20 foot seal launch into the river below, a decision I would later come to regret.  Peter’s launch went well but he penciled in vertical and went pretty hard.  JP went next and hit the stern of his boat on the rock below as he came down.. not so good either.  My seal launch was equally horrible, and I plunged off the lip and went 20 feet onto my face.  The comment was, “I heard two things hit; your boat and your face.”  This one really hurt.

Peter seal launches into the White Salmon below.

All okay as JP prepares for his ill-fated launch.  We all regretted doing this later.

We shook off our seal launching mishaps and headed downstream.  The first few rapids are simple in a beautiful walled gorge.  There is columnar basalt through here and it makes for some really nice boating. 

Tight beautiful gorges on the Farmlands make the run a classic NW run.

The first rapid is Sidewinder Fakie, followed by Sidewinder.  The Fakie is a pretty easy move, following the current down the middle of the narrow channel.  The river constricts to 5-7 feet wide here, so keep your elbows in.  Sidewinder is next up, which drops a lot more than the previous rapid, and has a undercut mushroom rock and cavity.  Most of the flow goes into the rock here, so be careful on this one.  Scout right or left, easier portage to the left. 

Sidewinder Rapid with the guys on the left standing over the cave/ undercut/ mushroom rock.

Peter dropping into Sidewinder.

Down below the enterance its a tight slot.  Some seal launch in below the undercut mushroom.

Peter and Cully ran this, both successfully missing it, but another trip earlier that day had swum one person in the rapid.  Getting stuck in the cavity or stuffed under the mushroom would be a tight spot for sure.  Below Sidewinder were some other Class IV rapids.  None were notable, but they were all fun.  There was a river wide log blocking the entrance of one rapid, portage left or right around it, as the river bends right and then goes back left. 

The log blocking the entrance to this rapid was easily portaged around left or right.

There is a sweet delayed boof down below here.  There is a large riverwide hole looking thing with a log overhead as you enter it.  Run center and boof at the last second off the flake in the middle.  Good stuff. 

The narrow gorge leading up to Lava Dam was full of fun ledges and rapids.

There are a lot of sweet drops on this run that are similar to this one.  Lots of riverwide holes and ledges that are all good with a strong boof.  Low consequences, very fun.  A bit below here the river constricts again as the river enters its second gorge.  There is a good one in here, Doorbell, but it was easy at this level. 

As you round a corner to the right, a large horizon line with spray coming up signals Lava Dam, a sweet 14 footer with a cave tucked behind the curtain.  This drop is super beautiful, but has been known to stuff boaters behind the curtain of the falls.  There is an easy portage on the right, and the run is right over the flake on the right, heading toward the left wall.  Peter and I ran this day and had great lines.  This drop was just too perfect to pass up.  I was nervous at first, but the boof is pretty easy.  Just don’t miss.  The landing is totally aerated and soft as feathers. 

Peter runs the flake at Lava Dam.  The cave behind the curtain has stuffed many boaters.

Jonathan boofs hard on Lava Dam, landing soft as feathers.

Below lava dam are 3 sweet ledges back to back.  The first on is down the left boofing right.  The second is left of center.  The third is as the river bends left around the corner. 

JP boofs the second ledge in the set.  Lava Dam is visible in the background.  This is a great set of drops.

There are some other great nameless rapid in the end of the “Drop Zone.”  There is one that has 3 good holes down the middle.  Dig in and run right down the gut.  The second hole is very sticky at some flows, so keep your momentum through the first hole.  If the first hole kills your speed, you can eddy out into a small eddy on the right after the first hole.

The river mellows out for a mile or so before the last gorge.  This is another spot where the river constricts and has some sweet chutes and rapids.  There are some really fun drops in here.  Most of them are good right down the middle.  The final hurrah is called Off Ramp, a sometimes chunky but fun drop.  The move is to ferry in front and across the gnarly drop and boof off the right side ledge into the pool below.  This can also be adapted into scrapping or bouncing down the rocks  on the right side, but don’t go into the main falls…  its been done, but is pretty ugly into the pit of whitewater below. Scout or portage left. 

Cully in the entrance ferry across Off Ramp.

Cully melting deep into the pool below.

Jason going big over the boof at Off Ramp.

The rest of the run is mostly mellow.  It is slow for about a mile before the last drops as the river approaches the Green Truss bridge.  Right before the takeout there are a few small ledges, about 5 feet each.  They are run towards the right, but are good anywhere probably.  This is one last good rush before the takeout.  The takeout is the hardest part of the run.  Climbing out up the rock ledge, raising boats, carrying them up the hill getting this all down without falling down the cliff to your death can be a daunting task.  We had a bit of a problem with rocks being kicked down the hill and landing on us below as the first group members clamored up the steep face.  We called it a day here, but you could continue down to the Green Truss section below, and then the BZ Corner Section, which we did later.

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