This run was the second day of an Introduction to Whitewater Kayaking Class I was teaching for the Outdoor Adventure Center in Redmond, WA.  Bruce, Mike and Jenny were doing really well in the Big Eddy, and only had a few swims between them.  They were nailing down their edging, ferries, peel-outs and other basic skills.  We had a great lunch from the OAC before heading down towards Sultan (these guys know how to eat... some of the best river lunch I've had in a while).  This stretch is a good one for first time beginners and those who don't have a roll at all.  The swimming potential here is limited and the river is generally pretty slow, so rescue is easy.

The first rapid past the railraod bridge is one of the largest on the run.  There are some fun waves and and the run is mostly down the middle of it.  The river bends right and goes into a beautiful pool with rope swing on the left.  This is a good spot for warm summer days, but there wasn't going to be much swimming on our cold spring afternoon!

The only other hard spot on this run was completely changed by the last flood.  This is where you can see a brown house on the top of a cliff river left.  This guy is losing his property at an alarming rate, and his house will probably fall into the river in the next few years.  There was a really strange cross current thing that happens at this spot, but the last flood totally changed the gravel islands, and now it is totally gone.  Run along the left bank for a clean channel, no bottom scraping.

We took out in Startup at the fishing access.  This is noted when the river comes close to the railroad tracks and there is a large concrete box along the tracks.  There is a small beach and eddy here that is good for the take out.  Then climb over the tracks to the road.

To get to takeout:  Drive into Startup and take a right in front of the convenience store.  Go over the bridge and then over the railroad tracks.  Follow the curve right and then go over the tracks again.  Go about 500 feet and there is a gravel pullout on the left.  Leave cars here at this fishing access.

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