Jessica and I drove up to Wet Planet as they were getting ready to head up to BZ Corner with guide trainees.  The usual, "Throw your boat on and lets go," came as expected and we were off.  The river has been coming up a lot with the spring sun and we were rewarded with a beautiful day and lots of whitewater!

This run is non-stop fun with great wave trains, holes, and beautiful clean spring water.  It is definitely a playboat run, The upper part of the run was formed when a lava tube coming off Mt. Adams collapsed, so check out the geology as you come downstream.

The flow had come up from weeks in the past from 3 to 3.5 on the gauge.  Its going to be a great season guaranteed.  At this flow the first Rapid, Maytag, is a bit more challenging with some pushy hydraulics, and the last hole, known as Top Drop, has a tendency to flip rafts.  Run this drop on the right with a bit of right angle.  The left side is a sticky hole with a wall on the left of it.

About 1/2 mile below Maytag there is a cave on the right as the river bends left around a corner.  Stay left to avoid this one.  It is an easy move but would be bad for a swimmer.  There are lots of rapids and continuous whitewater at this level.  Stay on your toes and get ready for some fun stuff.

I got really worked in a rapid called Siwash that has a big hole on the right but clean line on the left.   I thought I could bust through it but got totally worked.  It was pretty funny.. at least the guide trainees thought so.

The river is very continuous at this level, and gets faster at higher flows.  Although this is an intermediate run, a swim here could be long and very cold.  Come prepared, and go with someone who knows the first time.  Once you know the lines it is cake, but first timers should hook up with one of the many paddlers who do it every day.

The end of the run is near where the Hwy 141 bridge crosses the river above world famous Husom Falls.  This drop is run many times a day in rafts all summer long, and very few people get injured.  Many paddlers (including the author) claim Husom as the first waterfall they ever ran.  There is a compression wave at the top right of the falls that you need to bust through before going deep into the frothing whitewater.  You can also boof hard right off of this and clear the hole at the bottom.  This run was the first time I had ever gone over Husom and came up upright.  I watched another paddler run the far far right side at this flow and he seemed good.  It gets really rocky at lower flows though, so check it out from the bridge before running.

For another report of this section at lower water, check out:

White Salmon River, BZ Section, WA - III (IV+) (3 feet)

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