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"Summary"

Sea Kayaking the Columbia River  - Chelan to Tri-Cities - April 30 - May 9, 2005 ($200)
Our home here in Chelan is located just a scant 4 miles from the mighty Columbia River.  For years, we have given some thought to possibly paddling this mammoth river, starting out our own back door.…. And so now we are at last putting it on the calendar.  Even though this is a river, it is not a fast free flowing body of water, except in the 51 mile Hanford Reach. The Columbia will provide us with many obstacles between Chelan and the Tri Cities Area.  The most formidable set of obstacles is a series of 4 dams, each providing a different portaging problem requiring a fair amount of effort to deal with.  As we approach the Columbia River Gorge, blasting winds from the west can prove to be quite daunting.  Hopefully, by paddling in early Spring, we might avoid most of these brutal winds.   Though the trip is not technically demanding, any paddlers contemplating joining us, must have a fair amount of will power and endurance.                                         " Interested ?  … then call or write ! "   

"Details"

What You Get for Your Money: 

• Our Charges:  Your money pays for all the various expenses involved in running our web-site, mailing, printing, and phone costs, etc. In addition, for this particular trip, your camping fees, maps, and the rental for a van to return folks back to Chelan from Pasco are included in your fee.  Sue and I will also act as your guides, but that's not much of a value in that as we have never paddled most of this river route ourselves.   
  
• Your Other Expenses:  You pay for getting to Chelan, supplying and cooking your own food, plus whatever money you want to spend on being a tourist. In a several places you will have the option of eating out at restaurants or even staying in a motel. 
  

Physical & Skill Level Requirements:  (Hard) We will be paddling an average of 25 miles a day which under normal circumstances would be considered a very strenuous paddle.  However, this route consists of about 50 miles of river flowing 1 to 3 miles per hour, which will help a bit to overcome the formidable miles we have to paddle. Non-the-less, this is a demanding paddle requiring, if not  a lot of skill, certainly a good deal of endurance.  In addition, we may, or may not have to portage around 4 dams which could be the most physically demanding part of the trip.  Hopefully, we can get the dam operators to pick us up and haul us around these massive obstacles.  In short …. You have to be tough to do this one. If in doubt, you can always bail out on the second day of paddling in Wenatchee and catch a bus back to your car. If you have any concerns about your ability to do this trip, feel free to contact us by email or phone.

Camping Options:   All of our campsites should have good facilities with showers except for two days spent on the Hanford Reach where we simply have to find an island or spot on the shoreline to pitch our tents.   In Wenatchee, Crescent Bar, Vantage, and Tri-Cities, you'll have the option of traipsing off to a motel if you want. No refunds on your camping fees if you choose to do that.  Camping in the 50 mile stretch of the Hanford Reach is illegal so we will either have to paddle a monster day or camp unlawfully with the understanding that we are subject to substantial fines.

Equipment: 

• Kayaking Gear:  You will need a good kayak, hopefully a long fast one,  outfitted with the normal safety equipment of  life jacket, paddle rescue float, spare paddle, and tow line.   In addition, everyone should have a set of wheels in case we have to portage around some of the dams.  Again, I'm hoping that we will be hauled around by dam employees, but no guarantee there.  Make sure the wheels aren't the little ones that fit on the stern of the boat ….they aren't worth shit.  A last item that would be a good idea is a wet suit or something similar.  The river in early May is full of snow melt so it isn't all that warm if you go in the drink. 
  
• Camping Stuff:  You will need a tent, sleeping bag, and  sleeping pad.  Also bring your personal cooking gear such as sauce pan, plate, cup, & silverware.  We can share stoves, so if you don't want to bring one, it shouldn't be a problem.   While we are on the Hanford Reach, we won't have access to anything but river water for two days, so either bring something to treat the water or a container that can carry two days worth.
  
• Clothing:  Spring should be well upon us by the time the trip starts ….but winter could make a temporary comeback, so make sure you have plenty of warm clothing.  Winds on the river can be quite high at times, so a paddle jacket for on the water and a rain jacket for camping should be part of your equipment.
  

Food: This trip is predicated on each of you cooking your own meals in camp.  However, because we are located close to restaurants at some of our campsites, you will certainly have the option to partake of the local cuisine.  For those of you concerned about weight, you will have the opportunity to buy food at local convenience stores on most days except for the two days on the Hanford Reach near the end of the trip.   We'll let you know on prior days what your options are for the following day. Again, make sure you have a water container or water treatment capability for the two days we are on the Hanford Reach.

Maps and Route Finding:  We will provide you with the maps of some sort for the trip.  We have a large supply of Washington State road maps, but hopefully we'll be able to come up with something better than that by the time you show up on our doorstep.  Navigation isn't really going to be all that tough ….the river is anywhere from 1/4 mile to 1 mile wide, so the basic idea is to keep the shoreline on ether your left or right, depending on whether your are left or right handed.  For those of you who can't wait, then go out and buy the Washington Road and Recreation Atlas produced by Benchmark Maps of Medford, Oregon.

Sign Up Procedure: To officially sign up for this trip, just follow these steps:

• 1.  Email or Phone Us -  You can use the    "Sign Up For A Trip !"   form using links found at the top and bottom of this page or call 1-877-283-3551. We work better with email.
  
• 2. Our Reply -  We will then reply, either  to accept you on the trip, or possibly we might have a question or two for you first. If you have not traveled with us before, we will need to talk to you, so we'll give you a call.
  
• 3. Money!  You pay us on the first day of the trip ... $200 US Dollars.
  

Cancellation Policy -  Because we are obligating ourselves in advance for quite a bit of expense related to renting two vehicles and reserving campsites …. Please let us know as soon as you can if you are going to cancel.  Once we are on the water, most of our expenses are locked in … so you won't get any refund unless you plan on only doing part of the trip ….in which case you should arrange with us in advance.  To cancel, send us an email or call.     

Sign Up Maximum and Minimum:  The maximum number of paddlers we can have for this little expedition is 12 which is really a factor of how big a van we can get to haul people back from Pasco.  We don't have a minimum, but it would be nice to get at least 6 people so Sue and I don't eat it on the vehicle rentals. 

Roster:  We'll send out a roster by email as soon as we have a pretty firm idea of who is going.  Sometimes, knowing who is on the roster lets you share equipment, flight bargains, etc. The roster is usually sent out 2 to 4 weeks before the trip.  We generally include each person's name, physical address, email, and telephone number.

Information About You and Us!  As a final word, participant must understand that these are not commercial trips; you will not be supplied with the hand holding care that is generally  given on "higher end" trips and therefore we expect most of our participants to be somewhat self-reliant individuals.   Most of our trips tend to be of a unique nature that we seldom have done before and, sometimes, things go awry.  Often these mishaps are our fault, sometimes they are beyond our control.  At any rate, we expect you to accept whatever unexpected and adverse conditions we meet with good humor and grace. Complaining to us about trivial annoyances is not acceptable.  If you want and expect a trip that is tightly scheduled with little or no surprises or discomforts ….. our trips are not for you..           

"Daily Itinerary"

Day 1 - April 30 (Sat.)  Meet in Chelan !  We meet here at our place in Chelan at 6 pm.   Showing up early or the day before is fine too.  We have plenty of floor space and parking for everyone to stay for the night.  We'll treat you to a dinner and breakfast the next morning.  We'll go through last minute details and attend to any potential problems that might come up.  Maybe a little equipment inspection might be in order as well.  Our Address: 917 Parkview Rd.  To get here, go into Chelan, find Safeway, then drive about a half a mile NW on Hwy. 150 towards Manson.  At the sign for the "Golf Course", make a hard right on "No See-Um Rd.", go up hill a bit then bear right onto "Park View Rd."  We are the last house on the left.

Day 2  - May 1 (Sun.)  to Entiat City Park.  [ 20 Miles ]  The first day out is always the toughest as we all scramble to get our equipment together, load it on the vehicles, and get everything down the river, which is about 5 miles away. We plan to launch at Beebee Bridge Park. Once we've dumped all the boats and gear off, we'll drive the vehicles back to our place and then either get a friend to drive us back to the river or hire a taxi.  Hopefully, we can get all this stuff done fairly early in the morning as we still have a 20 mile paddle day to take care of.  Our campsite is at a lovely city park on the edge of the small town of Entiat.  Entiat's best attraction is a great coffee shop/bakery. It has a grocery store as well, maybe even a restaurant.

Day 3  - May 2 (Mon.) to Wenatchee Confluence State Park [ 18 Miles ]  Continuing down the river we will face our first dam/portage at Rocky Reach Dam. We'll pull out of the water at Lincoln Rock State Park and hope that the folks from the dam come and pick us up.  Otherwise, we have a big portage.  Our campsite for the night is just a few miles beyond the dam and is located at the confluence of the Columbia and Wenatchee rivers.  Lots of amenities close by, including a large supermarket and tons of restaurants.  I figure to hit the smorgasbord.  For anyone thinking that this trip is getting to be just a bit much …. Remember, we just had the two easiest days.  If you aren't feeling good about the trip, this is the place to bail out as there is good bus connections from here back to Chelan.

Day 4  - May 3 (Tues.) to Crescent Bar Resort Campground [ 28 Miles ]  Possibly our toughest day as we have not only the 28 miles to grind out, but we also have to get past Rock Island Dam.  We have a tentative agreement with the dam, for them to pick us up and get us around.  We paddle quite close to the dam before being picked up.  Our destination at Crescent Bar is not my first choice for camping, as they charge an arm and a leg to stay there, but it's about the only civilized camping in the area.  It's a nice enough place though, with café and store close by.

Day 5  - May 4 (Wed.) to Wanapum State Park [ 21 Miles ]  I haven't seen much of this stretch except occasional glimpses from the highway.  What I have seen is quite impressive, with tall columnar walls next to the river stretching for miles.  We have a reprieve from getting around any dams this day, so unless the winds are up, it should not prove to be a particularly difficult day.  The state park has a beautiful elevation location with wonderful vistas.  Part of that vista is a good view of Wanapum Dam just down river.  Vantage, which is 2 miles up river has both a store and café in case anyone needs to re-supply.

Day 6  - May 5 (Thurs.) to Desert Aire Camp. [ 19 Miles ]  We have to portage around Wanapum Dam first thing in the morning, but it should take less than an hour to do the whole thing.  This could be a relatively easy day, as long as the campground is open for the season.  The camp is part of a private housing development, located just up stream from Priest Rapids Dam.  A one mile walk brings you to both a store and café, which is part of the development ...adjacent to Highway 243.

Day 7  - May 6 (Fri.) to Hanford Reach Camp #1. [ 30 Miles ? ]  Lets hope that we can get the folks at Priest Rapids Dam to indeed give us a lift around this monster ….otherwise we have a terribly long portage to make.  In theory, they will pick us up right at our camp early in the morning.  Once around the dam, we put in at the only free flowing stretch of river since the river crossed over the Canadian border … a stretch of about 50 miles.  No established campsites, so we will just have to wing it.  Make sure you have enough water for two days and nights or be prepared to drink river water.  This first day past the dam should be a delight as the paddling will be quite easy.  We'll look to find a camp somewhere beyond the well known White Bluffs which harbors a marvelous nesting area for swallows and other birds.

Day 8  - May 7 (Sat.)  to Hanford Reach Camp #2. [ 25 Miles ? ]  The wonderful current that was with us yesterday will start diminishing somewhat, but still enough to help us get within striking distance of the Tri Cities area. Navigation here is little bit more complicated as we have to work our way around several islands along the way, possibly camping on one of them.  You'll get some wonderful views of the structures associated with the nuclear plants on the Hanford Reservation on the west bank of the river. 

Day 9  - May 8 (Sun.) to Hood Park on Snake River. [ 25 Miles ? ]  Back to paddling without the aid of a substantial current, we quickly approach the Tri Cities area, with a chance to pull off for lunch at a restaurant somewhere.  The Tri Cities of Richland, Pasco, and Kennewick covers a large area, so we'll be in sight of civilization most of the day.  Just past the cities, we end our paddling at the lovely Hood Park where the Snake River joins the Columbia.  The river is pretty wide at this point and appears much more of a lake than a river as McNary Dam down stream holds back a tremendous amount of water.  No stores or cafes at Hood Park, so a stop up river for shopping earlier in the day might be in order.

Day 10  -  May 9 (Mon.) Transport Back to Chelan. [ 200 Miles ]  Today, we have to get everyone  re-united with their vehicles in Chelan. If things have gone as planned, we'll pick up a large 12 passenger van to carry all the paddlers and some equipment back to Chelan where you can pick up your vehicles. Next,  you will drive back to Hood Park to pick up your kayaks and equipment. We will leave a couple of people with the boats for safe keeping while in transit to and from Chelan.          End of trip.

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