Skykomish River Boulder Drop - Packrafting WA - 4500cfs - III+(IV+)

Felt good to get back on the Sky with some good water. This is one of the best runs in the western Washington region and is full of great rapids, beautiful scenery and crystal clear water. We started off the trip by putting in at Cable Drop amidst the hordes of Seattlites going on their little Lake Serene hike, we barely got a spot in the lot because of it. We were feeling a bit exploratory so we paddled upstream Lewis and Clark style and we waddled up below the high water line to the top of the rapid. We paddled up along the shore a bit further to the bottom of a small rapid with a great view. Sucks we can't just put in at Sunset Falls but we do want to go back and continue up to the base in a future trip using our methods we had today. The rapid was really fun, just a big class III wave train with a couple of holes, maybe a tad easier than Cable Drop, which was also fun and had a couple good waves and holes. We tried to take the river right channel above the bridge and it turns out we probably needed more water, I think it's probably a good call to avoid the right channel under 6000cfs. After the confluence rapid we bounced our way down the Maze, none of the lines at the top were really great but there were some good waves toward the bottom. Anderson Hole was a pretty fun and had some good lines in it at these flows. My crew all portaged Boulder Drop but I decided to give it a go after scouting from the right. I don't like the entry much so I took the chicken line on the right, which is just barely in at this flow. I hadn't run Ned's Needle before so I decided to give it a go with a good flow and it went pretty well. After that I was approaching house rocks and I got lit up by a big curling wave from the right and lost my speed and direction into the big hole and didn't stand a chance. I sat and held my boat until I got to a calm section and I got back in my boat and ferried back over to link up with my crew. After a short break we dropped into The Weir and it was a fun little drop with some good waves afterward. I took an easier line down Lunch Hole but hit some curling waves at the bottom. Aquagasm was a great finale and we enjoyed the big long wave train, although next time I think I might go for some of the sneakier lines left or right. Played around in Last Wave for a little bit and then continued onto the lower section. This run took the four of us packrafters roughly 2 hours to complete with the paddle upstream and the stop at Boulder Drop. This video was recorded on 6/1/2025 and there were no major wood hazards at the time of this run but with everchanging river conditions do not use this video as a reference to any wood hazards or rapids.