Paddle Boarding The White Salmon River

The White Salmon should be high on the bucket list of every advanced river paddle boarder. Between BZ corner to the Columbia River is twelve miles of exhilarating Class3+ whitewater, pool drop rapids, and scenic gorges. A perfect test-piece river for the whitewater SUP paddler.

The entire run is within three sections.

The Middle from BZ to Husum has some of the more technical whitewater, including Maytag rapids. Before you tackle this section, be sure to know how to navigate shallow Class3, recover quickly, and be prepared to read-and-run. In this video we made an alternate entrance point to the river. Jumping off the cliffs above Maytag is a risk you may or may not want to take.

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Husum Falls at the end of the run has gobbled up a number of paddlers. The powerful hydraulics have dislocated knees and broken gear. There is an underwater ledge that can keep swimmers. Beware!

The Lower section begins with Rattle Snake, a pool drop that is the most photographed rapid on this section of river. A great session to run over and over again to get the shots. The rest of the section is short and great to do a couple of laps on. There is a fun mile long of busy Class2 wave trains and rock dodging, and a few surfing opportunities including Cave Wave.
The Bottom (or Lower Lower) section begins at Northwestern Park. It's been only a decade since a dam was removed in the lower gorge. The former lake is now a world class river, with fun whitewater and narrow gorges.
There is a mandatory portage around Steelhead Falls. It's about three hundred yards of moss covered rocks and bolder scrambling. But the keeper hole at the bottom of Steelhead necessitates the portage. Some kayakers do run the drop. Be part of the river community by having your throw bag ready if you rendezvous with a group of boaters running the Falls.

The last rapid of the run is the S-turn. It follows signs warning of hazards bellow. The hazard is a fish weir. Normally it is tucked closer to the river-left shore to be in the way. But, the rapids bellow require navigation. Hit a couple of drops that take you left, but move right under boulder channels to get in the main current moving right. Then navigate to avoid the pushy right wall. Then you are done, minus the mile long paddle out in often strong headwinds.

Hala Paddle boards featured: https://halagear.com/?ref=SUPPAUL
I receive a small affiliate commission when you buy gear.

Clothing worn in video: BEYOND CLOTHING: https://tinyurl.com/y86fjpow

Thanks for watching.

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Paul Clark is SUPPAUL chasing adventure from the perspective of a paddle board.