Basic Whitewater Packrafting Course - Field Trip #1 - Snoqualmie River: Powerhouse to Plum Landing

This was an instructional field trip, teaching students how to swim through a rapid at the confluence of the Snoqualmie River and Tokul Creek, and practicing boat self-rescue in the big eddy below the confluence. 

At these relatively high flows of ~3500 CFS, the hydraulic features in the confluence were big and active. The eddy lines were large and burly. These were challenging conditions for new students to swim in. Tokul Creek was much too active to cross and it was loud, making it difficult to communicate between the swim-in and swim-out points. Walkie-talkie radios are recommended for communication in the future. 

The first swims, without throw ropes, went out into the center of the river and while the hydraulic features were still strong, students swam them well. The current was fast enough and the eddy lines strong enough that nearly all of them went further downstream that we expected, and our rescue boaters had to do more work than expected helping escort swimmers to shore. I thought three rescue boaters were a lot, but we ended up needing all of them and a fourth probably wouldn't have hurt. 

When we started doing throw ropes, swimmers swam closer to shore to be better targets for the throwers - this led to a swimmer going into a fiercer part of the confluence hydraulic and having an unpleasant swim. In the future, at high flows swimmers should prioritize caution around the hydraulic, even if it means being too far out for reliable rope throws. 

The big eddy was circulating quite a bit. Conditions were okay for safe self-rescue practice, although boats definitely went on the move once people flipped themselves, and it was worthwhile to have instructors hanging out to help people before they got into the downriver current. It also made boat bumping practice difficult - it was hard to boat-bump anywhere but the eddy's direction of flow.

I think the field trip can be run safely in these higher flow conditions, but it requires a strong supply of rescue boaters and instructors and a high degree of caution with the hydraulic for a positive and safe student experience.