Whitewater Packraft - Middle Fork Snoqualmie River: Tanner to North Bend

With a rainy week leading up to the trip, we had good flows in the river and options of where to packraft - the "club stretch" of the Middle Fork or the Upper Middle Fork. The group of 5 of us chose the Upper based on the idea that it would be more scenic and remote while still having some fun and interesting class II rapids. 

 The river was at about 2350 CFS in the morning - this was a great water level, if anything we might have liked even a little more. My watch recorded it at 9.25 miles (American Whitewater says 8 miles) and it was 2 hours 47 minutes total from put-in to take-out, including a 15-20 minute break along the way. The shuttle logistics were simple with a single good road between put-in and take-out.

Most of the rapids were in the first half of the run, before the confluence with the Pratt River. Some of them felt more difficult than the rapids on the club stretch, more like II+ than II. They were all safe though, with large calm sections after every one and essentially no wood  hazard. One of the larger rapids can be scouted from the road on the drive to the put-in. The river flattened out after the Pratt confluence, but there were still a few short class II sections. All throughout the river, there were rocks and boulders to practice surfing on and eddying behind. 

With good weather and even some blue skies, the scenery was great, with excellent views of Mt. Garfield and the peaks to the east and west of the valley. Despite being roadside, it felt very remote.

I think all agreed it was a fun and wilderness-feeling section of river, paddled in great conditions. The group worked together well and paddled safely.