Tieton (III)

Tieton River

Description: The Tieton River is dam controlled, the Bureau of Reclamation opens the spillgates at Rimrock Dam and turns up the water volume to a September blast. At this time of the year this is the only rafting in Washington, so everybody's here - private boaters and commercial outfitters alike - which results in lots of river traffic and congestion at the put-in and take-out.

Running the Tieton will be like roller skating a staircase! It will be fast and steep (45' per mile) without much chance to stop. 11 miles of continuous II+ - III whitewater (and paddling) all in less than 2 hours. There is a lo-head dam at the mid-point of the run that is generally runnable left-of-center. Below the dam is High Noon (or Pinball), a tough class III right maneuver, followed by Waffle Wall, a narrow chute above a concrete wall grid, that has 2 holes at the bottom that must be avoided!

Directions: Approximately 2 1/2 to 3 hours from Seattle via SR-410 to Cayuse Pass. SR-123 to US 12. Head east over White Pass. 17 miles east of the summit is Rimrock dam, and the put-in is about 1/2 mile below that.

Accommodations: Hause Creek campground, approx. 3 miles east of Rimrock, is the largest. There are numerous other campgrounds along this stretch of US-12.

This is generally last club trip of the season, one that we can smile about in the long winter months ahead!