Guide to the Whitewater Rivers of Washington

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Summary: Must Have for Washington State Whitewater Paddlers
Review: This is the guide to whitewater paddling in Washington State with over 320 different trips described for the following drainages/regions: Columbia River Gorge, Lewis River, Kalama and Cowlitz, Lower Columbia and Chehalis, Upper Cowlitz, Deschutes and Nisqually, Puyallup, Green and Cedar, Snoqualmie, Skykomish, Pilchuck and Stilliguamish, Skagit, Nooksack, Northeast Cascades, Wenatchee, Yakima, Klickitat, Eastern Washington, Olympic Peninsula, Clackamas, Sandy, Hood, North Central Oregon, Snake, and Southern BC. Jeff Bennett has paddled most of the runs and for those that he hasn't he has enlisted local experts to provide accurate descriptions. This guide gives equal attention from rivers all the way from class II beginner trips to the nationally-known class V creeks including the Little White, Ernie's Canyon, Robe Canyon, Canyon Creek, Cispus, Icicle, Ohanepecosh, Big Quilcene, and many others. While this guide does not go into detailed mile-by-mile descriptions, it does provide an excellent summary of the overall character of each run including potential suitability for rafting, notes specific hazards, and highlights the unique features and noted rapids. Directions to the put-ins and take-outs are generally excellent and it serves as the must-have dashboard companion for anyone looking to find their way around Washington State's Rivers. The coverage of runs in Oregon, BC, and the Olympic Peninsula is less complete but this guide still hits the highlights. The guide also includes drainage maps, black and white photos that illustrate several of the region's classic rapids, and a number of rather humorous river stories. This guide is much broader in scope than Douglass North's Washington Whitewater which has more detailed descriptions and mile-by-mile river maps but only covers 34 of the states classic runs and nothing beyond class IV. Gary Korb's guide to the Olympic Peninsula provides much more detailed descriptions of the rivers in that region. Verne Huser has a guide that covers rivers in Western Washington characterized by flatwater and mild rapids that would be of more interest to those looking for a scenic canoe trip.