The Wenatchee River Festival was this weekend. I wasn't planning on going, because the river level wasn't great, but I had offered to help out with the festival. I arrived at the bridge above Snowblind (Goodwin St) around 11:30AM. That's not a great putin, but it allows you to run Snowblind and Granny's. It was already 80+ degrees out without a cloud in the sky. Snowblind at that level, about 6800 cfs, is pretty tame. I tried to surf a few waves, but my boat was either too slow or a guard wave screwed up my line. I was a little disappointed because I thought Granny's would just be a fast, green wave. However, when I got to Granny's I saw a very stable, although shallow wave. I was quite surprised. I was also surprised that there weren't that many people there. Because the river festival was going on, I thought it would be really crowded, but there were only about 5 people there. I stayed there for about a half an hour, catching the wave about 15 times. I hit a couple blunts, backstabs, 1 or 2 bread 'n butters (a blunt/backstab combination). I had a blast. While the wave can be better at lower flows, it was so much better than my expectations, I was elated. And unlike Trinity at Drunkards when the rivers between 11,000 and 13,000 cfs, Granny's doesn't kill my back. While I was there, it felt like the river was going down, which made the wave a little steeper. However, when I got home and checked the gauge the level really just flattened out. While I didn't want to stop, I was getting tired and had to go do my volunteer thing for the festival. Once that was done, after a delicious burger from the grill, of course, I walked back up to my car on Goodwin Road. This is actually a longer walk than I thought, I probably should have bummed a ride, but it was a great day to do it. Once in my car, I picked up my boat at Riverside Park in Cashmere and drove to the Recyling Center on River St. This is the lowest putin above Riverside Park and it's right above Granny's. I rode the wave a few more times, but I think the sun and exertion were getting to me, so have one last great session on the wave, I called it quits and started to the take out. After getting changed, I headed over to the festival to see what was going on. Around 7pm I headed back home, making the mandatory stop at Heidle Burger for a blackberry milkshake and onion rings.
|
|||
