Bellingham Whitewater

Urban Whitewater - Whatcom Creek Pt. 1

Posted by Dirk on March 19, 2007 at 11:00 pm | In Safety, Instruction, Stewardship |

Not having a full weekend or a full will to get on a river trip, I went on a little bike exploration of our urban Bellingham water environment. As it happens, the following (Class IV+) whitewater is a short walk (and even shorter paddle) from my house.

Here is the last drop on the run:

Ok. This one has some issues. I note a large wooden pallet parked in the drop. It looks like it goes pretty well at high water, assuming you don’t run into a piece of urban debris. On the other hand, low flows make this slower, but probably more body-armor intensive. There are several pieces of wood and odd potholes in the rock. Unfortunate. Farther down, things remain interesting as the cascading drop ends with some man-made strainers along the sides.

Overall, this is a manky, pot-hole filled piece of sandstone, concrete, and pipes that should not be run… but probably goes down left of center pretty well.

On the other hand, just below this drop is an ever-changing play feature that is formed where Whatcom creek lands forcefully in Bellingham Bay.

Skook it is not

The tidal height of the Bay and the river flow both affect the quality and shape of this feature. I am here to tell you that I have seen a really nice play feature there. No really! I’ll try not to sound like I am describing sasquatch, but there were two of ‘em, kinda of short but well-formed and foamy… Nice eddy service too. I’ll grant you that all I need for playboating to be challenging is a wave big enough to front surf & maybe spin, so if you are looking to perfect that Pan Am, don’t come here.

Whether this play feature is in or not, this is place really shines is as a very accessible place to give newer paddlers an introduction to moving water. There is a jet of strong current, a nice friendly eddy, and stairs on which to climb in and out of the water. Washington rivers can very intense places for beginners, and a friendlier venue (and close to the Old Town Cafe) could be a really nice spot.
Downsides: I see the waves, but what’s this?

As my Wisconsin paddling friends would say, this is spit-three-times water.
Of course, the second question a beginner might ask about that section of the waterway is - what’s under there? Is there exposed rebar, random blocks of sharp concrete? How deep is it? I have no answers to these questions, but I am going to do some looking. Someone at the port or the hatchery probably knows.
This sign is both ominous and inviting at the same time.

Does this mean anything for paddlers? It sounds to me like we can put in above the first bridge and run the drop.

For what it’s worth, here’s the stick gage for the pictures — 2′.2 from my read.

I think you want another 2 feet of water but I have no idea what tides are good. If you know anything about what good flows & tides are, fill me in.

Why?

The potential for lunch-time playboating in the spring & early summer is too great to ignore! A place to get wet for an hour or two and practice on some real moving water, right next to a big drop. I bet it wouldn’t take much doing to build a nice play feature here either, or at least cleanup whatver nastiness lurks below the slabs of the drop.