Perfect Weather and Great Water on the Tieton River!
Tieton River Season is here!
All of the elements (weather, water level, and lack of burn ban) have combined this season to make this one of the best Tieton River seasons we have seen for years!
Every September, water is released from Rimrock Lake, turning the
Tieton River into an incredible whitewater rollercoaster. For the
first three weeks of September, Wet Planet takes advantage of this dam
released run to create an awesome season’s finale with some of the best Oregon and Washington river rafting around. Every year I head
up to the Tieton to work with the Wet Planet trips. I love it! The
scenery is awesome, the rafting is great, the water is warm, and there
is a super fun drive-to play wave for kayakers. Wet Planet sets up a
great base camp, and our staff rotate in and out for trips, camping and
living at our Tieton base camp for days at a stretch. For many of us,
this is what it’s all about: living and working out in a beautiful
canyon on a cool stretch of river.
Three things can make or break a Tieton Season: water levels
(their dam released, but they can fluctuate), weather (it can get cold
up on the Tieton), and the fire ban (it’s always a bummer camping when
it’s cold and their is a fire ban in effect. This season, the stars have aligned to create the perfect Tieton River season. This past weekend was easily the best weather I have ever experienced out on the Tieton, warm and sunny with a clear sky and lots of stars at night. The water levels were great, and they are still releasing almost 200 cfs more every day. The water should peak at an awesome flow this weekend, and releases the following weekend will still be great! Finally, the burn ban has been lifted. This means that anyone camping out in the Tieton River Canyon will be able to have a campfire.
So, warm sunny weather, great water, and campfires! It’s the perfect whitewater weekend! Did I mention the play wave is also in. It just doesn’t get any better out on the Tieton.
