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Located in the far reaches of the dry expanse
of Eastern Washington is yet another river with play worth
taking note of, Mill Creek in Walla Walla. Mill Creek is Walla Walla's backyard
stream. Most of the year there is only a trickle coming through the
creek. During the winter and early spring when there are several
days of heavy rain in a row or better yet, heavy rain combined with
snow melt, Mill Creek comes to life. Unfortunately the conditions
required to bring Mill Creek to life only happen at best a couple of
times at year.
Here is what my friend Dan Rubado has to say
about Mill Creek:
"It may only come in one day a year, but it's worth a 3.5 hour
drive from Portland on that day, trust me. You don't want to go to
Mill
Creek unless it has rained for days, and the Walla Walla gauge tops
1000cfs.
It's better above 1200. And it has one of the best holes in the
country
above 1500 or 1600. Just imagine about 3 or 4 miles of river at
flood,
every fifty feet there is a concrete ledge that forms a unique hole,
every
one is different, but you can throw ends in them all and loop in
many of
them and every one has eddy service. Then you get to the Missionary
Hole.
The hole of holes. Ends, clean ends, tricky wu, the biggest loops
of your
life, if it can be done in a hole, it can be done better at the
Missionary
Hole." Mill Creek is full of concrete ledges. There
is a ledge approximately one ledge every fifty to one hundred fifty feet for 3
to 4 miles (That is a lot of holes if you do the math) . At the
right water levels, above 1000 cfs, every one of these pieces of
concrete has the potential to form a play hole with eddy service. Mill Creek is
truly an amazing place for hole play. Not liking the hole your
playing in, No problem just cruise 30 seconds downstream to the
next one with eddy service. Truly a wonderland of hole play.
This wonderland is not without its dangers
however running any creek during high water events implies that
water will be swift and the eddies will be relatively thin, a
swimmer would very likely lose their boat. There are also several
weirs that could be dangerous and should be avoided including the
ledge just above the Missionary Hole and the large weir at the Army
Corps of Engineers Mill Creek Project Office at the put-in for the
one mile run. Keep your eyes open as you paddle downstream look out
for debris and carefully scout each hole before playing.
Paddlers should also plan on taking out at
the Missionary Hole (at the latest at the baseball field across from
Kmart) because downstream a short distance Mill Creek enters an
eddy-less culvert that funnels into to a pipe which runs under Walla
Walla.
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