As I mentioned in the trip report on the lower section of this river, I am a big fan of the White River, especially at the peak of snowmelt in the spring when the river is really ripping. The river comes straight off of the glacier at Mt. Hood, so the water is milky and cold. There is a nice campground at Keeps Mills, very remote, so you can make a weekend of it when you decide to run this section. I have run this section at a variety of flows, but I think a thousand cfs or more is best.
Of course, the river changes character at this flow (for the better, in my opinion). Eddies disappear, munchy holes start to form, and the river becomes a single, twelve mile long rapid. Overall the run should only be attempted by class IV paddlers at higher water, and you'd better not be afraid of wood or you won't like this stretch. Lots of folks hike down the first quarter mile and see logs poking out in the river and think the whole river is this way, but it isn't. Of course, at higher water lots of those logs people see get covered up, so you don't have to worry about them too much unless you're out of your boat. This section of the river (like the lower) flows through a deep, rocky canyon, so if you swim and lose your stuff you are going to have a Very Long Day.
As we got downstream a mile or so there were some steeper drops we scouted from the bank (boat scouting is impossible at this flow, unless you count 'blindly probing and hoping you don't die' as boatscouting, which I don't.). In retrospect I won't lie and say scouting from the bank was fun though. It was Memorial Day Weekend, so the weather was hot and I was miserably sweaty by the time I got back in my boat.
Nevertheless, we were soon tearing down the river again having a great time. When you get up this high on the White the river is almost a uniform thirty feet wide the whole way down. There are no islands, no boulders to speak of in the river itself (at least at higher flows) and no real distinguishing characteristics except the logs, most of which have been there forever so folks use them as landmarks.
Lets see. First there is the lunch log, a huge old growth tree that is suspended about six feet above the water. This is where we stop for a snack and some relaxation in the sun.
There are lots of surf waves on this river, so if you keep an eye out you will be rewarded...
Oh yeah, I almost forgot about the 'Portage log'. This riverwide wood is about two thirds of the way down and is a mandatory portage at lower flows, though at higher water it is covered up. One time when I did this river at a nice medium flow we found a shiny new Werner paddle just downstream of this log. I guess a fella tried to boof the log and ended up getting pinned on it when he stalled out and his stern got sucked under. (Slimy old river logs like this one are especially dangerous to kayakers because they have no branches or bark or anything else to grab onto when you get pinned against them.)
Anyway, the guy was Ok but his paddle remained stuck under the log after he was rescued. Later it popped loose on it's own and that's when Matt and I found it in the eddy downstream. We wanted to return it to it's rightful owner, so Mat tied it to the back of his boat for the remainder of the run. (don't try that at home; you should never tie anything to yourself or your boat under any circumstances!) We ended up running into the folks the paddle belonged to downstream so it was all good in the end.