Mid Summer Big Water!

With dropping water levels and rising temperatures in the NorthWest, Curt Joyce, Drew Austell, and Myself decided we needed some big water in our lives. So we packed up some gear and drove to Boise, Idaho to paddle the North Fork of the Payette. We left after working an afternoon trip on the White Salmon for Wet Planet and drove the 5 hours to Idaho. When we arrived we stayed at Brian "B-Real" Ward's house. I must extend my gratitude for the generous hospitality displayed by B-Real.

It was both Curt and my first time down the North Fork and we were both pretty excited. Until now I had spent my whole summer creeking, so I was anxious as well as a bit nervous to get on some bit water. The first day in Idaho we paddled all 15 miles. With flows around 2,100 cfs it couldn't have been more ideal. The sun was shining and I was wearing a shorty splashtop. The first day it was only the three of us paddling. We did run into two German guys on a month long kayaking trip in the U.S. We paddled the top 10 miles the next day with them and it was quite epic. In a rapid called slider, Drew was leading and led us all down the gut of a pretty large hole that ended up working the two Germans and one of our crew. After everyone surfed out, the Germans came out with smiles ear to ear yelling "We Surf Ze Bitch!!". It was pretty awesome, those two guys were really cool and I enjoyed paddling with them. Its nice being surrounded by enthusiastic people. After two days in Idaho paddling a NorthWest big water classic I was ready to return to the cool waters of the White Salmon. The trip was a big success and we all had tons of fun.

Steepness, which is the first rapid on the N. Fork.

Photo: Brian Ward

S-Turn

Photo: Brian Ward

The whole group paddling through S-Turn.

Photo: Brian Ward

Peeling out above Golf Course. Its called that because there are 18 holes.

Photo: Brian Ward

Eagle Creek

In early June, a group from Wet Planet set out to paddle the waterfalls of Eagle Creek across the river in Oregon. The group included myself, Curt Joyce, Lance Reif, Ryan Copenhagen, and Heather Herbeck. We hiked 4 miles in, carrying our kayaks on our shoulders. Ryan was the only one who thought to bring a kayak pack system. At the end of our hike we arrived at Skoonichuck falls. After a long bit a of scouting most of us opted to, as the french would say, "Portage". Lance was the only one who decided to run the falls, but you can read more about that on his blog http://riverdayz.blogspot.com/. Eagle creek had some fun low volume rapids with some truly amazing gorges. Finally after a few miles of fun rapids and pretty scenery we arrived at 35ft Punchbowl Falls, a PNW classic. With mostly good lines we all finished our run with smiles. A few of us were looking at the further down 98ft Metlako falls, but decided to save it for another day.

Hiking into Eagle Creek

Photo: Curt Joyce

Looking at Metlako

Photo: Curt Joyce

An awesome log jam in the high bridge micro gorge.

Photo: Curt Joyce

Picture perfect plug at Punchbowl Falls.

Come back soon for more exciting tales of adventure.

The NorthWest

In May of 2009, I moved to Husum, Washington to work as a river guide and intern for Wet Planet Whitewater. With a goal to kayak as much as possible I set out on a mission. When I first arrived I was taken out on the class IV-V Farmlands stretch of the White Salmon at 4.5ft by some coworkers. My first taste of West Coast whitewater took me a bit by surprise. I took quite a few beatdowns before figuring out the whitewater. As the water began to slowly drop and I developed my skills at Pacific NorthWest paddling I started firing up the harder class IV-V Green Truss stretch of the White Salmon. Layered with big drops and a few commiting rapids it turned out to be a great training ground....oh and its only 10 minutes away from where I live.

This is me nailing the line at Double Drop on the Green Truss.
Photo: Curt Joyce

Its a wild one.

Photo: Curt Joyce

This is me paddling into Lower ZigZag, a rapid portaged by most people who run the Truss.

Photo: Curt Joyce

Left of the fan rock and left of the old growth tree.
Photo: Curt JoyceAnd through most of the danger, notice the strainer behind Drew waiting down river.
Photo: Curt JoyceAnd catching the "Park and Ride" eddy.
Photo: Curt Joyce
...the ultimate training ground. Stay tuned for more to come!!!