Much like the other trips I did in 2007, this one was quite the same. Meaning it was a canoe/kayak delivery served up with a side order of white water kayaking. This time the destination was California, and a side trip to the Reno whitewater park. Riding shot gun for this trip, was boating partner and friend Dan Bentley. He had taken his whitewater kayaking course about 6 months earlier and had been boating with me a couple days a week ever since.
This trip was filled with all sorts of excitement from trailer wheels falling off and axle bearing salads in the middle of no where to major trailer wire freakouts. In amongst all the mechanical melt downs and unforseen detours on this trip we still managed to get in a few good days of boating.
The first time we got the boats wet was in the Reno whitewater park. The park is pretty cool and the weirdness of paddling through a busy down town Reno almost made the lack of water bearable. The park had enough water to paddle and surf all the features but they were quite shallow and didn't resemble the magazine pictures I could remember drooling on weeks earlier. I will defiantly try and make it back on a bigger day. From there we did some surfing on the Oregon Coast before loosing a few days to trailer issues. Lesson learned though, when using someone elses trailer check all the bearings and wires before you leave. A little pinched for time we debated whether or not to head to the White Salmon River. We wern't really sure where it was, or even what flavour of river it was(IE. play boat friendly?). Or, should we just head back and not risk being late for work the following day. So we did what any self respecting, bill paying, broke whitewater junkie would do . . . and hauled ass to the White Salmon River. This turned out to be an excellent idea because we got to paddle what quickly became a favorite for both of us. And, not only because I did my first, but also second waterfall ever. With Bentley also adding a water fall notch to his relitively new paddling belt. Even without the falls this was a gorgeous river. It was partly tucked into a mini canyon and part open field bed rock style. It turns out this river is quite an attraction and once we found it there were signs and trails everywhere, there was even a boat slide designed for rafts to get down the 100 meters to the river from the parking lot and an information board describing the different runs and hazards on the river. There is video of the two water falls in my 2007 Kayaking Video, and we even made it back on time for work.
Rest assured, before my next trip I'll be checking to make sure the bearings on my trailer are at least as greasy as my paddling buddies.
Ryan
Dan at the take out in Reno
Dan surfing in Reno
Some canyon we stumbled upon while trying to find the White Salmon, it did look pretty cool.
These were the hand rails installed for what I can only think is raft transportation. There are several rafting companies that run this stretch of river.
Look mom . . . no hands?!?!?
This trip was filled with all sorts of excitement from trailer wheels falling off and axle bearing salads in the middle of no where to major trailer wire freakouts. In amongst all the mechanical melt downs and unforseen detours on this trip we still managed to get in a few good days of boating.
The first time we got the boats wet was in the Reno whitewater park. The park is pretty cool and the weirdness of paddling through a busy down town Reno almost made the lack of water bearable. The park had enough water to paddle and surf all the features but they were quite shallow and didn't resemble the magazine pictures I could remember drooling on weeks earlier. I will defiantly try and make it back on a bigger day. From there we did some surfing on the Oregon Coast before loosing a few days to trailer issues. Lesson learned though, when using someone elses trailer check all the bearings and wires before you leave. A little pinched for time we debated whether or not to head to the White Salmon River. We wern't really sure where it was, or even what flavour of river it was(IE. play boat friendly?). Or, should we just head back and not risk being late for work the following day. So we did what any self respecting, bill paying, broke whitewater junkie would do . . . and hauled ass to the White Salmon River. This turned out to be an excellent idea because we got to paddle what quickly became a favorite for both of us. And, not only because I did my first, but also second waterfall ever. With Bentley also adding a water fall notch to his relitively new paddling belt. Even without the falls this was a gorgeous river. It was partly tucked into a mini canyon and part open field bed rock style. It turns out this river is quite an attraction and once we found it there were signs and trails everywhere, there was even a boat slide designed for rafts to get down the 100 meters to the river from the parking lot and an information board describing the different runs and hazards on the river. There is video of the two water falls in my 2007 Kayaking Video, and we even made it back on time for work.
Rest assured, before my next trip I'll be checking to make sure the bearings on my trailer are at least as greasy as my paddling buddies.
Ryan
Dan at the take out in Reno
Dan surfing in Reno
Some canyon we stumbled upon while trying to find the White Salmon, it did look pretty cool.
These were the hand rails installed for what I can only think is raft transportation. There are several rafting companies that run this stretch of river.
Look mom . . . no hands?!?!?
Dan on Hussem Falls
2 comments:
Hey, Jason here from Oregonkayaking.net. FYI, that canyon pictured in your trip report that you found while looking for the White Salmon is actually the put in for the class IV+ (V) section of the White Salmon, also known as the Farmlands run. Worth doing the next time you are in the area.
Best,
jason
Wow really? I though the White Salmon had a lot more ewater in it then that canyon looked like but I could be wrong. We were basically standing in some guys front yard in the farm lands when I took that picture.
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