wet willie blog

Middle White Salmon: handpaddling Maytag and Husum

2009-09-22T15:07:00.000-07:00

(Willie's custom expert handpaddles)
These suckers (crafted by Hucky McChuckinstuff) are just under half the surface area of my large handpaddles, and even smaller than Riveraholic's small handpaddles. My first time using them, on September 9th's Carnage Run, was a hoot.

It'd been quite a while since I asked anyone to have my back on T-rescues, and even longer since I'd felt gripped in the big eddy at Fish Creek. With my heart racing, I undertook the run without knowing for certain that I'd be able to navigate, much less have a combat roll. Things went very well, and I even got my surf on several times.

My hand roll has to be a bit more optimal with the tiny handpaddles, which is good training. I find that taking many more (but less powerful) strokes gives me a better cardio workout on the river, and requires better boat control, more focus on river reading, and more premeditated obstacle avoidance.

Friends who've started handpaddling recently after months of encouragement from me have been having a blast and extolling the virtues of this pursuit. Me to them: "I told you so!" We had 3 handpaddlers at the first and second Carnage Runs this month, and 4 last week at the third. People wanting locally-made handpaddles should hook up with Hucky, a.k.a. Tango Charlie.

The following Saturday, Luke, Ryan, and I set out to conquer new turf with our handpaddles, having honed our game on the Upper Clackamas. This was my second time using the insignificant pieces of plastic known as "Willie's custom expert handpaddles", and the White Salmon would prove once again to be a sizable step up for someone so used to Fish to Bob's on the Clackamas.

This clip (at Maytag, the first rapid of the Middle White Salmon run) starts with me (background) succeeding at my second frantic roll attempt in the boils below the top drop with Luke shouting encouragement in close chase, as Ryan runs the 2nd "drop" (foreground), followed by myself and then Luke:

(Ryan, Willie, and Luke on Maytag, with handpaddles. Footage courtesy of 'Nette from Next Adventure's staff blog post.)
The run was challenging, as I don't know it very well, and line planning has to happen much earlier in each rapid when I'm in the tiny handpaddles. My focus slipped at one point, and I found myself center-broaching on a rock in the shallows, where I flipped. An advantage of the handpaddles in this situation was that I was able to crab-walk upside-down on the rocky bottom, from my back deck over to my upstream side, and roll up from there, protecting my head/shoulders/etc. from the menacingly shallow riverbed. There is probably a whole sub-sport to be had in dynamic playboat moves that incorporate the riverbed, but I'll leave that revolution to someone else. ;)

This clip of Husum has Luke crushing the tricky low-water boof, then myself, followed by Ryan, having more interesting lines. I can tell you that handrolling in froth with something smaller than a DVD case strapped to each hand is an interesting exercise. The word "swim" ran through my mind briefly when I got pulled back into the maw after my second capsize. Luckily, it was all the more easy to feel and grab the downwater for an inverted escape from the chunder zone:

(Luke, Willie, and Ryan on Husum, with handpaddles. Thanks again to 'Nette from Next Adventure for the footage!)

Oregon Kayaking: Chelan Gorge

2009-09-01T13:59:00.001-07:00

(Entrance Exam - photo by Chris Arnold)
Chris Arnold has finally gotten his Chelan Gorge trip report up on Oregon Kayaking. There are a couple of pictures of me. I still need to finish my report for that trip, but it's getting close.

Squirtboating: Weasel Gathering, underwater footage

2009-08-20T12:08:00.001-07:00

I had a blast figuring out how to sink at last weekend's Weasel Gathering. I'm so grateful to the small community of Northwest squirtboaters for letting me try lots of boats and giving me crucial pieces of advice at just the right moments. I managed to get 6-8 consecutive submersions, with a max of 8 seconds, once I was in a boat that worked for me. (Noah's KOR was just right in a very Goldilocks way.) I came in last, but posted no zeroes. Not bad for my second day on the river in a squirtboat. What helped me get fast results was having read Squirtboating & Beyond and then rereading it again after doing a lot of playboating, before ever getting into a squirt boat. Handpaddling my playboat a lot and getting partial mysteries doing so at high water Big Eddy on the Clackamas helped a lot too, no doubt. The hook is set; now, I just need to knock off a bank so I can get a custom squirtboat and accompanying gear.

Weaver sinks into the Weasel at previous, higher flows.
At the end of Sunday's session, I volunteered to shoot some underwater footage of Tim Hollar dropping at The Weasel. To prepare, I swam into the downwater and rode the mystery with swimfins and one handpaddle, which was a trip, indeed. It's as if there is a creek beneath the river that follows the contours of the bottom-most part of the riverbed. It would be nigh impossible to stay in the "body mystery" while filming, but it was an instructive experience nonetheless. For the following footage, I just stayed in the seam on the surface, upcurrent from Tim, and managed spacing by kicking forward with the fins or pushing back with the handpaddle. Thanks to Joel Meadows for letting me use his camera, and thanks to Tim for the use of the goggles and snorkel.

(footage by yours truly, who has no "S" in his name)

Whitewater Kayaking Lifestyle Videos

2009-08-19T11:00:00.000-07:00

In the absence of completed trip reports for recent adventures, I offer you these glimpses into the kayaker lifestyle. This clip is from the informal White Trash Party 2009 at Northwestern Lake, on the White Salmon River. The annotated video says more than I ever could with mere words:

Some months later, Adventure Technology had a farewell party at the plant, with a Pimp & Ho theme. Katie and Josh were probably the best pimp and ho of the party, respectively. Here's Josh playing on his unicycle with a both feather boa and a light buzz tied on:

Any whitewater kayaker who tells you that they don't see this kind of thing every weekend is obviously hiding the truth. It could be a cocktail of pride and shame, or maybe they're trying to bogart the fun all for themselves. Trust only those who can look you in the eye and assure you that this type of shit happens every day...

Upper Upper Cispus: Behemoth from above

2009-08-10T10:23:00.000-07:00

I'm still pulling together media and words for my Chelan Gorge trip report, so here's a clip from a Cispus run we did in the meanwhile.

(video by Travis Lee)

White Salmon: Green Truss: another day, another cave rescue

2009-07-20T11:31:00.000-07:00

The Green Truss in summer can be a real treat. This weekend, we had sunny weather with temperatures pushing 100 degrees F. You know it's a hot day when you can sit safety in the mist coming off Big Brother in total comfort, wearing shorts and a lightly-insulated drytop. My lines were good this weekend, so I got to be the rescuer in the scenario below.

Steve and I yard Eric out of the cave at the base of Big Brother
(photo by Chris Arnold)

Lower Wind: handpaddling Shipherd's Falls, melt line

2009-07-07T15:20:00.000-07:00

I tried to prematurely boof a little to give my bow more downward momentum into the seam. I don't think I can get all the way under the foam pile to the downstream side without higher flows or a bunch of water in my boat. Either would be a scary proposition.

(Thanks to Ryan Young for the footage.)

2009-07-01T21:19:00.001-07:00

just watched a hand paddle fly out of the boat on my roof and get kicked into the median by a passing car on I-405...good ol' carnage run!

26th Annual Upper Clackamas Whitewater Festival

2009-05-28T10:17:00.000-07:00

Ryan Scott made a sweet little video for the Upper Clackamas Whitewater Festival this year. I almost completed a fakey forward flip off the ramp, at 2:59 in the video:

Northwest Creeking Competition: East Fork Lewis River extreme race

2009-04-22T15:03:00.001-07:00

The second year of the newly-reincarnated NW Creeking Comp went off with a bang April 11-12, 2009. The race, party, huckfest, and camaraderie were sick, as expected. The Columbian wrote an article about it, featuring a photo of me doing an old school pirouette whilst waiting at the hole by Oly's house for some other kayakers to come down:

Upper Clackamas play: Joe Bob's

2009-04-06T13:38:00.000-07:00

Joe Bob's is better at higher flows, but it's fun enough at around 2850cfs. Paul filmed me working on clean spins:

...and doing some sort of proto-blunt:

PDXkayaker Film Fest 2008: Semi-Pro Spotlight

2009-03-16T11:46:00.001-07:00

Luke managed to get 2nd place in last year's PDXkayaker Film Festival, with Semi-Pro Spotlight:

I shot much of the footage used in the film. Luke and I were going to co-produce our effort for the contest, but he just had more spare time in the week leading up to the contest. I'd say he represented, for sure. The Johnny Ott BZ Falls carnage clip was a huge crowd pleaser. Ahh, memories.

Liquid Zen - "Where did you leave your shoes?"

2009-03-02T16:39:00.000-08:00

After ten years of study, Zenno believed that he was ready to be made a Zen master. One rainy day, he went to visit the famous teacher Nan-in. When Zenno went into the house, Nan-in asked: “Did you leave your umbrella and your shoes outside?”

“Of course, I did,” replied Zenno. “It’s only polite. I would do the same thing anywhere.”

“Then tell me this: did you place your umbrella to the right or to the left of your shoes?”

“I haven’t the slightest idea, master.”

“Zen Buddhism is the art of being totally aware of one’s every action,” said Nan-in. “Lack of attention to apparently minor details can completely destroy a man’s life. A father hurrying out of his house must never leave a dagger within reach of his small son. A Samurai who does not polish his sword every day will find that when most he needs it, the sword has grown rusty. A young man who forgets to give flowers to his beloved will end up losing her.”

And Zenno understood that, although he had a good knowledge of Zen techniques when applied to the spiritual world, he had forgotten to apply them to the world of men.

-----

My thoughts on the above Zen koan as it relates to kayaking have made an appearance over at Scott's Liquid Zen blog -- check it out. I'm honored to be included with such esteemed kayakers on that site.

North Santiam: OKCC playboating clinic

2009-02-12T09:47:00.001-08:00

On Saturday, I tagged along with the OKCC playboating clinic, handpaddling from Niagara to Spencer's on the North Santiam, with flows around 1050cfs up top. EJ took some pictures:

helping portage Packsaddle dam

EJ's and my Astros at Packsaddle dam

The highlight of the day for me was getting 4 ends while spinning around in a series of whirlpools at one of the squirt spots. The awesome part, though, was watching everyone make progress. Thanks to Michael Williams and EJ Etherington for leading the trip. EJ's trip report is up on the Riot Team site.

Teeny Weeny wave, low flow Upper Clackamas

2009-02-11T11:54:00.000-08:00

I haven't updated in forever!

Here's a clip of me on Teeny Weeny last Sunday, shot by Paul. Getting used to the new(-to-me) Riot Astro 58. This was not my best ride of the day, as I was getting pretty tired. After flubbing 3 handpaddle rolls on the eddy line, I barely pulled it out.

Thanks for the footy, Rio Raul.

Me gusta Mexico!

2008-12-17T15:51:00.001-08:00

Personas de Mexico!
Si nos reunimos en Mexico y que desea mantenerse en contacto, por favor, dejar un comentario o mensaje de correo electrónico mí con su información de contacto.
Mi dirección de correo electrónico está williekayak@gmail.com.

People of Canada and the US!
If I met you in Mexico and you want to keep in touch, please leave a comment or email me with contact information. My email address is williekayak@gmail.com.

I've just returned from 6 days and 5 nights in Puerta Vallarta. I met amazing people and had a kickass time. I probably averaged 4-5 hours of sleep per night -- there was just a lot to do.

Samba Vallarta is one of the smaller resorts. The staff are terrific.

We got skunked bottom fishing. Well, we caught over a hundred fish too small to keep...does that count as "skunked"? A pleasant boat ride is never a bad thing, though:

I got in probably 10 hours of surfing, stroke work, and conditioning in an Ocean Kayaks Frenzy while I was there. Air temp was mid-80s all day, and water temp was high 60s (Fahrenheit).

Photo uploading to Blogger just failed on me, so more to come!

Pictures on Riot Team website

2008-11-25T11:09:00.000-08:00

Luke made a trip report of a Canyon Creek (Washington) run from a couple of weeks back, and a version was posted on the Team Riot website. I'm in a few of the pictures. This one, at Big Falls a.k.a. Big Kahuna, is probably the best one:

Lake Merwin

2008-11-07T22:33:00.000-08:00

Johnny of the lake. Test of Picasa "Blog This" feature.

Epic day at Indian Beach

2008-10-26T10:59:00.000-07:00

The North swells were 9 feet at 13 seconds, with a 5-15 mph eastern wind (blowing offshore) and 70 degree temperatures. We arrived at 12:30 to find Liam and Trevor packing up. "Too big," they said. "Can't get out past the break." We were already suited up, and wanted to see for ourselves, so we were rewarded with a beautiful day of shredding some huge breakers.

Just after the tide peaked, there were two sets of breakers, with an in-between zone where the outer breakers would 'unbreak' before collapsing closer to shore. The inner breakers were providing nice, long, if mushy, rides. The outer breakers were where the real excitement was, with 9-10 foot swells that were being stood up by the wind blowing out to sea. Much air was caught and many a wild ride were had. By the time the sun set, the water was out far enough to eliminate the inner breakers, and the remaining break zone was fast and furious indeed.

I tried out the Astro 58 with fins installed, and had some breakthroughs in ride length, cartwheeling in the foam pile, and airtime. I suppose my lack of fear for the big waves comes from having not been really worked in the surf before. I'm in no hurry, though. Hopefully, there will be a few more days of storm swells under sunny skies at the Oregon coast before the rains come into our rivers and our attention is diverted elsewhere...

Low water Green Truss

2008-10-25T11:07:00.000-07:00

Paul, Allen, and I rallied from Portland to meet Kenny K. at BZ Corners for an afternoon Truss run. We ran into Rachel, Joe, EJ, Kate, James, etc. and got the word that the Truss was holding up relatively well for the low flow, with most of the water coming from the top instead of the aquifers. It's a trippy drainage, the White Salmon.

No swims, and decent lines were had by all. I hadn't been in the Magnum for a few weeks, so it was nice to get my boof on once again. I managed to keep my head dry the whole run, except for a quick roll at the put-in to cool off. Paul had the cleanest line at Big Brother, as Allen and I both utterly crushed our boofs -- straight into the cave. It was nice to get out on the river with Kenny, as he's coming off a long hiatus, and has just moved to White Salmon, so he's been jonesing.

White Salmon: Green Truss: two laps

2008-08-24T10:29:00.000-07:00

After breaking camp near the put-in, I headed into town for some breakfast fare. Well-fed and full of hot coffee, I proceeded to BZ Corner to lounge in the sun and wait for boaters to show up. After a nice morning run with Lewis and his roomie Pat (who fired up both Big Brother and BZ for the first time, with good results), I hung out my gear and got back to lazing in the sun.

The PDX crew finally showed up around 3:00, and we got underway.

(More update to come. Here's a couple clips for now. Johnny exhibited his renowned brawniness on Big Brother, and I finally got a decent line on BZ Falls.)

view full screen

view full screen

Lower Wind: two laps

2008-08-23T20:58:00.000-07:00

Met Mike Long at Lewis & Clark at 8:00 a.m. Well, 8:25, anyway. Our Little White plans were dashed by the lack of a third -- this situation owing to a misinterpreted text from Luke. I wanted a third paddler for my second time down the legendary Little White, so we opted to traipse down the Lower Wind to kill time before some Portland friends were due at the Green Truss in the afternoon.

So Mike's delightful shuttle bunny (ring and a contract) helped us set a car at the bottom, and we put on around the same time as two other groups, one of which included Jacob Cruser and even some inflatable kayaks. We charged down to Shipherd Falls, with me trying the right entry line and spending a bit of elbow time in The Flume on the way. Sometime during our five laps on the falls, the phone rang, and the word came that our friends might be running the Lower Wind instead of the Green Truss, due to time constraints.

Later, whilst we pondered the meaning of it all over a cold PBR tallboy in the hot spring near the end of the run, the phone was heard to ring once more. Verily, our brethren had congealed into a critical mass of bro-brah-ness, which was converging on our location...eventually.

We killed some time at the store in Carson, where my rash guard got left and run over. Mike owes me big for this, and try to pay his debt by loaning me a playboat that was being brought especially for him from town by our impending crew. It was a ZG or some other archaic foot torture device, so I passed. When Mike spotted the shuttle bunny driving by, we engaged in hot pursuit, cutting her off at the pass at Hot Springs Road and Hwy 14. Jess drives slow, or we'd never have caught her. Thereafter, we made our way up the hill to the takeout, getting a call from Johnny when we were 100 yards away, wondering where we were, as he had just arrived himself.

So it was that our timing was perfect, and we were grateful to be with good friends Luke, Deek, and others, for another round of Lower Wind goodness. This time held no laps of rapids or falls, nor a hot springs stop. Nonetheless, a good time was had by all, and many sick boofs were executed with cold precision, to the extent which that was possible on the only "LW" that we paddled that day.

We went our separate ways, and as dusk neared, I boogied to the vicinity of the Green Truss put-in to find a camp spot, and found a pleasant unimproved site up on a ridge to the west. It was on the border of a timber sale, and several trees had been felled to block the road, so dry wood and tinder were plentiful. I strung up a throw rope to hang gear on, gathered some wood, made a fire and a bed, ate a sandwich, washed it down with Ice Cold Beer, and settled in for a relaxing and peaceful night under the stars. Tomorrow was sure to involve the Truss, finally.

I did not take any photos or video on this day, but this video made by someone else is very cool.

Green Truss, after work

2008-08-21T17:25:00.000-07:00

I haven't been keeping up to date on my blogging, and this entry is a partial one, but I thought I'd post something for whichever of my faithful readers have not already given up hope. I have about 35 incomplete and unpublished entries, many just standard runs and one-paragraph trip reports, but some that will be worth waiting for.

If you'd like a sneak peak at forthcoming video clips, check out my videos on Vimeo.

This entry in particular has some carnage to report, which I will do once the video is uploaded.

Luke, Tony, Ryan, and I headed up to the Green Truss for an after-work run. The recent rain had brought the level back up to just barely above 2.5 feet, by our reckoning. It was a good day.

Here is my ill-fated line on BZ Falls. I started too far left, got too far left, and caught my bow on the raspy rock face, which turned me sideways. I knew I was in for a ride when I landed in a side surf. Enjoy:

Lower Wind River

2008-07-27T07:46:00.000-07:00

I was still reeling from my bout with food poisoning, so I took it easy with another mellow run down the Lower Wind. I ran The Flume twice again -- it's getting less fun as the water runs out. I made just one pass at Shipherd's Falls, but I nailed my lines, so I was happy with it.

Dingo Dave swam the whole way, as he embarked on his virgin riverboarding voyage on a run that was probably a bit low for such undertakings. He said he'll bring kneepads and an athletic cup next time. Since he didn't technically have an out-of-boat experience, he drank beer sweet and pure from the can it came in. The same could not be said for all of our crew...

Cory had a swim at High Bridge due to a broken paddle, followed by a swim at The Flume due to a 190cm breakdown paddle. :) Kourtni got rodeoed in the first drop of Shipherd's before punching and earning a booty beer. The hot springs on river left below Shipherd's Falls make a cozy setting for keeping the booty beer tradition alive -- watch as Cory and Kourtni keep their river karma positive:

To Kourtni's credit, she hiked back up and ran the drop cleanly to make good on it:

Gorge Games on the White Salmon: safety, Truss, and Middle

2008-07-19T10:57:00.000-07:00

Arriving at BZ Corner at 8:05 a.m., I found that I was the only safety boater there, so I chatted with Nate, Heather, and Austin for a while until more folks arrived. Our celebrity safety coordinator Sam showed up at 8:35 or so, and we soon had a critical mass of safety boaters, so we made ready to head up. On the way up to the put-in, one of the many unsecured kayaks in the trailer of the shuttle rig blew out and onto the road, bouncing and skidding to a halt. Luckily, it was a rental, demo, or somesuch.

This marked the first time I didn't use a rope to put on the Truss (and my second time ever on the Truss), which was a good experience. Takes more effort per paddler, but is so much more time-efficient. My safety assignment was Big Brother, and I ended up serving as secondary cave roper for the day, behind the big cannon rope-launching machine known as Luke Spencer. Ryan Youngs and Turin were on river left at the top of the falls with me most of the day, along with a videographer for Fox Sports News. Luckily, Garreth had volunteered to be the dope-on-a-rope, so he got to hang out in the shivering mist at the base of the falls all day, and spare us the suffering.

About half the racers went into the cave at the base of the falls, surprisingly, including local favorite Todd Anderson, who showed clear frustration at his less-than-optimal line. Luckily, there were no swimmers out of the cave. In fact, we had only one swimmer all day -- Dr. Greg had the best line of the day on the drop itself, but got worked against the right wall soon after. After a couple of attempts at rolling on either side, he punched. It was then that we realized there was no one in a boat at the bottom of Big Brother, which we rapidly remedied. Fortunately, his gear was gathered at Double Drop, though we really should have had a better plan to begin with, Sam. After the race was done, we packed up and fired up the rest of the run, after helping folks ferry equipment back across the river. It takes balls of steel to kayak a $10,000 video camera across the river without a sprayskirt, I should think.

Luke fired up the center flake and styled it, airing out at an angle and lightly touching down on the downflow on the face of the manky left side of the falls. He pulled his bow up a bit at the last second and greased across the pile, marking the fastest line I saw all day, and plenty of reason for the other racers to be glad he was on safety and not stealing their thunder. For my part, I caught both the flake and the boof stroke, and aired it good into the pile, landing with 10-15 degrees of upward bow angle. It felt really solid, and I think it was an improvement over my first line down this drop last year. The rest of the run was great. Only Johnny Ott had the cajones to fire up BZ Falls on this day, and he had to fight the tractor beam on the left for a bit before it mercifully let him go.

After we took out at BZ, we enjoyed watching the boatercross competition. Gorge Games staff stopped people from walking down the the shore to spectate after some arbitrary number had already gone down, so it was none too crowded. I only wish that dog would not have licked the scab on my leg quite so much. Here's a brief clip of Tao winning one of his heats:

After the boatercross, as the awards ceremony was starting, I got propositioned for a quick run down the middle section (BZ to Husum), and happily accepted, as they needed another safety boater for the crew. The six (?) of us had an uneventful run, with just one brief and painless swim. Luckily, Miss Adams had been saying at last week's Carnage Run that she was fully qualified to drink booty beers, having solidified her combat roll. I was happy to hold her to it:

She did us proud. If you're wondering -- yes, the booty beer is one of my favorite traditions in kayaking.

I ended up camping out up at Trout Lake with a bunch of PDX Kayakers and new friends, shutting down the campfire with Drs. Dey and Boyok. It was a good day.

You can read Luke's Gorge Games reports here and here.