With his last day of work done, John and I decided what better way to wrap up our amazing summer than with a full day M Wave session. We checked the gage, woke up super early and were pumped to be rewarded with perfect flows. Just the sight of the wave when you show up in the middle of no where is enough to put a smile on anyone's face. It was my first time on a super fast wave in my biscuit and it did not disappoint, it made such a challenging wave manageable. I'll let the pictures do the talking and check out the video clip at the end, it turned out sick!
With the Gore race coming up I thought some pics and a Video guide was just what everyone needed to get fired up. John and Tunnel falls had a little disagreement, he wanted to run it clean and it decided to smack him down. I'll let the pictures do the talking but make sure to check out the guide and go git sum. an antelope said hello on the paddle in me sneakin
The North Fork of the Payette is one of the best, challenging, fun rivers I've ever been on. It was August 2, long after most rivers had slowed down yet I was getting my high water fix on the warm water. The normal progression is to do the lower 5 miles first, but I called up Shane Trapp and we went straight to the top. Without much of a warm up you come right down on Steepness and then nutcracker; two large rapids with big waves and holes. After that is 10 miles of awesome class V boogy until you get to Jacob's Ladder. Jake's is a sweet long rapid with a crux move right at the top. The guys told me it was a little high for most people to run but if I saw the line to give it a go. I saw the line and it went great. Check out the full HD vid at the bottom for the full effect. Thanks to my amazing girlfriend for shooting the video.
Huge thanks again to Shane and Dave for showing me their back yard run. It was a great day with them and the rest of the gang that joined. The level was 2000 cfs
Mike Moser and Dave Mike and I boogy
Stacy in the front is one sweet female paddler Dave and I coming out of Nut Me, crux move top of Jacob's Ladder more jake's finishing jake's
After a few laps on the Green Truss I met with Andy Lichtenheld of Portland and Nate Warren of Massechusetts to head out to the Upper upper Cispus river. This river is located near Mt. Adams in some beautiful forests of Washington. The river had many boulder gardens, and had they not been so full of wood, they could have offered up some fun lines. The wood was a definate issue but luckily we were able to zig zag around most of it and make it down to Bohemeth. Bohemeth is a super fun mandatory water fall that goes great. Check out the pics and the good video of the trip.
Had an awesome time paddling the Green Truss of the White Salmon today. I just picked up some new gear from Stohlquist, and what better way to test it out than seeing the goods Washington has to offer. It is not the ideal time to be up here in the Hood River area so I was really excited that the Green Truss always flows and the levels were pretty good. I called up Jesse Becker from the AT factory and he and a super crew consisting of Nathan Herbeck, Eric Boomer, Scott, Jay, and myself had a super fun clean run down. Can't wait to see where else I can find water. Check out the vid, I only got out to take pics at big bro.
Ross Herr
... the new gear= extra sweet!
Nate showing me how its done Jay placing a nice stroke
So John and I left late Saturday night to meet up and run the Big South sunday and monday. Sunday there were tons of people there enjoying the beautiful place and high quality whitewater. Everyone we met or saw on the river was super friendly. With Kevin knowing the run really well, and a really solid crew joining us all, it was easy to blast through all the boogy and middle rapids. Took some great video and pictures from the trip so please enjoy.
So the past week was spent teaching a great group of kids the ins and outs of kayaking. We spent five days straight on the water and filled their heads with all the kayaking knowledge they could handle. By the end of the week each kid had run their first class III rapids and, I think, were hooked on kayaking forever. It was the first time we had done a camp like this and I can't wait to do more in the future. Im sure i'll be seing much more from this crew. Check out the action shots of the week.
Ross Herr
John O'Neil
cruising in the new magic van... Hope to see you all soon!