Oregon Salmon and Other things

Just a reminder of where we were going on the back of CK's rig.

Its been a while since my last post but I think its been worth it to come back with a little trip to the Oregon Salmon! Ryan and Chris do a great job covering the run. Check out their blogs for some super shots but for me the weekend started Saturday when the Chrises and I left Corvallis for Hood River, on a mission to pick up CK's new boat, Valerie, meet Jeff and hammer out a quick Truss run on the way. A late start meant Jeff ran the Truss solo but we pushed on down to the Salmon and did a quick hike scout up from the bottom.

Scouting Frustration from the canyon rim

After a night of interviews by the Associated Press (I have no idea how CK pulls this stuff but its always an adventure with the guy) we hiked in and made our way down to the river. It start right off the bat with a sweet 15ish footer with a kind of interesting log duck lead it... nice.

Getting our Associated Press Crew across the Sandy on the hike in

The rest of the run is just as tight, just as committing and just as big as everything you've heard or read. That all played in to my decision to portage Frustration and in the process injuring my knee. I kind of feel like it would have hurt less to just run the thing and I don't feel like I really ran the Oregon Salmon unless I run Frustration. CK keep Final...

My preferred line at Final Falls. Jay G after throwing the rest of our boats for us.

Chris K hucking his paddle at the last second on Final Falls.

The rest of the run is uneventful and shallow but its a good way to unwind from the intense gorge. Check out some more photos here

Oh and Keel breaking into our take out cars... that was clutch.

On other notes, I've finally started the 9-5 lifestyle, but that's ok for now. Life has been intense lately and a little daily grind is ok for now. Especially when I can still get into awesome gorges with awesome people. BUT Summertime means Spencer's hole is just around the corner too so I'm looking forward to getting back in the playboat soon. Its been too long.

Also, I've happily been noticed by Playak.com, a great site that I use all the time. I feel like I've hit the big time!

Cheers-
Blue Haired Freak.