Canyon Creek Race

Looking backup to the last few drops of Canyon Creek (and the race)

After a week lapping the Little White and with same Green Truss and Farmland runs thrown in for good measure Chris Korbulic and I were good and ready for a change of pace on (and weather for that matter) so made our way to Washington’s Canyon Creek. Not that the prospect of a one last Little White lap wasn’t awfully tempting, we did try but nobody joined us for the shuttle and the walk was looking just a touch too long. Besides I really would like to have a run down the class four river I was to be racing on the next day (not that it helped… read on)

Chris Korbulic lining up for air time on the final boof of the race

We were joined by some buddies from Corvallis at the takeout where we were gratefully enjoying the sunny blue skies and warm temperatures, something we had not seen much of the previous week. With big smiles on our faces and the shuttle set we got down to the business of paddling the river (and scoping out the race lines). The run put an instant smile on my face which was only made bigger by the first box gorge and beamed form ear to ear by as I launched over the last three boofs on the run. The river also boasts probably the nicest 20 foot waterfall I have ever run (blind might I add… heehee, so soft and fluffy).

Chris Gabrielli leading the random facial expressions campaign (click on the photo for a bigger version)

Not to be left out Jeff doing his best 'ooh rapid' facial

Mean while I was hiding from the paparazzi "hee hee can't shoot my face"

With race day eve upon us we quickly got down to the business of drinking malt liquor (carbo loading for those in the know). Ok so only I was drinking malt liquor as Chris Korbulic left his bottle conveniently in the car… I guess we can’t all drink like Kiwis eh Chris. Well that’s the performance de-hancing drugs dispensed (and an uncomfortable nights sleep in the car) time to race.

Half naked boddies everywhere... it must be a good day ;-)

The guys getting their tan on

Not everyone was a fan of the sun however... Jacs hiding from the sun, or maybe she is hiding how red her skin was from the camera?!?

Then there were some who just didn't like the camera. Too bad Nick the paparazzi is everywhere

And there were even a few who just plan didn't know what was going on... "Who are you? What are you doing... You're not even my real mother!!"

The weather on race day was nothing short of stellar and we quickly found more people we knew including a bunch more form Corvallis and Shaun and Jacs. “It’s going to be a good day”. Eventually we all got ourselves to start line and did our best to beat each others times (none of us were taking it that seriously) although not all of us made it to the bottom in one piece. Paddling the run only once before racing down a class four river seemed like a good idea at the time but my memory of the lines was lacking one small but significant detail… the line through a sticky hole half down the run. Yep… as you have probably already guessed I got thrashed and pulled out of my kayak while fighting the beast. Well that was my race over, much to the delight of all my friends who are still letting me know about it… can’t blame them really I would certainly be doing the same.

Rafters at Champagne styling the line

Conner and Chachi not doing so well though - 'but I don't want to go over there!!'

Casey enjoying the action at champagne

A pretty sweet day all in all (even if I did swim for the first time in quite a while) and the after party was no let down either. In fact that statement doesn’t really do the party justice… it was up there with the best kayaking shindigs I have ever been to. So how to make a great weekend even better – paddle the Little White at 3’5’’, so that’s what we did. All that was missing was the petrol station pie on our way to the river ;-)

Dusty wasn't in the race but that didn't stop him getting some air time

And I think he's pretty happy about it

Little White Mission

Chris Korbulic firing a nice line off Spirit

Well the pace of adventure in my world hasn’t slowed down at all. It turned out that I was ‘hard’ to contact by work and so instead of sending me back to rejoin my old crew for one last trip before I swap crews they simply found someone else. By the time I called work back they told me to ‘keep enjoying my holiday’. Maybe that’s Norwegian code for you’re fired or something but to me it simply means what it says and that’s what I have been doing. So after arriving back from Vancouver Island I made my way to Corvallis for a couple of days catch back up with Shaun and Jacs and everyone else down that way that I know. Shaun and Jacs had just purchased a stylie wee gas guzzler V6 van and were in the process of fitting a bed into the back of it. No worries guys, I’ll document and direct… actually just document (and drink beer of course) while you are hard at work. What a good friend I am ;-)

Shaun and Jacs working hard while I supervise

No power tools for these guys... Jacs doing it tough

I tell a lie... they had a power drill

The daffodils were enjoying the sunshine too

Job done... yet it needs a bit more charm, can never have too much charm

Right that’s the van done lets go kayaking… destination Hood River. A break away mob of four of us left Friday morning to get a sneaky wee run down the Green Truss, a beautiful class 4 run with a couple of bigger drops thrown in for good measure. It was also the perfect opportunity for Shaun to reacquaint himself with kayaking, it’s been a while aye buddy. It was also a chance for Richard to go 0 and 3 on Bob’s hole (he has swam out of it the first two times he has run the drop) but he wasn’t as keen on swimming as the rest of us were on seeing it happen and decided to walk… poor form Richard.

Moss covered trees of the Little White

EJ getting straight amongst it at Bolder Sluice

With a successful run of the Green Truss under our belts we were rejoined by the rest of the group from Corvallis bringing to total number to nine… Hood River had never seen the likes of it (well actually it has, many times even - the place is often descended on by large groups of kayakers and/or kite boarders but never let the truth get in the way of a good story aye Dave although I kind of just have… sheit). Right where was I, oh yes nine kayakers ready to paddle the shit but first they need a place to stay. Lucky our new buddy LJ let us use his house and we were set with a good nights sleep ready for adventure.

Chris Gabrielli getting air at Sacriledge

And I think he likes it

Chris K isn't so sure though (of what however, I think only he knows)

Maybe it is how many kayakers are on the run. Believe it or not, that wasn't all of us ;-)

Well all the rivers round Hood River are pretty well documented and get paddled all the time so it is not a true adventure in the sense of the word but we didn’t let that stop us!! Leave it to us to turn a hour long Little White run into an all day mission. First of all you need to start the day with the biggest groups you could imagine (so even the biggest eddy’s on the river wont hold all of you), then make sure there is a good ratio of people who haven’t paddled the river before and finally and perhaps key bring along pre-cracked kayaks with dodgy repairs and not enough split paddles.

Richard not missing out on his chance for air time

And sticking the whole line to boot (first time on the Little White and paddling it like a seasoned pro - nice going Richard)

Jeff searching for fish... I guess you have to go deep to find to best ones

Well we already had some dodgy pre-cracked kayaks and not enough split paddles but we felt that the group wasn’t quite big enough… no problem we’ll just find some more people!! “Job done” as my boss at work would say. So our expanded group of eleven put on the Little White for our wonderful adventure… five and a half hours latter the last of the tired cold hungry kayakers took off the river. Some egos had taken a bit of a bruising and a few pockets had taken a little hit but fortunately all bodies were still intact. Actually I’m making it sound worse than it really was but it still had to be described as a mission.

Eli doing some impromptu underwater caving... his buddy lost his kayak in the cave under the rock wall and Eli swam under there to get it back... what a good fella

The spectators enjoying the caving action. If you look at the bottom left corner you can just see Eli!!!

Right so here is the breakdown…

1) EJ got pinned at the first drop and swam. His boat made a much nicer platform to boof off than the rocks that trapped him. Way to take one for the team EJ!

2) Richard dropped his camera while helping to retrieve EJ’s boat. Lucky for Richard the camera was waterproof and five minutes duck diving saw him and the camera reunited.

3) I re-broke the kayak I was paddling just before S-turn rapid and so enjoyed some extra hole punching weight in my boat, at the expense of manoeuvrability. The trade was later described as ‘fair’

4) Shaun had a token swim and nice self rescue might I add, at Wishbone Falls. When you’re already in the eddy after the drop you can probably just roll up eh Shaun.

5) EJ lost his paddle at the top of the narrow gorge above Horse Shoe hole but managed to paddle the gorge and eddy out before the hole. A pretty good effort and it turned out the paddle he was using was one that we found that day anyway… easy come easy go eh EJ.

6) Rick broke his paddle at Spirit Falls and although he managed to roll up he ended up behind the curtain, got sucked back into the falls and went deep. He came out but his boat decided to stay… until we went and got it. That little break turned into over two hours of fun for everyone (except the half the group who bailed so they could return a demo boat in time).

7) The remaining group pull out some Macgyver tricks and fashion a makeshift paddle from a couple of pieces of paddle blade found at the bottom of Spirit Fall (while retrieving Rick's kayak) which Eli nominates himself to use.

8) The Macgyver paddle disintegrates at Master Blaster rapid and Eli swims... bugger au.

Rick flying off Wishbone

Nick going deep on the same droop... both lines are sweet, trust me I have tested each out (and a couple of other variations for good measure)

Jeff ready to rescue people from Horse Shoe hole... thankfully his services were not needed

Richard threading his way though a maze of holes in a cool narrow gorge above Horse Shoe hole

Shaun sticking the right side of Horse Shoe

Moments before disaster... Rick just before he breaks his paddle and goes deep at Spirit

The boat retrieval in full swing. Nick jumped at the opportunity to abseil down and get Rick's boat... the rest of us stood back and let him go to it... 'sure Nick I'll take pictures'

Well as you can see lots of little dramas but nothing to scary to really that serious… just another day on the Little White.

Van Is. Mission

A cold one anybody?

So yes I have been doing a very good job of hiding lately, whether on a boat working in the Caspian Sea or playing in the best snow that Colorado winter has to offer. And I even managed to sneak in a couple of trips to the UK for courses and a flying visit to Norway. Some good times but nothing gets me motivated to let you’ll know what I have been up to like squeezing myself into a plastic tube and chucking myself into the depths of the whitest water I can find. And that is exactly what is have just been doing... and not just anywhere but on Vancouver Island, Canada. Anyhow more about that in a minute, for now I must backtrack a week to where the story actually begins.

What ya doing parked on the side of the freeway Shaun?!?

Location: Portland, USA. My good buddies Shaun and Jacs arrive to start off their North America adventure while I was checking out the white water in Hood River and re teaching myself to kayak… well as you know it has been a wee few months. I missed out on there arrival and subsequent ‘partying’ but the next day I found a ride to Portland and caught up with everybody which also included Emma and Chris. Shaun was given a fine introduction to freeway driving on the wrong side of the road when the truck Chris leant him ran out of gas about five minutes after it was acquired, you sure know when to leave a sinking ship eh Chris.

The rescue... maybe it would just have been easier to put a bit more fuel in there to start with eh Chris.

Fortunately backup was not far off and so were we and off to see Dusty before road tripping our way to Corvallis where Rich was waiting. Never before in a single day have I ever met up with so many people that I have not seen in for such long periods of time!! Good times all round but all good things have to come to an end and I left the lot of them planning a rafting trip as I heading off on my own adventure…. Van Is. here I come!!

The guys planning their trip... as you can see there was some concern over flows (it's always over flows)

Unfortunately my journey was to start without transport and I tried my hand, literately and rather unsuccessfully I might add, at hitchhiking for the first time in the states. Three hours of standing in the rain and the onset of darkness had me reconsidering when a super nice guy picked me up and gave me a lift all the way to my friend’s door - what a garry good… ‘guy’.

Heading out to 'The Island'

A couple of days later and with Canada in our sights six of us departed Hood River, bound for ‘The Island’ as it is called by the locals. There we were joined by four more and so our large crew of ten keen kayakers were all set to rock and/or roll. The only problem however - the weather wasn’t… the rain that we ordered turned up as snow (and in abundance). Cold we could deal with, the lack of water in the rivers, not so much. Still life was not so bad with a close little gem, Gordon’s Creek, flowing at an ok level with three sweet as sections for our entrainment. Each was paddled twice (except the first bit which was only done once).

Better clean the snow of your kayaks guys... there's boating to be done!

The putin to the middle Gordon

Todd running the first drop on the middle Gordon

Not to be out done - Jay getting amongst it.

Yep... it was cold!!

Christie collecting a little snow for the journey.

Spot the kayakers... in case you are wondering there are three

Rob lining up the deceptive hole at the bottom

Rob looking good on the exit drop from the middle Gordon.

Well I would like to say the low water levels were our only problem but that was not to be. Between the four vehicles we had with us we managed to get three flat tires and destroy a clutch. Luckily we forget that we were scumbag kayakers for a couple of days and hired a lodge complete with hot tub. Nothing makes your problems disappear like slipping into steaming spar pool. Due to low flows and lack of functioning cars we didn’t quite last as long as planned and certainly didn’t get to see much of what the island has to offer but I’ll be back, camera in hand ready to explore more rivers. We just need to get the order for rain instead of snow correct (and bring stronger cars).

Yes... work it baby, looking good Jay ;-)

Who Says New Years Should Be Remembered?!?

Right first things first… yes I have been slack and not posted anything form my latest adventures in Baku (Which is in Azerbaijan if that make’s where in the world I am any clearer for you… probably not though). In my own defence I have been working 12 hour days and going out drinking 12 hour nights (well close to anyway) which doesn’t leave much time for other stuff. I if I really wanted to clutch at straws I could blame it on the difficulty in getting internet access… but that would be clutching so I’ll just stick to the tried and true excuse of “too lazy, couldn’t be bother”.

Before I get too far ahead of myself here is a one sentence description of Baku to put things in context. ‘The people are friendly, the streets are safe to walk around at night, the beer and food are cheap, and if you order vodka you are likely to receive enough to make you think they mistook your order for water!!’ Right that’s the formalities dispensed with, onto the story of New Years in Baku.

How my New Years unfolded hinged on one simple point of contention… the possibility that town might close early because of New Years!! Never happen, I hear you say but in some places that is just how it is done and nobody thinks any different of it. A few of us were out on the 30^th and found a new bar which we figured would be the perfect place to start our New Years eve at… I’m not sure why but someone asked what time they closed at on New Years and was told 10:00 pm. That seams rather unusual in its self but when you consider that this was at 11:45 pm on a Sunday night it really got us thinking… maybe Baku is one of these odd places where everybody goes home to celebrate New Years.

With all big problems come big solutions – “so if we can’t drink after ten then maybe we should just drink a lot more before ten”. This was by far my favourite quote of the night and exactly what we did. There was only one teeny tiny flaw in our plan… it was bollocks!!! Town didn’t close; the pub we started at stayed open until past 11:00 (I think on account of how much money we were spending) and the entire tribe of us ended up in quite a condition to phrase it nicely.

Because we are in this part of the world, vodka (straight of course) was the drink of choice and it was flowing like water – when in Rome. I realised that my night was headed down hill when I bough a round of vodka’s for some of the guys playing pool. While I was at the bar I also got vodka’s for some friends sitting there (actually before I managed to buy anything, a vodka was placed in my hand). Anyhow I left the guys at the bar to deliver the drinks and returned a few moments later to find they were still sitting at the bar, vodka’s in front of them. “What...aren’t you guys drinking?” “We are waiting for you” they replied. “But I just had one in the other room!!” “We didn’t see… get another one”… “Ok then, if I must”.

So before this story gets too long, here’s the quick summary. We left the bar at about 11:30, walked across the street into another place which wanted 50 manat each person as a cover charge… yeah right, that’s more than I spent all night so predictably we left and ‘apparent’ headed to the Corner Bar. I then looked at my watch and it was 5:00 in the morning, I was in a different bar and couldn’t find any of the 15 or so other guys I started the night with… time to head off I think and I finished my night with a crazy taxi ride home, probably the best since being here - and that’s my New Years… ta-daah

The next day when I woke up and dragged my sorry arse to work (at 11:00 instead of 8:00) I started trying to piece together the puzzle that was my New Years. Turns out everyone was trying to do the same… I was not the only one suffering for a little short term memory loss. The best I could get was that at some point I fell off a bar stool into a crowd of people and something about a beer squirting competition?!? I still don’t know what that is… hmmm

So was my New Years memorable… definitely. Was it remembered… not so much! I hope you all have your own great stories to tell (which include a few more details than mine) Over and out - Jono