I have driven past the Upper East Fork of the Hood at least a hundred times. On each occassion my first thought was always, “It would be fun to take a raft down that”.  Well darn tootin it sure was!  While many naysayers said it was too low (3.8 feet at Tucker) we headed out anyway and enjoyed a technical class IV run in the sunshine.  We put in just below Sherwood Campground and took out just above the quaint little orchard “town” of Mt. Hood.  Cool little pub there with happy hour every day by the way.  I didn’t partake as my hands were full with the 12 mile bike shuttle back up what was more fun coming down.

 

 

 

Cruisin the last 4 miles

Big ups to Aire for building the Puma, the best raft creeker in the biz, and to Jacob for essentially running solo in a pinny-bangy cascade of goodness.

Do not fail

To learn from

The pure voice of an

Ever-flowing mountain stream

Splashing over the rocks.        - Ueshiba

Our day on the Little North Santiam at 1050 cfs began with the short hike in. A van with racks was unable to provide assistance for “liability reasons” and it would “detract from the wilderness experience”…:)

She waved and encouraged us to have a nice day. We did. Thanks van lady.

A Big Ugly raft run down Big Ugly

Drops of water fall from the sky as if to acknowledge all that is good.

Rivers allow us to escape from certain realities while enabling the replenishment of goodness within. This became most evident at the Taco Bell in Woodburn when we walked into an episode of COPS. Just 30 feet from our rig, 7 law enforcement vehicles had clustered upon a vehicle with their guns drawn and laser sights honed in. No pictures of this episode. We only wished to keep evidence of positive things on this day. Of course a debriefing was held-

Boaters must have interesting weather discussions at work.  While others are complaining about the rain, we simply smile and sneak back into the office to check flows.  Personally I have quit trying to explain the benefits of rain to those who have chosen to reside in a traditionally wet climate. Take your glass that is half full and watch golf on TV in your shelter, were goin boatin!

The Bruno Mountain run of the North Santiam was free of wood and full of big surf.  After completing this jolly session of splashing around, the take-out conversation turned to a nearby run of a treacherous nature. No one had been down the notorious for wood Breitenbush River since this last, or, current high water event much less a solo raft…

It was about 5:30pm when we put in at Cleator Bend with the level at about 1800cfs.  The flows were on the way down as evidenced by the water turning back to blue and no longer being brown as it was when we passed earlier in the day.  I was the only paddler in our R5 who had ever seen this run and that was 4 years ago in a kayak at 300cfs.  One of the benefits of training racing teams is that when you try something like this everyone is strong, dialed in, and will not hesitate when given commands.

Minus the 3 mandatory portages and 2 tight moves to miss wood, the run was Class IV.  However, throw in the unknown status of a twisty, narrow, woody river in addition to the 2 must make small portage eddies and it was game on!  We obviously made it with the only incidents being losing a paddle during the 1st portage (we should have known better!) and me getting blasted out of the boat by what had to be a hole as I’m fairly certain there were no linebackers in the river.  My paddle even stayed in the boat, ever seen those macabre pictures of someone that got hit by a train and their shoes are still on the ground where they were standing?

At any rate, all the major drops were clean “at this time”.  The wood was at the bottom of (3) Class III drops and appeared as though when the level does drop a kayak can likely limbo underneath of them. We don’t care if it is June, rain=water=life.

		Time Trial			Sprint H2H		Slalom			Downriver			Total
		Max Pts = 100			Max Pts =200		Max Pts = 300			Max Pts = 400			Max Pts = 1,000
	Bib #	Time (mm:ss.hh)	Place	Points	Place	Points	Time (mm:ss.hh)	Place	Points	Time (mm:ss)	Place	Points	Points	Final Standing
Mens Pro
ORT Red	1	01:26.2	1	100	1	200	07:00.8	1	300	21:11	1	400	1000	1st
ORT Grey	2	01:31.6	3	79	2	176	08:07.7	2	264	21:48	2	352	871	2nd
ORT Black	3	01:26.7	2	88	7	126	08:30.2	3	267	22:35	4	288	769	3rd
Soggy Bottom Boys	4	01:36.9	4	72	6	132	10:41.0	7	189	23:17	7	252	645	7th
Top Gun	8	01:46.1	7	63	4	144	09:16.2	6	198	22:31	3	316	721	4th
Val Schaull and Crew	9	01:41.0	5	69	-	-	-	-	-	22:56	5	276	345	9th
Consexual Monkey Storm Troopers	10	01:47.8	8	60	3	158	09:09.5	4	216	23:15	6	264	698	5th
NWA	12	01:45.4	6	66	5	138	09:15.9	5	207	23:52	8	240	651	6th
Womens Pro
WOW #2	5	02:00.9	2	88	3	158	08:23.0	1	300	25:10	3	316	862	2nd
WOW #1	6	01:48.1	1	100	1	200	10:35.4	4	216	23:00	1	400	916	1st
WOW #3	7	02:12.3	3	79	4	144	09:53.9	2	264	26:13	4	288	775	4th
H2Hose	14	02:17.2	4	72	2	176	10:00.4	3	237	24:22	2	352	837	3rd

Enlighten

Transcending the long drive; gas costs, hours of event coordination, asking of favors, tweeking of blogs, monitoring of websites, levels, weather, filing for permits, insurance, experiencing humility by constantly asking for help…we had a wonderful weekend.

Enlightening were the hugs and casual affirmations of old friends.  The sunshine nurtured our spirit and warmed our souls.  New relationships were formed as a river ran through it.

It seemed rather subordinate that a race occurred during this experience, a competition.  Yet the challenges provided by the racers and the big water of the incomparable Upper Klamath may have indeed facilitated this diatribe of reflection, or maybe I’m just growing up.

The earthly recollection exists as amazing sunny weather, bright yellow rafts crashing at once through the chaos of Caldera, and some darn good head to head racing for 6 miles!  Conveniently a forgiving surf wave is located at the finish line with complimentary eddy service.  Drifting and laughing allowed for closure following the tremendous challenge each of the participants had just successfully negotiated.  Or, in the words of my R2 partner Matt Lindland, “This is a great way to get a good workout while your sitting down having a chew” (which was all over his face after Hells Corner).  The Western Whitewater Championship Series rolls on.

Why do we do this?

Competition is a contest between individuals, groups, nations, animals, etc. for territory, a niche, or a location of resources… It arises whenever two or more parties strive for a goal which cannot be shared. Competition occurs naturally between living organisms which co-exist in the same environment. For example, animals compete over water supplies, food, and mates, etc. Humans compete for water, food, and mates, though when these needs are met deep rivalries often arise over the pursuit of wealth, prestige, and fame. Business is often associated with competition as most companies are in competition with at least one other firm over the same group of customers.

Competition may give incentives for self-improvement…. For example, if two watchmakers are competing for business, they will hopefully improve their products and service to increase sales. If one watchmaker is more responsive to the needs of consumers, this watchmaker will flourish. If birds compete for a limited water supply during a drought, the more suited birds will survive to reproduce and improve the population.

Rivals (similarly matched competitors well known to each other) will often refer to their competitors as “the competition”. This is especially true of archrivals (primary, longstanding rivals, often the best in their segment). The term “competition” can also be used to refer to the contest or tournament itself.

How can we self reflect and better ourselves and others?

Moral character or character is an evaluation of a particular individual’s moral qualities. The concept of character can imply a variety of attributes including the existence or lack of virtues such as integrity, courage, fortitude, honesty, and loyalty, or of good behaviors or habits-

Moral character primarily refers to the assemblage of qualities that distinguish one individual from another – although on a cultural level, the set of moral behaviors to which a social group adheres can be said to unite and define it culturally as distinct from others. Psychologist Lawrence Pervin defines moral character as “a disposition to behave expressing itself in consistent patterns of functioning across a range of situations” (Pervin 1994, p. 108).

Shred Ready Beat Down Mass Start Kayak footage courtesy of David Pool.

Raft Waterfall Hucking 101, 201.

This course will be offered to participants who wish to successfully drop waterfalls in a non-traditional manner as their selected craft was originally designed to rescue sailors at sea after their ship had sunk. Past graduates of this course have gone on to survive dropping waterfalls and/or vertical drops ranging from (15-125) feet.

Life threatening injuries will likely not be sustained, however mental faculties essential to normal life functioning have been noted to be severely compromised.  The onset of this concern may likely have occurred to the onset of Waterfall Fever, an addictive disorder characterized by traits associated with Narcissism such as: a grandiose sense of self importance, preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success, belief that he or she is special or unique, the individual requires excessive admiration, interpersonally exploitive or takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends, lacks empathy, is often envious of others, and shows arrogant, haughty behaviors and attitudes.

Given the aforementioned concerns inherent to running waterfalls, course attendees may/will also; swim these drops, rig their boats in preparation for a car crash like impact, brace their bodies in an attempt to limit space which facilitates limb acceleration, adjust angle of boat entry, and re-board their craft should the resulting impact of landing become unmanageable.

The final exam for this course will consist of successfully completing the East Fork of the Lewis River Race held annually in April.  Graduates are highly encouraged to continue developing their boating and interpersonal skills by attending the remainder of the events offered under the structure of the Western Whitewater Championship Series as these events will facilitate communication, connections with others, and the healthy development of the whitewater soul.