Toxic Waters Premier

The author on Big Brother

The past few weeks I've been stuck in Bend conquering the 13 feet of snow that have fallen. With a sunny forcast and open passes, I was finally able to leave the winter wonderland for a very exciting weekend. I decided to head North to the Hood for the world Premiere of Toxic Waters- a film made by locals Nate and Heather Herbeck.


This was the first weekend we "Bendonians" have been able to leave bend because the passes have all been closed from snow. It's been ridiculous out here. We took full advantage and headed out on Thursday evening.....

Photo by: Christina Russell

We arrived in Hood River around 3 and broke out the Jet Boil for a nice meal watching kiteboarders and thinkin about the paddling ahead.

Observe- two Jefe's ...ahhh they look so good together :)

Friday-Green Truss

Stats:
138 feet/mile
Class IV-V
4.9 miles


The Truss was about 3.25 feet and Big Bro was crankin'. I asked Nate what he thought of dropping Big Brother at this flow and his response was, " well, it's on the high side of juicy." Perfect. We put on the water around 2:30 with quite the crew- Nate and Heather Herbeck, Ryan Scott, Jesse Becker, Jason Stingles (ha ha sorry if I mis-spelled your name!) , Josh mckeown, Jared Jackman, and myself.

At 3.25 feet things are padded out and you can have some pretty interesting lines off some of the drops. For those of you who aren't familiar with the names of the drops, here they are in order of appearance...also please check out http://www.oregonkayaking.net for pictures of more drops:

1. Elbow Room
2.Meatball
3. Bob's Falls- this one claims the most swimmers out of all the drops on the run
4.Big Brother
5. Little Brother
6. Double Drop
7.Cheese Grater
8. Zig Zag
9. BZ Falls

Anyways back to the run. With so many people on the rio, we all clogged up at the top of Big Brother. Nate fired it off first, followed by Ryan Scott and Heather. I finally decided to run it and after three false starts (ok I was a tad nervous) I gave it a go. Here I am attempting to meditate at the top of Big Bro....


Here is a sequence of me on Big Bro just for kicks....
Photos in this sequence by: Jesse Becker







After Big Bro I was super stoked. I had run something I've been wanting to do for a long time. It felt great to get over the fear of the cave. :) It also turned out to be one of the best waterfalls I've ever done...so fun!

Photo by: Dave Gridley

A couple drops later I portaged lower Zig Zag which has two logs in it...not cool.

Photo by: Josh Mckeown

Unfortunately, the two logs at the base of Zig Zag wont be going anywhere so for the time being, it's a portage or a sneak....sneak in between a log just above the surface and one just below...I'm gonna be portaging cuz I REALLY dont like wood lol.

After an afternoon on the Truss, it was time for me to get some food in my tummy. Solution: the crew and I headed to Sebu on the Columbia Gorge. Great food and GREAT scenery. It just doesn't get much better than that!


Saturday- Little White Salmon

Stats: 238 fpm
Class V-V+


First off I want to say that I forgot to bring my camera on the run...I know I know it was a bit frustrating. But hey, the creek's not going anywhere :) What Im trying to say is that I don't have many pics except the ones I got from Dan Gavere...thanks Dan! The Jefe Chico was the perfect boat for the little white's tight and technical big water feel....it boofed like a champ and resurfaced VERY quickly. It was so easy to maneuver around on Gettin' Busy and it never failed to protect my bum from rocks. If I could I would marry it! :D Nah but it's that good :) The outfitting in the new Jefe Chico is by far the most comfortable seating arrangement I have ever experienced. Liquidlogic got the memo on making a comfy seat! Anyways, the Chico gets my stamp of approval.

Moldy hot roddin' through S-Turn
Photo by: Dan Gavere

Keepin' it real on the L-Dub
Photo by: Dan Gavere

A week from now Im planning on getting back up on the Little White for another great time down :) Can't wait. THIS time I will make sure to bring the video camera and still cam cam.

Until next time, keep the paddling gear moldy! ;)

Keep on smiling,
Christina