Big Waves in the Desert

When my microbiology final was done on Friday, josh and I split from Bend with a fully loaded Tacoma. We wouldnt be home for a full two weeks so we had lots of stuff with us. Josh declared he would be driving the entire way.....poop on that I say but then again, when I drive, I need a pillow under my bum and behind my back to see over the dashboard! ha ha ha unless Josh wanted to move the bench seat forward a foot, it's tough. All Josh needed to get there was a few energy drinks, a Quiznos, and a good surf wave at the end of the road. That can be arranged :)

It's a three hour drive to Hood River (Below) and from there it is an additional four hours to the small town of Cashmere.....yep...those energy drinks saved us. In the middle of a friggin desert, the Wenatchee River has some of the best play I have ever seen...and about twenty minutes away is some stout creekin!

At the flow of about 5600 cfs, Granny's Wave is the best play feature to hit. It's right off of the road and there is never anyone there....only negative is that you have to hike up every time you take a ride.....see what I mean? (below)

so aside from the hike, she's a perty perfect spot to play- especially for us Oregonians who arent blessed with great playboating...but we DO have creeking :D This was actually our second time playboating since last October so we were both a bit rough to start. However, after an hour or so of floppin around on the wave, we had things figured out...and I was HAPPY :)



Josh was pretty happy too :).....



Icicle Creek Canyon:

Every night we headed West toward Leavenworth to camp along Icicle Creek. It is an amazing place. Crystal clear water and one impressive creek.....


The middle section is a solid class 5+ run and at the juicy flow it was, we didnt touch it. Two people on that run is sketchy. The lower is a class 4+ but most everything was flushed out so we passed on that too! We decided to just play on the Wenatchee and return at a later time to run Icicle....

Below is a drop on the middle
We had about six days of amazing playboating at Granny's Wave and I know we will return next year! Stay tuned for the next post on the Women's Paddling Festival in Hood River, OR!

Happy Paddling,
Christina :)