Video of Husum Falls, White Salmon River

Little did I know that Heath Barber was standing by with a video camera when I went over a little waterfall last weekend. As you can see, it went pretty well until I flipped over for no good reason. Oops.

Super Low Lower Wind River, Washington

So there are a few paddlers around here that are desperate enough for fun intermediate whitewater this time of year to brave the Wind River at super low flow. I am one of these people. Last Wednesday was not my best day on the river. I only landed two of the falls, but as it turned out I would've rather plugged those too. Oh, well. I was due for a humbling and I still had a great time! Good people, great scenery, hot springs, waterfalls, super cute dog... pretty much all my favorite things in life were on this trip.

The Wind River is probably the most scenic river I have paddled, so I don't mind a little flat water.

Alex, Dan and Kourtni all ran the terror that is The Flume, but I'm too chicken!

Alex runs The Flume

Dan runs The Flume

Shipperd's Falls is a 4-part waterfall. It starts off with a 10-ish footer, then a 20-ish footer, a manky slide, ending with a 10' weir. They are all different, all friendly (at low water!), with nice recovery pools between each drop. This day I landed the first drop flat, which is like doing a belly flop in a kayak. Ouch! 

Me hitting the auto-boof (it launches you!) on the first drop

Looking back at the 2-4th drops of Shipperd's Falls

This hot spring is the best. Nice & hot, comfortable, and you can't beat the scenery! It is just downstream of Shipperd's Falls, and the paddle out from here is only an easy 1/3 mile.

While Alex, Dan & I relaxed in the hot spring, Kourtni paddled out, got her dog and they hiked back up the river a ways so the dog could paddle out with us. I don't know who enjoyed this more - me or the dog. 

Late summer on the White Salmon River

It has been fun, in my first year of kayaking, to discover how much river features change at different levels of flow. This is a great thing because it means that you won't get tired of paddling the same ol' river time after time! Adrienne and I paddled the middle section of the White Salmon River in Washington on Sunday. This run is a classic... it has fairly continuous class II-III whitewater flowing through a beautiful gorge. It was much lower than I had run it previously, a little bumpy, but still lots of fun! At the end, you are rewarded with the option of running a 10' waterfall. I have run it 5 of the 6 times I have paddled this stretch of river (I didn't run it once because there was a raft stuck in it!) It is awesome to end the run with an adrenaline rush!

Adrienne running Hussum Falls

Me running Hussum Falls