tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35479671581919758432024-03-04T22:37:07.174-08:00Wonder MidgetCorey Mortonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03755424725426428781noreply@blogger.comBlogger143125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3547967158191975843.post-76931353687951111772013-06-02T23:05:00.000-07:002013-06-02T23:05:38.233-07:00Another Adventure Down The Almighty Little White Salmon! So today was a late start lazy paddle day. I woke up around 12 and got picked up by Ryan Young to head out to the L-Dub. On the way there I hit up my boy Hans since he hadn't ran the Dub yet and has been trying to get on it since he moved down here around a month ago from New Mexico. It was a beautiful day and the flow was suppose to be around 3'2" so I was super stoked about this mission. <div>
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I walked down to put in and checked the gauge and it read 3'4" which was a little higher than i felt comfortable since I just started boating again but I was super fired up and ready to go so I put on anyway. Getting busy was a ride and and so was Boulder Sluice but as i flew off the launch pad of Boulder Sluice i saw Hans upside down just to my left. I landed and my bow shot up and landed on his boat. He ended up pulling his skirt and swimming and swam the next sketchy ledge. I got his boat in an eddy right below the ledge and he self rescued right where I got his boat. </div>
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We kept on downstream through some more boogie water and made it to Island. Hans got out to scout and Rush Sturges and one of his friends were smashing down and stomped it. Ryan's friend ran it first out of the four of us then Ryan followed. They had a little close moment together in the bottom hole that was a little funny. Hans went next then me. He had a good line but i flipped in the bottom hole and ran the next little pour over upside down and rolled up laughing. </div>
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Smashing down some more fun named and un named drops we made our way to Wish Bone. Everyone had a good line other than Hans. He tried for the far left boof but got rejected by the diagonals and went right down the middle with the "oregon tuck" technique which is a sick falls to try to go super deep on. After missing a couple rolls he pulled his skirt and had his second swim. He got to the side drained his boat and prepared for the Gorge. </div>
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Ryan and his buddy Ran it first to set safety at the bottom of Horseshoe. Hans followed me through the Gorge and all went well until I caught a boil above Horseshoe which sent me left and I charged to catch the last eddy above the drop on the left. Hans was left to run it himself and had a good line. Me on the other hand had to climb out of my boat and use it to stand on to climb up the wall to hike back up. I slid back in and ran the drop then eddied out below with the rest of the crew.</div>
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The whole run I was pretty nervous and didn't think I was going to fire up spirit but as I was making the bend before it my adrenaline kicked in and i decided to give'er. Ryan ran it first and disappeared off the lip which looked to me like he was way to far right and when i looked at his friend and Hans they both dropped their boats and ran to the edge so I thought it was bad. After a few seconds they gave me the thumbs up. I blanked my mind except for what i needed to be thinking about which was the falls. As I approached I realized i was way to far left but had no time to do anything about it. I kept charging forward and took a huge boof stroke! I Ran it last weekend but this time i felt like I was falling forever! I landed, smacked my nose with my paddle, flipped, and rolled up as quick as i could cause for some reason I thought i was going into the right side of the falls. When i came up my contacts were blurred but I paddled forward as hard as I could and when they cleared I was paddling through the curtain on the left and struggled but made it out. </div>
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This video is from last weekend and is of me running Spirit Falls but I didn't post it so here it is now!</div>
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Me and Ryan were at the bottom of Chaos waiting for the other two to finish their portage and continue down river. They got in and we peeled out of the eddy. I told Hans about to Little White tradition of running a drop backwards and he looked super skeptical. We all lined up and hit it faced the wrong way and he saw it was all good and did it too. It's always funny seeing someone do it for their first time. We bombed through Master Blaster and the next couple dams and ledges leading tom the lake paddle out. The wind picked up as soon as we hit the lake but it felt good cause my stinky dry suite was a hot mess. No one had a beer for Hans so he could drink a booty beer so he will have to make up for it another time. In the end the run was amazing and I got to share my favorite river with an L-Dub virgin! </div>
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Sincerely, The Wonder Midget!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17778858344627024511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3547967158191975843.post-37449352889380671692013-05-31T00:03:00.001-07:002013-05-31T00:03:09.268-07:00Canyon Creek SurpriseSo Monday morning I got picked up by my boy Hans and we went out to Canyon Creek for his first time down it. We met Robby and Paul on the way there. Robby said the level was about 600cfs when he checked the gauge the previous day. When we get there and put on I new it was way higher than that. In fact it was actually around 1,100cfs which made for the highest any of the four of us had ever been down it at. Swizzle Sticks cleaned up a lot and there was a tongue on the right around the hole. Terminator was the same airplane move on the left with a flare boof and was super fluffy. Prelude was super easy at this flow cause you don't get hung dry on the right side boof. Thrasher on the other hand got a little beefy though no one got held up in it. The new boulder garden above Big Kahuna was way sick and feels like a roller coaster now. The last time I ran this section of water was before the log jam so the new boulder garden through me off for a second but I like this new drop more. Big Kahuna through everyone hard into the left wall and after watching this happen to everyone when I dropped it I took the hardest left boof stroke I could and cleaned the drop. Champagne was a super savage flare boof and Hammering Spot had the clean left hump to launch off of. Hammering Spot definitely lives up to its name by engulfing Robby and demonstrating some pretty brutal window shades. It ripped his elbow pad off as well as his paddle from his hand and claimed it for about 10 minutes before finally it surfaced. I was hanging out just above Toby's Drop with my helmet off drinking a beer waiting for Robby to walk down to the pool we were in and I hear "PADDLE!!!" So I set the beer down and with no helmet charged into the current, grabbed his paddle and made it into the last eddy literally 2feet above Toby's where I clipped the paddle to my tow line and pulled it back up to Robby. Definitely a little scary eddy hopping back in forth across the river without a helmet to get back up to the eddy Robby was in. All was well though. We hit up the last drop and paddled out the lake. The level made for a fun and great experience with good friends. Till next time. <div><br></div><div>Sincerely, The Wonder Midget!</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17778858344627024511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3547967158191975843.post-13818855703823287442013-05-28T17:06:00.001-07:002013-05-28T17:14:51.012-07:00Back in the kayak game!It's been a while since I've posted on this so I'm just gonna start with it feels great to be back in the kayak game! I've boated a whole of four times in the past four years until last weekend. I felt like seeing if I still had what it takes and hit up the Little White Salmon after the race and ate a lot of crap. Nothing that wasn't expected with the lack of paddling though. Over all the run was amazing! I ran Spirit Falls for the first time which made for my first no portage run down the L-Dub! Super stoked about that. Afterwards I saw a lot of people I haven't seen in years and it was really cool. Most didn't recognize me at first since the last time I saw them was when I was 14. I'm back boating almost everyday and next week ill have a job so ill only be boating weekends and off days but I'm definitely stoked to be back doing the thing I love more than anything else in the world! Stick around for more posts! <div>
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Sincerely, The Wonder Midget!</div>
<br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMcNKj5j6WALOT0gW2sclNTzN-iKzaKzh0D6bbp36cPU8DG5p-4z-i2vqMrWeRE59xBeThIb85YPs1UMbzmnIw9iAvAWZ26RDgiHOzWljHCgrCoQO26cU1MAaeVddHCth-tDyOSwYmPg8/s640/blogger-image-1927174977.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMcNKj5j6WALOT0gW2sclNTzN-iKzaKzh0D6bbp36cPU8DG5p-4z-i2vqMrWeRE59xBeThIb85YPs1UMbzmnIw9iAvAWZ26RDgiHOzWljHCgrCoQO26cU1MAaeVddHCth-tDyOSwYmPg8/s640/blogger-image-1927174977.jpg"></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17778858344627024511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3547967158191975843.post-39634752596331437002009-06-10T22:44:00.000-07:002009-06-10T22:44:11.673-07:00Our goal reached!While Michael is still up for pushing the teams vertical miles in the Eddyflower Vertical Challenge this weekend with Devin as they plan on a weekend of lap after lap on the Little White. Well, OK. 5 laps since that's the limit that can be logged in.<br />
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But our goal of $2000.00 has been blown away with currently $2240.00 and a few days to go for anyone that wants to give.<br />
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It is gonna be awesome to help out with the First Descents Camp in Washington this year knowing we helped fund one of the campers trip their!!!<br />
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Well done Team Midget TortureCorey Mortonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03755424725426428781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3547967158191975843.post-87665203198208406192009-05-26T23:29:00.000-07:002009-05-26T23:29:53.821-07:00Memorial Update for the Eddyflower ChallengeWe are within five dollars of our being halfway to our $2000.00 goal for First Descents! As for our vertical mileage we are sitting around 19,000 feet total which is currently over twice that of the others in the Weekend Warrior class. Not too shabby....<br />
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The past weekend, we found outselves with the Williams clan up on Icicle Creek campground "8 Mile". we spent the first day on Ingles and Peshastin Creek. Devin and Michael got two laps in on Ingals. Sunday was my birthday and we attempted to access Little Wenatchee but after a few hours tring to get the Dodge truck through snow drifts and having a few miles to hike in on a run no one had done. We opted to through in the towell and drive all the way back to Ingals and Peshastin for a lap. Gotta love when you break camp at 930am to make it to a run by 4pm? Ouch..... it wsa still fun as the levels had risen a few inches and the entrance rapids were much more stout. With some 8 or so paddlers on a creek only 30 feet wide you can imagine the excitement that got created around every corner.<br />
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Monday was our last day and with levels still rising on Icicle Creek, EJ took a group down lower Icicle and we all did the play run on the Wenatchee from the dam to Cashmere. At just over 9000cfs almost all the waves were good to go. For the first time Trinity was in and we had a blast catching several surfs in the crowded eddy line that is the Wenatchee on Memorial Weekend...<br />
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I've got some good pics and vid I'll get though soon and post...Corey Mortonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03755424725426428781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3547967158191975843.post-17854589716659299602009-05-17T22:48:00.000-07:002009-05-17T22:48:41.754-07:00Team Midget Torture off to a good startWhile the midget opted to not boat this weekend. Midget Torture logged in some quality mileage! Michael Williams put in three laps on the West Fork of the Hood, One lap on Dee to Tucker while instructing his OKCC class and a lap on the Upper East Fork of the Hood. Shannon Williams did three laps on the WF Hood and the Dee to Tucker run. Myself did three laps on the WF Hood and EJ Etherington boated up in Washington somewhere and we'll see what he adds to the 8850 vertical feet already logged in to Eddyflower...<br />
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Things are going well with great weather and with the upcoming three day weekend where all but EJ will be up on the Wenatchee drainage. We'll see what gets logged in!<br />
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The mileage doesn't mean anything without sponsors donating money to the challenge! Our goal is to raise $2000.00 to bring one teen to the White Salmon's first First Descent camp!!! You can help make that happen by pledging anything you can spare to a great cause and a good tax deduction as well.....<br />
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donate at: <a href="http://www.eddyflower.com/MakeDonation.aspx">http://www.eddyflower.com/MakeDonation.aspx</a><br />
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Thx, CoreyCorey Mortonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03755424725426428781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3547967158191975843.post-55166164777422448812009-05-12T21:53:00.000-07:002009-05-17T22:37:05.366-07:00MIchael's Time was Due!!Last Sunday, May 10th myself, Devin, Shannon and Michael Williams went out to the Tilton River to run the Gorge section. A fun class IV run that we all enjoy for several reasons. It's got several quality drops spread out through the gorge. The river is usually ours alone as few from the PDX area trek the 1.5 hours to get there. It's one of those runs that you can take your playboat if your adventurous at normal flows to catch the many quality waves and holes along your way or you can bring your creeker so a safer passage downstream. We tend to find ourselves on the run in the Winter with low 30 degree air and cold water so the creekboats come out.<br />
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This trip was in the Spring which is a rarity for us so all four of us were in our playboats. The lead in to the run is a few miles of class I+/II till you reach the gauge and the gorge and the action begins! Flows were around 1100 to 1200 cfs. I little lower than we tend to find ourselves there but that brings some of the play in with good eddy service. I don't know any of the names but the main play hole we usually stop at. It's a near riverwide hole was the best I'd seen it. It was retentive enough for Michael and Devin to throw down in but exiting it on either side or simply flipping and you were free. It was my first time dropping into it and after being away from my boats for a few I really found myself enjoying the rivers again. <br />
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We made our way down river to what we joke as the "last rapid" on the run. It's an inside joke from when Michael took me and Devin down it for the first time a couple of years ago. We ran the drop and he looked back at us and said, "well guys, that was the Tilton! What did you think?" We were all excited and were kinda bummed it was over. OK, except the fact that is was 20 degrees out and the water was freezing on our gear. The run was amazing!! <br />
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We float around the 90 degree corner to all see the biggest boulder garden that is longer than the eye can see as it drops down some 100 yards of hole/boulder dodging goodness. Michael then looks back and says, "OK, I think that was the end of the whitewater!" We all laughed and paddled the 1/2 mile of flatwater across the lake to the take-out at the day use park. A memorable trip that has kept us coming back every since. :)<br />
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OK, so back to the day at hand and we're all at the top of the "last rapid". Michael as normal heads towards the river center towards a island boulder that we run just off the right side of the rock with a right flair boof. Michael drives at the rock and what happens next I can only tell from my perspective, the next few seconds. He drove up, running dry onto the rock and launching his playboat vertical in dropped out of my side, off the ledge in a inverted burningman! We all laughed as he'd ate s**t on it. We watched and waited for him to come into view downstream. The rapid drops some 8' at a near vertical drop where we run it at. The right side goes but the right gorge wall is badly undercut so this line is fun and deemed safe.<br />
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It usually is, but what happened next is told to me via Michael Williams and Devin. When Michael did his "inverted burningman" off the drop it placed him into a low head style horseshoe pocket hole. We quickly found the pourover ripping the paddle out of one hand and then both. He tried handrolling but that didn't work and we soon was out of his kayak. His kayak, paddle and himself got to go for a proper cleansing cycle. He'd ball up and try to go deep but kept finding his shins slamming into a rock underwater. Resurface for a quick breather and repeat the cycle. Anyone who has spent a time in Bob's Falls knows the feeling! Been there! :( It's a bad place to swim and with everything Michael said he was doing right. Nothing was working and we were all out of sight above the drop that you can't set safety on, scout or portage! We assumed we would pop out in a sec or so we all hoped but nothing changed for the duration of maybe 30-40 seconds in real world time.<br />
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Devin was close to the drop and had been ferrying upstream waiting for the "all clear". After some time he decided to go ahead and run the drop. Michael missed the line so I think he was confident in making it so off he went. Me and Shannon sat on river right in a eddy waiting to see Michael. Devin hit the flake off the right side of the island and he was too out of our sights! Eek!!<br />
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According to Devin, as he approached the flake and was digging in to take his boof stroke his saw Michael's black Sweet helmet starting to surface right where he was about to boof to. I quick adjustment and next to no boof and he landed just off of Michael. Michael hesitated to grab the shiny new Biscuit playboat Devin was in to not pull him in with him. Once Devin was out enough Michael grabbed onto the stern grabloop and Devin pulled him free of the nasty hydraulic. Best even was at the same time Michael playboat and paddle came free. Weird!<br />
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Me and Shannon then ran the drop in the same spot as the others had and joined the two recovering the boat to run the "real last rapid" <br />
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It was Michael Williams first swim in 15 years in which we wasn't able to self resue himself and he got rescued by a 14 yr old who thinks of him as a big brother and mentor to all that is kayaking. Michael said he knew that day would come but he hoped it would be a few more years down the road. <br />
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I'm just happy everyone was ok and our Eddyflower Vertical Challenge team is still complete. Go Team Midget Torture!! Oh a quick vid of Michael booty drink out of Devin's shoe which was filled with Rum and fruitjuice! :)<br />
<object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/0zOFVbQldnM&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0zOFVbQldnM&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>Corey Mortonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03755424725426428781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3547967158191975843.post-64261669962649540882009-03-02T08:23:00.000-08:002009-03-02T08:24:28.444-08:00The big brother on Big BrotherDevin has been running the Green Truss for some time now and has ran BZ Falls several times but Big Bro' has a element he was unable to get his head around. He's kinda affraid of heights! That's not good when you're running a vertical waterfall in the 20' range. <br />
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Sunday the plan was for me to take him out to run the Little White with Todd Anderson, Boomer and the Wells brothers. Levels ended up at 3.5-3.6' on the stick and Devin was uncomfortable to run it that high so when I mentioned it to Todd. Boomer and Todd were both awesome and just said, "let's go do the Truss then?" I really respect people that aren't into pushing people into things. It's a bad combination on whitewater.<br />
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I did not have my creekboat so I zipped down to the clearcut to hike in to Big Bro' and got there just as the crew that had grown to around 9 paddlers reached the lip. I got into position with my camera. Trying to not get myself or the camera soaked with the downpours. I noticed Devin was still in his boat in the eddy on the top left of the falls. He was thinking about giving er'!? Wow, a weird place for me not being available for safety but I know the others in reach will provide any support needed if he was to end up in the cave or get injured in the drop. <br />
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Several ran in and the next thing I know Devin is ferrying out into the current. Here are the pics in sequence of his first lap over Big Bro'.<br />
<object width="800" height="600"> <param name="flashvars" value="&offsite=true&lang=en-us&page_show_url=%2Fphotos%2F10971994%40N03%2Fsets%2F72157614577305295%2Fshow%2F&page_show_back_url=%2Fphotos%2F10971994%40N03%2Fsets%2F72157614577305295%2F&set_id=72157614577305295&jump_to="></param><param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=67348"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=67348" allowFullScreen="true" flashvars="&offsite=true&lang=en-us&page_show_url=%2Fphotos%2F10971994%40N03%2Fsets%2F72157614577305295%2Fshow%2F&page_show_back_url=%2Fphotos%2F10971994%40N03%2Fsets%2F72157614577305295%2F&set_id=72157614577305295&jump_to=" width="800" height="600"></embed></object>Corey Mortonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03755424725426428781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3547967158191975843.post-65543221369998593582009-02-01T11:44:00.000-08:002009-02-01T11:46:26.056-08:00New blog startedTo keep my kayak adventures seperated from those that follow the midget's I've started my own for TR's and personnal crap.<br /><br />paddletheaddiction.blogspot.com<br /><br />cheers, CoreyCorey Mortonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03755424725426428781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3547967158191975843.post-15077112570430990902009-01-27T20:38:00.001-08:002009-01-27T20:40:57.999-08:00Wind River on Ice<object height="295" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6cpLdU9wsVg&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6cpLdU9wsVg&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object><br />
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No footage of actual kayaking but of the put-in and take-out. Is that weird or what!Corey Mortonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03755424725426428781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3547967158191975843.post-28775052635203840462009-01-16T08:40:00.000-08:002009-01-16T08:45:32.686-08:00Slideshow of EJ Etherington's playboat clinic on Lake Cr<object width="800" height="600"> <param name="flashvars" value="&offsite=true&lang=en-us&page_show_url=%2Fphotos%2F10971994%40N03%2Fsets%2F72157612467776302%2Fshow%2F&page_show_back_url=%2Fphotos%2F10971994%40N03%2Fsets%2F72157612467776302%2F&set_id=72157612467776302&jump_to="></param> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=63961"></param> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=63961" allowFullScreen="true" flashvars="&offsite=true&lang=en-us&page_show_url=%2Fphotos%2F10971994%40N03%2Fsets%2F72157612467776302%2Fshow%2F&page_show_back_url=%2Fphotos%2F10971994%40N03%2Fsets%2F72157612467776302%2F&set_id=72157612467776302&jump_to=" width="800" height="600"></embed></object><br /><br />OKCC and instructor EJ Etherington had a good turnout out for the first playboat clinic on the season on Lake Creek at 9.5'. These are pics of the class. I've got pics of Devin I'll be putting up seperately as well as a few of Todd Anderson as he and his girl Nicole came through Grassy Lawn while we were there.<br /><br />till then,Corey Mortonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03755424725426428781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3547967158191975843.post-58595768249577453012009-01-06T13:16:00.000-08:002009-01-06T13:30:28.751-08:00Playboat spot on Butte CreekLast weekend Devin was off the water after having a day surgery to remove a lump on the inside of his mouth. It's developed since last January when we were down in Jalcomulco Mexico. He bit through his lower lip after running a slide and taking his paddle to his face. Andrew Holcombe was down in Mexico around the same time teaching a clinic with Esprit Rafting and mentioned it took him several stitches and finally a broken tooth or two before he learned to correct it himself. Hopefully Devin doesn't follow that path!! :)<br />
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So last Sunday with Butte Cr estimation flows off the Pat Welch's site of 1400 and slowly dropping. Myself, Lisa, Michael Williams, and Andrew met up for the normal run down to the falls that with Michael we've always taken out at. My neck gasket tore at the put-in so I opted to play shuttle bunny and set safety on a few of the log point we saw on the drive up. All wood was ducked and Michael and Andrew fired up Butte Cr Falls without incident. Prior to running the falls I offered them if they wanted to paddle the runout down to the Hiway 213 me and Lisa could pick them up there. I saw several good ledges downstream of the falls past the bridge. They opted for it and off they went. <br />
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When we met up at the lower take-out on 213 they both had smiles on their faces and said their was a couple perfect playspots that Michael referred to as good as Lake Creek. At 1400cfs which was juicy for the run above the falls in a playboat. It would be a good idea to maybe take both boats and switch to a playboat or just hit up the play on the lower leg of the run. <br />
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Next time it's at similar flows we'll head in with the Biscuit and camera for hopefully a good time. <br />
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cheers, CoreyCorey Mortonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03755424725426428781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3547967158191975843.post-60661900075398970732008-12-30T04:23:00.000-08:002008-12-30T04:31:18.594-08:00Lake Cr 12/27/8 Video<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lX7Mm3BZr5c&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lX7Mm3BZr5c&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />Video of Devin testing out the Liquidlogic small Biscuit prototype on Grassy Lawn and Mill Wave. As well as myself, Michael and Shannon Williams. The end of the video has what The Horn looks like at 18 feet!Corey Mortonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03755424725426428781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3547967158191975843.post-46674325432551070592008-12-28T22:59:00.000-08:002008-12-29T19:23:05.677-08:00Swollen Sweet Creek Scouting 12/28/8So I'd heard lots about Sweet Creek near the Lake Creek playboat run for some time but had yet to make the drive downriver to Mapleton and up Sweet Creek Road to the run. With the flooded out Siuslaw at 18.3' there was no chance eith me or Devin would be putting on but we couldn't resist the temptation to drive down and check it out!!<br /><br />Here's what we saw..... the pics at normal flows around 8.5' are all by EJ Etherington and can be seen on the write up on Oregonkayaking.net. All flood pics are by myself.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10971994@N03/3146797140/" title="jesse_scouts_falls by coreymorton74, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3075/3146797140_3353cc88ce_o.jpg" width="902" height="600" alt="jesse_scouts_falls" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10971994@N03/3146796120/" title="devinatsweetcrfalls by coreymorton74, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3234/3146796120_8a8171d6f0_b.jpg" width="1024" height="683" alt="devinatsweetcrfalls" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10971994@N03/3146797018/" title="view_upstream by coreymorton74, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3226/3146797018_2ce36bf292_o.jpg" width="767" height="575" alt="view_upstream" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10971994@N03/3145962503/" title="upstreamview by coreymorton74, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3268/3145962503_b8f66ffe29_b.jpg" width="1024" height="683" alt="upstreamview" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10971994@N03/3145964017/" title="view_top_of_gorge by coreymorton74, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3086/3145964017_f18f233da4_o.jpg" width="906" height="600" alt="view_top_of_gorge" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10971994@N03/3146794570/" title="topviewofgorge by coreymorton74, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3078/3146794570_e72b15c100_b.jpg" width="1024" height="683" alt="topviewofgorge" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10971994@N03/3146796812/" title="james_firstledge1 by coreymorton74, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3116/3146796812_1b4347ae5a_o.jpg" width="687" height="446" alt="james_firstledge1" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10971994@N03/3146793692/" title="firstledge by coreymorton74, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3095/3146793692_cf0da66245_b.jpg" width="1024" height="683" alt="firstledge" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10971994@N03/3146796670/" title="jason1 by coreymorton74, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3229/3146796670_ff1c25f44c_o.jpg" width="754" height="450" alt="jason1" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10971994@N03/3148792507/" title="slide by coreymorton74, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3080/3148792507_7003d95b5c_b.jpg" width="1024" height="683" alt="slide" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10971994@N03/3145963863/" title="james_first_falls by coreymorton74, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3085/3145963863_2217b5ecc2_o.jpg" width="865" height="575" alt="james_first_falls" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10971994@N03/3146792960/" title="firstfalls by coreymorton74, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3078/3146792960_f782264dab_b.jpg" width="1024" height="683" alt="firstfalls" /></a>Corey Mortonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03755424725426428781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3547967158191975843.post-27486403001189804472008-12-28T21:52:00.000-08:002008-12-28T22:54:23.306-08:00Lake Creek Weekend 12/27-28/08This weekend myself and Devin finally got to see Lake Creek, OR for what it really is and then some. Last year we were only able to make it out for what turned out to be a low run around 8.5 to 9 feet. The good come in around 10.5 and are good with eddy service to 11.5 feet. Friday we decided to head down with Michael and Shannon Williams, weird to say since they just returned after getting married the other week! Congrats ya two.. We planned to head down Saturday morning early, boat, stay the night in Florence and boat again Sunday before returning home. <br />
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All went as planned getting down near Mapleton, OR to the creek. As we were driving down I was checking the online gauge located on the Siuslaw River which Lake Creek feeds into near the end of the run. It was coming up from 7.5' Friday gradually and looked to on line for 10.5 to 11.0 for us. We scouted the only real rapid on the run, "The Horn" and got our shuttle done. Michael knows the run very well so he showed us the playspots as we headed down. There are tons of catch on the fly with several named ones like, "grassy lawn","mill wave", "the ledges" and "red hill wave". All were in and we spent most of our time on grassy lawn and mill wave. Devin was finally able to put the prototype small Biscuit through it's paces and he was very excited with it's performance. He's loved his LL Pocket Rocket and now the Biscuit will make that transition into the boat a very pleasant one. During the run the levels kept creeping up and got near 12.0'. <br />
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Once done with the run and shuttle we headed into Florence to get a room and eat at the famous clam chowder place "Mo's". Great food at a descent price and we then returned to our room to rest up. During the night the rain kept coming and we found ourselves with just over 16' on the gauge!! Wholly crap! Over 15' it's highly recommended that you're on your game as holes in "the ledges" get very sticky. Luckily for me and Devin was happy to join suit was to hop into our LL Chico and Grande Jefe's instead of the LL Ronin and Biscuit. There would not be much play other than what your could catch as you ripped down river. This isn't a creek at this point! This run rivaled your big water runs like the Lochsa or Crooked in character. Michael only had his playboat so he went down with it and Shannon opted to run shuttle not having a creeker. Good call in my mind. <br />
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We put in this time at the upper put-in for a warm up to get a feel of the beast and watch all the wood floating down with us. Creepy watching large tree's to small branches shoot past you when you're on a wave? It also gave me a opportunity to get a feel for my new creekboat! The Grande Jefe is similar in size with the Nomad 8.5 I'd been paddling. I'll compare the two later on. I'm not sponsored like Devin so I have nothing to gain by my opinions. I was very on the Truss with the boat and it proved to perform as I wanted on big water too. <br />
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After the warm up we came into "the ledges" starting near the left bank and I watched Michael in his playboat charge over a few large waves. As I crested one I got a glimpse of Michael climbing a huge near river wide ledge hole. What happened next sent a shiver down my spine as I was on the same line. At the top of the hole he was rejected flipping back into the hole and began getting chundered! With what felt time 20-30 mph current I watched for where Michael was getting worked and charged the ledge hole at full speed. I hit the turbo on my shiny red boat and punched the hole within 10 feet of Michael making it through without issue. Michael spent a few in the hole before flushing out after some fun loops. There are multiple ledge holes that you dodge while boat scouting through them. I then found myself in the front and ran "the horn" first. The rapid flushes out at that flow but had some huge waves with laterals crashing in. Good stuff!! Just after "the horn" is another pair of offset ledge holes. At the lower 11.5' we went down the middle in between them. This looked to still be the ideal line. The entrance is a right elbow that wants to push you left as you come into the ledges. We'd initially talked of running the far right but as we creeped around the corner the right hole looked to be scary big and Michael adjusted for the middle line though the holes. It worked quite nicely. The hole was as big or bigger than the next rapid at normal flows, "bus spot". "Bus stop" at 16'+ was nothing but a couple large waves. I briefly caught the first wave and can say I've surfed Bus Stop!! LOL. <br />
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"Red hill wave" becomes to ugly holes that Devin spent time in the lower one in the Chico and was happy to playboat out of it. "Mill wave" was in and Michael had a great ride in the wave hole, I blew off being too far surfers right catching it. Devin said he had his best surf in a creekboat on it but the eddy service didn't exist so we were hundreds of yards downstream while he was on it. Bummer...<br />
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In the end when we got off the water as Shannon gave me a ride back up to my Subi I found that the creek was at 18.34'!? 18.0' is flood stage for the Siuslaw River and most of the water was coming down Lake Cr. over the Siuslaw. It was just plain BIG!!!<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10971994@N03/3146796600/" title="8 by coreymorton74, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3292/3146796600_3a4ef18a45.jpg" width="500" height="351" alt="8" /></a><br />
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We also went down to Sweet Creek to check it out at flood stage. Pics to come!! As well as video from playboat Lake Creek.Corey Mortonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03755424725426428781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3547967158191975843.post-672952524486213982008-12-15T19:08:00.000-08:002008-12-15T19:49:46.656-08:00What can you do with a broken creeker? Ideas!So you creek most of the year and occasionally land on a rock, piton, rock spin, boof a 20' waterfall? By any chance do you end up with a garage full of kayaks? I remember a video from the PDX Film Festival a couple years back my Mike Long in which he is picking through a stack of kayaks to figure the one he wants to take onto the L-Dub. As he grabs one out, he points out the cracks, dents and general shape of the fleet of broken boats much like the Navy does in a ship graveyard. <br />
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Only one problem. Steel ships can be stripped and melted down into the next fleet of ships. Not so with the choice of material that gets us down our favorite creeks. There are a few avenues for recycling but to the most part they are just garbage. Even many recycling programs the stuff has no end placement and makes it into the landfill anyway. I've taken that "so called" dangerous asbestos tiles my work removed, triple bagged and I took them to Metro and threw the tiles into a pit not 100 yards from the garbage you took to curb. Hmmm....<br />
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Mike Olson or commonly known as "Oly" had given me and my boys a great idea last winter when at New Years they brought out a couple snow sleds made from old creekboats. It's easy to do with a reciprocating saw or other saw. <br />
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Here's a few pics of our new Liquidlogic Chico snow sled. It was cut big enough for one or two passengers. The length so far seems to give nice speed on the test run Sunday with the recent and rare dumping of snow in the Portland area.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10971994@N03/3111585961/" title="IMG_7632 by coreymorton74, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3057/3111585961_5a8ec9eb4c.jpg" width="373" height="500" alt="IMG_7632" /></a><br />
Devin modeling it out.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10971994@N03/3112417466/" title="IMG_7629 by coreymorton74, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3059/3112417466_90ef64bc3a.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="IMG_7629" /></a><br />
Devin and Ryan testing out the tandem capability.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10971994@N03/3112418810/" title="IMG_7638 by coreymorton74, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3057/3112418810_0c042a8ace.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="IMG_7638" /></a><br />
The sled in action at one of Devin's friends neighborhood.<br />
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Oddly enough the sled was not my priority of the use of the old Chico shell. It was to be my first attempt at a kayakers x-mas tree? What does that refer to? To me it utilized a broken creek shell, a drill. few strings of lights and a broken paddle. Hmmm... something I have a few of sitting around!! Paddle pieces taken off the river we've carried out and such. I cut the boat in two at the widest point in the midpoint of the Chico for shape and stability with the reciprocating saw, took a 1 1/4 hole saw and drilled through the nose and into the grab opening to place the paddle piece into. I trimmed the length accordingly. Next came the fun part. The lights. I didn't want to just string lights with the wire exposed around the outside. Tree limbs help with that normally so I decided to run the wires internal. Oh boy!! That required taking all the bulbs off the sockets. In this case 100 bulbs. (I was gonna do 200 but two sections of my lights didn't work out of the box so 100 worked for now) I used small style socketed lights with round bulbs for the size and so the round bulbs wouldn't fall back through the holes. 5/16 drill bit did the job. <br />
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Ryan was small enough to lay inside the nose and push the sockets into the holes so could put the bulbs on one at a time. This takes a while but it's a fun family project. You can then dress it up as much as you normally would but may need to drill a few hole to attach bulbs or strings on it. Slippery boat is good in the water, not so good to drape ornaments on! :)<br />
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Here's a few pics after dressing it a bit. I'm not 100% done yet but you get the idea. Any color would work but the white Liquidlogic plastic gives it a frosted appearance which you normally pay a lot for...<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10971994@N03/3111587435/" title="IMG_7642 by coreymorton74, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3097/3111587435_0f407fa0f4.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="IMG_7642" /></a><br />
Close of the nose. You can see the bulbs popping through the shell.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10971994@N03/3112420024/" title="IMG_7652 by coreymorton74, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3067/3112420024_663a09c270.jpg" width="404" height="500" alt="IMG_7652" /></a><br />
A brighter shot to show the kayak tree as it normally looks.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10971994@N03/3111587803/" title="IMG_7648 by coreymorton74, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3236/3111587803_edec4d778a.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="IMG_7648" /></a><br />
I kinda like this pic for it's night before x-mas look. I'm sure the boys wanta know where the presents are though! <br />
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If you have any other uses with pics I'd love to post them as well. I've heard of planters but have no such pics. The mailbox cover on near the White Salmon is a classic too.</i><br />
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cheers!Corey Mortonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03755424725426428781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3547967158191975843.post-22568736676155632032008-12-07T21:14:00.000-08:002009-01-16T08:07:19.091-08:00UUC - It all started with a drainplug?So I haven't posted anything in a bit for the same reason most whitewater blogs have been getting rusty and neglected. No Water!! We did get a good dumping several weeks back and got on Opal Creek a few times before it snowed in, Upper Wind once, we've have gotten on the Truss section of the White Salmon 3-4 times in the past several weekends. At 1.75' and all coming from the top, it's been really good. (except the day me, Devin and Michael Williams all forgot pogies and with 39 degree air and low 40 water it plain sucked. I opted to not run Big Bro' that day cause I could not grip my paddle for sure get the boof off the flake. Sp far I have a good half dozen runs over Big Bro' with improved lines each time. Last weekend it was the Truss on Sat and N Santiam from Big Cliff Dam down to Mill City. Devin took that run off to hang with friends. Friends that don't kayak? Poor kid!! Just kiddin' Dev.<br />
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So now ur up to date with the past month.<br />
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Devin had gotten sick towards the end of this week so he was MIA on this Sundays trip down the Upper Upper Cispus. Levels for this stout class V run started at 740cfs on the gauge and rose up to near 1000cfs during the day. We expected it was rising with the light rain we had the entire time up there. <br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10971994@N03/3092095678/" title="UUC 12/7/8 GAUGE by coreymorton74, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3026/3092095678_ac1a1573a6.jpg" width="500" height="354" alt="UUC 12/7/8 GAUGE" /></a><br />
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I myself have been fight walking pneumonia the past three weeks and haven't been to the gym during and my skinny ass can use all the muscle it can get. Lung capacity was been the biggest issue and energy levels have been slacking. This trip to the UUC was the first test of my low energy output on a stout run. <br />
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After several people fell off the trip emails due to sickness or broken boats it came down to myself, Chris Arnold and Eric Arlington. We all are fairly new to the UUC and plaid it safe most of the way down. The run is by far the most wood infested I have yet to run. Add the steep boulder gardens and things can go wrong quickly. The first warm up waterfall has wood just downstream and while Devin and Joe Stumpfeld ran it my past trip we all walked it on the left with ease. The run was going good and I felt pretty strong which I was happy to see.<br />
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I knew of possible wood in the bottom of a drop I believe is called "prelude to island". Oregonkayaking.net shows Jesse Coombs running it in the write up on the far left. Anyway, there is a tree blocking the left to center of the river making you run a sketch middle right line boofing right to cut far river right directly above a wood/ rock sieve. I told Chris and Eric the line we took and they both went without incident and it was my turn. As I made the right boof turn my right blade was too close to the hydraulic and my planned stroke turned into a flip and I got quickly pushed the 5 feet into the sieve! As soon as I touched the wood I knew where I was and pulled my skirt and grabbed onto one of the 6" pieces of wood sticking out of the water to stabilize myself. My boat went into the rock sieves a few feet away. I still had my paddle in my hand. I was able to get myself up onto the bigger rocks and Chris hopped rocks to help me get it unpinned and drained. I'd highly recommend just portaging the whole rapid till the wood is gone on the left. We knew better! Eric while draining more water out while I got over to river right bank dropped my drainplug in the water and was never seen again.<br />
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With a little less energy we headed downstream. Another piece of wood "the 3 foot variety" is blocking the center left to right bank. Last time with EJ having more water at that point the line was safer running far left. We all ran it OK but we all kinda boofed up onto the tree with the ability to get denied and pinned. Portagable on the right and visible prior to committing. <br />
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Island soon came up and I could feel my lack of motivation setting in. I hate the left slide line as it usually drops you into the bottom hole of the right channel. The right line runs you through a narrow pothole drop about 6' wide. I have yet to see anyone style the first drop hitting their boof. Eric went first. Flipped between holes but rolled up before the second one. I hesitant, went second. I just don't like the drop but portaging is a pain. I had a descent line not flipping or getting stuck in either hole and Chris went last with good results. <br />
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At a rapid called "the squeeze" where the river constricts again into a s-turn that slams you into a rock outcropping on the right wall. I once again didn't get the best line and hit my bow on the right wall. It shot up onto my stern, smacked by bow on the over head tree and got violently endered. My back was a little sore from that one. This time I just couldn't get a god setup and had my first swim in a benign runout in quite some time.<br />
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More boulder gardens and we had one last portage around more wood. Portage on either side. That and the right hillside slide downstream signals the entrance to the Behemoth Gorge. A fun stretch of holes that would be a lot more fun to get stuck in if Behemoth Falls wasn't but 20 yards downstream!! Christie Glissmeyer and myself both got a quick tour of the last big hole on my last trip. Eric set safety at that hole today which was great to have. I got flipped in the hole but rolled up to catch the right eddy in time. <br />
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Chris was on the left bank after running the gorge first and Eric was above me. They both asked if I was gonna be the probe and I decided. Sooner the better I felt. I charged out from the right eddy with good right to left angle over the entrance slide portion of the drop. Last time I fell off the slide into the meat of the falls. Didn't want a repeat!! I charged a bit too hard, hit the flake and shot of the remaining 15'? sideways. Landed upright but the hydraulic quickly flipped me being parallel to the curtain. Rolled up quick to find to my horror the boils were forcing me into a part of the falls I'd only heard about. The eddy pocket left of the curtain!! I tried with all I had, even at 100% I'm doubtful the outcome would have changed. <br />
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The eddy is a place one doesn't want to visit! It's about a paddle width wide from left wall to the curtain of the falls. The boils continue wanting to shove you along the wall and into the curtain. I was still in my boat but trapped without either paddlers able to see me or know anything. Chris could see the exit of the falls and knew I hadn't made it out while Eric had no way to know. For the next several minutes I would try to paddle out, get rejected, forced back into the curtain, go up either end that it hit and paddle back away to get spun 180 and repeat. I was not coming out of the eddy without two options: Chris that was on my side of the river got down along the cliffs. I near impossible task without himself falling into the the river or I paddled into the curtain and got the beating of my life and with a slim chance in my mind come out downstream without imploding my skirt, getting shoved behind the curtain in the back in or out of boat. Swimming downstream means I'd be swimming towards my favorite "bastard hole" and a solid class V boulder garden while Chris and Eric could do nothing. <br />
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I took being in my boat and stuck till I got put into the curtain against my will or ran out of energy. After what seemed like a lifetime I saw Chris' head above me!! He threw down a rope he'd already anchored off to me. There were not grab point on the wall with the exception of a small pothole a couple of feet up. I tried several attempts at getting my paddle to stay and finally did. The boat was not a option for me to anchor into the rope so I pulled my skirt, holding onto the rope and pulled myself up onto the pothole and my boat disappeared into the curtain. Oh well!<br />
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This only provided a short term fix with Chris unable to pull me up from directly above via that rope. I used a carabiner and my safety anchor on the front of my Astral PFD to tie me to the rope. Chris then quickly worked his way downstream and lower to a point he could pull from and wanted to throw another rose to me. The plan: untie myself from the one rope and jump towards downstream aka the curtain and boils. I kept trying to get him to pull me straight up but he said that wasn't a option and after a few attempts to get me the rope. I did want didn't come willing or naturally. Jump. I finally did and I'm glad Chris is big enough anchor to pull me away from the curtain. That then sent me swimming the left line by the "bastard hole" Out of sight I made it to the left bank but the eddy wanted to not make it so easy.<br />
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Now safe and below both drops I found my boat and paddle were in the large recirculating eddy on river right next to the falls. I later found that they had decided to throw my paddle from above into the eddy after I'd tied the paddle to the rope I'd been anchored to. I was confused for a second till I found out why. Both Chris and Eric had good lines over the falls. Chris ran the "bastard hole" eddying out river right and Eric paddled into the right eddy to attempt to get my gear out of it's grip. In the end Chris with my PFD throw rope went up over the right cliff to the eddy within a punchbowl and the two of them retrieved my boat and paddle. Chris made a good call and hopped into my Nomad and with my paddle ran the "bastard hole" Eric had already ran it and got stuck in the hole. When he came out of his boat he was briefly stuck in the hole and I found I had neither ropes with me and could only watch hoping for the best. He and his boat flushed out and he self rescued all but his paddle that I could only watch it head through the class V boulder garden till out of sight.<br />
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Chris roped me over to my boat and we quickly headed down through the rapid. At one point I ran a drop, flipped getting pushed up against what felt like a large boulder with a small diameter piece of wood against it. I quickly pulled my skirt, flushed around it with boat and paddle into a eddy. <br />
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We charged down through the mile or so runnout and got to the take-out at 4:10? It was dark by 4:30! Scary....... :(<br />
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That now makes for the worst day paddling in my life. But at least my life goes on!!<br />
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Tally for the run:<br />
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me - wood/rock sieve rescue<br />
me - 2 swims out of my boat<br />
me - getting stuck in the left eddy of Behemoth<br />
Eric - lost throwbag at Behemoth<br />
Eric - lost paddle (last seen traveling through the last class V boulder garden<br />
Chris & Eric - a shit load of river karma for helping me<br />
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me - oh, did I mention my Nomad 8.5 ended up with two large cracks under the seat during the run. I noticed the biggest prior to Behemoth Gorge.<br />
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Lesson learned:<br />
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Safety classes and continued practice of rescue skills can and will save a friends life.<br />
Always wear a drysuit or equivalent in cold water. It quite possible saved my life several times on the UUC today from hypothermia!!<br />
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Video of Chris Arnold on Island rapid.<br />
<object width="640" height="505"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/QDgWqmZ74r8&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/QDgWqmZ74r8&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="505"></embed></object>Corey Mortonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03755424725426428781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3547967158191975843.post-19192820290914900792008-10-28T19:16:00.000-07:002008-10-28T19:26:41.441-07:00Almost the end of football seasonMan, what a season for ups and downs it has been for both Devin and Ryan's football teams. Ryan's went 5-3 and made the playoffs this weekend. Ryan's 5-6 Centennial team will face Molalla's undefeated 8-0 on Saturday. Devin's team on the other hand had many coaching or lack of issues this season and had a unfortunate season of 2-6. Though they didn't win many Devin had a good season as the lead running back and outside linebacker. In every game Devin would only come off the field in a extra point attempt or if he wsa injured. Or in reality, if he got hurt. He came out for a play and they'd through him right back into the next play. Not much rest for the poor kid but he wouldn't of had it any other way.<br /><br />The only downside to the playoffs this weekend is that we were almost ready to buy tickets and fly back to watch the Green Narrows Race in North Carolina. The take-out is LiquidLogics base of operations!! Of course we planned on getting on the Green for our first times as well. I wouldn't miss Ryan's game to watch a race on the Green so there is always next year.<br /><br />Good luck Ryan!!Corey Mortonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03755424725426428781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3547967158191975843.post-7351075877730173732008-10-26T22:16:00.000-07:002008-10-27T07:51:59.111-07:00Devin turns 14!!This weekend has two big events. The end of Devin's football season. The next time he plays, he'll be in High School! Wholly crap time flies by.... The other is Devin's fourteenth birthday on Sunday. I can remember back four years ago when I first got him out on the Klickitat with my friend Lauren Boehm. He was so cute in that Stohlquist drysuit all bunched up around him. It was a womens small but still big all over. Now he weighs close to my own weight and can hold his own when we, I'd say playfight but I've ended up with bruised ribs out of a few exchanges. <br /><br />Here a few pics of him at 10 yrs old.<br /><br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="800" height="600" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=61927" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000"> <param name="flashvars" value="&offsite=true&intl_lang=en-us&page_show_url=%2Fphotos%2F10971994%40N03%2Fsets%2F72157608419734285%2Fshow%2F&page_show_back_url=%2Fphotos%2F10971994%40N03%2Fsets%2F72157608419734285%2F&set_id=72157608419734285&jump_to="></param> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=61927"></param> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"></param> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=61927" bgcolor="#000000" allowFullScreen="true" flashvars="&offsite=true&intl_lang=en-us&page_show_url=%2Fphotos%2F10971994%40N03%2Fsets%2F72157608419734285%2Fshow%2F&page_show_back_url=%2Fphotos%2F10971994%40N03%2Fsets%2F72157608419734285%2F&set_id=72157608419734285&jump_to=" width="800" height="600"></embed></object>Corey Mortonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03755424725426428781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3547967158191975843.post-65825287649046116022008-10-16T22:47:00.000-07:002008-10-16T22:52:33.956-07:00Off Season Ink WorkWith the water levels being not up to par during the Summer I've been able to satisfy another addiction of mine. Tattoo's!! Most of my ink is associated with whitewater or outdoors. The lastest is my backpiece being done by Jason Bradbury at Atomic Art in Portland, OR. <br /><br />In the pic, the shading and outlining is all done after 9 hours and coloring it in starts next month. Good thing I have a drysuit!!<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10971994@N03/2948103259/" title="Backpiece part 3 by coreymorton74, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3011/2948103259_b0e055fe99.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="Backpiece part 3" /></a>Corey Mortonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03755424725426428781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3547967158191975843.post-28049242197479020212008-09-22T10:34:00.000-07:002008-09-25T15:53:50.308-07:00Upper Deschutes TR Big Eddy to Bend<b>All photo's taken/provided by Josh Mckeown on previous lower water runs</b><br /><br />We had to run out to Bend to grab the small LL Biscuit prototype from Christina Russell last weekend. Luckily for us Christina recommended that we bring our creekboats along to run the stretch of the Deschutes that is above Bend and runs into town. What better than doing a IV to V run and paddling into town for lunch!! We decided to run from Big Eddy down. With access to several of the big drops via roads that run along the Deschutes you can put-in and take-out at multiple spots. Benham Falls V, Dillon Falls V, Lava Falls V and Meadow Camp IV to V. Not sure on the overall length of each or combined sections but I believe Christina said that Big Eddy to Bend was 8 miles. Sounds good. The flows were 1800cfs, almost twice as the write up we'd looked at on Oregonkayaking.net and Christina and Josh told us it was medium flow to the locals in Bend. High I'd say for the normal PDX boaters that head out this time of year normally when the irrigation district is only releasing the lower 900 flows. At 1750cfs pics would have been hard to pull of and being our first time down I'm usually too nervous to throw a cheap SLR in my boat!! It was raining as well. Lava1 was full of weird currents that required you to punch a large boil on river left to catch a eddy or keep driving left into the left channel to avoid the riverwide ledge hole in the right channel. Me and Devin both were a little under the weather from driving 3 hours and opted to portage Lava1, the first s-turn into the eddy. Josh, Jon and Christina met us in the eddy and we ran down through the second s-turn in the left channel. The line through the lower was stay far left just like the first 1/2. The bottom ledge had a descent hole but even being left of center as I ended up was fine if straight and ya punched it. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10971994@N03/2884134276/" title="lava1 by coreymorton74, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3125/2884134276_a383240375.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="lava1" /></a><br /><i>Josh Mckeown hitting the line in the first 1/2 of Lava1 at 900cfs</i><br /><br />Below Lava1 was some boogey water referred to as "cut-em-up". Apply named for what happens if you swim out of Lava1. We ran it far right but it was just read and run class IV.<br /><br />A long pool after the boogey water and we found ourselves at the lip of "Lava2" One note about the rapids on this run is that all the drops have big horizon lines that prevent you from seeing anything downstream. One exception is "Lava2". OK, not really but when you see mist shooting high into the air past the horizon line you get the gist. Christina felt it was better to give verbal lines on this one and like "double drop" on the White Salmon. You'd probably walk it if ya looked at the beast!! The line was far left till reaching a big pillow of water blasting a huge boulder and cut hard-hard right to hit a boof avoiding the huge keeper hole. Check the write up on Oregonkayaking.net. You'll see the huge boulder in the photo next to the paddler. They refer to it as Barry's not Lava2 that I'm told the Bend boaters call it FYI. That's where you start to make your move and it the photo of Steve "melting the hole". That's the huge hole you don't want to be around at 1800. The rock to Steve's right creates the boof flake we hit. Believe me when I say that you can't paddle hard enough to make the move at that flow. I was digging in till the flake.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10971994@N03/2884134342/" title="lava2 by coreymorton74, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3210/2884134342_61f6b8941f.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="lava2" /></a><br /><i>Looking down into Lava2 at lower flows of 900cfs</i><br /><br />That is the Lava Falls section and now we continue onto Meadows Camp.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10971994@N03/2883297837/" title="Meadows Camp by coreymorton74, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3096/2883297837_d7d31a45cb.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Meadows Camp" /></a><br /><i>Christina Russell on "Amazing" on the Meadows camp section</i><br /><br />According to Christina this is the order of rapids on the Meadows Camp section:<br /><br />"Playtime"<br />"Damn it"<br />"Amazing"<br />"Mario Bros"<br />100%<br /><br />Meadows camp is rated 4+ at lower flows but at 1800cfs it's full on V. The change from the two sections isn't too severe but the geology/ seives/ consequence for sure does. On the Lava Falls run a swim in the hole would be bad due to the lava river bed and some wood pinned in a few places to watch out for. Down in Meadows Camp it's less of a lava flow and the rocks are undercut and seived out. "Damn it", which has a irrigation pipe firing out from river right wants to slam to into a huge boulder that Christina mentioned later is a seive and getting on the left side or swim at the boulder could be bad. Plus she said there is wood stuck in the seive as well. Yikes!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10971994@N03/2883297703/" title="damnit by coreymorton74, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3227/2883297703_2fe941233f.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="damnit" /></a><br /><i>Christina Russell on "Damn it". You can see the irigation pipe on her right</i><br /><br />The line me and Devin ran was literally ferrying our boats from the eddy above the pipe on river left at the pipe outflow, as close to the pipe the better. It's a lot of pressure and like a big curler pushes you towards the river left undercut boulder. I ended up on the right side pillow of the boulder and braced my way around the right side back into the current. It's very unusual to say the least.<br /><br />Mario Bros is unlike any other drop on the run. The river becomes very channelized and with all the exposed lava rocks, wood gets snagged easily and is a always changing in the rapid. Christina took us down far left then back center right for the second 1/2. Jon and Josh took two different lines all together ranging from center to far right at the top. Guess it all goes at 1800.<br /><br />100% is another classic huge horizon line and the last final rapid. Christina tells us, "the line is down the middle". Sounds good. I follow Christina and as I see over the horizon there are three offset huge boulders and we're gonna shoot between them. It's basically a flairing paradise as I head up unto one pillow, turn and head into the next. You don't have much choice about this either. Devin later told me that all he saw was me heading at one boulder and though, "oh sh*$". Then realized that was the line. I think we got the biggest laugh out of 100%.<br /><br />All in all, I think the write up on Oregonkayaking that happens to be the only one I found doesn't do this run justice and the lines mentioned at the 900cfs would give one really bad day at 1800cfs. I'm hoping Christina and Josh get a write up to Rackley for the 1800 range. This run is up there with the Crooked without the length and runs year round at varying flows. Josh said 2100cfs was the perfect flow!!<br /><br />cheers, CoreyCorey Mortonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03755424725426428781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3547967158191975843.post-18747967513128774362008-09-16T08:06:00.000-07:002008-09-16T08:12:54.537-07:002nd Annual Football Team Rafting Trip<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="800" height="600" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=59913" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000"> <param name="flashvars" value="&offsite=true&intl_lang=en-us&page_show_url=%2Fphotos%2F10971994%40N03%2Fsets%2F72157607302377938%2Fshow%2F&page_show_back_url=%2Fphotos%2F10971994%40N03%2Fsets%2F72157607302377938%2F&set_id=72157607302377938&jump_to="></param><param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=59913"></param><param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=59913" bgcolor="#000000" allowFullScreen="true" flashvars="&offsite=true&intl_lang=en-us&page_show_url=%2Fphotos%2F10971994%40N03%2Fsets%2F72157607302377938%2Fshow%2F&page_show_back_url=%2Fphotos%2F10971994%40N03%2Fsets%2F72157607302377938%2F&set_id=72157607302377938&jump_to=" width="800" height="600"></embed></object><br />
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This year I changed things up a little from the Deschutes float of last year. Devin had worked for Wet Planet Rafting in White Salmon, WA with Heather Herbeck on their kids kayaking course over the summer. In trade Jaco from Wet Planet gave us 6 spots or one raft guided down the Orletta and Middle sections of the White Salmon River. For 3 on the team that went. It would be their first times on whitewater, two went with us on the Deschutes last year and one has been rafting with his mom and grandparents in the past. None though on anything like the White Salmon! In the end they all had a blast and the pics show how bored they were on the run. <br />
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Much thanks to their guide Matt and the rest of Wet Planet for taking the experience they will never forget!!Corey Mortonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03755424725426428781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3547967158191975843.post-7822389649438955392008-09-04T23:00:00.000-07:002008-09-04T23:10:28.348-07:00Idaho playboating with the Biscuit<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="800" height="600" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=59725" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000"> <param name="flashvars" value="&offsite=true&intl_lang=en-us&page_show_url=%2Fphotos%2F10971994%40N03%2Fsets%2F72157607121485721%2Fshow%2F&page_show_back_url=%2Fphotos%2F10971994%40N03%2Fsets%2F72157607121485721%2F&set_id=72157607121485721&jump_to="></param> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=59725"></param> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"></param> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=59725" bgcolor="#000000" allowFullScreen="true" flashvars="&offsite=true&intl_lang=en-us&page_show_url=%2Fphotos%2F10971994%40N03%2Fsets%2F72157607121485721%2Fshow%2F&page_show_back_url=%2Fphotos%2F10971994%40N03%2Fsets%2F72157607121485721%2F&set_id=72157607121485721&jump_to=" width="800" height="600"></embed></object>Corey Mortonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03755424725426428781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3547967158191975843.post-72705286157008673982008-09-03T19:23:00.000-07:002008-09-03T19:52:42.367-07:00NF Payette's Lower 5<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="800" height="600" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=59254" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000"> <param name="flashvars" value="&offsite=true&intl_lang=en-us&page_show_url=%2Fphotos%2F10971994%40N03%2Fsets%2F72157607098665538%2Fshow%2F&page_show_back_url=%2Fphotos%2F10971994%40N03%2Fsets%2F72157607098665538%2F&set_id=72157607098665538&jump_to="></param><param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=59254"></param><param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=59254" bgcolor="#000000" allowFullScreen="true" flashvars="&offsite=true&intl_lang=en-us&page_show_url=%2Fphotos%2F10971994%40N03%2Fsets%2F72157607098665538%2Fshow%2F&page_show_back_url=%2Fphotos%2F10971994%40N03%2Fsets%2F72157607098665538%2F&set_id=72157607098665538&jump_to=" width="800" height="600"></embed></object><br />
Just a few days prior to Labor day weekend, I decided to make a trip out to Idaho after seeing a section of the Snake River "Murtaugh Canyon" was in. The weekend was focused on getting out to Twin Falls to hook up with LiqiudLogic rep ted Keyes and a few friends of Ted's. A bonus was LL's prototype playboat "Biscuit" in the medium size was in Ted's posession as well. Most likely head back to the Payettes and run a couple sections as well. I'll get to the "Biscuit" and Murtaugh Canyon in the next post.<br />
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Last minute planning Ted mentioned I should bring Devin's Chico Jefe along to run the NF Payette with him and friends. Uh, OK!? So far it was gonna be playboats only. I'd already loaded the car in preparation of leaving after work so now I had to head home and through in a creek boat? Fine...<br />
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Levels for the NF looked good for Devin's first time down the Lower 5, considered the easier stretch of the class 5, 15 miles of continuous whitewater. We had ran into HR boaters Joe Stumpfeld, Bryon Dorr, Rachel Crowder and a few others the day prior after a SF run. Devin was gonna run the Lower 5 on Monday with them and then we'd drive 6 hours back to Portland. Devin had a blast on the run and they added "Hounds Tooth". Part of the middle 5 as the first drop of the run. Several pics in the slideshow are Devin, Joe C1'ing and Bryon with the hand grab on "Hounds Tooth". Other pics are random shots taken as I drove along the run. The pic of Devin running down a tongue is the last big rapid of the Lower 5. What's funny to me is that he's inches away from one of the biggest holes on the run and he's casually wiping the hair out of face!?Corey Mortonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03755424725426428781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3547967158191975843.post-21619909681025432692008-08-27T21:07:00.000-07:002008-08-27T21:13:12.486-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XSavRRBgNPs/SLYkottgfvI/AAAAAAAAAvc/s-ysSlv-_fA/s1600-h/DSC_0090.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XSavRRBgNPs/SLYkottgfvI/AAAAAAAAAvc/s-ysSlv-_fA/s400/DSC_0090.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239415498375986930" /></a>pic by Shane Benedict<br /><br />Pics of the new LiquidLogic Biscuit's during testing on the Ottawa in Canada.<br /><br />The plan is to hopefully get our hands on a medium Biscuit on our trip to Idaho this weekend. While it should be too big for Devin to throw around like the small coming out. It will give us a little taste of the new Biscuit!!Corey Mortonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03755424725426428781noreply@blogger.com