Fall Goodness, found on the O.P.

Just got a new van and I'm STOKED!!! Picked it up Thursday morning and hit the road. 4 days and 800 miles later my weekend has ended. Got a good feeling with this one. 

Pretty much sums it up.

First stop, PDX Kayaker Film Fest sans photos. Lots of great entries this year. Ryan Scott submitted a great piece on rafting in the PNW with some long time legends like Shane Turnbull. Of course our very own Scott Waidelich and JP were in there. Nate Herbeck, keeping the competition tough, took home the cigar box!! The Film Fest was a great event, my first! A lot of people came out of the woodwork for this one. 11 years and going strong!! Thanks Luke Spencer, Next Adventure and everyone who pitched in, helped out AND submitted films!!! Good times, y'all. I'll be back for this one.

Paranoia, a Creek Sides fave

Of course the good times were bound to continue in the next place Creek Siders like venturing into.. the woods. This weekend was full of tromping through the woods in one of my favorite locales, the O.P.

I LOVE my new drysuit.

Jeremiah Johnson.. snowshoeing with Crocs

a classic in the making..

...the good woods

found this near the 'elusive' good woods

yep.. 'Ilusive'

having a look at the put in

a little frosty this morning on the O.P.

looking down into Matheny Creek

a fraction of the Matheny crew

making our way into the O.P. goodness

Kevin

Jon Almquist

Ben

Totten

Arn & Mary

winning...

i smell bacon

thawing gear..   and bodies

the popsicle I need to find my way in to

By Sun the cold had cut off the water supply so we ventured into a canyon none of us had been to. I had scouted Fool's Canyon a couple years back on another trip to the O.P. It had a LOT more water last time, probably too much. This time was low, but still so very cool. Here was the only drop we could get out for, toward the end of the canyon. Fool's Canyon is in the Satsop drainage near Montesano and if you haven't been in there, I suggest a visit.

a shot inside Fool's Canyon

scouting

Ellie likes getting her boof on.

'Otherworldly' is one word I would use. This was one of the widest spots in the entire mile long gorge. Definitely a beautiful place to spend the afternoon.

parting shot of Toria taking in the magic that is 

the Olympic Peninsula

Until next time everybody. Stay warm and safe. Happy Holidays.

Down in Chile

So I have been in Chile for around 20 days now and thought I would give you all a little update on how things are going. On this trip thus far I have paddled the biggest volume I have in my paddling career, gotten a first descent and ran my largest waterfall yet in my paddling career. Its pretty easy to say that this trip has already been pushing limits for me and helping me learn things about myself as well as boating. We have been staying in the town of San Fabian in the VIII sector of Chile and are surrounded by the foothills of the Andes as well as some amazing creeks and a really big river. The Rio Nuble which offers up different sections for all levels of boaters actually runs through the town. The town section is Ocoee style and the Upper and Lower section have larger rapids. Most of the Larger Rapids are contained in the Upper reach. The Upper section as I was told is a bit like the Gauley but with more water. So we spent the first week and occasional days paddling the Nuble with a group of local paddlers and rafters. In-fact the Nuble Festival is this coming weekend. The river has a proposed damn project which would dewater the Upper section. Many of the locals have bumper stickers and signs up which stress the fact that they want the river to remain free as it is a big attraction which brings people out of the city to San Fabian. Its awesome to see how the people of the town want to see the river left the way it naturally is and shows a great respect for the river and outdoors. Moving on though as I previously mentioned we were able to snag a first descent on a creek feeding into the Nuble while the Nuble was juicing. We ran the Upper Las Damas and it was a pretty awesome experience to be one of the first people to bomb down some of the rapids that this crystal clear creek had to offer. It was awesome while scouting at times to take a step back and look around at how pretty it was all around us. The creek however is on private land so be sure to obtain permission if you ever plan on giving her or you will be shot at. Its a pretty awesome way of life that many of the people out here have. They have a big appreciation for family whether close or distant and are also super friendly people. We have had the opportunity to attend a couple of asados and I can honestly say they grill right down here. But heres some pictures and a video of the First D of Upper Las Damas (aka Cougar Creek) so hope you like em. Stay safe folks Paul

Robe Canyon 2011

Robe Canyon is a pretty girl. Give her some juice, though, and she likes to hold on!! Flows can be a mystery to paddlers, especially in the winter months. Even though the gauge is at the take out, what lies upstream can be described as 'anybody's guess'. Well, there are things like geometry, statistics.. even engineering calculus, but nothing can really train you for a phenomenon known as "Robe Math". You just have to go and hope for the best on those rainy days. What am I talking about? Well, Rob McKibbon describes it this way, "it's the only run where you want it to be lower at the put in and HIGHER at the take out."

To say Robe Canyon has a flashy nature is an understatement. There is just so much more to the story!! To be a true Robe Math Scholar you just have to put in the time on this one. Make no mistake, it is an art. The thing is...  once you get good at it, you kinda hope it's a little higher than last time, you just don't tell anybody. If you haven't seen Robe... well my friend... you have the next 8 months to get in there before she's dried up for the summer. In the meantime, here's some uh the good sauce from that pretty girl. She's a little creamy in this one, but that the way we like it!!

http://vimeo.com/31829544


music: AWOLNation -Sail