We have had several Owyhee rafting trips in our short 10 year history, but this one was the most memorable for me.  It was a middle Owyhee river trip in 2006. The river was running a solid 2,200 cfs and we had several eNRG Kayaking teams preparing for the trip.  Arturo and I were finishing the first International Rafting Federation guide training and education course delivered in the USA.  We were working with Sundance River Company on the Rogue River, and it was raining for the 5 day course.  Meanwhile in Portland, Jazen and Kristin were busy prepping the trip with food and everything we needed.  Our plan was to rendezvous at the put in- Three Forks.  The drive from Merlin OR, to Three Forks is the same distance from Portland to Three Forks (8 hours) especially if you make a few wrong turns:) I promised Arturo (who is from Costa Rica) that it would be sunny in the high desert of OR… and I was wrong.  It snowed almost the entire drive.

We picked up Danielle Carvahlo at Rome, and arrived in sleeting rain at 6:30am after an all night drive- with sopping river gear from the previous day on the Rogue River.

With that scene- the following humbling experiences followed.  Within 2 miles of the put in we came upon a party of rafters who were stranded- 2 of their 3 rafts were pinned in Ledges rapid.

15 people had spent the night in a cave with 1 sleeping bag and a small bag of vegitables.

Of course, we felt like the cavalry showing up with SAT phones, pin kits, and cutting edge training.  We spent the next 4 hours in a feudal attempt to help our fellow rafters free their rafts.  We sheathed 2 ropes, broke 1, and punctured 2 tubes in the ill fated attempt to free the rafts.  Defeated in 40 degree rain we made a call to the BLM with our phone to alert the authorities of their fate, and had to make the decision to head downstream.

That night we made dinner in driving rain.  We woke up to a break in the weather.  In a little known rapid however, just down stream we managed to pin one of our rafts in the middle of half mile.  Out came the gear once again, and after a 2 hour effort we freed the raft.

Fortunately that night we found cave camp to escape the forboding weather.

The following day was the day we would encounter Widowmaker rapid- the only class V+ rapid on the trip.  In a crazy twist of fate, Arturo convinced me he saw a line, and could oar the rafts through the rapid.

This would either save us from a half day of portaging, or strand our group in a desolate wilderness.  Arturo managed to oar all 3 of our rafts successfully through the rapid.

Amazing.  And that night was the last night as 20 something.  The last day of our trip we awoke to clear skys, and I had officially turned 30 years old!

My last great task of the trip was to hand wash our groover single handedly while the cute girls danced, and sipped brew from the raft above:)

Brian Thibault won a REACH rescue system for helping us navagate one of the most exciting trips in NRG history.

Here is what we got into:

Thursday – High-water playboting on the Upper Clackamas River.  With Luke Spencer and Mike Northrop(another NRG Instructor) we put-in at fly creek and paddled a raging section from there down to Bob’s Hole.  We had about 8,000 cfs with hugh standing waves and some serious holes but plenty of room to manuever.

Friday – Hagen Gorge on the NF Washougal River.  This was Mike’s first run of the classic Portland-area creek.  While a shorter section of river, this run packs a good punch with 4 stout drops.  Mike was just getting back into the swing of things with a 3 month lay-off due to a broken ankle.  We had a lot of water in the run, 7,000 cfs on the Washougal.  Hagen was higher than I had ever run it before – and I’ve run it quite high.  All the drops went and it was great run.

Saturday – WF of the Hood to the Marina.  Mike and I had one of the best days of paddling in a long while.  We paddled 17 miles of the Hood River in just 3.25 hours!  With a healthy flow (6 ft) and a ride to the put-in (Thanks ORT!) we enjoyed many, many miles of great class 3-4 rapids.  Just a wonderful day of boat-scouting, dodging holes and catching waves on the fly.

Sunday – Mike and I taught the river class for the  January Advanced Whitewater Seminar.  Class was awesome and I could not imagine having more fun on the river.  More about this class later.

Happy Paddling, Dave

Mike on Sunset Falls, EF Lewis

This year has been an incredible one for accolades.  The Portland Tribune sustainable life Magazine identified and awarded about 10 individuals to honor leadership and excellence in sustainability in the Portland community.  It was part of the Go Green Initiative that the city of Portland’s mayor Sam Adams has been advocating over the last year.  The ceremony was at the Gerding Theater in the Pearl, and I have to admit it was pretty cool to be included in this exclusive group.  It is cool to represent the paddling community with this initiative- b/c it really has had a pretty amazing impact.  31,000 lbs of trash pulled out of the river in 5 – one day efforts… a recycling, composting, community event in all ways… The Down the River Cleanup Art show put on by Riley was a huge success!  Our college tour the previous fall was also a huge success, had many “green” elements.  All these initiatives played into the committees decision to bestow the award to eNRG kayaking.

Kristin Dahl here on the right has been the major force behind the DRC since its inception and has been eNRG Kayaking’s sustainability consultant from the beginning.  She is my “Green Giant”.

And Randy White from BrightNeighbor.com is the real sustainability visionary, and another one of my personal Green Giants.  His revolutionary software is going to do a lot to bring communities together into the future… ride sharing, food cultivating, and energy conservation.  You gotta check out his site- brightneighbor.com

This has always been one of my very favorite river trips in close proximity to Portland.  It is dam released, so there is almost always a good flow in the river.  This summer Northwest River Guides ran several great rafting trips on the North Fork Santiam River.  Here are some photos from the trip we ran with a family we met through Make a Wish Foundation.  Swirlies, Carnivore, and Spencers hole are some of the best rapids on this stretch of river from Packsaddle Park to Mill City.

We were graced with Roland from River India (head guide for whitewater voyages – the largest raft company in California) as a guide on our trip, and it just added to the amazing experience. We also passed a fisherman who was showing off his prized steelhead from the day- that was his 3rd catch.