PDXkayaker Film Fest 2008: Semi-Pro Spotlight

Luke managed to get 2nd place in last year's PDXkayaker Film Festival, with Semi-Pro Spotlight:



I shot much of the footage used in the film. Luke and I were going to co-produce our effort for the contest, but he just had more spare time in the week leading up to the contest. I'd say he represented, for sure. The Johnny Ott BZ Falls carnage clip was a huge crowd pleaser. Ahh, memories.

McCloud River: 3 waterfalls

We scouted three waterfalls on the McCloud River, east of Mt. Shasta City. Only the lower falls were runnable, and it caused quite a spectacle for all the looky-loos and swimmers at this spot.

Lower Tuolumne: a classic run

Me firing up a rapid typical of the Lower T:



Clavey Falls is the worst of this run, and the only drop that required out-of-boat scouting from our team of two:

Hospital Rock: a taste of Cali carnage

Ah, my first Class V swim...full story to come, but check out the following media for a teaser:




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the Cali trip has begun!

Wednesday morning was a flurry of errands and excitement as we did last-minute errands and shopping before getting on the road. One of the last-minute shopping items was a new Riot Magnum 80 for me to paddle on this trip. Sweet! As I type this, it hasn't come off the roof rack, and still needs to be outfitted, but I am stoked to get it out. With luck, we'll get some Class III+ to IV+ in today, so I can test my road-outfitting ability and get more used to the boat before we fire up the gnarr.

We made it out of town before noon yesterday, and after a stopover in Medford for shopping and errands, we made Redding as night fell. Wandering up the Pit River drainage, past the population-30 town of Montgomery Creek, we found a nice campsite partway down into the canyon of Hatchet Creek. We stoked a tiny and crackle-free fire (no sap in the sticks we used) and enjoyed a couple of nice cold Sierra Nevada Summerfests under a full moon and clear skies. Air temperature was 50 degrees overnight, and we broke camp shortly after dawn to explore the area and find some breakfast soon thereafter.

After hiking around Hatchet Creek to try to find a fabled (and once-photographed) triple drop, our hunger got the best of us, and we rallied back to Redding on Hwy 299 (enduring a couple of 10 minute full-stops for construction) and broke south on I-5 for a breakfast joint. After figuring out we passed the Black Bear Diner in Redding, we kept rolling, aiming for Chico. Here I sit, at the breakfast place in Chico, well-fed and ready to find the paddle shop and get back on the road for more southernly climes. Weather here is 95 degrees and clear.

Upper Klamath River and Scott River

Bryan from Next Adventure shuttled us down to the Upper Klamath race in Deek's bitchin' Mercedes van, with a dozen boats and 11 people making the journey. It took us 5.5 hours and 4 cases of beer, but we made it. I think everyone liked my story about hunting with my dad and brothers and running into a trapped sheep. For some, it was a crash course in my sick sense of humor, I think. We arrived at Noah's Rafting, set up sleeping bags both inside the warehouse and outside by the van, and conked out, eagerly anticipating the next day's whitewater.

Saturday morning brought a clear and dry dawn. After a bomber breakfast at the Breadboard in town, we loaded up and hit the Upper Klamath. The Upper K is a classic big water Class IV+ run. We were fortunate that both turbines were releasing from the dam, so flows were around 2850 cfs, which made for more entertaining whitewater and fewer nasty rocks to hit. Caldera was definitely the highlight of the run, with about a quarter mile of big Class V-ish waves, holes, and funky hydraulics. Our kayaker crew styled it, with most of us running in playboats. We definitely did a good job of representing Portland kayakers.

Snow Saturday night forced Tim B. to relocate the race to the Scott River. We even had a couple of inches on the valley floor.

A highlight of the trip came when I was inspired to throw a wet sheet of plywood on one side of the huge bonfire we had and jump it on a borrowed bicycle, under the full moon on 4/20 -- twice. I flubbed the landing both times, but Ty styled it once and called it good. I don't have any hair left on my knuckles. Paul Gamache from Team Bigfoot let Robbie Virostek shoot some video -- apologies in advance for the camera work of an inebriated minor:



Here's the weird part: I hadn't read Willamette Week before hitting the road, and I only sometimes read the Free Will Astrology horoscope. After the trip, I returned to read this horoscope:


Ooh-wee-ooh! Spoooooky!