The Real McKoy

McKoy Creek is just a few hours outside of Porland. Rob and i left hood river at the break of dawn after stopping by for a few bagels and a cup of joe. Departing from Hood River, we wouldn't have known when the sun rose due to the seasonal showers. Rob hydroplaned all the way to Portland where i locked my keys in my car in order to give him time to grab a new pair of snoes for his Civic. Around the time that the AAA man arrived we recieved workd that our first choice had flooded causing us to call an audible. So, we chose McKoy Creek. No one had ever been here, but it sounded like fun. And so, the adventure begins.....

learing how to farm in the desert...

Bend, OR lies just east of the Cascade Range and too the west of the Great Sandy Desert. In the summer the snow from the nearby Three Sisters range melts away filling the rivers and providing a vital component of the seasonal transition. This water is a critical resource, which has been claimed as private property.

Though we all benifit from the redirection of this resource. It brings up many questions in regard to the act of farming in the dessert and water rights in general.... is this a method in which we can continue to use for future generations? and if so, what will be the externalities of our actions? whom is responsible? and, are there better methods that wouldn't place so much pressure upon valuable resources? i am curious to know what you, the reader, has to say about this issue? This week, in Bend, OR, they began to divert the lower Deschutes River for irrigation. This is one of the better local runs in Bend, and as of this week it will be turned off.

The Six Hour Bar Fight.....

It all starts with a phone call... the metaphorical worm, that upon first inspection appears to be free of any sharp metal objects. and like most baited lines, it is often not until you swallow that you realize your last bite probably wasn't the best idea...
so, I hung up the phone still tasting the worm i had just swallowed. Rob and i, along with two other friends had decided to do a little bit of exploring. Flowing into the Cougar Lake Reservoir, between Bend and Eugene, is a creek that i am still not sure of the name. Rob had explained that he knew of some people whom had paddled the bottom few miles of this creek a few years ago, but the top section had still not been explored. Rob had hiked a section from the bottom the previous year and felt that what he had seen validated a closer look. So we set off hiking through the snow excited about our exploratory mission.

When we reached the creek we were excited to see that there was plenty of water, but there appeared to be a fair amount of visible wood laying across the creek. For those whom have not spent much time in the Northwest, the trees get really big. Subsequently, these big trees can pose as a great obstacle when trying to navigate a river. And almost as soon as we put on the creek we were faced with catching small "last chance" eddies in order to avoid the piles of old growth trees which lay strewn across the river. Ducking under trees in the middle of rapids became a standard move very quickly. we were committed to moving downstream in whatever fashion necessary, assuming that eventually we would get past the log jams. I felt as if could almost hear that first bottle break, as the sound of stools scattering filled the vast river valley. The first punches were thrown, and the bartender did nothing. He just let us duke it out with this endless pile of long jams for the next six hours. At certain points we would walk over log jams for a hundred yards, with the river moving swiftly beneath us. After six hours of going toe to toe with these old timers, we finally made it to the lake. It was completely dark by the time be left the parking lot. And though the creek had some great sections, i will probably not walk into that bar again. So, the moral of the story is: if you are going to go toe to toe with some ole boys for six hours, pack a lunch.



photos:(Above)setting safety as rob heads into the bar.(below T-B). Suiting up for the mission, the cast: Rob, Simon, and Andrew. Rob and Simon heading to the river. Rob Bart...contender #1 for the Oregon wilderness limbo. Simon, about to punch the bartender right between the eyes. class five log jam..don't look down. Rob, catching an eddy in one of the cleaner sections. Simon enjoying happy hour. dropping into the cougar lake reservoir. happy to leave the bar intact.

Northwest Update

Spring is upon us....Last week i had the opportunity to spend a few days in Hood River, OR. The main priority of this trip was the acquisition of suitable housing. looking for a new hook to hang your hat on can be a timely process. and results in a lot of good ole fashion phone tag. Luckily, some of the gorges ambassadors knew some great places to spend the day waiting....

DAY 1....The east fork of the hood flows directly from the glaciers on Mt. Hood. The warm spring weather created great water levels and made for a beautiful day. the sun was out, the air was warm, and the water.... was really cold. Arriving at the put-in i discovered that i had left my poggies(neoprene hand warmers) in my car. Being naive and excited i declined Shawn and Andy's multiple offers to drive back to the take out to retrieve my poggies. I have re vowed never to forget my poggies again. After a few long rapids the glacial water had numbed my hands to the point that i was not able to grip my paddle. It is a weird sensation when the water is so cold that your hands don't actually get cold; they just cease to function and eventually get hot. that is when it is time to get out. I finished the run with both my hands about six inches off the center of the paddle. the narrow grip was designed and popularized in the pre poggie era. and very rarely brought back. After the first run i was able to retrieve my poggies and make another run with my preferred grip width.


DAY 2...Lower Trout Creek eventually dumps into the Upper Wind River offering a great run that collectively is almost one long rapid that dramatically increases in volume. Another great sunny day in the Columbia River Gorge.


DAY3....Panther Creek also flows into the Wind River. Panther Creek is little bit steeper, but offers the same type of Geology as Trout creek. the lower wind has great big water rapids a long with a big fish ladder rapid. Shawn and I lacked dry suits and subsequently opted to portage the rapid via a very steep ledge. Andy, being the savvy paddler that he is opted for option number one and just jumped off the cliff below the rapid.


Photos:(above)Teams Swain Hood River Ambassador, Shawn Lonin. Panther Creek(t-b) Shawn "big red" Lonin entering a nameless rapid, Panther Creek. Andy Round above the Flume, L. Wind River). The Flume. A.R. Beyond Limits, L. Wind. Fish Ladder Portage Option #2. Fish Ladder Portage option #1. gotta love the run out, heading for the CRG.

Spring in the Southeast

We got the gift of a few inches of rain to kick March off, and a couple of nice sunny days to follow. So of course that means you have to go kayaking. I am supposed to be competing in the TVF(total vertical feet) competition here in the southeast, but I had no team members to boat with. Instead I teamed up with a few of the local boy's who don't pass up the chance to go enjoy themselves.


We headed to the Overflow because it's a hard one to pass up when it's running. Five miles of big fun rapids. Here are a few of the good ones in the photo's you will notice Adam Hunter, WNC local pretty much stomping a few rapids.

We had a great crew, good water, and a sunny day. It does'nt get much better than that especially when you are enjoying it in a place like this.


Here is another Swain County boy, Joe Barkley looking into the Great Marginal Monster, deciding which way he is going to fire it up.


The next day we headed to the north along the TN-NC border for another southeast classic run.
The Watauga, with another great crew and plenty of people to share the occasion. The one downfall to the day were the 50mph wind gust.
Here's Scout trying not to get blown off line in Hydro.






Kevin Mitchell, enjoying himself on the Watauga.

Ecuador Revisited

Just returned home from another great trip to Ecuador. This years trip was not all for fun, Kara and I spent about 11 day's traveling around then I began working the first week of January. Although I must admit it's not too much of a drag showing up for a day of work, kayak guiding in Ecuador.

The trip was highlighted by a few new runs, great river levels, and lot's of fun surfing. Our first two trips were class IV river trips, followed by two river and beaches trips (http://www.smallworldadventures.com/news.html# . This was a great return to boating after a painfully boring recovery from shoulder surgery.
Kara and I went north to Otovalo, upon arriving to Ecuador. Otovalo is know for it's huge market, clothing, food, animals you can get it all there. The mountains are around Otovalo are spectacular(pictured above). The mountains and the market were not enough to keep us there too long though, we quickly left Otovalo to get to the Oriente to do some kayaking.

We arrived in Tena, a couple of day's before New Years. The water was high and it was hot so we spent a few days getting warmed up on some fun big water play runs. this was also a good chance for me to get to know my new kayak, the Pyrahna Ammo.
The boat is a flat hulled, short creek boat. It handled all types of water really well was not as playful as I had hoped, but proved to handle great on everything from big big water, to tight creeks. Most days I had 20-25lbs. of gear in the back, and it still performed well.
After a week or so of Tena Kara and I headed up to Borja, where we stayed at the Cabanas Tres Rios (small worlds lodge).
The lodge is right beside the Quijos river surrounded by the Andes. There are few places in the world that are as relaxing. Whether your relaxing after a hard day of paddling, hanging out on the river side deck, or browsing around the garden around the lodge. It's a great place.


After a week or so of relaxing and trips to the Hot Springs in Papallacta, It was time to start working. Our first week we had a III+ trip four guys from Colorado, and three from Texas. We had great flows and weather plus some great beat downs commercial kayak trips don't get much better than that. The next week was a week off. The other guides and myself went on a exloritory mission to run a river that is very seldomly paddled. We were fairly close to the Columbian border, in an area of Ecuador that does'nt have much to offer your normal tourist but it does have a few nice rivers. Our put-in was north of the equator and the take out was to the south, we put in on a rocky fast moving technical river and paddled into a gentle class III play paradise ( Darcy at the put-in bridge). After the scouting we tried to knock out some of the creek runs we would not be guiding on.





The next three weeks of trips were great one week of high water and creek boating. Then two rivers and beaches trips where we kayaked four days on the river then three days of surfing in the ocean. The first rivers and beaches started at the lodge, the after four days of paddling Memo our driver, Larry, and myself drove the van and all the kayaks to the beach. The drive took eleven hours, we lost 2.5 miles of elevation, and descended for two hours switchback after switchback.
Meanwhile Don and the guest flew to Manta where we picked them up and headed to the beach. We surfed a great point break and some beach break. The first three or four days were huge fun waves the last three days got a little smaller but gave twice the beatdown. Ocean surfing is some of the most fun you can have in a kayak, it is also so of the worst trashings you can get.

The next group flew into Manta and started their week surfing then once again Larry, memo and I drove back to the mountains. when we got back the weather was hot and dry, great for valcano veiwing but terrible for the rivers. On our drive from Quito thto the lodge we saw Cotopaxi, Cayambe, and Antisana all three valcanos at the same time. It was a nice welcome to the highlands.

So after four more short days of boating, and water dropping it was time to head out. Now back in the Southeast again waiting for the rain.