Rogue River Wild & Scenic Take 2

Last year during the annual Rogue River weekend Emily and I were on the East Coast for a wedding.  This year Emily was also on the East Coast in Maine for work but fortunately I was free to go on the trip.  Instead of a very rushed overnight trip leaving on Friday as like before Ben and Bryan decided to stretch the trip out over three days and extend the length of the float.  This meant that everyone had to take a day off of work on Friday so that we could all pack into Bryan's Attack Van and leave on Thursday instead.  Instead of Emily I talked Chris Holm into joining me for the trip and the shinanigans.  I figured he needed the time away because of relationship troubles he was going through.

I left work Thursday a little early so that I could pick up the IK's Chris and I had rented from the ORC at OSU. Two years ago Emily and I had been in a raft with Ben but there were IK's on the trip and it looked like so much fun that Chris and I opted to try kayaking the river this year instead.  After packing up my gear into a new Black Canyon dry bag I got from Moosejaw Chris and I drove to Winco and then to the liqour store for booze.  I picked up a handle of Pendleton for Ben and a few boxes of Sunset Blush wine for him as well as a bottle of American Honey and Sweet Tea vodka for me. Chris and I then packed up our remaining gear and after some concerned looks from Tiffany, headed over to Bryan's for some food and to pack up the rafts and gear with everyone else.

Bryan had spaghetti and meatballs with salad and bread for dinner.  Gear was all over the lawn and people were starting to show up around 7pm.  Chris and I grabbed some food and I accidentally met Cody Younger's wife Nicole after slipping up and saying I couldn't wait to hit on her in front of her not knowing she was actually there.  Confused, I had to explain to her how Cody usually flirts with Emily continuously on trips and that finally it was payback time with Cody missing from this venture and Emily gone too!  Nicole and her sister Stacy and their friend Sarah got kick out of this.  As usual it took us a while to pack up everything and get the two vans ready.  I took Chris inside to show him Bryan's rabbit Bo and we all sang happy birthday to Nicole who shared a cake given to her with everyone.  I had been drinking cans of Jeremiah Weed all evening so that by the time we hit the road for our 4 hour trip down to the road I was definitely lit.  The drunken drive down to the river Thursday night was, as usual, a shit show with everyone passing around wine, a massive liter-sized flask and other drinks.  By the time we got to the put in, just up the road from our usual spot many people in the van were passed out sleeping and Nicole had some pretty gnarly motion sickness brewing.  That drive was a good introduction to what Chris would experience for the next 3 days!

When we woke up in the morning on Friday it took us all a long time to eat breakfast and pack up all the boats with our gear on the shore.  The restroom outhouse was truly terrible so I decided to change into my wetsuit behind it instead.  I spent a while getting my gear ready and attaching my waterproof helmet cam case to the top of my rafting rental helmet.  It was quick for Chris and I to blow up our IK's so we spent the morning helping everyone else get their gear ready and onto the boats.  By the time we got going it was just past noon.  Bryan's father had graciously volunteered once again to shuttle Bryan's van down to the takeout for us.  It literally saved us about 10 hours of driving by doing so.  He's the best, and one of the nicest guys I've met.  We also had Bryan's sister and brother on the trip as well, the whole Carrington family it seemed!  

Like two years ago there were many costumes.  The girls (Sara, Nicole, Stacy, Sara Vandepas, and Martin) had a pirate flag on their boat and Michelle's boat was the official Harry Potter boat with all the main characters in costume on it complete with cauldrens of boiling dry ice that floated with them downstream.  Next time I go on this trip I'm definitely going to remember to bring some sort of funny outfit.

Friday was a crazy beautiful day with warm weather and sunshine, as it would be for the next 2 days as well.  It almost felt like overkill wearing the wetsuit that I borrowed from Kevin.  Chris and I were both a bit nervous about the approaching class V rapid Rainee Falls but we had a few hours to get our wits about us before going through it.  Chris actually dumped a couple times on the way to Rainee but I think it was just from goofing around and not really paying attention.  I was doing ok and hadn't fallen out yet so I was building confidence.  We passed around some booze between us and the rafts and I began hitting the vodka/V8 fusion nalgene I had but not too hard as I wanted to be focused for Rainee Falls.  The river, just like two years ago was absolutely beautiful.

When we got to Rainee Falls we dropped our boats on the shore and headed to the rocks just above the falls.  The rapids looked nearly the same size as two years ago, perhaps just slightly bigger as the water was lower this year I think.  There was another way down far to rafters right (a fish ladder type area) that people could go down but not with our group.  Everyone was to head over the falls.  Chris and I stayed on the rocks while everyone in the rafts took turns taking the plunge.  A couple boats made it safely over the falls at first but then Scott lost several of his front teeth in a gear boat from slamming his face into the oar handle and Bryan's boat went over the main falls sideways capsizing instantly in the froth.  This was beginning to look like a bad idea to Chris and I who would be in tiny single IK's heading over the drop.  

I thought for sure Ben would nail it in his gear boat, and he almost did, but he too flipped and all of our gear and drybags remained upside down in the river as they floated downstream for a long distance.  By this point everyone had taken the drop except for the girls.  Chris and I watched them take the rapid head on and spectacularly they made it through without much effort.  As soon as they had collected themselves and started to celebrate I yelled several times for them to paddle to the shore so that they could have the throwbags for Chris and I (also so someone at least could get video of us going over the falls).

When Chris and I walked back along the shore to get into our kayaks we met several others along the way.  We had seen several kayakers go completely around the falls in what looked to be really pro hard shell kayaks.  That didn't bode well with us, nor did the comment from another kayaker on shore that said we were nuts.  Thus, Chris and I strode into our IK's and floated out into the main channel with a Heron on the shore watching us as we went.  I had the helmet cam on so I wanted him to go first in front of me over the falls.  I didn't really catch much of him from the helmet cam as I gave him a good lead in case I came down on top of him in the froth.  I saw where he went over the falls and tried to follow but got pushed just slightly to the left on a step before the main drop.  I was sent up and over a fin of water and down into a big boil that promptly flipped me out of my kayak.  When I surfaced I saw Chris still sitting in his IK and was amazed and elated for him!  Apparently he had chosen the right line slightly to the right of me and missed the boil that destroyed me.  As I was floating a rope was thrown to me by Nicole.  I first ignored it but then taking a few strokes swimming towards the shore I grabbed it and started pulling.... to find that nobody was on the other end!!! I laughed as I pulled the rope together and made it to shore... Nicole was not to hear the end of this for the rest of the trip!  Way to save me Nicole!!!

After laughing about Nicole's horrible save at Rainee we collected ourselves and gear and headed downstream a little ways to meet up with everyone else and get some lunch.  Scott was on a rock with Anna tending to him and he looked to be in a lot of pain.  His top left front tooth was gone and several others appeared to be cracked in half.  We took a look at the video I had taken with my Nikon and his whole body appeared to just fold in half into the oar handle... horrific looking.  Everyone was pretty impressed that Holm had made it through without flipping like I had.  One of the rafts had dumped over 30 beers into the river and I made the rule that if we found any in eddies or along the shore whoever found it would be required to take a knee and shotgun it.  Well.. about two hours later I had forgotten my rule and found the first can... Chris later found one as well...and we both followed the rule I had made.

The rest of the afternoon was a pretty easy float with a few class 3 rapids and a bunch of fun spots for people to climb rocks and jump into the river.  Several people, including Ben, decided it would be best to strip naked for the jumps.  We had a heron following us for a while downstream and Chris and I had a good time visiting other rafts and sharing all the booze that was on the trip.  Eventually it began to get dark and a decision had to be made on where we were all going to camp.  Ben wanted to keep going downstream for a ways but Bryan was determined to camp up on some rocks above the river.  There was some friendly arguing but Bryan thankfully got his way and we began unloading the gear boats.  At first I wanted to keep going to a flatter, open campsite with outhouses that Ben knew about but after  it took us so long to unload I was happy that we had taken out where we had.  That evening we all had a great dinner (Mexican I think) and hung out by the fire late into the night.

Saturday morning I awoke from my bivy to find Ben wearing Sarah's bikini top and a whole bunch of string cheese wrappers in my bivy with some left in my pants pockets as well.  Apparently I had gotten the late night munchies after hanging out with Cory and Lisa.  Once again it was a beautiful morning and the fog lifting off the river into the surrounding hills was gorgeous.  We all had an awesome breakfast of fresh eggs, juice and my Chai Tea which I shared with Ben and Holm that I cooked up with my Jetboil.  As usual it took us a while to hit the river after packing up all the gear boats.  Anna's gear boat had a leak which took a bit to repair before we got going.

It took me a little while to get back on the saddle and open up my next nalgene of vodka and juice but after I did I felt better (thankfully I don't do the "hair of the dog" thing that often or it could spell trouble :).  We came across a great cliff jumping spot that was probably 35-40 feet above the river.  We all pulled over and took turns jumping off of it.  I got a great video of the jump with my helmet cam on as well.  

At some point the girls were drinking their very yummy birthday shots and Nicole decided it was time for an semi-naughty photo shoot for Cody to later see.  This involved her jumping onto my kayak and filling my mouth with whipped cream.  Little did she know I wouldn't stand for this as I then pushed her over, climbed on top, and smeared it all over her face... ha!

We continued down the river having a blast in the beautiful weather until we came to the Rogue River Ranch where we pulled out for lunch.  This is the spot two years ago where we camped over night.  We all took our boats out of the water and I went exploring with the Rudnicki sisters towards the open buildings of the ranch. We walked all about checking out the stable and the barns out back as well as the main residence.  When we returned to the group someone had found a praying mantis to my surprise.  I hadn't seen one in probably over 10 years and didn't realize they were in the Northwest as well.

The rapid that scared me the most was quickly coming up on Saturday afternoon.  It's name was Blossum Bar and although it was a class IV and not a class V like Rainee Falls it had claimed several lives this past year with one girl's body being stuck in a keeper undercurrent for several weeks.  I was glad that we would be going through the beautiful Mule Creek Canyon and Coffee Pot rapids before Blossum Bar so I would get some more experience under my belt.  Two years ago a kid in our group in an IK flipped going into the canyon and swam almost the entire length of it through all the hydraulics.  Chris and I made it through without a problem at all in our IK's but we didn't stop for a group photo like we did two years ago due to time constraints.  Mule Creek Canyon is one of my favorite parts of the whole trip.  You can see the water line on the rocks as you pass through it and there are towering spires of volcanic rock all around you.  It is the reason this section is called the "Wild & Scenic" and rivals the Grand Canyon for beauty.

Soon after Mule Creek Canyon we pulled over to the side of the river to scout Blossum Bar on the rocks above it.  Upon looking at the pinball of boulders and rapids we had to negotiate and seeing another trip go through in rafts Chris and I actually felt a little at ease as it appeared to be far easier for a kayak to negotiate than a raft with 6+ people in it.  Ben told us we would have no problem either so when we all went down and got into our kayaks I wasn't too worried.  I knew to just head right before the nasty rapid that held the girls body for so long.  It turned out to be a piece of cake for Chris and I... felt more like a Class III actually.  Once we got through it I climbed up on some rocks and got a really great video of Ben and his raft making it through without even touching a rock the whole way!

Elated about making it through the last serious rapid of the trip the shinanigans were stepped up a notch and the birthday shots were broke out again by the girls.  What ensued for the rest of the late afternoon into the evening is actually very foggy for me.  I know at some point someone borrowed my kayak and I was in a raft, then I returned to the kayak with a passenger, but I forget who that was.  We ended up making it to a gravel bar in a bend in the river where we set up camp on the rocks above but by the time we got there it was really dark and we all were in headlamps.  Several members of our party had to literally be dragged and dumped ashore and I don't remember what was cooked for dinner or how the fire got started.  

I didn't even remember where I had set up my bivy as I had to ask Stacy to help me find it in the dark.  Apparently from the stories I later heard I ate a bunch of curry (yuck!) and was watching the stars on my back next to Ben for much of the evening.  People sat by the fire for a while but I don't even remember the fire.  I have no recollection of how or what time I went to bed....

Sunday morning was ROUGH... I woke up very much still drunk with my pockets full of string cheese once again.  Yelling down to the group that I once again had a bunch of cheese in my pants was pretty amusing to everyone.  We all ate a nice breakfast as we watched other rafters float by and a few river boats head up the river by us.  Martin played a bit on his guitar and we once again had beautiful weather to start the day.  As usual it was a pain in my ass to get my wetsuit back on and for all of us to load up the boats but it wasn't as crucial to get everything as locked down as we had a very easy float to the takeout.

Throughout the morning I asked everyone what the hell had happened to me the night before and I heard a few good stories trying to piece it all together again.  Chris had the most interesting story of all though as he told it to me on the river just before I puked over the side of my kayak.   I had finally past the point of being drunk into one of the worst hangovers I've ever had.  It was about this time that everyone else started to get their drink on, including Chris and the ladies.  I chose this moment to vacate the vicinity for my own health and sanity.

At first I stayed just ahead of the group which worked out great as we quickly pulled the rafts to the side of the river for some food and to check out a waterfall slide on a small stream that entered the Rogue.  We had to boulder hop up the stream for a ways to get to the spot and then wade into a deep pool of water and climb a knotted rope up the face of the waterfall to get to the top.  Each one of us in the group took turns climbing up and sliding down.  Just after I had climbed up and slid down the rope broke and it took some time for Ben to repair it from the top.  Thankfully nobody was high up on it climbing when it broke.  Chris Gabrielli, Paris and their rafting group caught up with us at the falls for a little bit as well.  After some good photos and helmet cam footage of the slide we walked back down the stream to the rafts.  I slipped a few times on the wet rocks which really tested out my knee ACL, thankfully it held.

The rest of the day on Sunday I spent far ahead of all the rafts which had joined together into a party raftzilla.  I could see drinks being passed around liberally and many calls for me to come back and partake but there was no way I could even smell booze at that point.  They were having such a great party that small salmon smelt actually jumped out of the river into their boat to join them (look at the photo closely).  So, for the last few hours of the float I simply laid back in my kayak and passed in and out of snoozes letting the river carry me along.  

Thankfully I was sitting up at the point when I saw a couple of our rafts pull to the shore at the takeout.  About 20 minutes later the party rafts showed up and people began literally crawling ashore to the amusement of Bryan's dad who had the vans all set up for us.  Ben and Erica took the drunk trophies for the day as they both were just wandering around useless for quite some time.  I was super excited to see a grill fired up with fresh burgers for me to eat.  I needed something solid and greasy in my gut at this point.

As we packed up the rafts on the van and trailer clouds started to roll over the coastal range towards us marking the end of the perfect weather on the Rogue that we had just experienced for 3 straight days in October!  We all then piled into the vans and tore over the Coastal Range with Bryan, as usual, scaring the shit out of everyone in the back of his van, but thankfully shaving valuable time off our ride home as well.  We got back into Corvallis early in the evening and helped everyone unpack all the gear.  There was some leftover food so I helped my self to some deli meat, peppers and tomatos from the trip before I dropped Chris off at home with a big smile on his face from the fantastic weekend.  I felt bad that at the same time Emily was sick in Maine for work and missed out but I'm sure that we'll both be back on the trip next year as it is certainly something we both look forward to.

BYU, Waterpolo & a Party

Today Emily and I headed down to the OSU vs. BYU game to tailgate with Doug and others before the game.  We had gone to the Arizona game a few weeks ago but Doug wasn't there for that one and Doug's tailgates are always the best as he prepares food for days ahead of time.  Many of our friends were there and I was able to get tickets from Andrea Allan earlier in the week in exchange for some beer and candy.  

Emily ended up getting tickets from work so we didn't actually need the tickets anyway and gave them to Colin and Isaac.  Unlike the previous game we went to the Beavers got spanked this weekend.  We watched the game with Colin, Scott & Danielle, Miwa, Garrett, Cathy, Shiloh and some others.  I had a few Sparks beverages during the first half and then a couple beers at halftime so by the time the game ended I was feeling pretty good.

After the game Lindsay,  Emily, Alexa and I drove over to the Osborne Aquatic center so that we could finally see one of Kevin's water polo matches.  No surprise, but there were a hell of a lot of speedo's walking around the pool!  Kevin is the oldest on the OSU team but he definitely kept up with everyone in the pool.  It was kind of ridiculous how many subs the OSU team had compared to the lone sub of the other team.  It was hard to understand what was going on in the pool and I didn't really understand the rules but it looked like a lot of fun... and a lot of energy.  No wonder Kevin has such strong arms and shoulders - back and forth, back and forth down the pool with every play it seemed.  OSU crushed the other team and we took off.  I tried to get some good action photos with our new Nikon... but all I could really see was a lot of splashing and people's heads.

We ended up going over to Loomis and Amy Jo's later in the evening for a party.  I was pretty tired and didn't end up drinking very much so I drove us there and home.  We didn't stay too long.  Just long enough for some beer pong and dancing.  Amy Jo had made some great food for the party and there was a keg too.

Mexican Potluck

Emily and I headed over to Aaron, Rob's and Pauls for a last minute Mexican potluck.  I hadn't seen Hartz for a while so it was good to catch up with him and hear about his possible job (he later got it) with a heli skiing company in Salt Lake City.  Chris was there as well as Mo's little sister and of course Paul in all of his skeeviness.  Craig and a couple other of their friends showed up with dry ice in a bucket that a was shared around the room and the food was delicious despite it being Mexican ;(.  It was a good time and it was great to catch up with everyone and meet a few new faces in town as well.

OSU vs. Arizona - No way... we won!

Emily and I headed over to our first tailgate of the year for the OSU vs Arizona game.  Doug was off hunting for the weekend so his tailgate wasn't happening but Tim and Kevin had organized one out the back of Tim's truck.  We had a good time at the tailgate and the game which we actually won.  The Beavers went way up in the first half and nearly lost it in the 2nd half but managed to hold onto the lead.  Tim really enjoyed his new grill that he and Lindsay had just bought.

Collier Cone & Obsidian Trail Loop

With the weather quickly turning to shit in the Pacific Northwest, Emily and I decided to go for one last hike of the season on Sunday into the Sisters Wilderness via the Obsidian Trail.  The initial plan was to do a scramble up Little Brother from our book of Oregon Scrambles but with Chris bringing Kya along and us unable to locate any sort of path up the ridge we had to give up, instead climbing Collier Cone (less than 300 ft shorter than Little Brother anyway) and hiking the Obsidian, PCT, Scott trail loop.  The weather held for us for the entire hike in, during our failed exploration of Little Brother and all the way to the top of Collier Cone with it's amazing views of the Collier Glacier on North Sister.  After we had snapped some amazing pictures from the top of the cone the clouds rolled in, almost on que, as we made our long descent out of the woods on Scott's Trail in rainy, overcast weather.  16.4 miles, 4,000ft vertical, and nearly 10 hours later we were back to the car just before dark, exhausted but happy about another great climb.  Click the link to read more.

Dinner with Friends

Tonight Emily and I had Tim & Lindsay and Kevin & Alexa over for dinner at our place.  We all chipped in a bunch of food on the stove and on the grill.  It was the first time hanging out with Tim and Lindsay after their wedding so we got to hear all about their honeymoon on the East Coast fishing with Ladd and her family.

Matt & Sarah Visit

This past week Matt and Sarah came to visit for a long weekend.  I hadn't seen him since 2009 when he came out to visit and attempt Mt. Washington with me.  This time Sarah had the time off to also come along and see Oregon.  They came in on Wednesday night and I reserved a room at the McMenamin's Edgefield to surprise them after the long flight with a relaxing soak in the spa and a few good beers before bed.  The following day we got a weird (but huge) breakfast at the Cameo Cafe in Vancouver, WA, then visited the Johnston Ridge Observatory at Mt. St. Helens and hiked Latourel Falls in the Columbia Gorge before returning to Corvallis for some beer variety and Woodstocks Pizza. Friday we hung out downtown, checking out my office and enjoying some Gelato and had a bbq at our place that evening followed by watching the Hangover which neither had seen yet. On Saturday we drove up the coast from Newport after stopping to get some Dungenous Crab for Matt and Sarah to try.  We then stopped at Pacific City for dinner and did a short hike around Cape Meares.  Getting a hotel room was a disaster as the Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn express made us go back and forth 4 times before finally giving us a room.  This was at 1am after a couple of relaxing drinks at Kell's Irish Pub in downtown Portland.  Matt was either sick or had a reaction to the crab (later found out he was sick).  On Sunday morning we woke up early and brought them to the airport where they missed their connection in Texas and had to drive 5 hours to get Sarah to work on time on Monday - Hopefully the fun trip was worth the cold and all the effort of traveling here!  Check out the great Pano I got of Mt. St. Helens after the clouds finally lifted from it by clicking the read more link.

Tim & Lindsay's Wedding

This weekend Emily and I had a terrific time at Tim & Lindsay's wedding in the Columbia Gorge.  The wedding was on Friday afternoon at the private Bridal Veil Park in the Columbia Gorge.  Lindsay arrived at the ceremony via a canoe paddled by her father.  All of their Oregon friends and a few of their closest friends and family were in attendance from the East Coast.  It was a beautiful ceremony with a really great reception and dance party with DJ Grey Matter before returning to the incredible McMenamin's Edgefield for the rest of the weekend to soak in the spa and drink at many of the 12 bars on site.  To read more click the link.

Thievery Corporation - Best Concert Ever!

Emily and I joined both Colin and Doug for a trip to Portland to the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.  We got to Portland a bit early so we headed to Escape from NY Pizza for some really good thin crust NY-style pizza (rare in Oregon).  We also picked up some beers at a local convenience store.  We stopped at a park and ate and drank for a bit before heading over to the concert.

I have to say that Thievery Corporation is now the best concert I have ever gone to!  There had to be 20+ musicians on stage throughout the show.  Thievery Corporation is only two DJ's themselves but when they pool together all their musician friends into a concert like we saw it was truly amazing.  We had the greatest seats in the 2nd row in front of the stage too!  Honestly, best concert ever!

Bachelor Party Fishing Trip Weekend

This weekend was our buddy Tim's Bachelor Party at a house in Newport, OR.  His friend Wes from the East Coast, Jason Abbott from Portland and all of his Corvallis buddies (Mischa, Scott, Kev, Colin, and I) joined him at the coast for a weekend of drinking, fishing, washers, spirit quests through the woods, drinking, crabbing and drinking to celebrate his last weekend as an unmarried (read:free) man.  We gorged ourselves on crab, rockfish, steak, chicken, sausages, etc and relaxed in a hot tub for two glorious days.  Click the link to read more.

Boulder Creek Lakes - Trinity Alps Weekend

Because the next two weekends are going to be a bachelorparty and then a wedding, both with plenty of partying and drinking, Emily andI decided to use the long Labor Day weekend to get out of town and into theoutdoors. Because we had 3 full days wedecided to go a little further and venture into the Trinity Alps Wilderness of Northern California, a 7 hour drive away. Neither of us had been there and weren’t really sure what toexpect. I had chosen a side trail off the most popular Cascade Canyon Trail which would take us to a couple alpinelakes in the Boulder Creek Basin area. The trip turned out to be one of my favorite overnight backpacking trips, even better than our beloved Goat Rocks trip we did the last two years. Click the link to read more about our amazing weekend.

Tam McArthur Rim Weekend

Emily and I had a wonderful time this past weekend camping and hiking with Tim & Lindsay and their friend Brad, his dog Winston and his girlfriend Stacey. For two weeks now I've wanted to go on a climb to test out my knee after I thought I twisted it rafting the Deschutes River and the weather looked great (and cooler) in the Sisters area of Oregon so we decided to try a scramble up 8,376' Broken Hand after camping overnight in the Three Creeks Lake area. Apparently Brad and Stacey had just been there a few weeks ago and also suggested to Tim and Lindsay that it would be cool to fish in Little Three Creeks Lake. So, we had a great overnight followed by an absolutely beautiful hike on Sunday and bbq dinner in Sisters. Click the link to read more about our wonderful weekend in Eastern Oregon.

Deschutes River Rafting Weekend Booze Cruise with Ben

This past weekend Emily and I joined our buddy Ben Sigler and his sister Ali on a booze float down the Deschutes River in North Oregon on the East side of Mt. Hood in the high desert.  Emily and I have only rafted and kayaked rivers in Western Oregon under huge Douglas Fir forests so we were excited to try something new.  We took 4 rafts and a kayak down the river and stayed overnight in a beautiful river canyon with towering hills all around us under a clear sky full of stars.  We got to go cliff jumping into the river and also checked out some natural rock underwater slides on the White River near the end.  The trip was an absolute blast through some really amazing terrain.  Click the link to read more about our adventure!

Scooter's Birthday Bowling Party

Tonight we all had a great night celebrating Scott's 31st birthday at the  AMF bowling lanes in Albany.  Danielle paid for two full hours and about 3-4 lanes for us to use.  We all had a blast and as usual with bowling I was goofing around a bit not caring about my score.  I believe BD had the highest score of the night at around 150.  We then went out to the Calapooia Brewery for a a late night round before heading home.  Happy birthday buddy!

East Coast Visit & Wedding

          This past week Emily and flew home to New England to visit family and go to her high school friend Amy’s wedding.  I was able to visit Kenny, Logan & his new family, Jon Hughes and of course my mother while Emily drove all around New England visiting her college friends and hanging out with her parents.  We had a wonderful day on the Essex Steam Train and Gillette Castle Tour as well as a great day on a beach in Rhode Island and the wedding before we left was a ton of fun and we met some new friends.  Click the link to read more about our trip.

Middle Fork Willamette Float & Alpine Trail Riding

Kayaking the Middle Fork Willamette

This weekend I had an amazing time in Oakridge, OR first floating the Middle Fork of the Willamette River with Miwa, Holm and Emily and then riding the Crown Jewel of Oakridge, the Alpine Trail with Scott, BD, Emily and Miwa.  We camped out overnight with Mischa and Danielle and the doggies deep in the Hills Creek Reservoir Area and even stopped by the Local Brewers Union for some dinner and few very unique pints of home brews.  With beautiful weather and cold beers always in the cooler we had a truly spectacular weekend despite my bike completely shitting the bed on the descent down Alpine Trail on Sunday and Emily adding more wounds to her legs....  Click the title or the "read more" below to see the full post.

Movie Night & Surprise Birthday Party

Tonight I had my first surprise birthday party ever! Apparently Emily hijacked my movie night email list without me knowing to let everyone know she wanted to surprise me! And what I thought was book club night on Tuesday night was actually food cooking night and cupcake baking night for my party at Kris Fausti's!

I got a weird text from Kevin that he wanted to go mountain biking with me after work today which I thought was odd but didn't think to much about it as it was finally a nice day after a weekend of rain. I was clueless to the fact that I had caught Emily in their side of the apartment with Kevin when I got home on last night and she had simply stated she was talking to Kevin. I kind of new something might be up but didn't know what for sure. That was until Doug came up to me at work, leaned over, and casually apologized for not being able to make the birthday festivities. When I said, "huh"? he instantly got the dear in headlights look but I didn't notice that Cathy popped her head up over the computer to give me a dirty look too. So.. later in the day when I met Kevin at Dixon to pick up some rental kayaks for the weekend I told him Doug let loose something was up and Kev just shrugged.

After work when Kevin and I were in his truck with Jason, Kevin told me that Emily had tried to plan something but with everyone leaving on vacations soon and other stuff going on nobody could commit and I had gotten a bunch of legitimate sounding emails back from people saying they weren't going to make the movie night. He told me that Emily was cooking up a nice birthday dinner for me probably for the two of us which made sense because she didn't come with us biking, instead complaining of a stomache ache.

So... after a fun ride up uproute trail and down extendo in MacDunn we got back home and as I was walking in the door complaining of our stinky trash can outside I was startled to see 15-20 of my closest friends yelling surprise at me with balloons, streamers and happy birthday signs all over the apartment! The dining room table was also stacked with awesome food I love including wings, salmon dip, chips, red velvet cupcakes, etc. Kris had even spent 3 hours making her special batch of wings for me! It was the first time in a very long time that I've felt really loved by all my friends, not just Emily. I've spent many of the past 10 years of birthdays with just my girlfriend and maybe 3 or 4 friends casually getting a drink at a bar so this was truly amazing for me. We all ate till we were full and played washers outback listening to good music and Colin even made me a bacon-wrapped fillet mignon on the grill which was fantastic. Holm and later in the night Hartz also showed up to give me best wishes. We finished the night by watching Robin Hood: Men in tights with a few stragglers till about 11:30.

This past year since my birthday (besides being hired on by Watershed which was amazing) has been a particularly bad year for me, from being constantly broke sending a ridiculous amount of money home for Ellie and then shattering my knee and losing one of the best spring ski seasons the Northwest has seen in decades. I'm sure that this party kicking off my 32nd year of life ensures that this year will be spectacular! Thank you so much to all my friends for really making it an incredible day for me and a very special thanks to the love of my life for putting it all together!

Cassie & Garrett's Wet Wedding Weekend

Launching the drift boat

Getting on the river

Ok, let me first say that IT DOES NOT RAIN IN THE SUMMER IN OREGON. That being said, it has been pouring non-stop for 3 days now in the middle of July… yup… what the HELL IS GOING ON? Early in the week a few of us came up with the awesome idea of floating the Willamette River on Saturday from just north of Albany all the way to the Rogue Hop Farm for Cassie and Garretts wedding, camp overnight, and then float again Sunday morning to the take out in Independence. On Friday night Kevin and I shuttled my truck to Independence for the takeout and also dropped off a dance floor at the hop farm that was ultimately never used. On the way home I noticed some ominous looking clouds passing hugging the coast range but come on, it doesn’t rain in Oregon in the summer right!??

Mischa's a boat captain!

Seeking shelter from the rain

Yeah, 6am the next morning I got a text from Danielle waking me out of my sleep who said she was out… and then I heard the rain… not a soft rain, but a pelting “God is dumping a bucket on the house” type of rain. After some quick texting and radar checking on my phone we (Kev, Lex, Danny, Scooter, Em and I) decided to go for the backup plan and float the 2 hour trip from Beuna Vista to the hop farm later in the day hoping for better weather. And I went back to sleep.

Upon waking up at 10am and looking outside at the clouds above that appeared to breaking up everything seemed fine… It must have just been a sun shower right!?? We all piled into the cars and headed to the put in to meet up with BD, Carrie, Mischa, Erin and Cathy in Brians Drift Boat. Scott and Danielle and I and Em were in a 12 foot non-self-bailing raft while Alexa and Kevin were in a double inflatable kayak. We put in the slow moving river under some puffy clouds but only got about 30 minutes in before the rain started… again, not a soft rain but an absolute downpour that lasted for nearly an hour. We all took out at a small beach and ran into the woods where it was a bit drier and found ourselves on an old farm road next to a field enclosed by a fence of railroad tie-thick logs. None of us could figure out why there needed to be a fence that thick! I was eating cherries that Scott and Danielle brought and was wondering if we came back to the same spot in 10 years if we would see a row of cherry trees? While we were waiting for the rain to pass Bridget, Aaron Thiel, Jay and a few others showed up to join us out of the rain.

Group beach huddle

Cathy attack!

Eventually we decided we needed to get back on the river to make it to the hop farm and change in time for the wedding and thankfully the rain had stopped. Unfortunately, I had been drinking quite a bit on the float and for a split second when we took out at the beach thought I had actually dropped my phone into the river but thankfully I found it at the bottom of a dry bag. From there it was off to Colin’s van where we had stashed our clothes and camping stuff the night before. We all changed quickly thinking we were late but then heard the wedding was delayed by at least an hour (a forgotten mom we heard…). During that time we decided to go for a very cool stroll through the huge hop vine field to check them out and noticed that Emily’s dress with hop vines on it was perfectly appropriate for the occasion.

Near the end of the float

Em and I at the wedding

The wedding was beautiful and believe it or not the weather held for the full 4-5 hours of the wedding and dance party afterward. I had fun hanging out with Elise as usual and as usual had a long convo with Russ (don’t know why I get into such long chats with Russ while I’m drunk…but he only had nice things to say about me which was great – side note: I really like Russ as my boss, I think he’s a great guy). Anyway, the night after the wedding was a bit fuzzy. I know there was amazing food and the smoked salmon that Doug had made for Cassie was outstanding as was the BBQ chicken we had for dinner. The dance party on the deck of the hop farm didn’t last very long and unfortunately none of the dance music playlist songs I had made for them got played before the official wedding ended and people moved down to the beach for a bonfire. Not surprisingly with Garrett’s friends there was a lot of drunk nudity and skinny dipping in the river with several people spending a bit more time than was probably appropriate standing in their birthday suits by the fire. I was definitely pretty drunk by this point and Emily decided it was time to make our way back to the tent in the big field next to the parking lot. When we got back we heard a whole ton of fireworks being lit off and hoped that nobody would get in trouble for it. Not surprisingly with the state I was in, I had a pretty rough night as was evident in the field around the tent the next morning… L

Dress matches background

Smothered in hops!

Big surprise… we woke up to a friggin’ pouring rainstorm upon us. There is nothing I hate more than packing up a tent and sleeping bags in the pouring rain! Thankfully Colin was still around to take our bags back in his van while we were forced to float the last few hours in the rain to the take out in Independence. Emily and I have been in far, far worse weather conditions, with less clothes, and under much more exhaustion than this but we could tell from other people’s faces that they were going through hell, particularly Alexa. The rain did not stop for the next two hours of our float as we followed Brian in his drift boat down the river, which seemed to be barely moving. It definitely wasn’t fun and if it had been 5 degrees colder we would have been hypothermic by chance… And for Alexa who is part Cuban, it was nearly hypothermic.. so she was not having a good time and admitted at the end that it may have been the worst experience of her life. On the upside the rain did eventually stop but only with about 30 minutes left of the float and we did get to see some bald eagles and ospreys on the trip diving for fish in the river. Our boat, not being self-bailing actually had a couple of inches of freakin’ rain water in the bottom of it.

Mmmm... food & Doug's Salmon

Elise dancing at the reception

After a quick shuttle to the other cars in Beuna Vista and a drive home we all gathered at our place to watch the Women’s world cup final between the U.S. and Japan. Unfortunately when I turned on the tv to find the recording I actually saw the end of the game and who won so I had to keep my mouth shut for the whole game. Although the U.S. did lose I feel that they totally outplayed Japan who seemed to have someone looking over them as all our shots seemed to bounce off the goal posts. But, for a country that just lost 25,000+ people to an earthquake and tsunami I’m glad they got the win. It was a great weekend and a hell of a rainy journey down the slow moving Willamette and boy were we happy to be in a dry bed and apartment on Sunday night. Believe it or not, we actually started a fire in the wood stove in the middle of July!!!!

Garrett's 3rd Bachelor Party at Miwa's

Tonight Kevin and I went over to Miwa's for another bachelor party for Garrett.  This time Garrett had all of his friends from around the world with him and family members too so it was a bit bigger.  To really make it a legit sausage fest we actually had a "sausage fest" because everyone brought different types from chicken sausage to really spicy ones.  As usual Colin brought washers but this time he also brought a big stump of wood and nails to play the game "stump".  We started playing but Mischa had a hard time understanding the rules so the game sort of ended quickly...  :).

From there on the night progressed to sheer drunkenness.  I really didn't feel like drinking much so I took it easy and just watched as the guys found a pvc pipe and stuck it in one of the washer holes as a launcher for some firework mortors... yeah, the kind you need to drive to an Indian Reservation to get in this state... Anyway, I thought that would work just fine so got out my phone to record the fireworks... and well... just watch the videos in this blog post to see what happened.

Almost nearly being blown up I decided it was time for me to leave while Kevin, Colin and the rest stayed and then went out to the bars in town.  I felt great the next day but some of my other guy friends looked a bit tore-up for work on Friday morning... :)  Can't wait for the wedding!

Oakridge Mountain Biking

Emily on a stream crossing near the start

This Saturday was one of those days in the summer that I hadn’t planned out very well in advance. Instead I woke up and was frantically trying to find a place to go biking that would be new and interesting. After some searching I decided we should go investigate Oakridge, OR, but we should do it with both vehicles to shuttle our lazy butts up the mountain first. We ended up getting a late start out of town and didn’t get to Oakridge until about 1pm. We first drove the Prius to the bottom of Larrison Creek trail near the Hills Creek Reservoir and then took the truck up the 10 mile fire service road to the drop in for the trail. This road was rugged and was overgrown with branches and large boulders in the road that on occasion we had to roll away to get the truck by. There were branches that hit the truck but I didn’t think much about it and certainly wasn’t thinking about how the Prius would fare… We hit the 6.5 mile descent at about 1:45 in the afternoon and it took us a couple hours to descend. Near the top the trail was super steep and technical with many switchbacks but near the bottom it leveled out a bit and became easier. It was a challenge for Emily in her new clipless pedals but she made it just fine. The bottom of the trail around the reservoir was particularly beautiful. Overall the trail was rated difficult in the guidebook and I could see why with all the rocks and roots we had to go over, certainly not for a hard tail.

We popped the bikes in the Prius and then headed up the road to get the truck. 5 minutes along the road at 15mph I hit a rock that almost lifted the Prius off the ground. From there on Emily and I had to get out about 10 times to roll small rocks off the road that the clearance on the Prius wouldn’t make. Unfortunately we couldn’t move all the branches and the side of the car got a bitch scratched up. Nothing too serious but we may need to take a buffer to it to get some of the bigger ones sometime soon. The last ¾ miles of the road that the truck got up were just too gnarly so I got out and ran it while Em turned around and headed back down the road. She actually was moving at good pace because I was hauling ass down the road once I got to my truck to catch up with her.

When we got back to the paved road it was decision time. Try to make it back for the Philomath Rodeo with Cassie and Garrett or take advantage of the two vehicles and shuttle one more descent down the intermediate Larrison Rock Trail. We opted for the latter and were totally happy with our choice as the drive to the top was all paved road and fast and the descent was super smooth without any rocks or roots to negotiate. The trail was literally cut into the side of a steep slope the whole 5 miles down with some descent exposure on the side but it was soooo clean. We only stopped 3 or 4 times because our arms hurt and hands hurt from gripping the brakes that we were practically melting on the way down. I think it only took us maybe 15 minutes of riding total! Definitely one of the best descents I’ve had in Oregon. The shuttle to the top, the ride, and the shuttle back only took about an extra hour and half. We didn’t make it back in time for the rodeo but man did we have good time biking in Oakridge… now to buff both our cars…

Disc Golf and 4th of July BBQ at our place

Today was a leisurely day of disc golf for the boys of Watershed and real golf for the ladies which is ironic given the original meaning of the word GOLF.. I ended up drinking a 6-pack of Blimey’s at Willamette Park and was buzzed by the afternoon when Kev and I invited everyone over for a BBQ. Aaron had asked if we could have it at our place and I agreed but apparently Anna and John had also planned one with some people that weren’t into socializing with new people so we ended up having separate ones.. oh well. Ours didn’t last long and was pretty casual and we didn’t even work up the energy to go downtown to see the fireworks. Instead Emily and I crashed watching a movie and Chris stopped by to hang out for a bit on his way back home from Anna’s. I know I say it a lot but it sure would be nice to see Tiffany every once in a while too. Anyway, the bbq and a relaxing night on the 4th was the perfect finish to a fantastic three day weekend.

Colin's Annual 4th of July Party

After a really fun weekend in the woods Emily and I were able to make it back to Corvallis by 8pm and after a couple super quick showers we made it to Colin & Amanda’s by 9pm for their annual 4th of July party. Everyone we knew was there it seemed and Mischa had apparently told everyone we may be dead because he thought we were alone in plastic kayaks, not realizing we were with pros and in inflatable kayaks. So… everyone it seemed was relieved to see us and we were relieved to see everyone… and all the food as we were friggin’ starving. As usual all of our friends had brought a ton of delicious food and people were in the street playing 4-square. The garage as usual again seemed to be the place to hang out with ring toss and the super-rad original Nintendo with Dr. Mario that seems to never die. Em and I were tired but we waited around for many of the fireworks to be set off before we headed out just before midnight. It was a great party as it is every year.

Umpqua River Weekend

Emily I had just had a really awesome weekend of kayaking and mountain biking in the North Umpqua River region of Oregon. With my knee still unable to handle skiing safely I’ve turned my outdoor focus towards mountain biking and water sports for the summer. Dennis Feeney and a bunch of other friends were planning on heading to the North Umpqua for some kayaking so Emily, Chris and I jumped on the plans as well. Throughout the week though it seemed like the plans started to fall apart and by Friday it had turned out that it would be just Emily and I in a double IK and Chris in a single. The river was running at nearly 3x the normal CFS (flow rate) and there was concern among Feeney and some of the others about the safety of the trip. But, after talking to my buddy Ben about it and some other rafters with experience we decided to give it a go anyway.


We were able to meet up with another group of rafters on Saturday morning at the Bogus Creek takeout. We had somehow squished all of our gear and bikes into and on top of Chris’ Subaru for the trip down. We met up with a bachelor party group of guys and a couple friends of mine who were guiding them down the river on a raft. The guys had actually arrived into the campsite the night before in a friggin’ limo because one of their cars had broken down. We jumped into my buddies vehicle and headed upstream to the Horseshoe Bend put-in. After blowing up 3 rafts and our kayaks along with another kayak belonging to a local river guide named Jake who was friends with the rafting crew we were able to get on the water around 10:15am. I could tell the rafting trip was going to be fun for the bachelor party as they all loaded containers of booze into the rafts. The plan was to float down past Gravel Bin take out 7 miles down the river where we would lose one of the rafts and then float another 5 miles to Bogus Creek for a total 12 mile float.


This section of the river is deemed wild and scenic even though it stays pretty close to a major highway for the majority of its length. The first 7 mile segment consisted of a bunch of class III rapids and one class IV rapid called Pinball which I was a little concerned about seeing that it was up to me to steer a longer IK with Emily and I both in it on a river that was running much higher than usual. To make it even more nerve wracking about 10 minutes after getting on the river Emily and I pinned our kayak against a rock and took our first swim in the cold water which knocked the air out of my lungs it was so frigid. Thankfully all three of us had wetsuits on (Farmer Johns for Em an I). Turns out the spill wasn’t bad at all and we just jumped back in the kayak. After taking the first spill and realizing it wasn’t a big deal I regained my confidence and steering ability and we cruised down the fast running river with Jake in the lead guiding us through the approaches to the rapids. Some of the class III rapids had huge holes on the downstream side which Em and I dove into and popped out of. We literally found ourselves sailing into holes that had a 6-8 foot wall of water it seemed that we had to plunge into, up and then over with Emily taking it head first on each one and loving every minute of it. We passed by beautiful Eagle Rock on towering above us on the right side of the river above the highway and many other beautiful rock formations along the river on our trip.


Our second flip was a little more nerve wracking as Emily got stuck in an eddy behind a rock upstream while I got thrown free into the main current . As I was floating down the river trying to hop back into the kayak with my paddle in hand Jake told me I should get in quickly. When I failed 3 times because my back was downstream with the kayak on top of me and my feet slipping his voice suddenly got a bit more urgent telling me to get my ass into the f’n kayak… Upon hearing this I turned around and saw I was being pulled directly into another large rapid with huge boulders in the middle of the river! I immediately found the strength to get into the kayak, quickly grabbed the paddle and maneuvered through the rapids with ease. Jake told me that I probably would have been fine but a little beat up from the rocks if I had to swim that section. It was a good thing Emily got stuck in the eddy as Chris simply pulled her into his single IK in front and easily negotiated the rapid to meet up with us again in a pool below. I think the rapid was either called Rollout or it was part of African Queen (Eiffle Tower). In any case Emily joined up with me again and we headed down river to the class IV rapid, Pinball…


As we approached Pinball I followed Jake lead and shouted commands to Emily in front. It turned out that the high water level was an advantage here as the class IV felt easier than the one we had just dumped on. I felt bad because Emily and I bumped into __ in the middle of the rapid and almost through him into a bad part of it. It took a lot of strength to steer the back end of the boat head on into a few of the waves and a little yelling at Emily to make sure she paddled hard so we wouldn’t get sucked back into the holes but we made it just fine. Having gained confidence nailing the Class IV the rest of the float to Gravel Bin felt easier and I was more relaxed.


One of the rafts took out and left at Gravel Bin along with Jake who we thanked for helping guide us safely down the river. I know that we probably wouldn’t have gone on the river it wasn’t for some knowledgeable people being with us. We relaxed in the sun at Gravel Bin for a bit, filled out a ridiculous 10 page survey on the river and recreation some volunteer gave to us and said goodbye to our friends and thanked Jake before jumping on the river for the next section to Bogus Creek Takeout where the Subaru was, following the now very drunk bachelor party guys down the last 5 miles of mostly class II easy rapids with the exception of Class III Steamboat which was easy in the high water. We came around a bend when I was finally able to take out our camera out of the Pelican Case for some photos and after snapping a few shots I realized there were topless girls on the rocky bend in the river… whoops! I didn’t actually end up getting them in the shots though. The bachelor party was certainly amused though.

Chris goofing off

Emily on the river

The last 5 miles was super easy and we were able to mess around and try new stuff in the kayaks without a worry of flipping. We made it back to Bogus Creek by about 3:30 and Chris shuttled the drivers while Em and I deflated the kayaks and packed our gear up. When Chris returned to us we took a drive past the unrunnable Deadline Class V falls to Idleyld Park to check out the Narrows section of the Umpqua river and find reception to call Dennis Feeney and find out where they all were for our shuttle bike ride the next day. Unfortunately, all I got was a voicemail and we spend the next two hours driving up to the Umpqua Hot Springs area and several other campgrounds looking for them before ending up high up in the pass at Lemolo Lake at the Poole Creek Campground where we paid for a spot. THANK GOD WE BROUGHT BUG REPELLENT. I’m not exaggerating when I say that when we pulled in there were swarms of hundred of the little buggers waiting for us to exit the car! I actually hid in the car until bags were taken out so I could jump into my puffy pants and jacket to avoid them. It didn’t work and I still had to douse myself in DEET to keep them away. Thankfully, we had taken the extra ice from the bachelor party and combined it with our coronas in a dry bag so we had nice cold beer to drink and Chris got a fire started pretty quick. We finally were able to get a hold of Kelly Rice thanks to calling Hartz for her number and we arranged to meet up at the start of the bike trail in the morning at 10am allowing us to have a relaxing evening by the fire and sleep in a bit in the morning. Eventually the squitoes left us alone after we smoked our clothes out and they lost interest.

Lemolo Falls

The group above Lemolo Falls

On Sunday Morning we met up with Dennis, Jill, Betsy, Kelly, and a guy named Dan and his girlfriend at the Lemolo Lake end of the “Dread & Terror” Section of the North Umpqua Bike Trail. After greasing up our chains and me gearing up with my phone, Bluetooth headphones, and helmet cam we took off down the trail. At first I let everyone lead the way but then I got all fired up with my music and after we stopped for a beautiful view of Lemolo Falls I took 2nd place behind Dennis on his 29er. Lemolo Falls was gorgeous and everyone got a kick out of the fact that as usual I skipped past everyone to the very edge to take a few photos.

Beautiful falls across river

On the "Dread & Terror"

I had forgotten how absolutely beautiful the trail was on the steep canyon walls above the river. Last time I had been here it was during the fall but now in the late spring/summer there were rhododendrons all along the trail in bloom and everything was just super green and overgrown. The trail was technical in some places which posed a challenge for Emily and I didn’t notice until I got home and watched the helmet cam video how steep and exposed certain parts of the trail were above the river. We passed several large waterfalls on the opposite side of the rivers and a couple smaller ones on our side including a few weeping walls. There were beautiful bridges we crossed and I was shown were Jill had fallen 20’ down a crack in the side of the trail to nearly the river below. How she didn’t break both her legs I don’t know but because she was bruised up and shaken she was not riding the trail again with us today (they had ridden part of the trail yesterday while we kayaked). A few of us took some spills but thankfully nobody got too hurt. I was super impressed by both Feeney’s riding ability in front of me as well as his 29er…

Lunch break along river

Fixing tire break

When we got to the end of the ride near the Umpqua hot springs after a long mile long stretch of really wet trail and mud I realized that they hadn’t left a car at the bottom and we would have to bike uphill to their campsite. Feeney had told me it was easy and just a couple miles but Betsy guessed it at 5 miles and immediately when we started going uphill it was steep… and with my right quad completely bonking from supporting my weaker left leg (new knee) I was at first pissed that nobody thought to leave a car at the bottom (worst thing after a wicked fun descent is to have to kill yourself biking uphill on a hot, sweaty forest road in the sun). But… Emily called me out for being a diva and the three of us quickly realized that the road leveled out and was only about 3 miles of not bad riding. I think if it had been 5 and the same steepness that it started out as I would have been pissed but in the end it was super easy and a non-issue.
We hung out at their super awesome campsite with the dogs and Jill who cut us fresh watermelon while Chris got a shuttle back up to the Subaru at Lemolo Lake. From there it was just a casual ride home with Emily sleeping in the back and Chris and I discussing ideas of how to make a lightweight shuttling contraption for kayaking and bike trail descents…. We are still pondering about it.. It was a fantastic weekend of excitement that I haven’t had in months! Sweet!