Tallulah River

After a long hiatus due to lack of water in the Southeast the Tallulah finally ran in the fall! Eager to take advantage of the release, a weekend trip down to the famed river was in store. Most know this classic run for the mega slide, Oceana.
Oceana is a huge slide with a big rock sticking up about ¾ of the way down the slide, creatively named “The Thing.” Sketchy would be the initial reaction of most, but A LOT of people huck themselves fearlessly over the daunting horizon line. A great entertainment to watch, and also quite fun to run. The beast offers two great lines. The most common being the left line, which allows for a crazy amount of speed and just barely avoids a collision with “The Thing” or for those wishing for a little something extra from the rapid they choose the middle line and do the ferry above “The Thing.” Certainly a rapid to remember.
The rest of the run boasts some awesome ledges and slides perfect for a good rail grab or skirt check as well as some amazing scenery. The run is short but sweet and ends in a long lake paddle out, but it’s certainly worth it.
Trent Thibodeaux, Kira Tenney, Casey Sande and myself joined up with Chan Jones and Taylor Fearrington for two runs of Saturday at 500 CFS. Trent, Kira, Casey, and I only had the leg strength to fire up one run on the 700 CFS Sunday because of the 500+ stairs to reach the put in. It was great to finally get in that coveted fall run on the Tallulah. Check out the small video update from the weekend!

Pepper Salt Russell 1994-2009

Pepper Russell passed away on December 10th. She was very sick and we had to make the decision to let her be at peace. She was a river dog and loved going on kayaking trips. She traveled everywhere with my family. Many people treated her like their very own dog and for that reason, I feel the need to post this. We will all miss her smiling face at the put-in's and take-outs. We will miss her disgusting tennis ball in our laps, and we will most of all miss her unconditional love. Please remember all the good times we had with Pepper. She is at peace now.

-Christina Russell

Always Dress for a Swim

This is Christina Russell reporting from frozen Oregon. I'm back in Bend from a spat of moving my things in to my new floating boat-house on the Colombia River...boy was it cold up there. The damp cold gets to me! It was -22 degrees last night and the rivers in Bend have frozen over. Today, the high was 8 degrees and with it being so cold, I spent my day INSIDE, snuggled up in a fleece blanket....with a fantastic cup of blueberry tea.

These past few days of cold weather have reminded me that when we paddle, we need to always dress for a swim. And right now, a swim could mean death if you are dressed inappropriately.

Last winter, I had an icky swim on the Green Truss. I believe I posted photos of the incident but I thought I would take a moment to relive it and go over the things I learned from it:

My swim occurred on a day when the air temperature wasn't over freezing. The White Salmon had swollen to an unknown level(we can only guess the flow), and the rocks on the bank were covered in Verglass. At the put-in, I considered the conditions I knew existed and wore thermals, fleece pants and a fleece jacket, two pairs of socks, and a fleece vest under my drysuit. I felt prepared and felt super solid on the run...atleast until my swim. ha ha. Funny but not. Anyways, my swim occurred at the base of the waterfall called big brother. A fun 25footer with a cave on the bottom river right. I stuck my line and as I was paddling away from the drop, I flipped on a boil....bummer. I got pinned on the outcropping next to the cave and missed my roll. I ended up swimming in the cave at a flow that (we were told) no one runs the drop at.




What can we take away from my swim?
a. Always dress for a swim
b. Paddle with people that are also dressed for a swim- its your safety as well as theirs
c. STAY CALM. I was in the water for over five minutes and despite being dressed well, the cold definitely got to me. I couldn't feel my hands or my legs and I was terrified that I wouldn't be able to swim if I let go of the throw rope
d. Make sure everyone in your group has a throwbag
e. ALWAYS CARRY A KNIFE
f. Know when it's a smart things to hike out- After my swim, I lost my lifter pad (which means I paddle like crap without it) and I had absolutely no energy. I opted to hike out and wait for the crew to finish the run.

I'm not proud of the whole thing but it definitely was humbling. This was the second time I seriously thought I might die. It's taking me a while to get back to where I was mentally but I'm getting there. :) I learned a lot and will be more prepared when
I swim next...we are always in between swims.

Stay safe out there and DRESS WARM!

Merry Christmas,
Christina Russell

Middlebury Season

The Middlebury River is Vermont's finest creek. Local boaters have dreams and nightmares about the infamous Birth Canal Gorge. It runs frequently after the trees shed their leaves. I got it at a juicy level a few days ago. The pics are the Fallopian Tube. It is the entrance drop in the Birth Canal. The other two pictures are of low water runs last summer. Running the gorge at low water on a sunny, warm summer day with a big group of homies is one thing. Firing into it alone, in snowy, 30 degree weather at high water is something else altogether.