Spring has sprung (Little White weekend)

I'd always thought it silly that there are loads of Oregon paddlers whose lives revolved soley around paddling the Little White .. people who'd moved from some water-starved region or run away from a depraved existence without year-round kayaking opportunities .. only to be relegated to one measly run! "Suckers!" I thought. Of course the true irony & silliness lies in how I came to that opinion without ever even having run the LW. But all that's in the past now. I was the sucker. In the last month, I've undergone a transformation. I'm a believer now. The LW may very well be the best roadside class V run out there. Certainly in the Top 10, anyway ...

We lucked out with sporting weather & ample flows in the river this past weekend. My roomate, or rather "landlady", Johnny Utard, came down from Seattle & met up with P-town's usual suspects & some other dorks for back-to-back LW runs in 60-degree sunny weather. See photos below, if you like.

Next, Let it be known that spring has sprung in the NW. Cherry blossoms & other flowery things are poppin' out all over the place .. and some of the more motivated nomadic boaters have begun infiltrating the region in search of the goods. E.Boomer, R.Casey, & P.Keller are out getting busy as we speak, & may have stomped a run of Metlako Falls on Eagle Cr, among other things ... still don't have confirmation on that one yet though ..


Beautiful sunny morning at the lake. It didn't feel at all like the beginning of March.


Ross Henry, yogi.


The LW gets going right away with a super-long boulder maze. Boulder Sluice (pictured) is the last & biggest part of it. Chris K. from Corvallis.


Ron Blanchett.


Chris finishing off Island Drop.


Make a wish! Joey Baranski at Wishbone .. this shot makes the drop look small.


P-town dork Ross Henry on Spirit Falls.


Ross in the runout of Spirit, heading towards the tight move at Chaos.


Joey B. keepin' it safe at Chaos. We've all heard the horror stories about this spot. It really is nasty & there's no reason to run Spirit w/o setting safety at Chaos .. although it'll happen anyway.

***P.S. Check back for an exclusive Range Life online video segment featuring BC's Clendenning Creek, dropping in the next couple days!***