2013 Thanksgiving Trip

This past T-giving Leif and I met up with Cody Beach for a trip that ranks in one of my top kayaking trips of all time.  I missed last year's Thanksgiving break trip and was super excited to break away from my research to head to the Pacific Northwest (aka PNW) for a week.  We just had a blast and Cody ranks as one of the best all time Leif and Natalie third wheels. I always appreciated his upbeat attitude and it was fun to have someone to make fun of Leif with.  I paddled a different run every day for a week and I had tons of fun catching up and paddling with friends in White Salmon.  Residents from the PNW would say that nothing was running, but when you are visiting, not much needs to be running to have a great time.

We ended up paddling Canyon Creek, the Upper Upper Cispus, Ohanapecosh, Lewis Falls (upper run and lower Lewis Falls), the White Salmon from Farmlands all the way down to the Columbia, and the Little White Salmon.

Some of my highlights from the trip were:  The cold, Thanksgiving dinner with the White Salmon boating community, paddling the White Salmon through the section where the Condit dam was recently removed, bucking up and running Lower Lewis falls (even if I didn't get the line that I imagined in my head ahead of time), and getting driven straight into a wall of ice while paddling in the front of the duo (see video).

Leif captures the spirit of the trip with this video:


PNW Thanksgiving from Leif Anderson on Vimeo.


And here are some cool pics:

Not quite the right line on Lower Lewis

Ducky setting safety below Lower Lewis

Leif's Lower Lewis line

Huck on boulder sluice, 30 seconds before realizing his boat was broken and hiking out.

Cody on Wishbone, Little White Salmon

This might have been the tallest waterfall Cody had run.

Duo on sidewinder

Ohanapecosh scenery

Lower Lower White Salmon

Thanksgiving dinner at Trevor's house

Thanks TitsDeep for letting us stay in your "Mansion".  It was definitely nicer than staying with BDP - which is what Leif and buddies did last spring.

If you are interested in paddling in the Pacific Northwest, here are some links to our other posts and videos from that region: 2011 Pacific Northwest and Big Thompson Videos ,Spring Break 2013: Hood Classics, and Thanksgiving 2009: Welcomgiving, Old Man Anderson and the kids, and  Eagle Creek which highlight different runs such as Eagle Creek, Celestial Falls, Green Truss and the Little White.  As you can see we love going there and this last trip ranks as one of my favorites.