Husum Falls of the White Salmon!

After two summers guiding here in the North-west for Wet Planet Whitewater, I've gotten to raft on some awesome stretches of river. The People are great, the weather is great, and on a twice daily basis on the White Salmon River we get to run over this crazy 10 ft waterfall called Husum Falls. If you've ever wondered what it must be like to run a bunch of people over a waterfall in a raft, here's a few pics to help your imagination. The guide usually get the worst of it here as demonstrated by raft guide and kayaker extrodinare, Curt Joyce (Below) on one of his seven flips this year (Ouch those rocks look close). Cheers to the King of Carn!

Occasionally a passenger or two will go flying as well
This is my handy work on this poor family of five, I think its that little guy hanging on that closed the coffin on this baby, sealing my third ever commercial flip (all three here at Husum). Eleven year olds love rafting!!
Bald Maniac Boatmen... the rest of the line was about as ugly as these two mugs (below).
Even our Husum Falls Champion, Sara Cohen (below, out of sight), has a little excitment, she actually sat this one back down, but had everyone in the boat sitting in her lap!

Here's a fun series of a typical run over Husum Falls... Everyone hangs on for dear life as the raft goes vertical...

Going DEEP! Wet Planet uses 14 ft long self bailing Aire rafts, and they go all the way under water...

we spend life under water for a second or two, the raft begins to re-emerge, click on the photo below for larger images of what remains of the crew

Disheveled but happy to be still upright, it is not uncommon for the guide's disembodied head to hover behind the raft while the crew recovers

This backender (below) didn't work out so well for Dave Martin's crew, but at least the self bailing floor works well.

While most rafts actually stay up right over the falls, it still always feels like you got away with something when you resurface still up right. Always a crazy feeling. If you want to know more about Wet Planet and Husum falls check out the Wet Planet website at http://www.wetplanetwhitewater.com/.

The Little White Salmon

The Legend of the Little White Salmon river is spread far by paddlers and is largely responsible for drawing me away from the Blue Ridge Mountains, a whitewater paradise in and of itself. Its reputation for fast and steep emerald green water fed by deep cold aquifers year round had me hooked, and after a couple of years of drought induced dreaming I finally worked up the courage to leave the friends and rivers i love dearly behind in North Carolina and see if it really was all that great. Now at the end of my second season here in the North-west's Columbia River Gorge, I think the 'LW' might be the best, funnest steep creek in the world. But beyond its great rapids, what I've really come to appreciate about this river, and whitewater paddling in general is how other people are drawn to it, same as i was, in search of some greater fulfillment. Here's a few pictures of the Little White Salmon as best enjoyed, with some really good friends.

Photo: Curt Joyce

This is me, launching off boulder sluice rapid, the last drop in a half mile long boulder garden called gettin busy that starts off the run.

Photo: Drew Austell

Curt Joyce with classic form, late boof at Sacriledge

Photo: Drew Austell

Curt Joyce on the middle line of Wishbone falls, the beautiful 20 foot waterfall we get to run whenever we want to.

Photo: Drew Austell

Dave Martin and Ryan Copenhagan paddling together through Stove Pipe Gorge.

Finding nothing but air at Stove Pipe Falls Curt Joyce Photos

Photo: Dave Martin

Ahh, the gratuitous Spirit Fall picture. One of the prettiest places on earth.

Photo: Dave Martin

Curt Joyce and I regrouping and enjoying the Spirit amidst the froth and spray below the falls. I only run this waterfall when the moment seems right and there's a good buddy ready to go with me.