Getting Ready For Cali/Mackenzie Photos

Well, things are getting a bit more exciting as our California trip draws closer and closer. That being said, I have been working countless hours on my documentary on Salvage Logging in the Biscuit Burn area in Southern Oregon. The project still doesn't have a name, but, I have become a slave, and it is my overseer.

Thankfully, we've gotten a bit of water in the last few days and the McKenzie has been running at pretty normal spring levels which brought us Neil's. I don't know who Neil is, but he's got a cool wave named after him. Blunts, Clean Blunts, and Backstabs were pretty much the order of the day, nothing too crazy or sick, just good soulboating with good friends and good water. Can we really ask for much more?


Trip playing at Neil's...

Karl playing at Neil's...



Stay tuned, two and a half weeks until California first descents, overnighters, huge slides, and big drops. I can't wait!

Have good soulboating!

- trip

LJ Ran Koosa Falls!

Well, it's been calling out names for years, and finally an EP crew member ran the 80 foot (give or take) Koosa Falls just an hour and a half outside Eugene.

I had to work at my catering job, so I couldn't go, and most of the rest of the crew was in school, but, LJ was just fired up to run her, and the water levels weren't looking like they would hold for long. He put together a great safety crew which doubled as a makeshift film crew and invited "Hardcore" Dave, a climbing photographer and good friend who just got back from an expedition in China. Another friend joined the crew to help allert the photographers and videographers when LJ was ready so they could start filming. After scouting for a bit, LJ hopped in the boat wearing his lucky red and white checkered slip on Vans, gave the thumbs up and shoved off.

He said he had never felt so on line and right where he wanted to be in a rapid, which is important because we was paddling towards an 80 horizon line. He left the lip, held his slow stabalizing stroke for the first 60 feet, then cleared his paddle to the side of his boat, and entered the water in a perfect 90 degree Oregon Tuck. Surfacing and rolling up at the bottom with a big smile on his face, LJ was met by three stuned and slightly dissapointed camera men. In her excitement at watching LJ run an 80 foot drop, the look out had forgoten to get the thumbs up from the camera men. As it turns out, there is no video or photos of the descent, but LJ has one more monster waterfall under his belt!

Peace,
Trip

Illinois River...

Oh yea, busy couple of weeks in the EP world. In addition to working on the next kayaking video in the EP line up and of course kayaking for fun, I'm also working on producing a documentary about salvage logging in the Siskiyou National Forest. Salvage logging is when timber companies go into areas burned by wildfire and harvest the trees. Sounds insignificant since the trees have already burned, but; the burned trees provide habitat to many animals and logging can hurt the regeneration of the forest. For recreation uses like kayaking, hiking, rafting and on and on, clear cuts are ugly, and the replanted conifers look like tree farms not forests.

Given that I love rivers we decided to take a look at the burned area in the Siskiyou and the Kalamiopsis Wilderness area from one of the coolest places I've ever been, the Illinois river. It runs in-between multiple timber sales for one day of rafting/kayaking, then heads through the Kalamiopsis Wilderness Area for 2 days of river travel. It's one of the most beautiful places I've ever been, it's got very challenging rapids for rafts, it was my first time in a oar rigged raft, and I brought 18 of my closest friends along for the ride. We had 4 rafts and 3 kayaks, two experts on fire ecology and salvage logging, 17 college students and a lot of whisky. It was increadible, absolutely beautiful and we got great footage for the documentary!

Paddle the Illinois, it's one of Oregon's most incredible multi-day rivers and it's beautiful.

Photos to come really soon, check it!

We're heading up to the Colombia River Gorge this weekend, should be great kayaking in our very near future.

peace,
trip