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
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Spinning is a relative simple move that teaches good edge control.
Step by Step Instructions:
Spinning to the Right: (If spinning to the left, just reverse sides)
1. Facing upstream in the hole, keeping your eyes on the hole, let your boat begin to turn to the right and enter a sidesurf as you left your left edge. Before you lose your momentum, take a reverse sweep stroke on your right side, turning your boat downstream.
2. Just as you begin facing downstream, look back upstream at the hole over your right shoulder and switch your edges so your right edge is now lifted slightly.
3. By simply changing your head position in the previous step, your body will automatically follow, and so will your boat. To aid in completing the spin, take a forward sweep stroke on the left side of your boat to bring the bow back around into a front surf.
4. CONGRATULATIONS!! You have just completed your first spin!
Tips:
When edging, keep your body in a neutral position and LIFT the edge with your thigh rather than LEANING your body to accomplish edging.
Keep your eyes upstream on the hole! Wherever you look, your torso and boat will follow!
Alterations to the Spin:
Clean Spin: Once you've mastered the spin using your paddle and have a good understanding of your edges, you can to spin without putting a blade in the water. Try to only use your edges!
Hope everyone had a wonderful Turkey Day!
This weekend, we got out for some good paddling on Dillon/Lava. However, before we were able to get out, we had to patch Josh's boat. The patch was temporary but we sure were hoping it would last longer than it did. It came off just below Dillon Falls (atleast we think) but the plastic did melt in to the crack enough to prevent lots of water coming in. Josh's boat now has a partially repaired crack that needs more work before we can jump on the river again. Here are some photos of the process:
Above- Miss Nala was very curious during this whole process. What the heck were we doing? She sat under the Christmas tree watching our every move. She is too funny....
Hello from snowy and cold Bend, Oregon! The down jackets are out and so are the pogies....nooo! Darn those pogies but hey, they're are brilliant. It's now officially that time of the year when you haven't quite adjusted to the cold and you choose to blast the heat in your car and get geared up in the front seat. Did I mention it's also time for the hot chocolate mug to become a permanent fixture in the creek boat? YES! You can't possibly go creeking without having a hot cup of cocoa in your boat. Let's see what else is new? Oh! I dyed my hair purple he he he! You should see my helmet liner! Anyways, back to the actual kayaking portion of the post.... Recently, a crew of us from Bend headed upstream to our "locally famous" drop known as Benham Falls. It is a solid class five drop riddled with lava tubes. It's technically not a falls but it sure is huge. Rumor has it that a TV crew filmed a rubber dummy gettting dropped out of a helicopter above the rapid and its arms and legs came up miles downstream at the end of the lava tubes. From top to bottom, 30% of the water is lost in these tubes. Definitely not reassuring if you happen to go for a swim. The put-in was snowed in and the all wheel drive barely got us there. The water temp was sitting around 42 degrees and the sun was out. We geared up and checked out the drop. There was a little wood but nothing in the way... special thanks to Irina of Bend for taking the photos! Here's a photo from a year ago when we ran it. The flow was substantially higher when we recently did it but you can get an idea of the scenery and the drop. Just add 300 more CFS and understand that the ledge drop in the middle of the river is a 12 foot drop. Perspective is the craziest thing. 
(Below) Look at those beautiful Jefe's!
(Below) Me in the lead-in rapids
(Below) Just above the crux...
(Below) Cold but very happy! 
(Below) All I'm thinking about here is how much I'm looking forward to eating a veggie burger at the local burger joint....not sure what those other folks are thinking though.... 
Special thanks to everyone at AlderCreek Kayak and Canoe for your continued support and enthusiasm for offering the best paddling gear in Oregon. Stay warm out there and remember your mug of hot chocolate! PS Here's a picture of me and my partner in crime. Her name is Pepper and she is 15 years old. Please send good thoughts her way as she has gotten very sick and can't hear me or see me anymore. :( I'm sure she would wag her tailess bum if she knew you were thinking of her! Thank you! 
Check out this sweet new Astral PFD!
Every year on October 31, there is a Halloween Paddle that takes place on the Truss section of the White Salmon River. This year, we had about twelve paddlers on the river in all sorts of costumes: Powerpuff Girl, Butterfly, Grimm Reaper, Wonder Woman, Elvis, the Devil, and many more.
Friday night, heavy rains hit the Gorge, and we woke to spring time levels on the Truss for our little get together.
Check out the video and pictures from one of the greatest days on the river yet!
Halloween Huckfest 2009 from Sheer Madness Productions on Vimeo.
When kayaking, it's very important to carry the necessary safety items in your boat, in the event someone swims and gets hurt, a boat gets pinned, or you get stuck overnight on the river.
Below is a list of what I recommend keeping in your creek boat no matter whether you are paddling Class II or Class V. Some people carry more, some people carry less, but in general, most people carry the same basic items (*).
I just got off the road from one of the best road trips yet... a little bit of work, and a little bit of play over 5,500 miles in two weeks! One week in Washington, one week in California, with my better half, Jesse Becker, and our butts are definitely FLAT.
The trip started off with us figuring out a roof rack for our spiffy rental car. We figured our car was shiny so our rack should be too...Twenty six dollars later we had a rack of PVC and hose clamps. Bling Bling!
