Rogue River Trip- Day 2 and 3


Day 2 and 3 of our Rogue River Trip

Leinman/Grandma's and our first day on the Rogue---------------------------------



The next morning we woke up early and headed into Medford for a bit of a search. We needed some sponges and duct tape. A quick visit to Lowes solved that issue and we headed back to Leinman for a few hours of playtime.

Pretty awesome spot

The always graceful...getting in

Josh playing around...

Me establishing that my body is out of shape...darn that sick month I had.

After thoroughly wearing ourselves out on the water, we drove to Eagle Point where Josh's grandmother lives. She is such a sweet person and we wasted no time in getting caught up. She has a nice chunk of property with a GREAT pool...he he he this meant lots of cannonballing off the diving board later on. While Josh explained how the kayaking has been for us, I set out our gear to dry and smelled all the roses. Talk about bringing back memories of Texas! We used to have about 30 rose bushes next to our old house too. Anyways between the paddling, the diving board, the visiting, and pizza; we had an awesome afternoon in Eagle Point.

The rest of the family arrived at 9 ish in the evening after a full day's work in Bend. They were pooped from the long drive. Some discussion later, we headed off to bed and tried to catch some zzz's. This wasn't tough and I settled in to my bed snug as a bug in a rug.
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Our trip leader, Josh, requested that everyone be up around 7:30 to get the day going early. A few coffee pots later, we were on the road with a 1.5 hour drive to get to the put-in. We arrived around ten at the Galice Ranger station where we picked up permits and organized our shuttle service.

We unloaded all of our gear from our truck and Tyler's and proceeded to pack our paraphanalia. Steve used an inflatable kayak while Josh and I paddled in our spud boats. Our gear boat was captained by Josh's mom, Debbie. She was actually one of the first women to row rafts on the grand canyon. She's a pretty impressive river rat! :) Tyler and Kellie captained what I would like to call the "Green Bean Machine". As Tyler would say, "It's cute in a masculine sort of way". Ha ha ha!!!
(Below) Our multiday crew... L to R: Tyler, Kellie, Steve, Josh, Debbie

Our trusty gear boat captain- Debbie Mckeown

Josh and I in awe of Josh's personal "table"... AKA Overthruster

The famous Rainee Falls-twas a fine line at this flow...no thank you

Behold! Our first campsite!


We all arrived at our first available campsite around 3 ish and we took it! There are a few primo sites on day 1 and we got one. It had a nice open beach area with flat camping available. This site just happened to be just across the river from Whiskey Creek cabin so that night Josh and I took a quick hike up to see it. Pretty cool! Those first settlers of the area were nuts. Talk about in the middle of no-where. wow.

Back on track, Josh and I were on cook duty for the night and boy did we cook up one mean meal! Spaghetti with marinara sauce and basil....WITH garlic bread! It pretty much kicked butt. Our only mistake was that we cooked TOO MUCH. Can you believe that? I think I ate the most out of everyone. How wrong is that?! Sun set around nine but I didnt go to sleep until I had spent a sufficient amount of time enjoying the stars. Beautiful! If only I had my telescope...

Check back soon for more pictures of the camp and our second day on the river....

This is Christina, over and out....

Rogue River Trip- Day 1

Rogue River Trip- Day 1

Leinman Playspot---------------------------------------------------------------------


This year, instead of our annual Wenatchee trip, we decided to take a multiday raft trip down the wild and scenic Rogue River. Everything just came together perfectly: good group, good weather, and available permits! wow. Josh was declared trip leader and he promptly organized everything. Having finished the trip, I can say that he impressively didn't forget anything!

Here are pics from the first day of our mini vacation :D. We drove to Leinman playspot near Gold Hill- Where Josh went whitewater kayaking for the first time as a kid. Pretty cool to go back there with him. It's about an hour from Galice where we would put on the river for our multi-day. Anyways, enjoy the pics and stay tuned for pics from our grand adventure on the Rogue River!

Below- Me likey the Biscuit :D


Below- Trying to stay in the hole...twas very flushy


Below- Holy poo!


Below- out humble abode...it's a bit cozy but it's home


I think Josh is happy!


Josh enjoying Leinman and not being a gaper like me


Did I mention that Annies Mac n' Cheese tastes amazing while camping? U should try it!


Hope everyone is getting on the rivers and remembering why they paddle- because it's FUN!!! :) Don't let that fact get away! Stay humble and paddle for yourself!

Hasta Pasta,

Christina Russell
Bend,OR

Team Alder Creek Headcam Learning to Kayak

Here is some headcam Footage of Dan Jones learning to roll a whitewater kayak. We did this just outside of Bend Alder Creek Kayak and Canoe. Dan got his roll in just a matter of 30 mins which is unlike most paddlers. Hopefully we will get out on some class 2-3 whitewater soon! Enjoy the video!

Learning to Roll from Josh Mckeown on Vimeo.

Learning to Kayak...

I remember what it was like when I was learning to kayak.



Both my sister and I had just moved to Oregon from Texas and were psyched to see a river in our backyard (rather than millions of tons of concrete). We weighed 90 pounds and started off in matching Wave Sport Evo's, (which proved faithful to us for the next few years, as we successfully avoided getting majorly worked). After a summer or two at Otter Bar, we were on the river by ourselves practicing our ferrying and eddy turns. Little did I know my life would revolve around kayaking seven years later. Thanks Christina for being the most awesome kayaker buddy I know! You're the best sister anyone could ask for!

Back to the story... When there's no rain in Eugene, Todd and I find ourselves making lazy trips down the Mckenzie River, every once and a while taking a friend down with us. Not too long ago, we took Todd's friend, Ross, who managed to flip once twice the entire time (and it was his first time in a kayak)!!

Anywhoo... Check out the pictures. It's always fun remembering what it was like learning to kayak:


Getting the boat's outfitted (Photo by: Kim Russell)


Ross (L) and Todd (R) taking a break from eddy turns (Photo by: Kim Russell)



The eddy at Neil's Wave (Photo by: Todd Baker)


Kim blunting at Neil's (Photo by: Todd Baker)

After a long day on the river, Ross was psyched! Here's to getting more people involved in this awesome sport!
Remember that friend who always wanted to go kayaking? Take them out and post your own experience!


The crew (Ross, Todd, Kim and Alex)

Cheers!

Kim Russell

Sweet Creek, Oregon


Kim dropping the bottom drop (Photo by: Seth Swallen)

Over the course of the past week, Oregon has seen pouring rain everyday. River levels spiked and we rallied after classes to huck ze gnar in the new Diesel 80. Check out the photos! Todd is in the Habitat 80, and I am in the Diesel 80.


Hiking to the top (Photo by: Seth Swallen)


Kim Russell off the second drop (Photo by: Seth Swallen)


Todd Baker off the flake drop (Photo by: Seth Swallen)


Kim off the flake drop (yellow), and Glenn at the bottom of the gorge (orange)


Todd off the flake drop (Photo by: Seth Swallen)


Kim off the middle drop (Photo by: Seth Swallen)


Todd Baker (Photo by: Seth Swallen)

Hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

Kim Russell

2009 Miracle Mile Race!


Racers coming down to the start (Photo by: Kim Russell)

A couple weeks ago, we held a boatercross down the NFMF of the Willamette near Oakridge, Oregon, a mile-long class IV boulder garden. We had about 7 racers in total in what was a double-elimination tournament. Round one saw two people race each other, the winner moving on to the winner's bracket, and the loser moving onto the loser's bracket. The losers then raced each other, of which the winner would be included in the winner's bracket. In the final round, all those of the winner's bracket would race.

Round 1:
Conor Ross
Seth Swallen

Alex Dalgleish
Ryan Scott

Glenn Dalgleish
Kim Russell
Todd Baker

After Round 1, Conor Ross, Ryan Scott and Todd Baker moved onto the winner's bracket, while Seth Swallen, Alex Dalgleish, Glenn Dalgleish and Kim Russell moved on to the loser's bracket.


At the start (Photo by: Kim Russell)


Rounding the corner below that start (Photo by: Kim Russell)


Alex Dalgleish on his way to the finish (Photo by: Kim Russell)

Round 2:

Alex Dalgleish
Seth Swallen
Kim Russell

After Round 2, Kim Russell moved onto the winner's bracket.

Final Round:

Ryan Scott
Todd Baker
Kim Russell
Conor Ross


Ryan Scott on his winning run (Photo by: Kim Russell)


Spectators at the finish line (Photo by: Kim Russell)


Shuttle back to the top (Photo by: Kim Russell)

The final round was pretty heated, with Ryan Scott and Todd Baker neck and neck for the entire mile. Kim Russell and Conor Ross weren't too far behind. Ryan Scott ended up pulling ahead at the very end for a strong finish, followed by Todd Baker, Kim Russell and Conor Ross.

Results:

1. Ryan Scott
2. Todd Baker
3. Kim Russell
4. Conor Ross

We're hoping to make this race a monthly event next year, in addition to a Eugene series of races featuring a boaterx down Sweet Creek, a freestyle at Fern Ridge Reservoir and a downriver race at the NFMF.

Stay Tuned!

www.nfmfboaterx.toddbake.com

Kim Russell

2009 Clackamas River Festival


(Photo by: Kim Russell)

Earlier this month, Todd and I made it out to the Clackamas River Festival near Portland, Oregon for some fun and games. It was a two day festival put on by Next Adventure, packed full of both rafting and kayaking events.


The coolest event of the weekend was the big air ramp where people hucked themselves off a huge ramp, flailing arms and all.


Ansy Maser cracking a beer (Photo by: Kim Russell)

Andy Maser pulled off an airscrew while cracking a beer while going down the ramp, and Willi almost did a front-flip.


Willi working on the front flip (Photo by: Kim Russell)

At the end of the day, first place went to Todd Baker with a double-air screw. YEA! Bloody knuckles and all!







Todd on his way to a double airscrew (Photos: by Kim Russell)


(Photo by: Kim Russell)


See you on the water!

Kim Russell

Full Immersion Photo Collage

I took some photos of a Bend Alder Creek Kayak and Canoe Full Immersion class and put them together in a collage. This class is designed as an introduction to whitewater kayaking; starting off with basic rolling practice and progressing into entry level class two or three rapids. If you would like more infomation, visit www.aldercreek.com or call 541/317/9407

About this blog

Alder Creek Kayak & Canoe of Bend, OR has recreated its paddling team thanks to Geoff Frank (owner and operator of ACKC). Currently being rebuilt, the team consists of Josh McKeown, Drew Oldfield, Kim and Christina Russell, and will be expanded to encompass a number of people in the Central Oregon area. This blog will be dedicated to providing up to date information about the different paddling adventures of Team Alder Creek.