2012 has been an interesting year.
Extreme highs and extreme lows seemed to be the norm. I started the year off with a busy work schedule and two cracked creekboats. Then someone stole every piece of kayaking gear I owned, out of the back of my truck, less than 10 feet from where I was sleeping. The year was not starting well. But Kokatat and Dagger kicked down some gear and the late winter that we had here in Washington state created some awesome Spring boating.
With two back to back hard drive failures I lost a lot of photos and video for the year. Here are some of my favorites from the season that were either recovered or backed up.
We started the season off in the town of Leavenworth up on Icicle Creek. Making fires, boofing holes and drinking der beir:
Extreme highs and extreme lows seemed to be the norm. I started the year off with a busy work schedule and two cracked creekboats. Then someone stole every piece of kayaking gear I owned, out of the back of my truck, less than 10 feet from where I was sleeping. The year was not starting well. But Kokatat and Dagger kicked down some gear and the late winter that we had here in Washington state created some awesome Spring boating.
With two back to back hard drive failures I lost a lot of photos and video for the year. Here are some of my favorites from the season that were either recovered or backed up.
We started the season off in the town of Leavenworth up on Icicle Creek. Making fires, boofing holes and drinking der beir:
Tumwater Canyon and Last Exit Rapid in April.
Its hard to dry out gear when the Ice never thaws:
It seems like I only get on the Fall in the Wall section of the Snoqualmie every other year. Luckily, this was one of those years.
Then Tumwater season was upon us, before the big melt. Theres nothing like a mellow Tumwater lap with snow on the ground:
Kokatat was kind enough to kick down one of their expedition drysuits and limited edition Ronin pfd after someone decided to liberate all of my paddling gear from the back of my truck. I have to say, with almost a year in this drysuit; it's worth every penny. This thing is awesome!
The Holidays kept us up in der town. Here we see bear watching at Secret Camp, high above Leavenworth, WA.
I swear! It's over there...
Nothing better than waking up to fresh lavender in the morning.
I was only able to make it down to the White Salmon for one weekend this year, but it was nice to see some of my working buddies out on the river and helping non-believers see the light!
Late summer means Ohane/Cispus season. I was able to get back on the Ohanepecosh with Matt Kurle. We met a band of gypsies at the putin...
After a couple laps on the Ohanepecosh River, a small group of us got to watch Jeremy Bisson fire up Silver Falls, a rarely run monster above the normally run section of the Ohanepecosh.
Joe Howard and I ventured into the OP and were able to tackle the Big Quilcene. An amazing run!
Joe in Casserly's Cascade, Big Quilcene River.
Joe in another unnamed rapid on the Big Q.
Late July brought us good flows on the Cooper River, outside of Cle Elum, WA.
Another massive photo dump of The Cooper right here.
A large group of us were able to get the time off work and we rallied out to the NF Payette for Labor Day weekend.
This has become a tradition for Adrian and myself, with this being the third year in a row of making the 10ish hour journey. I love everything about this little slice of Idaho!
The crew blowing through the bottom of Nutcracker.
Five days meant lots of tries to nail your line in Jacob's Ladder.
Adrian shows us how to boof.
High quality boogie water:
This is probably my favorite shot of the season: The entire WA crew routing down Screaming Left.
Before we knew it September was here and it was time for the Chelan release.
I put up a massive photo-dump right here.
Alex in Entrance Exam.
Sean in Super Boof.
I tell people over and over; Fall is the best season in Washington. A small group of us were lucky enough to get up to Icicle Creek for a very rare Fall session on the Ricochet section of the river.
The Ricochet run is, in my very opinionated opinion, the best stretch of whitewater in WA. Low stress, roadside and granite. The buck stops here for me.
The drive over Blewet Pass is pretty scenic.
Looking upstream from the Upper Icicle takeout.
Boofington Heights and The Plunge. Back to back awesome.
Late Summer early Fall means Robe laps for days and days. I was able to log a few solo laps in Robe Canyon this year and the experience is amazing.
A good vantage on river right of Faceplant.
Chillin out next to Catcher's Mitt.
I was able to slam this short highlight video together over the last two evenings. So please excuse if it looks rushed, I wanted to have it finished before 2013.
Enjoy
We've had some good lines and some bad lines in 2012. Everybody and every river is in here.
Clips include:
The Cooper River
Icicle Creek
Tumwater Canyon
Top Tye Creek
The Chelan Gorge
The Cispus River
The Big Quilcene River
The North Fork of the Payette River
South Fork Stillaguamish River
The Skykomish River
The Ohanepecosh River
North Fork of the Snoqualmie River
South Fork of the Snoqualmie River
The Dosewallips River
Paddlers include:
Alex Podolak, Matt Kurle, Joe Howard, Brian Burger, Adrian Wigston, Sean Lee, Phil Kast, Scott Waidelich, Jeremy Bisson, Rob McKibbin, Darren Albright, Mike Nash, Shane Robinson, Sam Grafton, Jed Hawks, Emily Dickerson, John Dufey, Jon Shelby, Dan McCain, Willie Illingworth, Tristan Oluper, Ellie Wheat, Robby Shingleton, Chris Totten & Friends. I'm sorry if I missed anybody.
I hope everybody had an awesome year this year and I'm looking forward to what 2013 brings.
Stay Stoked! Stay Safe!
