Easter in the Hood

Sh*t happens:

Especially in the Hood with Scorpion Bowls on the loose.

For Easter weekend a friend decided to instigate and rally a crew back down to Hood River. We wanted to get on a few different runs and spend time with friends.

Truss was in, so was Little White, the weatherman said it was going to be in the 70's. Life was looking good.

Saturday morning greeted us with slightly overcast skies and a little more water in the riverbed below where we camped. Again, we abused the good nature of one of the local boaters and a crew of 8 people crashed in and around Jeremy Bisson's abode.

As none of us had been on the Truss section of the White Salmon since it was destroyed with wood two seasons ago, we opted to head to the put in first thing in the morning. For whatever reason I didn't bring any cameras on the river and only had my gopro in my dry bag, so these are the only photos from the Truss run.

As the combination of a large group, plus massive wood portage and "new to us" whitewater did its work on us, I was personally getting a bit bummed out that our plan of a double dip session was not going to come to fruition.

We were at the parking lot for the put in for the main section of the White Salmon River around 4pm. Beers were out and we were on the seesaw, decidimg whether or not it was time to take the drysuits off and drink more beer or leave them on and rally. Scotty made the call and we all piled into the car and headed out to the Little White.

And thank god we did. As we drove to the putin, Jeremy mentioned that as long as we were in the water by 6pm we would be safe. Thats when I looked down and my watch said 6:10. Oh well. As it turns out, we had plaenty of time. We banged out a lap in just over an hour and we were off the river and dry before dark. We didnt have time for photos or video so all of these little white shots are from Sunday.

A long night in Hood River and some lost dignity later, we were back up and heading for a morning session on the Little White. The photos speak for themselves:

Boulder Slouce action:

Jeremy getting SICK in Sacraledge:

Sunshine in the Gorge:

S-Turn:

Wishbone:

And then there is Spirit Falls:

Dan Rubado had an interesting line here, worked out well though:

Chaos:

After an amazing lap and more smiles than I think my face could handle, we drove back up to meet the better half of the crew to get a quick lap on the Farmlands section of the White Salmon. Again, no photos, but I swear we had fun!

All in all, an amazing weekend. Sunny skys, beautiful women, Scorpion Bowls and whitewater. How do you beat that?

Stay Stoked. Stay Safe.