Spring Brings New Things...And Types of Adventures

This Spring Break I decided to mix it up a bit, trade in my kayak for a canoe, and do some exploring and hiking in Canyonlands National Park.

My Boat for the Week

Canyonlands National Park

More Canyonlands

Enjoying the View

The Mighty Green River

We arrived in Moab after a monster day of driving and an awesome breakfast at my Aunt Judy's in Salt Lake City. (Thanks Jude!) To stretch our legs from the drive we went for a quick hike, then it was off to organize everyone and everything for the next 7 days on the Stillwater Canyon section of the Green River.

One of the Many Side Canyons

Awesome Rocks!!

The trip began with a class five shuttle, putting in at Spring Canyon.

The Road that Drops off the Face of the Earth

It's Gotta Be a Good Trip With This Start!

A Beautiful Sunset

Day two brought some excitement with crazy wind and big waves, making it feel a little like whitewater boating. It was so strong, in fact, that we ended up taking a four hour break on an island until it was a little more reasonable.

Starting the Hike to Turk's Head

The Hike up Water Canyon to Chimney Rock

View from the Top of Water Canyon

The river was great with beautiful wilderness scenery, red walls, Anasazi ruins and art, and even an outlaw cabin! The best part, though, were the side hikes....amazing!

Sunset at Turk's Head

Peace

Outlaw Cabin

Anasazi Art

Cliff Dwelling at Jasper Canyon

Heart Shaped Cactus!

A Little More Boat Than I am Used To...

It's official....I have SPRING FEVER!! Bring on the boating road trips!!

4th Annual Wind River Race, March 19-20

The Upper Wind River Race is always a great way to kick off the whitewater racing season in the Northwest. This event is hosted by the Oregon Rafting Team and the race begins at the bridge in the town of Stabler, Washington. A mass start always adds some excitement for the kayakers, rafters and catarafters who sprint head-to-head down ~3.5 miles of continuous class III-IV rapids. This year the water was over two feet higher than last year, resulting in some big holes and great carnage. Big thanks to the rescue team for keeping everyone safe out there.

The weekend kicked off with a much needed river clean-up on Friday afternoon. A group of us met at the take-out to pick up all the trash that had been collecting over the winter. Saturday's events included a long boat race, R2 race and a BBQ provided by Next Adventure. The short boats, R6s, and catarafts raced on Sunday.

I paddled the 11'9" Dagger Green Boat in the long boat race. At first I was a little worried that such a big boat might be a handful in such big water, but I was really impressed with the way it handled. It was surprisingly responsive and blasted right through every hole with no problem. This came in handy when things got chaotic at Ram's Horn rapid. We all bombed into the crux of the rapid together, Drew charged through first without even getting his head wet, one of the guys got surfed and swam in an entrance hole, and the rest of us all flipped at the bottom. There was another swim and Susan and I joined the rescue team in picking up the pieces of the yard sale. It was quite the show for the spectators. Luckily, I managed to avoid any carnage for the rest of the run and paddle into a 3rd place finish. Susan Hollingsworth took 2nd place and Drew Eastman took 1st. Greg Mallory won the short boat class as usual, followed by Kim Russell and Ryan Young in a tie for second place.

Wind River Clean-up on Friday

The clean-up crew

Thanks to Zach Collier of Northwest Rafting for

hauling all of this trash from the Wind River.

Clean-up organizer, Drew Eastman

Susan Hollingsworth & the Oregon Rafting Team

gearing up for the race on Saturday afternoon

Orion Meredith & Matt Hogge, powered by PBR

Team Bend

The starting line

Susan, ready to rally in the Dagger Green Boat

Drew Eastman charging through Ram's Horn rapid

Long boaters: Drew, Susan and Christie

Tim, ORT #1 R2 er

Trey Knollman and Adam Mack

Drew Eastman, #1 Men's Long Boat

Susan Hollingsworth, #1 Women's Long Boat

Big thanks to Wind Race Organizer, Tyler McPherson,

for putting on such a great event!!!

For more photos, check out the

Upper Wind Whitewater Festival blog.

Times:

Long Kayak

1: Drew Eastman 22:51

2: Susan Hollingsworth 24:51

3: Christie Glissmeyer 25:02

4: Nate Bell DNF

5: Ryan Young DNF

Short Kayak (Mens)

1: Greg Mallory 22:40

2: Ryan Young 23:41

Short Kayak (Womens)

1: Kim Russell 23:41

R2 (Mens)

1: ORT - Tim Brink/ Bruce Reed 25:09

2: Ben and Willy Dinsdale 26:01

3: Zach Collier/ Aaron Howard 26:54

4: ORT - Trey Knollman/ Adam Mack 27:01

5: Tim Thornton/ Trevor Jostad 27:32

6: Bigfoot - Matt Hogge/ Orion Meredith 28:05

7: ORT - Jamie Crone/ Karl Linzmeyer 28:52

8: Stunt Man Duo - Dan McCain/ John Watkins 29:10

9: David Kinker/ Aaron Chatman DNF

R6 (Mens)

1: ORT - Red 22:37

2: Northwest Rafting Company 35:35

3: ORT - Grey 36:06

Staycationing in the Gorge

I love everything about kayaking; the exercise, recreation, adventure, challenge and exploration. Each river is so different and each experience is so unique. My paddling ventures have taken me to some amazing worldwide destinations and my wish list just keeps getting longer. Even so, I always love coming home to the beauty of the Pacific Northwest. Here is a short film of some of my favorite runs in the Columbia River Gorge, the land of waterfalls:

Christie Glissmeyer Athlete Profile--OTV from EP Films on Vimeo.

by Trip and Andy of EP Films