Northwest Video Scrapbook

Rock Creek, WA – Video

crgvideo — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 20:31:49 +0000

Here is the first glimpse of the inner canyons in the headwaters of Rock Creek, WA. We managed to sneak in the morning before the access was closed off until next year. So, until next year…

Top of the Rock – More info HERE

Filed under: Expedition, Updates, Video, Washington

Top of the Rock 12-12 (Rock Creek, WA – CRG)

crgvideo — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 23:47:04 +0000

Chess games take awhile and this one was as tough as it gets for exploratory kayaking. Many failed attempts at access and one failed attempt to explore this section prior to our trip made it a great opponent. Jacob Cruser had been investigating this section of Rock Creek for sometime before he went in on the first trip; his story here. And as to be expected, after a failed attempt on a deep canyon lined with waterfalls more people got really interested in seeing what could not be seen. Jacob’s write up on the full exploration of this section of the creek can be found here; Mt.HoodH2O.

Here are a few screen shots from the trip, video coming soon.

The first big one.

The second big one.

The in-between drops.

The second canyon.

Getting close to the end of the 2nd canyon near dark.

Filed under: Expedition, First Descents, Updates, Washington

The Columbia Experience

crgvideo — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 01:55:46 +0000

In March of 2009 Paul Gamache, Keel Brightman, & Ryan Scott set out to experience the Full length of the Columbia River in two separate trips. The first; Revelstoke to the Pacific Ocean, 882 miles. The second; Columbia Lake to Revelstoke, 361 miles. The river is blocked by 14 dams with only a couple short sections of free-flowing river left. In the early 1930′s plans were set in motion to harness the flow of the Columbia to power the Pacific Northwest & beyond. Check out the video for more information on the Columbia River and check out thecolumbiaexperience.com for a day-by-day journal on the 1,243 mile journey.

Filed under: B.C., Geology, Oregon

Little White Salmon Races 2011 & 2012 – (forgotten footage)

crgvideo — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 03:08:14 +0000

Filed under: Events, Video, Washington

CRG Video (2011-2012)

crgvideo — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 22:34:56 +0000

It has been a busy year for us full of surprises, meeting new friends and working through big missions. We haven’t had much time to post updates or work on many projects here at CRG or gorgehits, but plans are in place for the next project. Keep checking back for more updates coming soon…for now, check out what has been going on the past year.

Filed under: Expedition, Oregon, Trip Reports, Updates, Video, Washington

Cispus River, WA – Super Slides

crgvideo — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 03:39:00 +0000

Years have gone by since I first heard of this run. Many reports from years back were shrouded in complaints of numerous portages and a lot of work to just get to this short piece of the Cispus River. The Super Slides run on the far upper reaches of the Cispus River is an incredibly unique section of whitewater. The gradient starts at a fun level and gradually continues as you slide further and further down the mountain.. Once your in the canyon much of the run is nearly a football field wide and non-stop sliding gradient. This was my first trip in there and after wanting to go for years I finally got that extra push this year from Scott Matthews. On day four of our Tshletshy trip this year he had mentioned discovering the Super Slides years ago. He had mentioned that he has wanted to go back for quite sometime…

Scott Matthews on Day 4 of Tshletshy sharing some of his stories about the Super Slides

On a run that has been described as “very frustrating to even find”, who better to go with than the man who put in the work to break down all the logistics. And as you could imagine, his logistics were spot on. We met up the road from the suggested bridge take-out at a trail head that dropped down at the end of the canyon, cutting off the last 1.5 miles of portaging. Scott insisted this was the best way to exit the run. On our way to the put-in we hit snow about 2 miles from the put-in.

Scott and Brett making their way past the snow on the hike-in

After about an hour of hiking we started dropping down into Goat Creek. The flow was on the low side and just around the corner from our put-in we were on top of a couple waterfalls with shallow landings. After some brief excitement and a tricky portage on the right we were on our way down Goat Creek…before we knew it we were portaging up and over into the confluence with the Cispus River. The slides started and seemed to go forever. The first big horizon was wide open and as clean as it gets. One after another we were sliding down the side of the mountain between canyon walls. We slid our way down to Bonsai Falls, the largest drop on the run. After a brief scout for wood we were back in our boats and smiling the whole way down the falls, so much fun! Below Bonsai we turned the corner to one of the most spectacular whitewater scenes you will witness, Walupt Creek Falls.

Scott and Brett paddling past Walupt Creek Falls

Around a couple more corners we got out at the first possible exit to the canyon and hiked up about 30 min to the cars. The beauty and scale of the canyon are in-explainable and awe-inspiring, you have to go see for yourself. We had only one wood portage on the main Cispus at the very end of the Super Slides, just before the hike out trail. If you pass the trail, you will end up in a section known as “the swamp” where you will grow more and more frustrated as you make your slow pace to the take-out bridge.

Filed under: Trip Reports, Washington

Tshletshy Creek, WA 2012

ryanscottcrg — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 01:31:08 +0000

It was a bit of a surreal experience driving north with the understanding that the next day we would be hiking into Tshletshy Creek again, less than a year since the previous trip. Brett Barton was fired up to the Tshletshy again this year and we made plans well in advance to make it happen. Scott Baker met up with us late Thursday night and we started hiking the next morning. At a leisurely pace we made our way up the trail and enjoyed the nice weather. We had one more paddler that was going to join us sometime on saturday so our plan was to make it to the water and wait.. As it turns out, the hike into Tshletshy doesn’t change and whatever trail conditions you choose will determine your pace.

The next morning just before we started our long day of hiking Scott Matthews had appeared on the trail just below us, already 5 hours into his hike that day. Our group was now complete and we set off to reach the snow and make it over the low saddle down into the Tshletshy drainage.

The next morning we dropped almost straight down the hill from camp and ended up above a gorge that held 3 waterfalls which none of us had seen before. Scott Matthews had been here before, in 1989 when Tshletshy was only 12 portages… We eventually found what we hoped was a suitable put-in and headed down the creek only to have our nice flowing creek end in a wall to wall log jam. Some scrambling up and over put us back in the water and heading toward the 1st Canyon.

Tshletshy Creek is a good test of endurance. Everyday you go at it all day long and everyday you get more and more tired of carrying/pulling all of that weight, that you have to have with you, around the logistics of Tshletshy.

Our water level on this trip had been very similar to last years flow up to this point, but once we were down in the 5ft and longest gorge it filled in a little more. I had been able to remember quite a few land marks throughout the bottom gorge, but there are so many rapids in there and quite a few surprise ones… We paddled out into the Queets river near dusk to beatiful view of the Queets valley. When we set shuttle 4 days prior we had to park just down stream of Matheny Creek due to a road closer there whitch added about 7 more miles onto our paddle out. We had one more camp as the sun set on us just a few miles from the take-out and we were out early the next morning. Once again, it had taken us 4 days, 4 nights and a couple hours to finish the trip.

Flows for this run:

Tshletshy Creek, 2011 Written Trip Report – CLICK HERE

Tshletshy Creek, 2011 Video Trip Report – CLICK HERE

Filed under: Expedition, Trip Reports, Washington

N.F. Clackamas River Update

ryanscottcrg — Thu, 10 May 2012 03:43:36 +0000

You know the old saying, “It’s not going anywhere, it’ll always be there.” That never really crossed my mind with the N.F. Clackamas. I made my way down to the lip and into the pool below the falls about a year ago and found a marginal, but runnable line over the falls. It didn’t seem quite as bad as previous reports that I had heard of. For the next year it would consistently run back to the the front of my mind and refresh my memory and go take another look. Finally Bryon Door, Tony Skriv, Joe Stumpfel, & I went in to take a look at the inner gorge on the N.F. Clackamas… Much to our surprise…The first drop had a log across it and as we made our way down to the big falls, I noticed a clear cut high on river right. At the first glimpse of the top of the falls it looked completely different than what I had seen the year before. The land slide had deposited a car sized boulder at the lip of the falls splitting the flow into two channels and making the mandatory left fading line, away from the boulders, a far fetched dream. Most of the current now goes right off the lip and into the shallow rocks below. Here are a couple images and check Exploring Elements for a future post on the N.F Clackamas River.

Image from 2011

Image from 2012

Close-up Image from 2011

Close-up Image from 2012

Looking down at the lip of the falls with the landslide debris in the eddy at the lip

Filed under: Oregon

Habitat Film Update

crgvideo — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 23:43:30 +0000

To break away from the dramatic world of whitewater porn Habitat takes the viewer into the heart and soul of whitewater. This documentary is a must see for anyone who has any interest in the outdoors.

Check HabitatFilm.com for Premiere Dates, DVD orders, and much more…

Filed under: Premieres, Updates, Video

Habitat Film

crgvideo — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 01:57:09 +0000

Habitat is a documentary by Ryan Scott & Hans Hoomans about the progression of whitewater rafting in the Pacific Northwest set over about 35 years.

Pre-Orders, Movie Trailer, and more information about Habitat can be found at www.habitatfilm.com

Shane Turnbull taking a moment to share a river story for Habitat

Filed under: Uncategorized