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CORRECTION: Docta P was stated as having the first riverboarding descent of Husum Falls. However, it was brought to my attention that the distinction actually belongs to Robert Carlson and Jim Cassady from all the way back in 1989. Since this was our first run of the year, we decided to run one of our favorite rivers, the White Salmon in Washington across from Hood River. The Hood River gorge is known as the Windsurfing capital of the world, but on our way across we watched in amazement as the kiteboarders now outnumber the windsurfers probably 3 to 1! Learning to kiteboard is on our list of goals for this year, since both Docta P and I are avid wakeboarders. It wasn’t on our list of things to do this day though – running a rather large waterfall on a riverboard was instead! We’d run this stretch of the White Salmon quite a few times, so we felt like it would be great warm up – and with a surge in the water level from several days of rain, we were curious as to how different the rapids would be at a considerably larger flow than what we were used to. Not only was this our first run of the year, but the first run of any sort since 2003 – I had spent all of ’04 in So Cal and didn’t get any riverboarding action at all. I had flown out to Denver the previous week to meet with the guys from Rocky Mountain Riverboards and go run one of their favorite sections on the Colorado river, but a freak blizzard shut that trip down the day of our scheduled run. [Check out the run that we finally got done several months later, the Class V Black Rock section of Clear Creek.] We did get an agreement of sorts in the works, however, and I left Denver tentatively a “Sponsored” riverboarder! Since I didn’t get to run anything on their board though while I was there, this was going to be my first test run.
It was interesting the difference in public awareness when we rolled up with our riverboards this year compared to a couple summers ago. It seemed like people were more conscious of what riverboarding was all about, and they weren’t quite as “You guys are insane!” as we used to hear. Of course, we first did this river on inner tubes, so I guess those comments were warranted back then. I still find that hard to believe. We were crazy. Anyway, the put-in has been changed, mercifully, bcoz there used to be a really annoying fat lady that lived in a trailer and would come out in her flannel pj’s and demand $2 bucks for parking…the state park service or something bought the land though and put in a nice trailway for rafts and a big parking lot, which is nice. There’s even bathrooms now! Of course, they were locked. Brilliant. The put-in for rafts is right in the middle of a Class IV rapid called “Maytag”, bcoz it has the worst hydraulics on the river (other than Husum falls) – I have video footage of my first run down the thing on an inner tube just getting recycled over and over again. Yes, it did feel like I was in a washing machine. And considering I shat my wetsuit, no, I didn’t come out clean. Well, ok, I did repent of a few sins…I’ve learned since then to just relax in those situations though, and I’ll get swept out. That knowledge would come in handy on this day, though not in Maytag. Ironically, the best part of this entire run is the ¼ mile stretch above Maytag, from the base of a really nasty falls that signals the end of the Class IV / V Green Truss run (the kayak run they use for the Gorge Games). It’s a really narrow gorge that has incredibly fun waves, making it basically a big waterslide – but it HAULS bcoz there’s a lot of water in a narrow space. The normal kayak put-in up the trail was underwater, so we decided to hop the trailway fence and get the day started by jumping into the river off a cliff. Frankly, I can’t think of any better way to rock the new board and ring in a new season than taking a flying leap into fast moving, super aerated water! We blasted down the gorge and through Maytag, which bcoz there was such high water actually wasn’t too bad. A couple kayakers had hiked down to watch us, and we didn’t exactly ride a good, showy line, all things considered…it’s kinda like joining a pick-up basketball game when you haven’t touched a ball in, oh, 6 months. That type of deal. As I spun round and round in what looked like nature’s boiling cauldron, I’m pretty sure I saw them laughing at me. We made it out ok though, and the rest of the run was fairly uneventful, although very fun! Since the water was higher than we were used to, it totally changed the complexion of the rapids, smoothing out the nasty, rocky holes into fast-moving chutes. My childhood obsession with waterslides is what fueled my interest in this crazy sport anyway, so I was having a great time. It’s all Class III down to Husum, other than Maytag and one other drop that you’ll want to run far right or you’ll plunge over about a 6 foot pourover boulder – not fun. That drop was more like a big chute at this level though, and it runs under some huge tree branches and into a sheer rock wall which on this day had a small cascading waterfall feeding the river. That’s the other thing about this river, the scenery is lush, with mossy boulders, a lot of riverside caves (one spot far right on the upper 1/3 of the run to watch out for), and even cows who mooed curiously as we swam by. If you enjoy nature, you won’t get bored on this run. During a slow stretch we were noticing a couple of new houses that have gone in since we ran it last, and Docta P pointed out an orchard with a bunch of trees containing some sort of white blossoms. Since I’m blonde, I have to share this moment, for blondes everywhere to relate with: Docta P: “Hey, check it out, there’s some sort of orchard up there.” IceMan: “Yeah, looks like they’re growing cotton.” Docta P: “Cotton?! Dude, you can’t grow cotton in Washington! It’s a FRUIT orchard, those are FRUIT trees!” IceMan: “Oh. Right. I was looking at that on the drive up though, I thought it was cotton…” Ok, so I have my moments. Cotton, Apples, Pumpkins – it’s all fruit, right? So I was close. Wait – nevermind. Several hundred feet above Husum falls is a take-out spot, and there were some boaters packing up their vehicles who noticed us swimming by and frantically started yelling at us “There’s a falls! A waterfall! Heeeeyyy!” We waved at them happily, trying our best to act like dumb tourists who didn’t realize they were about to plunge off of Niagara or something, just for the reaction’s sake. The great thing about Husum falls is that the road goes almost right over it, so there are almost always onlookers who stop and watch the action below. It was late afternoon and there weren’t any rafts running, so there were only a handful of people on the bridge to watch us run it, but it’s always more fun to run the falls with spectators.
Since Docta P has claim to the First Descent of Husum Falls on a riverboard (in 2003 – we each ran it about 4 times each that day), I decided to go first this time. The line looks obvious from above, and even from topside on the shore – but once you’re laying in it at face level, and you’re ripping toward the thunderous noise faster and faster, it’s a little more tricky to hit the line right. My reference point was the large rock jutting out – the problem, though, is that there is a small wave that you hit in the line which blocks your vision of that rock, but looks like it could be the rock from in the water. So as I hit that wave I thought that I was already at the top of the falls and started kicking left to overcompensate – that’s when I did reach the top and from there it was over so quick I couldn’t have fixed my line regardless. Luckily, the water is forgiving (although at this level it was super fast), and you have to actually try to miss the line, so I was fine. I was waaaay too far back on my board though which resulted in a crappy landing. Bcoz of that I was underwater for quite a while before my board popped up, dragging me up with it – and that, folks, is why we leash to our boards. The hydraulic at this flow level was just nasty. Very aerated, but super strong.
Docta P went next, and faced the same issue with thinking the little wave whitewater was the rock, but his overcompensation actually helped, as he hit the line perfectly, kicking through hard and keeping his board fairly horizontal (unlike me). Apparently, though, he stuck his landing a bit TOO well – he didn’t pop up for about 30 yards, and somewhere between the falls and where he came up he slammed headlong into a boulder with his head and shoulder. A day later he was sporting a nasty bruise on his shoulder – keep in mind that’s a bruise through a thick PFD and a 6.5mm wetsuit – but the worst was the golf-ball sized swelling in his cheek. Thank Yahweh it was his cheek and not his nose (which he’s prone to breaking).
We had only brought one vehicle, so we hitched a ride with a friendly local who had an empty truck bed, and gleefully jumped back into the river up top. The 7 mile stretch was moving so quickly that we figured we’d run it again (sans Husum) before dark, and it really was a fun run. The new board I was riding held up well, and proved to be a pretty nimble craft overall. Given that the day was a warmup, that the river was running like a giant waterslide, and that we pretty much had the entire river to ourselves, I’d say it was a great way to start the season! ~IceMan~
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