Thing to Do
Created by Scott R
Sat 04/19/08 (day 1)
The Arrival
We got to Portland at 11:00 AM to find the sun sneaking through the clouds with the temperature around 55. The landing from the air was amazing, seeing the snow covered mountain tops, then the forest lines ending in rivers and lakes near the airport. Howard and I met up at baggage claim and went to pick up our brand new Chevy Cobalt, woop woop! We got lost in, and around the city for a little while, grabbed a drink at a local dive, and picked up Ben from the airport. Aft
er the 3rd and final person landed, we cruised over to Justin's house in NE Portland, to meet him and see where we were going to stay.
It worked out perfectly, Justin was very excited to get us to the best places in Portland, so we went through the best places to eat, drink, visit. While we were back at the house, the weather turned, and started snowing!! Never have I seen snow in 50 degree weather, it was crazy! Ben, Howard, and I went to grab some eats in the Mississippi area. We found this awesome little taqueria called, ¿Por Qué No?. The food was good, and had a really good local microbrew. After grabbing a post meal coffee, and picking up some provisions at Safeway, we headed back to the house to get ready for the night.
All of us winded down for a little while, then headed out to emabark on the night. We went to a really cool place called the Kennedy School to kick it off. Its an old school, (that was almost identical to the middle school we all went to) that had been renovated and turned into a restaurant, movie theatre, cigar parlor, and bar (http://www.mcmenamins.com/index.php?loc=57&id=465 ). It was a really cool place to walk around with a beer and cigar and check out the surroundings. We ate dinner and had some drinks, the food was really good! So far, the seafood in Portland has been awesome, salmon and snapper both pass the test with flying colors!
Needless to say, after a few more beers, we were getting really tired from the long day of travel and time difference. We went to another bar on the NE side of Portland (very similar to Ghent), had a couple more drinks and decided to turn in for the night. -Scott
Planned Activities
Sun 04/20/08 (day 2) - Bridal Veil
Thing to Do
Mon 04/21/08 (day 3) - Portland
Thing to Do
Entertainment
Thing to Do
Tue 04/22/08 (day 4) - Seattle
City
Wed 04/23/08 (day 5) - Seattle
Thing to Do
Thu 04/24/08 (day 6) - Snoqualmie
Thing to Do
Unscheduled
Other
I am an employee of Wet Planet and think that it's pretty crappy that these two guys took Drew's comment the wrong way. All of us here have a passion for whitewater and want nothing more then to introduce others to this great activity as well, whether rafting or kayaking.
We run a few early season trips at Wet Planet that are worth getting on the wait list for; The Wind River and Farmlands Section of the White Salmon River are both Class V all the way and the Klickitat River is one of the most beautiful rafting trips in this region (class III+). I am proud to work for Wet Planet and stand behind our ideals about keeping risks associated with this action sport minimal. We offer courses for kayaking and swiftwater rescue classes for boaters as well so that you can be educated when playing out on the rivers.
I would highly recommend checking out the whitewater rafting in this area. The White Salmon itself is a gem. It has a great mix of scenery and action. Later in June is when Husum Falls (an optional class IV feature) opens up for the season. This is one of the tallest vertical waterfalls ran in the US (Cherry Creek in Cali is the other). Once water levels drop a little bit lower is when we can start putting in from a private launch site that is 2 miles above the standard public put in. This gives you 3 back to back class IV rapids right off the bat, plus an optional cliff jump.
No matter which company you raft with or what time of year you come out, this river should not be overlooked. (Wet suits are required due to the water temperature and there are plenty of ways to keep warm if you'd like to see the bigger whitewater that spring offers)