Feb 17

Written by: Rob Virostek
Sunday, February 17, 2008 8:36 PM

We met up with Marcus and Ryan at Bob’s Hole to run the Sunset to Bob’s section of the Upper Clackamas. As we loaded the gear into our car to drive up to Sunset, I realized I’d left my paddle at home. Oh boy, 8 miles of river without a paddle! That didn’t stop me from throwing cartwheels and keeping a bow stall for a little bit. I even got a couple of ends in a hole. Marcus now has a solid combat roll that he proved in a couple or rapids on the way down. He stayed upright in all of the major rapids and even let me borrow his paddle to surf at Toilet Bowl and Bob’s. I was happy to get a flashback in Bob’s Hole. Bob’s is more of a diagonal wave then a hole since the flood but it is still fun to surf. I just have to make sure I stay way surfer’s left. I tried to loop but it seemed to push me off every time I dug in. I think this is because of how diagonal the wave is. I also learned more about the edges of my boat then I ever would without a paddle. All in all, it was a good run, even without the paddle. Between the 4-5 hours of surfing yesterday and the 2 ½ hours of hand paddling today, I’m completely wiped. Hopefully , I’m headed to the Wind tomorrow, so we’ll see how much I have left to give.

©2008 Rob Virostek

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