My buddy and I took our families over to the Columbia River Gorge over the weekend to try some new canyons. We hit Bridal Veil Falls and Eagle Creek. Had never done any class C Canyons before and have to say it was a blast. My 11 year old Kaden thought it was the best trip we had ever done. For you experts out there we struggled to go down when rappeling using the same ropes we always use and same friction settings on our Piranas. We have done lots of wet canyons in Zion etc. and never had this problem. We were sticking constantly and bouncy up and down, it was strange. Other then that it was a great trip. For those familiar with the area there is a waterfall called the Punch Bowl in Eagle Creek. We decided to just slide over it instead of rappel it. It is about a 35′ drop. I went in on a weird angle and partially tore my rotater cup. Wanted to do another one on the last day but my arm was not agreeing.
Mark
As Ram would say,
Pictures?
https://picasaweb.google.com/115103071727329383790/ColumbiaRiverGorge#
RAM
It looks just stunning. When we were in the SF of Snoquamie, Aaron and I found it so slick that we gave up trying to walk wherever we could. Just stayed in the water anytime we could stay in at least 2.5 feet of water. Surprisingly, we never got cold doing that. The water was so clean and clear, it was just a joy top move through it and the forests are so beautiful. Very loud though. A continuous background roar. R
— In Yahoo Canyons Group, “MarkS” wrote:
We had your same concerns. The first few slides we would walk down the sides looking them over but as the day went along we were pretty much sliding anything that looked reasonable. Didn’t have any trouble with any hydraulics. Eagle Creek was a lot slicker then Bridal Veil Falls. Tad Kaden and I were wearing 5-10’s the others were wearing running shoes. The struggled a lot more then we did. I think felt bottom fish shoes would be the way to go. Want to go back it was a great time.
Mark > — In Yahoo Canyons Group, “RAM” wrote:
And here is a video of the day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmcHL9y0AXI&feature=player_embedded#!
what I don’t get is how does someone figure out its safe to slide down a rapid? Someone has to be first and some of them must have rocks…or bad hydraulics? Is there a write up on this route that says certain places are safe or do you just use your judgment? Scares me.
— In Yahoo Canyons Group, “MarkS” wrote:
My buddy and I took our families over to the Columbia River Gorge over the weekend to try some new canyons. We hit Bridal Veil Falls and Eagle Creek. Had never done any class C Canyons before and have to say it was a blast. My 11 year old Kaden thought it was the best trip we had ever done. For you experts out there we struggled to go down when rappeling using the same ropes we always use and same friction settings on our Piranas. We have done lots of wet canyons in Zion etc. and never had this problem. We were sticking constantly and bouncy up and down, it was strange. Other then that it was a great trip. For those familiar with the area there is a waterfall called the Punch Bowl in Eagle Creek. We decided to just slide over it instead of rappel it. It is about a 35′ drop. I went in on a weird angle and partially tore my rotater cup. Wanted to do another one on the last day but my arm was not agreeing.
Mark
As Ram would say,
Pictures?
https://picasaweb.google.com/115103071727329383790/ColumbiaRiverGorge#
MarkS
We had your same concerns. The first few slides we would walk down the sides looking them over but as the day went along we were pretty much sliding anything that looked reasonable. Didn’t have any trouble with any hydraulics. Eagle Creek was a lot slicker then Bridal Veil Falls. Tad Kaden and I were wearing 5-10’s the others were wearing running shoes. The struggled a lot more then we did. I think felt bottom fish shoes would be the way to go. Want to go back it was a great time.
Mark — In Yahoo Canyons Group, “RAM” wrote:
And here is a video of the day > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmcHL9y0AXI&feature=player_embedded#! > what I don’t get is how does someone figure out its safe to slide down a rapid? Someone has to be first and some of them must have rocks…or bad hydraulics? Is there a write up on this route that says certain places are safe or do you just use your judgment? Scares me.
— In Yahoo Canyons Group, “MarkS” wrote:
My buddy and I took our families over to the Columbia River Gorge over the weekend to try some new canyons. We hit Bridal Veil Falls and Eagle Creek. Had never done any class C Canyons before and have to say it was a blast. My 11 year old Kaden thought it was the best trip we had ever done. For you experts out there we struggled to go down when rappeling using the same ropes we always use and same friction settings on our Piranas. We have done lots of wet canyons in Zion etc. and never had this problem. We were sticking constantly and bouncy up and down, it was strange. Other then that it was a great trip. For those familiar with the area there is a waterfall called the Punch Bowl in Eagle Creek. We decided to just slide over it instead of rappel it. It is about a 35′ drop. I went in on a weird angle and partially tore my rotater cup. Wanted to do another one on the last day but my arm was not agreeing.
Mark
As Ram would say,
Pictures?
https://picasaweb.google.com/115103071727329383790/ColumbiaRiverGorge#
RAM
And here is a video of the day http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmcHL9y0AXI&feature=player_embedded#! what I don’t get is how does someone figure out its safe to slide down a rapid? Someone has to be first and some of them must have rocks…or bad hydraulics? Is there a write up on this route that says certain places are safe or do you just use your judgment? Scares me.
— In Yahoo Canyons Group, “MarkS” wrote:
My buddy and I took our families over to the Columbia River Gorge over the weekend to try some new canyons. We hit Bridal Veil Falls and Eagle Creek. Had never done any class C Canyons before and have to say it was a blast. My 11 year old Kaden thought it was the best trip we had ever done. For you experts out there we struggled to go down when rappeling using the same ropes we always use and same friction settings on our Piranas. We have done lots of wet canyons in Zion etc. and never had this problem. We were sticking constantly and bouncy up and down, it was strange. Other then that it was a great trip. For those familiar with the area there is a waterfall called the Punch Bowl in Eagle Creek. We decided to just slide over it instead of rappel it. It is about a 35′ drop. I went in on a weird angle and partially tore my rotater cup. Wanted to do another one on the last day but my arm was not agreeing.
Mark
As Ram would say,
Pictures?
https://picasaweb.google.com/115103071727329383790/ColumbiaRiverGorge#
RAM
Wonderful! Everyone stay warm? Some of those suits looked a little loose on the little guys! Ugh on the shoulder. Was the stream course as slippery as the canyons I have done in Washington? Anyone with insights on why folks were sticking on rappel? Thanks for posting! The pictures are great. R
— In Yahoo Canyons Group, “MarkS” wrote:
My buddy and I took our families over to the Columbia River Gorge over the weekend to try some new canyons. We hit Bridal Veil Falls and Eagle Creek. Had never done any class C Canyons before and have to say it was a blast. My 11 year old Kaden thought it was the best trip we had ever done. For you experts out there we struggled to go down when rappeling using the same ropes we always use and same friction settings on our Piranas. We have done lots of wet canyons in Zion etc. and never had this problem. We were sticking constantly and bouncy up and down, it was strange. Other then that it was a great trip. For those familiar with the area there is a waterfall called the Punch Bowl in Eagle Creek. We decided to just slide over it instead of rappel it. It is about a 35′ drop. I went in on a weird angle and partially tore my rotater cup. Wanted to do another one on the last day but my arm was not agreeing.
Mark
As Ram would say,
Pictures?
https://picasaweb.google.com/115103071727329383790/ColumbiaRiverGorge#