The Chilly But Smokin Spring and Summer Gorge Report

[covesurfer]

Bill, great write up. You nail down Oregon surfing perfectly and it sounds like just an epic Gorge session after you got back from the coast!

I was watching FB this morning and seeing all the posts about the wind in the gorge by the other addicts. Especially the one's from Seattle. Crazy! Sounds like one of the best days all year, the tail end of the westerly season.

ValleyGirl, (covesurfer = gregg). Glad to hear you had an awesome day! You are so stoked and have just charged this summer. It was fun watching you, you are on a quick learning curve and have the stoke going on big time. You are an awesome paddler already and will just continue to get better and better. You have really come a long way with your down winding in a really short time! Al and Steve are so fun to paddle with - glad you are having such a good time with paddling and downwinding.

HM is going strong, I can keep up with him better but he can still slide out away from me. We had a pretty nice run today, it was gusting over 30 and about when we got to uppers, it got pretty interesting but still an absolute blast. At one point, we took a little break, both submerged to cool down and then got back into it. HM slid into this enormous drop, right after he got back on his board. So fun to paddle together. I think we're pushing each other and as a result, we're both getting some great glides.

Tomorrow, road warrior (Art) arrives. I'm picking him up and we're going to get him out on the water. Supposed to have good trades the next few days.

As for the gardener, that is a bit of a worry. Dianne, Shirley and Marcia might need to form a support group but if they band together, we could be in for some trouble.

[PonoBill]

Knees--they were on their knees! Fricken' spell checker.

Yeah, the wind was blowing boards around a bit today. I punched into a face and dove off the nose, came up with my arm in front of my face and my board slammed right into it. I felt the fin scrape the edge of my elbow. Another 1/2 inch and there would have been some blood in the water. I sanded my fin to a sharp edge for the Gorge race and forgot to make it smooth and dull afterwards. Got to remember to do that.

I watched Alex fall once off the back of his board and when the nose came up the wind caught it and pulled the whole thing out of the water and it's fluttered like a kite on the end of the leash.

I have no idea what the wind speed was, but certainly over 40.

Bill, your buddy would be kicking himself if he knew what he missed. It was pretty wonderful.

[laszlo]

Just found this shot while downloading my wife's camera. I think it is the day Rod and Bill went on their surfboards. I had gone earlier and had already gotten home, when they went by my house, so I grabbed this shot from the back deck. It is taken with the equivalent of a 1000mm lens, on a camera with a pretty small sensor.

As I write this I'm looking at the river through the rain; the pic reminds me what a great summer it has been.

[ValleyGirl]

Yes, at least we have pictures to remind us of the summer of '13.  It was awesome in the Gorge.  I can only pray that weather patterns deliver the same conditions next year.  I plan to paddle over the winter here.  Is there any lore about fall/winter downwinders? This is my first year of SUP.

[headmount]

Just found this shot while downloading my wife's camera. I think it is the day Rod and Bill went on their surfboards. I had gone earlier and had already gotten home, when they went by my house, so I grabbed this shot from the back deck. It is taken with the equivalent of a 1000mm lens, on a camera with a pretty small sensor.

As I write this I'm looking at the river through the rain; the pic reminds me what a great summer it has been.

Great pic!  Liked seeing the two paddlers in such a broad expanse....Taken from high above on the cliff?  Even though it's a pocket camera you can still see the swell trains.  Thanks.

[covesurfer]

Great shot Laszlo!

Yeah, that was quite the summer. July was unbelievable and it sounds like you've all had a few epic days this September too.

Valley Girl, Rod and I along with Pono Bill and Josh in his OC1 and Mark in his ski, did a bunch of east wind runs last year. Rod and I paddled from just below Bonneville Dam all the way to Rooster Rock - that was pretty epic. Wind was 15 to 30 from the east and we were obviously going with wind and current.

Bill, Josh, Mark and I did a bunch of Viento's to Cascade Locks runs on easterlies as well. That's a nice long paddle, around 11 miles if I remember. It starts out barely beyond flat but by the time you're to Cascade Locks, it's full on swell and surfing downwinding. You should try some of those runs. You can always send PB a message, he's usually game for adventure paddling. If you want Josh's number, you can message me and I can send it to you.

[PonoBill]

"Adventure Paddling" is that a euphemism for "anything stupid".

[laszlo]

Valley Girl, you live in Home Valley. On east wind days (sure to be coming in the next few weeks) Home Valley to Stevenson is a perfect downwinder. For those of us on the Washington side, it's a no brainer. I will be going, we can shuttle.

[covesurfer]

"Adventure Paddling" is that a euphemism for "anything stupid".

Is this a question? 

[SkyeSup]

Interesting blog, usually more focussed on BC but discusses the high winds in the gorge here:
http://50shadesofvan.com/blog/2014/1/24/water-140-kmhr-wind-gust-endless-enterainment