Road Trip Part 1: Cal. Salmon Race/South Fork Salmon TR

Nordhiemer Race 2009

-April 30th, 2009-

7 paddlers and one Sprinter w/trailer. This was exactly what we needed to do this trip in style!

Thanks Next Adventure!

Thanks to Next Adventure, Portland Oregon for providing the ultimate road trip vehicle! With a trailer for boats the Sprinter could take 9 paddlers no problem.

-10:00pm Thursday we hit the road. A little late but not out of the norm. Destination Salmon River in Cali. We arrived in Ashland at 4:00am and we pulled off to crash at Noah's River Adventures. Thanks again guys! We were on the road again by 8:00 and after breakfast, shopping, changing a trailer light and looking for Brake fluid that we didn't even need we managed to arrive at Nordhiemer Campground about 3:30 pm. The rain started on the way down and didn't stop all weekend.

A rare glimpse of the sun breaking through the thick dark clouds that ruled the skies all weekend.

Saturday morning we woke up and prepared for the race which started at 1:23 pm. Ha Ha! Everyone was at the put in and eagerly awaiting the mass start! I got the chance to try out my new Shred Ready Standard provided by my latest sponsors HUB or "Hopworks Urban Brewing" out of Portland, Oregon! Thanks Hopworks! Sick helmet. Nice job Shred Ready!

This years race theme was Porn Stars and Monsters and people brought out their costumes or lack of.....

One individuals idea of a costume.
Christie Glissmeyer's Costume

Raft Team in Freight Train

Kayaker in Freight Train

A common view from the road on the shuttle of the Nordhiemer stretch

We finished the race and headed for the South F. Salmon Gorge. This was a awesome run! Super Clean class 4 to 5-. We scouted 3 major rapids, one was the last gorge which you can see from the road on the way up.

South Fork Salmon

We drove through the small town of Forks of the Salmon on our way to the South Fork Salmon. Forks of the Salmon is a small and quite town on the confluence of the North and South Forks of the Salmon River. Didn't seem like there was much going on in the Forks but maybe we were just there at a slow time. Speaking of time it seemed like time had kind of froze here.

Frozen in Time at the Forks of the Salmon

Warm'n up on the S. Fork!

One of the larger ledges in the upper section of the S. Fork Ty. O boofing another clean ledge on the S. Fork Paddler: Allan Satcher

Paddler: Christie Glissmeyer

Paddler: Tony S.

The rapid above was one we scouted. Although it was super clean with a nice tongue it was a very narrow constriction and looked stout from above.

I am not sure what you call this one, but up against the right wall would have been a good name. We scouted this on the left and then ran the far right slot between the triangle rock and the far right wall

Paddler: Tony S.
Ty waiting below the final gorge above the take out

We Scouted the last gorge on river right. It had two descent sized ledges and a couple of holes to go with. We took a quick scout, ran it and with big smiles paddled on down to the take out. This is a great stretch. The run is fairly straight forward, it seemed like we had a great flow, everything was covered and not really any stomp'n holes.

The top ledge in the final gorge

The second ledge in the final gorge

We loaded gear and headed back to the party which had begun with out us! Paul got ready for the raffle and awards while everyone else boozed it up!
As the night went on so did the drinking and what else could we do but take artsy photos that plugged our sponsors

Thanks for the growlers Hopworks. You guys make the best specialty beers around!

Thanks again Next Adventure the pop up tents saved the day and made a great event site!Big Thanks to Paul G. for organizing this awesome race and we hope to see everyone
May 16-17 at the Upper Clackamas Whitewater Festival on the Clackamas River. It is gonna be another great year with the return of the Big Air Ramp, Head-to-Head Boater X, Playboat Mass Start, Downriver Relay and lets not forget the Next Adventure BBQ on Saturday night!
Part 2 coming soon "Clear Creek and why you should stop by the South Umpqua on your way home!"