The Eagerly Anticipated Eye Candy Update

Let me begin with my most sincere apologies, to all those who have been waiting on the edge of their seats, so anxiously for an update. Whether the last time you checked in was 2 days or 6 weeks ago, a lot has been happening, but very little has been written. I suppose that I owe a nice big and concise post is in order to catch everyone up to speed....


Where to begin... A kayak trip to Hood River Oregon? Ira, Cheyenne, Corey Ryan, and I left Missoula and spent three fun days of kayaking in the Hood River area. We started off with the Farmlands section of the White Salmon, and followed it up with a run down the Wind River, and three runs down one of my favorites, and a classic, the Little White Salmon. A great weekend including my first swim in quite a while and two runs off Spirit Falls a beautiful 35ft waterfall on the Little White.

The Author Getting Spiritual

We made it back to Missoula where the deal on my new car fell through, prompting me to buy a quick plane ticket to make it back for my nephew Eli's baptism. The baptism weekend was hectic, but lots or relatives came to town, of whom several I have neglected to see frequently enough.

Grandpa and my Lil' Bro with my new nephew Eli

The following week saw me to Mountain Top PA, at my parents house packing for Norway and completing random odd jobs when I was asked. My dad drove me to Philly on Tuesday April 30th for my departure. It also included an impromptu hair cutting. The trip, in comparison to Mefford's, was completely uneventful except for being transported across the Atlantic.

The Aftermath, also known as what I learned in Cosmetology School

I arrived in Bergen Norway 3 hours before my baggage, and 7 hours before Mefford. Fortunately after a quick bus ride and a quick train ride, we made it to Voss, Norway and our boss Per's house. That night we met up with friends from Voss Rafting for a few beers and some good hot tub and sauna action. Sunday came all to quickly and we found ourselves at our new home in Vassenden. The house this year is much closer to the base, but also unfortunately next to the main road, so quite noisy.

The Train Station in Voss

Crossing the World's Longest Fjord -Sogn Fjord
(That's pronounced feeeeyord)





Since arriving in Vassenden, business has been quite slow. Fortunately the weather has been nearly opposite of last year, and the 22+ hours of daylight have been mostly sunny since our arrival. There has been a bit of work, and rumors of the busiest June ever are floating in our heads. Many of the days of May have passed quite slowly, but it has given us plenty of time for reading, sleeping, kayaking the Jolstra, and even running(yes even I have been bored enough to run).

The View from Our House Looking to the North.

(It is a crying shame Norway has no decent scenery to offer, think how nice a Wal-Mart and some condos would look lining the lake.)

About two weeks ago the boredom got to Mefford and I, and we made an exodus to Voss, for a few days of kayaking. We met up with friends and got a couple of runs down the Bradsethelva, and I got a run down the Reimegrend Section of the Raundalselve. As well as kayaking we celebrated Norwegian independence day in Voss, May 17th. Not that Norwegians need an excuse to party, but they sure don't pass up a reason to party if they can help it. In addition to our patriotic celebrations and kayaking, we picked up a new member of the house after her adventures across the Atlantic, Mefford's most special lady friend, and childhood acquaintance of my own, Ms. Liza Duncan.







Our South African friend Hendri dropping in on the Brandseth

Benji Hjort on another Brandseth slide

Since our return from Voss Mefford and I have tried to make a point to kayak our river as much as possible. Our abundant river trips have recently been made possible by Liza, who is quickly learning the arts of driving a manual transmission vehicle. The plan is for her to be able to drive the Mini Bus when we get busy.

As mentioned, reading has been taking up a large part of the boring times. A significant portion of my reading has consisted of Ed Abbey's fiction and non fictions works... So, in the spirit of Abbey and adventure, we picked a mountain top that we wanted to get to the top of and hiked there. Nearly the entirety of the hike to the top of Tindefjellt, was off trail, bushwhacking and waling over exposed rock and through snow fields. I of course in my traditional fashion wore my Chaco sandals, which made for some interesting moments in the snow. Nevertheless, we made the summit and came to find spectacular views of valleys previously unknown to our vision. All in all the hike took nearly 5 hours, caused two bloody toes, and took us from approximately 300m above sea level to 1079m above sea level, a vertical gain of more than 2000 vertical feet!

Mefford Checking out The Creek that inspired the Hike and Liza Takes a drink with a dramatic view.











Near the Summit looking South

Looking at yet another area in desperate need of some Strip Malls

I hope everyone is doing well wherever you may be.

That's all she wrote for the time being... hopefully more adventure and sunshine are on the way.
Stay Tuned...
Ha Det Bra,
Amos

Flashback....

So, after a fun party for Ira's birthday everyone was excited for our weekend jaunt over to Hood River. Certain members of the group had been planning for weeks. Unfortunately this morning saw a number of the supposed crew waking up with fevers, thus nixing the trip. After so powwows the trip has been tentatively rescheduled for next weekend...with the final destination yet to be determined. There may be a change of venue from Hood River to the North Fork of the Payette. Ever since I started kayaking, particularly class V, I have wanted to run the North Fork of the Payette. Either way keep you eyes peeled after next weekend for stories and pictures.

In the mean time, I just came into possession of some pictures from my 2006 trip down the legendary "Box" on the Clark's Fork of the Yellowstone River. Ira and I met up with some characters from Bozeman two years ago in mid July for our descent down the "Box." For those of you not in the know, the Box is a two day wilderness trip through the 3rd deepest river gorge in the United States. Only the Grand Canyon and Hell's Canyon on the Snake are deeper. The rapids in the box are generally characterized by big boulders and big sieves and undercuts.



I have been on a lot of multi day trips, but the box ranks up there in memorable rapids, awe inspiring scenery, and scary portages.

The most notable section of river is known as Deliberation Corner. In this section the walls rise up dramatically and the river gets steep. Whether you decide to run the whole corner or not the last drop is mandatory, unless you have rock climbing skills beyond my comprehension.





Dropping the first 15 feet of Deliberation Corner.





The sequence consists of a 15 footer, followed by a boulder rapid into a 20 footer, around the bend to the mandatory 12 footer, followed by another 12 footer with a big hole. On our trip there were three groups that converged at Deliberation corner, and of the 16 people on the river only four of us ran the entire sequence.

Ira and I dropping the 20fter.

Box photos by Matt Rusher.





As memorable as Deliberation, but far less challenging, is the last major rapid on the run, Leap of Faith. Leap of Faith got its name because it is both mandatory to run, and unscoutable. You, have to go off the directions of the people that have been there before.








The author Leaping Faithfully




Shortly after is the final mandatory portage, which is awe inspiring in its own right.











Ira and I back in the water after the final portage, known as the Sunlight Strainers.

Two weeks after our Box trip we loaded down the Kia again, with British Columbia set out as our destination. A short detour through Seattle, to pick up JEB, and we were on our way. Unfortunately we did way too much kayaking to take a ton of photos, but we had some memorable days and got to see some amazing biking at the Kokanee Crank Works freeride festival at Whistler. In 7 days in BC we did about 10 runs on Callahagn Creek, two runs on Rutherford Creek, Rogers Creek, and the Upper Checkamus. We had to cut the short trip and get JEB back to Seattle so he could go to work in AK, but we finished the trip off with a run on the Green Truss and a run on the Little White Salmon near Hood River.

The Crew working towards a putin, with some ugly scenery in the background







Ira dropping in on Rutherford









Rutherford creek was slightly emotional for some of us, as it is the river where we lost a good boating friend, Matt Sheridan. The rapid that was the site of the accident produced a huge rainbow as we scouted, which lifted the heavy mood and got some smiles back on peoples faces. R.I.P Matt "Newschool" Sheridan

That's it for now, or until more photos resurface or I get back on the water. Look for a new post mid week for the pictures of my new ride... (Insert nickname). Hopefully a totally schweet name will come to me soon.

Peace,
Amoose

From the Little White to the Tetons and Back...The final voyage of the Muffin

For those of you that I have not been keeping up with, I have had a fairly busy winter of traveling. Earlier in the winter my travels most often took me south to my previous residence of Driggs Idaho. This has been an unbelievably good snow year in the Tetons, and thus my trips have seemed more than justified. Other travel destinations have been both to the north and west. Unfortunately I was not able to make it East for Christmas and my travels saw me to Whitefish Montana, for more skiing, followed by a few jaunts to Hood River Oregon for some super high quality kayaking.
Christmas Eve powder at Big Mountain Resort
Overlooking Whitefish Lake into Glacier Natl. Park

Two weeks ago Ira and I organizing a group for a long weekend in Hood River. We arrived to find the Little White Salmon with almost twice the volume that Ira and I had seen just 2 weeks before. Although more water can be nerve wracking, I knew I was going kayaking. So, with a slightly smaller group than initially planned we put on and had an incredible day. Unfortunately, I was more than a slacker and forgot the camera in the car. The next few days saw more runs on the Little White, as well as several runs on the classic Green Truss section of the White Salmon river. My buddy Robin took some sweet photos of the biggest drop on the Truss, aptly named Big Brother. Check em' out on his web page www.infinitymountain.com. The above photo, I took of Ira on Big Brother on our second day. All in all it was a great trip...Good people, high water, and a visit with our long lost friend Polly.

After the long drive back to Missoula I was informed that I had no work for the rest of the week. This was seemingly great news because I had received a phone call from my friend Curtis, saying he and his wife were on vacation in Driggs. After a long and greasy day under my car, a new catalytic converter and oxygen sensor were installed, and I was underway.

Curtis hiking on a seldom seen sunny winter day in the Tetons

The new equipment seemed to alleviate my previous problems and I began dreaming about my April voyage back East(and how it would be the Kia getting me there). After 4 days of skiing I made the journey home, which included car issues starting up once again. Flabbergasted and frustrated are two words to describe my attitude towards the Kia, after all we had been through she was finnaly showing signs of rebellion, possibly even hatred towards me. Less than a week later the Kia, a.k.a The Muffin Wagon, The Scone, Superportage, M@+* F#$!_@(^ car, and many other names passed on to a new owner. Despite my honesty her new owner carried high hopes and expectations. Thus far, no calls or complaints, from either the car or the new driver.The Superportage on one of her great Cali adventures

It was a sad day to see the Muffin drive away. But, as I look back I can only say that I doubt any other Kia has been on as many adventures or taken anyone to access as many beautiful places as mine. In total, 2 separate summer long trips, from Asheville NC to California and back. Two trips from Asheville to Missoula, via Driggs Idaho and back. A trip from Missoula to and around British Columbia. At least 8 round trips from Asheville to Wilkes Barre PA. Easily more than 200 trips to the Green River. And this winter 6 trips to Driggs, and a trip to Hood River. All in all the Muffin Wagon carried me over 130,000 miles in just about 6 short years.

A few of the beautiful places accessed by the Muffin

I can only hope my next car takes me on as many if not more adventures than the Kia. Hopefully the next week or so will furnish images of my new ride.