Eastern Oregon: soon...

The setting is perfect: steep gradient, waterfalls, slides, gorgeous mountains, pagan ritual sites and plenty of bears. Twelve miles in and only twenty-four out. All we need now is some sweet sunshine, and some snowshoes.Few kayakers would think to venture into the brush out here in Eastern Oregon. For me, it's personal. I grew up in the little town of La Grande, and having spent the last few months living back home and exploring the area, I think there just might be some paddling after all. The cover of the phone-book has a clean 15-to-30-to-10 foot triple-drop on it, and years back our sleepy little church-camp of a settlement was home to the likes of Josh Bechtel (Hey dude, congrats) and other perhaps lesser known white-water heroes. I did spot a few waterfalls while scouting, and I hope they look a little cleaner once they melt. I wonder what the rest of the runs look like under all that snow.