Spring melt is on it's way and the crew is getting anxious talking non stop about trips to come and rivers and gorges we have not yet explored.  We thought we should go down to Hood river and get warmed up with two back to back weekends on Washingtons most infamous classic class V river, the Little White or known locally as L-Dub.... 
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Once in Hood we hooked up with a great crew and some old friends of the river I havent seen in a long time... This was no amuture hour, the boys were fired up and it was going to be a great weekend !!!! here is some photos and mixed tale over two different weekends on the Little White. 

Jeff launching boulder sluice which ends the 1/2 mile class V boulder maze called getting busy.....
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JD gazing into the twisting gnar of Island drop. 
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S-turn had some wood in it so over the weekend we ran it several different ways... above I ran left boofing right by the wood landing in an eddy and snapping this photo of under the veil.  Below is Chris Clark showing us the hero line on the right.... you can see him coming out of the base of the first drop.
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On one day a guy in the crew ahead of us blew his skirt on one of the bigger drops forcing a swim. We came around a corner to find these boys dealing with a pinned boat under a log. We managed to spend an hour here using every skill and piece of equipment in our rescue kits.  After setting up a 4:1 z-drag it took getting in the water and pulling the damn thing off.  You can see his boat under him under the log.......
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The Little White is laced with fun ledges and boulder gardens.
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CC giving it on Stove pipe. A nice 15' drop with water veiling you from the boulder on the right.
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Wish Bone - One of the funnest drops I've run.  My first time down the only direction JD gave me above this was, " just be left man it's an auto kicker. It was intimadating paddling down to that horizon line never seeing it before then realizing i'm not far enough left and gutting for the middle of this 20 footer.    
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Above waiting for another paddler I somehow snapped a shot of a salmon making his way up stream..... Below Robin and I hang out at the exit of the first gorge.....
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On the first day we all walked around the infamous spirit falls. paddling legends of all have gotten pounded behind the falls broken backs off the landing and also styled many lines off spirit.. as we walk around JD scouts the falls the first day wanting to run it the second. "ah , look at it today and just route into it tomorrow". 
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Here we are after scrambling back down to the river around the punch bowl. once you run spirit you are all alone in your own little class V amphatheter. JD was fired up day two so we all took our spots and set safety.....Below  most things that come out of there go right into this 6' chute ledge called chaos.. Chaos is a bad ledge hole that feeds in a circle off the cliff and hard to get out of.  
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                                                                                   JD scouting his line
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                                                              JD getting a sweet launch ......freefall.
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And JD after getting pushed under the falls trying to paddle out and getting beat by the vale swimming and scrambling up on the last minute rock shelf. JD was fine and got roped out from where he is, his boat came to us and spun circles in Chaos as expected so we rodeoed it out with no gear lost and JD ok. It takes a team to run hard rivers......
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Getting the boat out of the ledge and roping it to down stream......  then paddling out of that amazing gorge.... JD runs the falls the next weekend and styles the line, you never learn anything from fights you win.
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Two of the best weekends boating I've had in years with some of my best friends......
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