Skiing and Canoeing

More from the 2012 "Catch up" series... Ski season began with a bang this year... Back to back storms lined up and dumped a pile of snow on us, so the week before Christmas we got out and had a few awesome days. There is also a series of pictures that Mel and I took on an awesome canoe trip over on the coast on one of those rare beautiful weather days we get mid winter.

Skinning up Mary's Peak in a horrible storm (super windy)

Still pretty though... Here's Mel, Mark, and Bella working their way up.

Okay, different trip now... Huge dump of snow, so much that Apollo could only tunnel downhill

John and Anna doing a snowpack assessment to check the avalanche conditions

Good to go!

John finds some "Hamburger Air"

Apollo is infinitely strong, but John decided to give him a break (so I could snap their Xmas card photo!)

The next day we met up with Aaron and toured around Todd Ridge

Practically a winter wonderland out there!

Anna

John

Aaron

The next day we snuck into our secret spot and found yet more powder. 

Okay, on to the coastal canoe trip thingy.  Pretty cool, huh!?

This is the "Sea Otter" that photography proved wasn't a sea otter. 

Thought it was kinda cool to see a canoe on the beach

Kayaking

For me (nate) 2012's primary recreation was kayaking, so I thought I'd share some of those pictures as part of my "catching up" program... I've been extremely lucky to have some great friends (Mark, Sarah, and Kathleen) who have taken me under their collective wings and introduced me to the sport.  I've found that it can be quite fun, but also quite scary.  For me at least, the best part about it isn't the rapids or the excitement (although that does add to the fun), it's the cool places we've snuck into that are almost impossible to access by foot.  Also worth mentioning is that kayaking and photography don't mix very well together, mostly because it's usually wet and dark on the river: Not very conducive to getting good pictures. I take loads of pictures and end up throwing 75% of them away.  Anyway, here are a few that made the cut.

Kathleen and Matt on a mellow stretch of the Siletz River

Matt checking out the headwaters of Opal Creek

Pano of "Thor's Playroom" aka "Nate's Bane"

There is a 15 minute carry to the put-in on Opal, but it's rather scenic.

Mark, our fearless and humble leader shows Matt and I how it's done!

Matt catches some "hamburger air"

Lot's of rapids end in beautiful, mellow, and seemingly bottomless gorges. 

...Kinda like this one.

Here is a funny ice cream headache sequence.

Scouting "Big Fluffy"

Another gorge below"fluffy"

Fluffy Pano

The "Portage" around big fluffy is a 10-15' seal launch. 

The water in Opal is crystal clear (and pretty cold)

Matt commiting to "Door Number 1" in "Thor's Playroom"