Sophia and I decided to book a midsummer trip to Hood River about a month ago. Like last year, we decided to rent an RV/Van which gave us a lot of flexibility (which was taken advantage of). It was also cheaper than the cheapest hood river Airbnb + car rental. No brainer if you like comfort camping.
A heat wave was oppressing the PDX/Gorge area which threatened to seriously stifle the wind for the week. Thankfully we had the means to be mobile and knew that Jones’ Beach (to the west of PDX) blows hard when PDX gets hot enough to interrupt the Western Corridor thermal.
Upon landing, we were met at the Airport with our Winnebago Travato. After dropping off the owner and getting a crash course in the Van systems, we headed west to Clatskanie to camp for the night.
Last year we had stayed overnight in the Clatskanie City Park, which allowed short-term camping (with electrical) for 10$ a night. This has been suspended, regretfully, but understandably due to abuse and drug-related problems. So at 11 PM we found and procured a spot at the only other nearby RV park (RV Outdoor Adventures - A little pricey, a little Christian, but friendly and close).
Tuesday, July 24th:
Headed to Jones Beach. Arrived as it was still building, right at high tide. This was fortunate because as the tide recedes, you get a few bonus knots effectively and you get an exposed sandbar out behind the island which gives you acres of butter to play in, though there are about 20-30 minutes of upwinding to get there. We scored two multiple hour sessions up around the island on 8s and 9s. What can I say…probably one of my favorite spots I’ve kited. Clean wind, and flat water everywhere. Aside from shallow water flatness, there is also a lot of kelp or something that keeps the water flat even in the deeper (like waste deep) regions up there. The only downside is you are pretty remote so if things go sideways it could mean trouble. I’d put that risk factor similar to Gull Island. So it does put a damper on forging new ground. Upon returning to the launch area (ie non-consequential terrain) I witnessed Soph land the biggest F-15 she’s thrown. By virtue of the gusty winds there, she inadvertently ended up at least 8 ft off the deck through the loop and rotation. This was squarely in Jeff-15 territory, and a great note to end on. Meter Trace was 20-30 mph throughout the sessions.
Wednesday, July 25th:
Rinse. Wash. Repeat. It was a little lighter, and we should have rigged 9s and 10s, but we made due and still had fun. Below is a short video from day two:
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/282345590?app_id=122963" width="640" height="360" frameBorder="0" title="Jones' Beach 2018" allowfullscreen="" seamless="seamless" sandbox="allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-forms allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-presentation" style="border:0;"></iframe>Directors Commentary: The scene opens with the POV Kiter waving to a distant She-Kiter who waves back, illustrative of a love for each other that is only paralleled by their love of kiting. After a chaotic fast-forward cut, you are greeted with the music of Sunset Everette by VHS Head, mainly because it is weird, will annoy most viewers, is on my kite playlist, and most importantly is unlikely to get taken down. Viewers are then treated to views of butter flat water, beautiful nature, loops on every trick, and maximal usage of the iMovie clip-transition catalogue. The scene closes with the POV kiter approaching the once distant She-Kiter as a symbol of symmetry and the infinite.
Other Jones’ Intel: Here is graphic of the launch I made last year, but I’ll include here as well. Also, a large bird nests right by the meter, and has a habit of roosting on it. This will mess with the indicated direction so don’t trust it. If it is blowing hard there, its blowing WNW, even if the meter shows it blowing SW or something else. Lastly, it is tidal, so pay some mind to that.
That night we headed west as forecasts for the corridor had improved. We set camp at Memaloose state park, our home for the next several nights.
Thursday, July 26th:
We kited out of the event site, once it finally picked up. We had short shared sessions on the 10M, but nothing spectacular. We’ve been pretty spoiled this year flying our smaller kites for the most part. Transitioning to the 10M from say an 8 definitely changes the timing on your tricks. You know what they say, the family that backroll kite loops together, back roll kite loops together.
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/282353396?app_id=122963" width="640" height="360" frameBorder="0" title="Soph B-Roll K-Loop" allowfullscreen="" seamless="seamless" sandbox="allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-forms allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-presentation" style="border:0;"></iframe> <iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/282348333?app_id=122963" width="640" height="360" frameBorder="0" title="Nate B-Roll K-Loop" allowfullscreen="" seamless="seamless" sandbox="allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-forms allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-presentation" style="border:0;"></iframe>
Friday, July 27th:
Again took our time, as the wind seemed too as well. That said, when it arrived, it looked like I could manage on an 8M, soph chose the 9M. We launched out of event site and upwinded to just shy of the hatchery. I had probably 2 boosts and a couple surfed swells before things started to feel light. At first, I couldn’t tell if I was passing into shadows or what but eventually saw enough kite movement and mass downwinding that it was clear that it was dying. I almost put in at the Washington (White Salmon) launch out of fear of not making the event site. I made it to the event site, but barely, though managing downwind travel in that light of wind was a unique and valuable experience. Soph managed with slightly less drama with her wise choice of the 9M.
I tried one last session on the 9M when it appeared to pick up, but couldn’t really hold ground.
Saturday, July 28th:
We planned to session the morning at the event site, and catch an evening at Jones’. Event site was on and had been on all morning. We hit the water around 11:30. We took 9s and 10s based on getting burned so hard the previous day. We upwinded to the hatchery and spent 2 hours supremely overpowered. We did find some lighter wind and flat, ankle deep water westward of the island and played there for a bit. We came in, decide not to leave wind for wind, and after a quick lunch traded the 10 for an 8M. Thus began a session for all time. Soph hung close to the sandbar and played in the kiddie pool. I headed back to just upwind of the White Salmon launch to play in the swell. It was…well…swell. Basically the following sequence for 2 hours:
Right tack upwind towards Oregon, spot a nice piece of chest high swell, pop to toeside onto the wavefront and surf downwind with a drifting kite, loop kite to left tack, power up, and hit a well-formed ramp to jump consistently higher than I ever have, loop into a soft landing, cut back to a right tack upwind towards Oregon…over and over and over and over.
Came in completely toasted, found Soph, grabbed beers, packed up and headed west in hopes of Jones session on Sunday (which was forecasted to be the only game on the river). No session pics, only apres-kite.
Sunday, July 29th:
We had a leisurely day waiting for the wind to come up. The meter crossed 20 mph around 3 PM and we headed to Jones’. We arrived, rigged a 9 and 10, and made our way back upwind around the island for one last long Oregon session. We played around in the flat water for an hour or so. Soph successfully worked on backroll-5s, landing boosts to toeside into carvy turns. I tried both, found them awkward and spent my time doing my usual stuff. I’m pretty sure Soph set some height records out there by the end of it. We headed back to shore with smiles.
Monday, July 30th:
Here we sit in the PDX airport watching our return flight get continually delayed, but still smiling, completely beaten and sore after six days of kiting.