The White Salmon area in Washington is undoubtedly one of the best kayaking hubs on earth, attracting paddlers worldwide of all ability levels. The number of quality rivers and the diversity of whitewater is incredible, but what really makes this place so special is the paddling community. There is always someone to paddle with, including an uncharacteristically large number of female boaters. But, regardless of gender and ability levels, everyone is exceptionally supportive of each other and paddles together here.
On Saturday April 30th SheJumps hosted a ‘Get the Girls Out’ paddling day on the White Salmon River. Organizing an event of this nature is almost unnecessary in this paddling community where there is a plethora of paddling ladies and hitting the river with an all female crew happens naturally everyday. So, Saturday was all about gathering friends together.
The event targeted ladies, but we decided to include boys because it’s all about community and friendship, and we certainly would not appreciate if the boys excluded us from their paddling adventures. Several guys joined us, but the ratio was overwhelmingly female. The day started with 13 kayakers hiking into the Class 4 Orletta Section of the White Salmon River.
As we paddled downstream the stoke float crew grew in numbers as more people joined for the Middle and Lower Sections. More organized then most days on the river, it all culminated with a take-out BBQ with delicious local beverages provided by Naked Winery and Everybody’s Brewing. It was great to see so many people out on the water together and awesome to meet a couple of new friends who made treks from Portland and Seattle.
04/30/2016
Nicole Mansfield