Yes, all that white stuff came from the latest
Pacific coast storm that also brought some fun
and adventure for ol' mcholehog hisself!
Paddled the Clackamas on Monday, running a nice
respectable 2700cfs, Bob's was sweet but crowded. 
Ladies, keep your eyes open if you do any of the
extreme racing! Met a lady named Rachel that won
hands down the extreme race during the gorge
games, but because she was not a "pro", she was
ineligible for the $, but what really ticked her
was no mention of her time in any of the
publications that wrote up the results! So, she
will be entering this year as a pro! I wish her
well, she was fun to paddle with and to extend
thanks for the IPA beer after our run! 
Only had about 4 runs at Bob's, not enough for
this ol' dog to dial in, but the waiting line was 
a hassle, some of the other boaters skipping and
jumping in ahead of others, etc. No Spokane
boater would do that!
Hoped to hook up with Tony Z, but our schedules
didn't mix!
Left Tues for the coastal area around Astoria to
meet with owner of Pacific Wave Kayak with whom I 
was getting info about the area prior to travel.
He (Denny) gave me some info on the etiquette of
kayaking the surf when boarders were also present 
- give them the wave, go elsewhere, etc. I had
hoped to paddle the Wilson a fun, playfull CL 2-3 
near Tillamook, but no one to go with. By the
time I got south enough to consider running it
myself, it was too late to set up hitching a
shuttle, etc. Trouble with hwy 101 repairs from
the last Pacific storm! 
Camped at Nehalem near the beach and enjoyed the
scenery. The storm warnings were issued for up
and down Wash and Ore coasts for high winds (I'll 
say, nearly blew my Eurovan over during the
night!), coastal flooding, etc. What a storm!!!
The good news was the snow here and mountains,
rivers up, and a call from Denny Wed morn telling 
me that the Nasselle hole was going to come
in!!!!!!
The down side was the travel back up the coast
hwy - down trees, washouts, etc. The one hour
drive took 3 hours!
Got to the Nasselle around noon and paddled this
nice park and play for 2 hours solo, being joined 
by Denny and Ben from PacWave. The water quality
was similar to Hangman at flood, just not as
thick! The level when I got there was about 1400
cfs, it really kicks in at 2400, but it kept
rising and getting better the longer I was there. 

The wave is formed by a structure built to help
water intake to the adjoining salmon hatchery.
They allow paddlers to use their parking space
and let you walk down and put-in right next to
the intake house. The level I had provided a nice 
surf (back, side, front), as well as spins,
blunts, etc. Verticals were out due to the rather 
shallow clearance and basalt!
Split the drive between Wed night and Thursday
and more travel hassles - fog, driving rain, high 
winds, snow, etc.
So, if you're in the Astoria area and it's been
raining for 2-3 days, check out the NAsselle
hole!
Tony Z headed there this morning to check it out, 
as the gauge was reading 2000cfs. 
All in all a great trip, too little boating, but
sight seeing, travel was fun!