Riverhouse/Dillon

Anna stands guard over the realm of the falls.

We got on the Riverhouse and Dillon Falls section of the Deschutes this weekend.  Andrew came prepared with his new rear mount for the Gopro which resulted in some cool shots.

We all did many laps on the 25' dam at the put in which is a total blast.  This drop is really easy center right, but has a pulsing hydraulic on the left that is either a smooth ramp or sticky hole depending on the surge. There was an exciting moment when Nate got caught in this hydraulic, but a combo of composed surfing by him and Skip being on top of his game (especially for a non-boater) got Nate out of there safely without a swim.

Nate and my first run went as hoped.

Dualing Green Nomads

We did the rest of the run without scouting from shore (which would have been a pain with the thick brush and sharp rock) which upped the fun level fun.  Every drop was boat scout-able except one which we ran blind.  There were two others that wouldn't hurt to scout.

There was some good quality stuff in there.  This would be a great backyard run.

We then headed up to Dillon Falls.  Everybody was a bit cold, but Nate and I still decided to give it a go after various heating techniques were applied.

  Nate had a sweet boof line down the left into the fold, and I did a delayed boof in the center.

Nate with a silky line.

 We waited while Anna decided to join, she wanted to seal launch in below the falls and just run the gorge.  There is a notoriously sticky hole just below the falls that she was funneled right into the center of.  She was able to roll up once but after multiple ends pulled and swam to the right shore.  Her boat pinned on the left in the gorge.

Last breath of air for awhile.

Nate lowered me in my boat to a point I could connect another rope to her boat.  He pulled me back and we struggled getting the pinned boat to budge.  We had a pin kit in the car, but the ground crew was unable to find it.  With darkness closing in and no pin kit, we left the boat tied off to a boulder and headed downstream through the short remainder of the gorge.  We changed and by the time we made the short drive to Bend it was dark.

Nate and Andrew cold, but happy with the day.

We spent 5 hours getting dinner then off to our final destinations for the evening.

Andrew made a quick video of the two bigger drops using his Gopro mount on the back, then the normal use of a Gopro, then a final one of it mounted on a boom.  It turned out well I thought.  Here it is.


Riverhouse run Upper Deschutes from Andrew Bradley on Vimeo.

It was a long trip, but without water over here in the Valley its a worthy journey.  With many runnable sections, the Deschutes offers a low water respite.



   -Jacob