Paddlers Churning the Columbia to Help Vets, Rivers
Posted on Thursday, September 3rd, 2009
This week, kayak and conservation rock stars Andy Maser and Daniel Fox along with a small team of other adventurers are paddling the 130-mile stretch of the Columbia River from Portland, Ore., to the Pacific Ocean to benefit Disabled American Veterans, Team River Runner and WeLoveCleanRivers.org.
This is a trial run to prepare for a larger trip next year, when kayakers will lead a group of disabled veterans along the same route. The crew hopes to raise awareness of environmental concerns in the Columbia River watershed and help those recovering from injuries while serving our country. The group organized a similar trip for blind veterans on the Deschutes River in eastern Oregon in late August.
On Monday, the group kayaked from Willamette Falls to Hayden Island, making their way through the urban waterways of Portland’s industrial district. Myself and Wend Magazine’s intrepid senior editor, Anna Brones, headed out to meet up with the team. While there, we managed to take some killer paparazzi kayaking shots from our perch on the motorboat. Thanks to Sam Drevo of Northwest River Guides for shuttling the two of us around and navigating through dozens of monstrous tankers.
The team is finishing up the trip at the end of the week, and you can keep up with them via Twitter (@amaser and @kitsunekeimou) as well as track the journey live at SPOT Adventures.
Emily Nuchols is a sometime paparazzi photographer and paddler, but spends the majority of her time working to remove the four lower Snake River dams in eastern Washington to give both salmon and people a river to run in. Visit www.wildsalmon.org.
Hmmm…. Disposable plates, forks, and cups on an attempt to “raise awareness of environmental concerns”.
Thanks Joel. You are absolutely right. Anna and I called them out on the trip. I have passed your comment along to the person organizing this, and subsequent trips.
Shame on me. Andy and Daniel had nothing to do with the disposables provided. Credit would go to none other than myself. I was schooled pretty hard on this trip. After day one we switched to reusable bowls and reused our plastic ware. Future trips will have a credo that fosters a much more responsible ethic. In fact this experience has caused us to seriously reconsider the way we run all our outdoor events at DAV.