Thu., Sept. 7, 2017
RIVERS -- This year, in its first full summer season, more than 231,000 people floated the Deschutes River through the Bend, Oregon, Whitewater Park passageway channel on inner tubes, kayaks or paddleboards. The Bend Bulletin reports that’s roughly 2,200 floaters each day between May 15...
Thu., Aug. 31, 2017
PADDLING -- Canoeing, kayaking and camping through Z Canyon on the Pend Oreille River downstream from Metaline Falls has been tough to pull off since July 10 when Seattle City Light closed the Boundary Dam forebay campground and boat launch for a major reconstruction project....
Thu., Aug. 3, 2017
PADDLING – Paddling is a good thing for children as it’s applied each year by the Spokane Canoe & Kayak Club. The club’s 56th annual Paddle, Splash & Play, a free kids’ and family event, is set for 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 5,...
Mon., July 24, 2017
PADDLING – The 36th annual Pend Oreille River Poker Paddle will launch on Aug. 5, but organizers are offering incentives to register before July 31. Formerly a two-day event, this sometimes zany gathering has been honed to one day on the Pend Oreille River Water...
Tue., June 27, 2017
PADDLING -- Spokane Parks and Recreation will begin its annual service on Saturday to shuttle canoes, kayaks or SUPs from the 9 Mile take-out of the Little Spokane River to the put-in at St George's. Shuttle runs on Saturdays between 10 a.m.-4 p.m. July 1-Sept....
Mon., June 19, 2017
PADDLING -- The North Fork Payette River has never been beginner water in the first half of June, but this year even the experts had their hands full of flow at the North Fork Championship. The annual race held last weekend can always be expected...
Fri., June 16, 2017
PADDLING – A kayak guide in his first season on the job in Yellowstone National Park has died while trying to rescue a park visitor who capsized on Yellowstone Lake. Initial reports have not indicated whether the guide or the client were wearing wet suits...
Thu., May 25, 2017
PADDLING – A series of paddling clinics for canoes, kayaks, sea kayaks and recreational kayaks on flatwater and rivers will get underway this weekend as part of an annual skills program offered by the Spokane Canoe & Kayak Club. These classes are excellent for tuning...
Wed., April 12, 2017
WATERSPORTS -- The emergency closures of access to the Spokane River enacted in March have all been lifted as of this morning. The Spokane City Council and the Spokane County Commission both voted Tuesday night to lift their emergency closures. The Spokane City Council led...
Thu., April 6, 2017
WATERSPORTS -- With flows dropping below official flood stage, the City of Spokane today lifted its emergency closure of the Spokane River. However, whitewater paddling and rafting enthusiasts are still out of luck in the portions of the river governed by Spokane Valley and Spokane...
Fri., March 24, 2017
PADDLING – Expert kayakers have been watching a rare and fleeting opportunity flowing by this week. The Spokane River is running at flood stage and some play waves are in prime condition for doing tricks that can’t be done at lower flows. "This is a...
Wed., March 22, 2017
WATERSPORTS -- Expert kayakers relished the high Spokane River flows last week to play in Dead Dog Hole at the state line. However, because of concerns about flood-stage flows and large amounts of debris in the river, the cities of Spokane and Spokane Valley and...
Mon., March 20, 2017
WATERSPORTS -- The mood of the Spokane River changes dramatically through the seasons, and no one knows that more intimately than a kayaker. In this short video, Spokane paddler Brian Jamieson starts with a clip of paddling through the Bowl and Pitcher rapids at fall...
Sun., Feb. 26, 2017
KAYAKING – Janet Breuer will present a free program, “Paddling through Lemons,” about her solo paddling journey on the Columbia and Missouri rivers, at 7 p.m. Monday at Mountain Gear Corporate Headquarters, 6021 E. Mansfield in Spokane Valley. The program is sponsored by the Spokane...
Sun., Jan. 1, 2017
WATERSPORTS -- The annual "Only Fools Float on New Year Day" attracted a die-hard crowd to the Spokane River, as usual, from the ranks of the Northwest Whitewater Association and Spokane Canoe and Kayak Club. The non-Fool members were home by the fire missing the...
Mon., Aug. 1, 2016
WATERSPORTS -- My Thursday Outdoors story on 6 Flatwater Paddling Routes in the Spokane Area needs an update regarding the Hidden Spokane River trip. The gate to the city access to the south side of the river below Upriver Dam apparently is no longer regularly...
Wed., July 20, 2016
WATERSPORTS -- North Idaho College is offering a free opportunity to try out paddleboards, kayaks, canoes and catamarans, and awarding scholarships, too, at the school's annual beach party (open to the public). What: North Idaho College Cecil’s Summer Splash When: 4 p.m.-7 p.m. Thursday, July...
Tue., May 31, 2016
RIVERS – Environmental groups are asking Gov. Jay Inslee to increase the summer time flows of the Spokane River, to improve recreation and to maintain the scenic falls in the middle of the state’s second-largest city. The groups on Tuesday asked Inslee to revisit an...
Thu., May 19, 2016
PADDLING -- This video features short clips of kayaking carnage compiled by Brian McPherson from footage he found on the Internet. It was hard to watch a year ago when I first saw it, and it still leaves me squirming. It's very humbling to see...
Tue., May 10, 2016
WATERSPORTS -- Heads up waterlogged deal-seekers: Northwest River Supply is planning a parking lot sale to clear out gear for paddling and rafting from warehouses this week in Moscow, Idaho. WHEN: May 12-14 (9-6pm Thursday & Friday | 9-3pm Saturday) WHERE: NRS - 2009 S....
Tue., April 5, 2016
WATERSPORTS -- The J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Family Foundation has pledged $3.5 million to develop a whitewater recreational area in west Boise. The grant should help finish the second phase of the Boise River Park, which will include three new play waves, a slalom course,...
Sat., March 26, 2016
WATERSPORTS -- For much of the year, the Yaak River in Western Montana is a smallish, trouty tributary of the Kootenai River. But as Spokane kayaker Brian Jamieson points out in this video, it's a true spring whitewater challenge at 4.9 feet. Heading there? You...
Mon., March 14, 2016
PADDLING -- A Boise kayaker got a hoist from trouble on Idaho's Potlatch River on Saturday by a free helicopter rescue service out of Montana, but the man isn't so free now. He was wanted by the law. The Latah County Sheriff’s deputies checked out...
Thu., Feb. 25, 2016
RIVER RUNNING -- Hangman Creek is notorious among rafters and paddlers for being a now-you-see-it, now-you-don't whitewater attraction. Adequate flows for rafting usually come and go quickly in winter or early spring with rain and snowmelt events. Spokane river runner Tanner Grant jumped on the...
Fri., Feb. 19, 2016
WATERSPORTS -- With ample mountain snowpacks hinting at a great rafting and paddling season ahead, the Spokane Canoe & Kayak Club is tapping a top rafting expert and Eastern Washington University recreation professor for a primer program on whitewater safety. Paul Green, who taught hundreds...
Rich Landers writes and photographs stories and columns for a wide range of outdoors coverage, including Outdoors feature sections on Sunday and Thursday.
