Multnomah Falls,Mt.Hood,White Salmon & The Deschutes!

Hello Surf Oregon 2 nation-
Today marks the final full day of this expedition, and we are sure you are excited to see your young adventurers tomorrow. The past two days have been filled with the loads of excitement. Upon leaving the coast, for the mighty Mount Hood, the trip visited world-famous,  Multnomah Falls.  Multnomah Falls is one of the world's most photographed waterfalls. Next stop, was Mt. Hood for an epic day of skiing and snowboard. They had a glorious sunshine filled day with amazing views from the top and terrific spring skiing conditions. The more experience "shredders" charged the mountain with LE leaders Kevin and Greg at their side. Those new to the sport, worked with LE leader Meg and a ski-instructor. It was said to be a terrific day.

Next we gave the group the option of 2 days at Mt. Hood or 2 days of white water rafting. Most groups over the years have decided that one day on Mt. Hood was plenty, and this year's group agreed. So they were off to conquer the white waters of the Deschutes and White Salmon Rivers. The kids were super psyched to raft and the day was filled with intentionally capsized rafts, throwing trip mates out of the raft, and lots of swimming(with life jackets and helmets of course). They also learned the rafting technique of "riding the bull". This fun and adventurous strategy involves charging a class III rapids with all the paddled tucked safely in the raft and everyone holding on to the raft's rope. Let's just say that some of the kids got some serious "air time", with Grant getting the award form most "air". They were on the river for nearly 8 hours.  The second day the group rafted the White Salmon River.  Based on our group's first day performance, the crew at All Star Rafting  determined we were ready for this non-stop thrill ride. They charged rapids with names like: Grasshopper, Corkscrew, Waterspout and Rattlesnake. It was an all together epic day on the river. Today the group will be sleeping in and moving camp to Milo McGiver for a bittersweet final evening together. All 3 leaders told us they wish they could have another week with this group! Nice Job Everyone!

Riding the Waves! Surf Oregon 2 style!

The Surf Oregon 2 Expedition has begun the surfing leg of their tour and have been shredding up the cold Oregon surf. They met with longtime surf instructor and LE legend, Paul Hansen, who most certainly resembles Jeff Bridges character "The Dude" in the Big Lebowski. Longacre is the only commercial operator Paul works with and we are incredible lucky to have had him each of the past 12 summers. He is notorious for his high success rate of converting beginners into surfers!

The conditions on the 1st day were choppy and rough but our fearless crew surfed the pounding waves all day long and worked on proper techniques and approaches.  Paul worked with each of them individually in the water and by day's end most were standing up on their boards and riding waves.

On day 2, they had what can be described as a "perfect day" Not a cloud in the sky, with perect beginner waves to choose from. By days end Emily, Maggie and Cyrilla had all mastered their "pop-up" and were riding their longboards all the way to shore. John and Matt were paddling out for bigger waves with LE Leader and veteran Surfer Greg by their side. They surfed from 9-4:30 this day, stopping for a quick lunch break of tomato soup and grilled cheese.

The leaders report the group continues to build as a community, and social dynamics are sound. With the trip half way over, we are expecting great things to come from this group in the next week.

Deadman , Dunes & Sandboards

With a final day of biking the Yaquina Lighthouse Route under their belts the Surf Oregon 2 expedition broke camp and headed north to the legendart Oregon Sand Dunes!!! They hiked the dunes yesterday afternoon and practiced the sandy and dizzying "Deadman Roles" down the might dunes. The weather was  terrific and they enjoyed great views of the Pacifc. Back at camp they enjoyed a "Sweet BBQ" of burgers, dogs, veggie options, etc, cooked over open fire. They left camp early this morning, after devouring bacon & eggs, as everyone was "super-pumped" for sandboarding. We just heard from LE leader, Megan, and they are in the midst of building a burm and a jump to increase the "epicness factor". The leaders continue to say great things about this group. Everyone is participating and giving their best during activity time. They are forming into a very cohesive and efficient group of adventurers! We are very pleased with this expedition thus far. Hope all the parents are getting great reports!

Slackers and Sunsets

We continue to get great reports from our Surf Oregon 2 leaders about this expedition. They have all done well on the biking section and the leaders simple say it is '"Just a great group of kids" They  have also shown great instincts on the slack-line. A favorite tradition of the rock climber, it involves wrapping rock climbing webbing around two trees and "tightroping" it. On the 2nd night of biking they enjoyed "Bomber Burritos" and indulged in some Smores! There was also an epic post bike swim at a nearby lake.


Strangely, they are not fulfilling their "teenage duties" of trying to sleep in until 11-12 and have been up most mornings with their leaders, raring to go. The leaders assume this will not be the case when they head into the Surfing section, as we put in long, energy burning days. Stay tuned for more posts and hopefully some better pictures then these: Click Here

Silver Falls & The mighty Pacific

The Surf Oregon 2 expedition is up and running and off to a terrific start. After a long and rainy arrival day, with some campers day beginning at 3 AM, the group took on their first challenge-The Trail of Ten Falls! Led by their leaders Greg, Megan and Kevin the group hiked 7 miles together taking in the beautiful scenery and enjoying the new camaraderie of their trip mates.

 Next they headed to the Oregon coast and the might Pacific Ocean. The leaders were especially impressed with the "Tent-Setting-Up" skills displayed  on only the 2nd night of the trip. Maggie and at Matt were cooks for the day and cranked a delicious feast of spaghetti and meatballs. This morning the group biked the historic lighthouse route along the Oregon coast. This afternoon they had a terrific first "Group" on the beach, and once again the leaders were impressed with several of the camper insights and contributions. Right before dinner both Jesse and Grant were voluntarily burried in the sand and turned in to Merman/Merwoman. We will look forward to seeing photos. Stay tuned for more blogs as we will try to get them posted every 3-4 days.