Columbia River Paddling Hazards

As most of you already know, the Columbia River has a few hazards that kayakers must be aware of. This is especially true in the areas of the river immediately below the big dams like The Dalles and Bonneville dams. In the spring, when snowmelt causes the pools to rise, they let a lot of water out of the dams greatly increasing the river flow as well as the number of whirlpools, eddies and currents. Here's a video of some of the things that a paddler may encounter on the narrower sections of the river in the Columbia Gorge.



There is a better quality MP4 video HERE.

Be careful out there.