Last spring, I ventured into Oregon's remote Chetco River--a rarely paddled Wild & Scenic gem in the heart of the Kalmiopsis Wilderness.  Our trip was certainly the most epic I'd ever done in Oregon--a 2-day brutal hike in followed by 2 days of paddling through one of the most remote parts of the state.  The adventure drew us to the Chetco, but the imminent threat of helicopter-assisted gold mining made the trip urgent.

We collaborated with Oregon's PBS affiliate to help bring attention to the beautiful and wild Chetco, in hopes that it might be spared from the highly destructive gold mining.  Environmental groups have been fighting hard to prevent the mining, but since very few people are able to access the river canyon its beauty isn't always tangible for people.  We hoped to paddle the river and bring back images to highlight how spectacular of a place it is.

In an incredible turn of events, we found out a couple of weeks ago that the mining proposals had been denied.  It certainly wasn't just because of our trip, but we hope that we might have played some part in helping to protect such a valuable part of Oregon.

Check out the segment produced by Oregon Public Broadcasting here: (Link)

Happy paddling,

Andy

Team D