Riverboarding on My 15th Wedding Anniversary

Photo by Iceman Riverboarder
Jana and Mike Bitton enjoy what little calm water they encountered while riverboarding on the Upper Clackamas River.

Was it a date? Was it adventure race training? Was it both? Jana and I went riverboarding today, which also happens to be our 15th wedding anniversary. With Josh "Ice Man" Lamka of Face Level Riverboarding (www.facelevel.com) as our tutor, we took a short run on the Upper Clackamas River near Portland, Ore. If you know the river, we put in at Fish Creek, and took out below Carter Falls. Ice ran me through this stretch of river my first time on a riverboard, and I agree with him when he says it's a beginner's run with a thrilling ending. Jana disagreed, and just before the second set of rapids, stood up in the river and decided she was done. She hiked back to the car in her borrowed wetsuit, PFD, helmet and booties, carrying her fins in hands covered with funky webbed gloves. "I got a lot of weird stares from people driving by," Jana said when we met back up at the Jeep. While Jana was hiking, I was riverboarding for the second time in my life. I was far more confident this time around. Along for the adventure were my brother David and his wife Tomie, visiting from Colorado Springs, Colo. They had a blast!