Dawn at Little Redfish Lake in the Sawtooth Valley of Idaho. © Neil Ever Osborne

Need a little inspiration this Friday? Here are two stories that are sure to get the job done…

From the Save Our Wild Salmon blog:

Snake River sockeye make an epic migration each year to Redfish Lake in the Sawtooth Valley, climbing nearly 7,000 feet and swimming more than 900 miles to get there. To get a visual — that’s the distance from Denver to Chicago and higher than five Empire State Buildings stacked one on top of another.

In addition, these red fish tackle an eight-dam gauntlet on the Columbia and Lower Snake Rivers. The tenacity and determination of these fish is undeniable and at times unbelievable. It’s no wonder that they are often referred to as the lifeblood of the Northwest’s signature rivers.

Take action to save them here.

From The Cleanest Line:

Editor’s note: Patagonia ambassador Kate Rutherford and Madaleine Sorkin recently spent five days climbing The Freerider (VI 5.12+), a 3,000ft. route on the Southwest face of El Capitan. Kate shares her take on the climb here with photographs by haul bag maestro, Mikey Schaefer.

Five years ago, I thought freeing El Cap was an impossible goal. The huge scale, logistics, and physicality of freeing a big wall seemed beyond me. Over the years climbing started feeling easier, I spent more time on big routes, and Madaleine and I built up our endurance together on long routes like Moonlight and the Northwest Face of Half Dome. Alpine climbing in Patagonia helped me understand huge objectives, and I learned to break down my intimidation by just focusing on one pitch at a time, just doing the task at hand.

Read more…

Salmon and ladies, you rock. Keep it up!

Happy Friday!

So start now! Today is Endangered Species Day, so celebrate and fight to save our endangered species! Check out the Endangered Species Coalition’s site for more information on events in your area and how to help. If you need some motivation, keep reading and watch these videos…

And if you haven’t already, take a moment to take action to save the West’s iconic Snake River salmon. Just yesterday, the Obama administration decided to adopt a Bush-era plan for the Columbia-Snake Rivers in the Northwest — a plan, that if accepted by a federal judge — will essentially dam (pun intended) these salmon to extinction and lower the bar for protection of endangered species across the country.

Brock Evans, President of the Endangered Species Coalition said “[Today] is Endangered Species Day. We should be celebrating and working to protect America’s endangered species, but instead, for Columbia Basin salmon, we’re mourning. Even so, make no mistake — we’re not done fighting to save species like wild salmon. They are simply irreplaceable.”

Take Action Here!

And if you’re wondering why it’s so important to protect our endangered species for future generations. It’s because we are all connected. Endangered Species Day just happens to fall the day before International Day of Biodiversity. Don’t even get me started on why the U.S. is not participating… Our world is so incredible because it’s rich with a diverse and incredible community of species — it’s called biodiversity.

From Mountainfilm:

What exactly is biodiversity? The International League of Conservation Photographers put together this great multimedia piece that showcases what biodiversity is and why it’s important. Watching it, you’ll quickly realize that biodiversity is something that affects all of us… and that’s why we have a duty to do something to ensure its protection.

So, fight. Fight for our endangered species. Fight for yourself. Fight for our future! And take a tip from our good friend Jude of Epic Wheel Works: make every day count, protect our Earth and live the revolution every day.

Happy Friday!

“It’s time to fight for salmon. It’s time to fight for us. It’s time to fight for our future.”
— John Kitzhaber, former governor of Oregon and currently running for a second term.

Sometimes you have to roll with the punches… And sometimes you’ve got to fight. Wild salmon are fighting to survive right now. They’re doing their part. It’s time to do ours. Fight!

Take Action to Save Wild Salmon!

The Obama administration is poised to make a decision this week that could change the fate of endangered species in this country. On May 20, the Administration will release a federal salmon plan that will do one of two things for endangered wildlife: protect the Endangered Species Act, or weaken it. A decision to weaken the ESA for the West’s iconic Columbia and Snake River salmon could send an ecological ripple across the country — affecting every endangered species in the nation.

© Matt Leidecker

And the situation doesn’t look good. Instead of charting its own path, the administration is working off an illegal Bush administration plan for endangered salmon.

Because they return to the biggest, highest and best-protected habitat in America, endangered Snake River salmon are slated as the West’s best chance to save salmon for future generations in an environment threatened by climate change. These cold, crisp waters of spanning three Western states — Washington, Oregon and Idaho, will remain cold under warming climates, protecting these one-of-a-kind salmon with a one-of-a-kind habitat. Making the wrong decision on these rivers would effectively dam (pun fully intended) these salmon to extinction.

With our roots in the Northwest, it’s hard for us to imagine not having salmon returning home to our rivers each year. But we’re faced with that very possibility right now. We are the last generation who gets to decide if we’re going to save wild salmon for our kids and grandkids. We’re it.

The Columbia-Snake Rivers may not be in your own backyard, but the effects of this decision certainly will be.

Take Action Now!

It’s been nearly 20 years since Patagonia teamed up with Save Our Wild Salmon to take on what seemed like the impossible: remove four dams on the Lower Snake River to clear a path for Idaho’s iconic salmon. Today, we’re closer than ever to making it all happen. And Patagonia has remained an unwavering ally.

So, why these fish? Why these dams? Snake River salmon have the most epic of all migrations — swimming further and climbing higher than any salmon on Earth. And as noted by Steven Hawley in Patagonia’s Environmental Essay — with climate change bearing down, saving these high-elevation fish is the West’s best shot at saving salmon.

From “The Idaho Tide” by Steven Hawley:

Late summer’s low flow barely bumped our kayaks down one of the main veins draining the vast wilderness of north-central Idaho, delivering us to the mouth of a place I’ll call Bigfoot Creek. The thin skin of water over rock made the prospect of a 10-mile side canyon hike sans socks seem like a better idea than sticking to some lame compulsion to make miles on the water. Besides, it would be worth the blisters if we got to see chinook salmon finning in a clear, deep pool we knew lay up there. Before we’d even tightened the straps on our sandals, we startled three napping wolves from their creekside beds along the Bigfoot. The looks on their faces gave the impression they were as surprised as we were.

Wolves are thriving in the Idaho woods for the same reason salmon should be – lots of protected, healthy habitat. But it’s the fish whose presence triggers the larger ecological ripple. Salmon tend to wander a bit farther than wolves. In 2003, an Idaho steelhead was caught in the Pacific near the Kuril Islands in northern Japan. Fattening on the bounty of the sea makes salmon the building blocks of forest ecosystems in the Pacific Northwest and until recently, the region’s rivers were the highways that delivered them to and from the trees. More than a hundred vertebrates, from the tiny Trowbridge’s shrew to wolves to the more cumbersome killer whale depend on the sustenance salmon provide. Decomposing salmon bodies provide ocean-derived nutrients for soils that nurture old-growth forests.

To honor salmon’s vital ecological contribution as well as their uncanny endurance and navigational skills, a 5,000-square-mile swath of Idaho, Oregon and Washington (reserving Hell’s Canyon, all the forks of the Salmon and the Selway Rivers) has been blessed with federal protection. Visionary Idaho senator Frank Church didn’t set aside the Idaho portion of this Connecticut-sized area just for wolves or whitewater junkies. He did it for the salmon, and made sure this rationale was included in the language of his landmark 1968 wilderness bill. It became law, and the effort eventually spawned tribute to its sponsor. The largest piece of this salmon sanctuary is now known as the Frank Church Wilderness. Alas, over the past four decades, too few salmon have made it to the Church on time.

The sin lies not in the wilderness, but in the dammed. Wild Idaho waters feed the Snake, which eventually joins the Columbia. These two rivers have been transformed into a series of eight slackwater impoundments behind as many obstructions in the long, slow ride between Lewiston, Idaho, and Portland, Oregon. For nearly two decades, a growing constituency of fishermen, farmers, business leaders, brave politicians and conservation groups like Save Our Wild Salmon have been backing a modest proposal: Take out half the dams. Just the four smaller ones on the Snake. With the grim prospect of climate change posing an added threat to the myriad Pacific ecosystems, many of which rely on salmon as a keystone species, removing the dams has become a mission that’s moved beyond regional borders.

Ken Balcomb is the director for the Center for Whale Research on San Juan Island in Puget Sound. It’s a long way from here to Lewiston, but Balcomb sees the connection. He’s spent most of his time tracking the resident killer whales that cruise the sound in summer. He knows that chinook are whale food. The health of these orcas and that of the chinook population in the nearby ocean neatly track each other. Unfortunately, it’s a track leading toward extinction. Orcas joined Snake River chinook on the Endangered Species list in 2006. “There used to be this huge biomass of chinook in the ocean, produced by all the rivers of the Pacific Coast; the Columbia was the big horse of all those,” Balcomb told me. “We’re down to less than one percent of historic abundance. Climate change doesn’t look good for salmon in the Klamath or the Sacramento. But there’s a lot of intact habitat left on the Snake. It’s our best shot. I think any reasonable biologist will tell you the only way to take advantage of it is to tear out the dams.”

In the pristine water above the dams, predators abound. Back on Bigfoot Creek we watched a black bear sow and her two cubs splashing about, the mama submersing her head in the creek looking for a quick snack. Her behavior made us all the more hopeful a few chinook would be waiting up at the pool. More wild luck: guarded by weathered granite spires, a dozen big kings patrolled blue-green water so clear you could make out the spider-web pattern of cracks in specific boulders at the river bottom. Basking in the last blast of summer heat with all eyes on the water, it was easy to imagine we were 700 miles out in the tropical Pacific rather than that distance from its colder gray shores.

We slaked a considerable thirst from the cold, clean water of the creek, toasting salmon, bears, wolves and whales, then made our way back to the boats. Camped that night beneath cedars on an acre of white sand we had all to ourselves, I swilled the last of that good water, thinking again of all the lives nurtured by the Bigfoot. Racked out with one eye on the rising moon, I succumbed to the sensation I’d drifted off to sleep by the sea, rising and falling on an unleashed Idaho tide.

So who else is inspiring us to live balanced, amazing lives? Lots of people.

First off there’s Jude of Epic Wheel Works. She recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of her business, and to celebrate she’s putting together an amazing bike throwdown with wheel building contests, a photo booth, limited edition t-shirts and a raffle to benefit the Bicycle Transportation Alliance’s educational program, Safe Routes to School.

We can’t express how much we love bikes and support biking culture, so we’re pretty excited about this event. Just as excited as we are about this t-shirt we stumbled across on the web this week. [Props to Cyclelogical for their humor]

Speaking of inspirations, are you familiar with Elephant Journal? If not, you should be. A fantastic media platform on all things green, sustainable and hip that’s currently looking to be 100% grassroots. They’re looking for member support, and if you believe in supporting independent media then you should hop on over and consider a subscription.

As always, we’ve had the “conservation, conservation, conservation” mantra going all week. there are so many great things going on in the cause world, here are some top picks from this week:

• “What’s Your Favorite River?” Photo Contest by Save Our Wild Salmon and Mountain Khakis
• Timeline: 70 Years of Environmental Change via New York Times
• Obama Signs Great Outdoor Initiative via The Joy Trip Project (ok, so we’re a little late on this… but we were bust actually enjoying the outdoors when it happened!)

And last but not least, as you may have noticed, it was Earth Day this week… and even though we gave a healthy “Happy Day That We Should Be Reminded To Think About Earth Every Other 364 Days of the Year” shout-out on Twitter, we still really enjoyed this video. Hopefully it inspires you to get outside this weekend!

Photo by Matt Leidecker

Save Our Wild Salmon and Mountain Khakis are running a pretty cool contest during the month of April that’s 100% focused on river love, and all you have to do in order to take part is submit a shot of your favorite river. If you do, you score the chance for a pair of MK’s newest Snake River Pant. And of course, you’ll get some much deserved fame.

If you want to submit, check out the SOS blog (hint: it’s as easy as uploading to a Flickr pool).

Good luck!

Photo courtesy Save Our Wild Salmon. © Matt Leidecker

I started my love affair with rivers at a very early age — spending every day possible splashing, swimming, boating or camping on wild waterways in the Inland Northwest.

My mother and I used to stand on the bridge above Spokane Falls and let the spray hit our face. And I’ll never forget the day she told me that salmon used to make it all the way to these falls — massive 100-pound “June hogs” — but I would never see those salmon in my lifetime. Grand Coulee dam, upon its completion, successfully cut off salmon populations from their upstream spawning grounds and stifled one of the most powerful rivers in the world.

From that moment, my passion for rivers and salmon snowballed to where we are today. It is why we’re working with the kick-ass folks of Save Our Wild Salmon, who have channeled their passion to one river — the Snake River that begins in the heart of the Tetons and flows through the rugged Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho to feed the mighty Columbia. This dedicated group is taking on the federal government to remove four dams, restore a free-flowing Snake River and recover the iconic Snake River salmon in the rugged Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho.

Chris Kassar feels the power of the raw free flowing Rio Baker at the beautiful water fall - Hydro Asyens proposal to put a dam here would forever change Chile's longest and wildest river. Courtesy Rios Libres.

And today, I read a post over on the Osprey blog from Craig Childs who is on the Rio Baker in Patagonia with the Rios Libres group working to protect the free-flowing river from proposed hydropower dams:

I don’t know why I want this river to run. I could not sit at a table with a microphone and explain it. I don’t know why the heart breaks when we have drawn and quartered yet another landscape, named it as ours, used it to fuel our every global ambition from paper clips to plastic cups. But god do I want this river to move, another dark thread binding the surface of this planet, another path uninterrupted.

Read more about the Rio Baker…

That is exactly why we’re fighting so hard for free-flowing rivers. Because our heart demands it. Because we’re it. We’re the last generation who can save these rivers for our kids and grandkids. To the folks at Save Our Wild Salmon: Keep up the good fight. We’re with you every step of the way!

On Saturday we got the chance to dress up in the fanciest of spy gear and support the Kamchakta Project at their casino night fundraiser party, and it rocked. Hosted at Keen Footwear, there were plenty of glamorous, as well as ridiculous, outfits — think gold spandex and Russian wigs. Here at Under Solen, we just love a good reason to get fancy and support a good cause!

Thanks to Erik Boomer for taking photos, and Keen for putting together this video:

Meet Mr. Woodrow Huckleberry aka Woody (above).

We adopted this little guy last weekend. He’s been through a pretty epic journey. He came to Portland, Ore. from a shelter in California where he was nearing the end of the line. He’d been transferred to the Oregon Humane Society from California through the OHS Second Chance program. For only being 4-months-old — that’s a lot of moving around!

Woody’s one of the lucky ones. Millions of dogs are in need of home across the U.S. Read more about the problem and how you can help over on Elephant Journal.

Well, Woody is psyched to have a forever home and to be in the company of the many ladies of Under Solen, and we’re excited to have a new team member to keep us busy and give us an excuse to take a mid-day walk!

We could all use a little more love! My friend posted this on Facebook yesterday. I’m not sure what’s better — the lyrics or the dance moves, but either way this music video from vocal chanting superstar Wilbur Sargunaraj is awesome. Watch, dance and dig it!

Salmon are tough as nails. You give them a river and they will run. Well, on the Columbia-Snake River here in the Northwest, it’s been an epic battle to give these iconic fish a river to return to. After more than 15 years of litigation, salmon advocates, the State of Oregon and the Nez Perce Tribe of Idaho are still fighting in court to save our wild salmon.

From The Flyfish Journal:

So, what’s up? With all of these folks pushing for a solid plan, why is NOAA failing miserably?

Politics are trumping science again. Where the political pressure to flout the science is coming from remains unclear, leaving us to speculate. Many fingers are pointing at Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, Secretary of the Commerce Department, which oversees NOAA. A former Governor from Washington State, Locke no doubt maintains ties to Washington Senators Murray and Cantwell. To date, Senators Murray and Cantwell remain unwilling to even discuss alternatives to the status quo in the Columbia and Snake Rivers. Seems like more than a coincidence.

A recent Daily Astorian editorial said of the BiOp under Locke’s leadership at NOAA: “in no way are they the kind of bold actions that will convincingly alter the sad end game of the Pacific Northwest’s “totem” creature.”

I couldn’t agree more. The science is clear, the law is clear, and Judge Redden has given NOAA one more chance to get this right. I hope they listen. It’s high time we take strong actions to save these fish, our rivers and ourselves.

Read more…

Major props to the passionate and determined folks who continue to hold the federal government’s feet to the fire. Keep up the great work. We’re in your corner!

Happy Friday!

Have a soft spot for James Bond movies? Never had the chance to channel your inner spy? Now is the time!

To raise money for their upcoming expedition, the Kamchatka Project is throwing one fancy fundraiser party. It’s an evening of gambling, salmon and espionage, with great door prizes and sweet gear on raffle. All the action happens March 13, 2010 and you’ll want to get your tickets now; they’re $35 in advance and get you complimentary drinks, hors d’oeuvres and an opening stack of chips for the casino. Buy them here. And the best part? Ticket proceeds go to funding the Kamchatka Project, which happens to be a 501(c)3 — your tickets are 100% tax deductible!

Where: Keen Headquarters

926 NW 13th Ave, PDX

When: Saturday March 13, 2010

Attire: Formal, or dress as your favorite 007 character. Best two costumes win door prizes!

See the full invite here.

All proceeds support the efforts of The Kamchatka Project to raise awareness about salmon conservation though exploration.

[Photo: Brocco Lee]