Three Feet Under

Winter kayaking!! We know it sounds crazy, but when the snow falls and everyone is thinking about getting turns on the mountain, there are paddlers leaving the crowds behind to kayak some of their favorite summer runs. It's the "rainy" season in the northwest with up to 85 inches falling on the Columbia River Gorge and the Oregon and Washington coastal ranges. Kayaking opportunities abound. The beauty and solitude can make even the most familiar run an adventure. With icicles hanging off the canyon walls and mounds of snow pilling up on every boulder, you feel like it's your first time down the river again. – Keel Brightman

The following photos chronicle several of Brightman's epics this winter in the Pacific Northwest.