Kayaking 310 Miles Down the Klamath River with Tasia Linwood

0:05Kayaking is like physically demanding and it hurts your shoulders and your core and your elbows and you just got to keep going. And sometimes on kayaking trips, nothing is going to go the way that you expect it to. And plans will change and you'll miss your takeout or you'll go down the wrong path on a rapid. And it's just not everything is going to be perfect. And you just got to go with the flow.

0:36Tasia Linwood:On June 12, 2025, 15-year-old Tasia Linwood set out to kayak 310 miles down the Klamath River from southern Oregon to the coast of northern California. She went with several other young indigenous kayakers from different tribes who live along the river. Their journey marked the first descent of the Klamath after the removal of four dams, which our community had fought for for decades. It wasn't a choice to do the first descent or to not do the first descent. It was something that I had to do not only for myself, but for my family and for my ancestors and for the people who went before me and didn't get to see the river undamped.

1:18And that's why I was doing it. And that's why I kept going.

1:25Tasia Linwood:I'm Shelby Stanger, and this is Wild Ideas Worth Living, an REI Co-op Studios production presented by Capital One and the REI Co-op MasterCard.

1:41Tasia Linwood:The Klamath River has always been a big part of Teja's life. She learned how to swim in it, how to drive alongside it, and she even dances on its banks for a tribal ceremony every year. Her community has long caught salmon in its waters. A few years ago, Teja's godbrothers participated in a camp with Paddle Tribal Waters, an organization that teaches indigenous youth how to kayak. After seeing their experience, Teja's aunt encouraged her to try it out. My aunt was like, Teja, you should do this. Like, it's awesome. Like, it's only two weeks. If you don't like it, you'll get to learn how to kayak.

2:21You'll be on the Salmon and Klamath River. It's really amazing. So I did it. Me and my older brother went on this program. And at the time, my other older brother was a junior counselor. So it was awesome. And I got to learn how to kayak on the Klamath River. What did you think of kayaking? What did I think of kayaking? Oh, my God. It was actually so scary. Tell me about that first time. Yeah, it was the first time I'd ever kayaked. So that first two weeks was like pretty easy, but it was just like it was my first time ever like whitewater kayaking. And I mean, like kind of kayaking in general.

2:58I'd kayaked a couple of times before that, but it was not like professional kayaking. Like I didn't have a spray skirt or like a helmet or anything. So during that two week program, the last three days you go on a kayaking trip. So it's like a three day overnight. night you go and you camp along the river bar and are like raft supported and you like go kayaking and on the very last day of this two-week program I flipped really bad and I forgot my training when you flip you're supposed to roll but I didn't know how to roll so you're supposed to like pop your skirt because you're wearing this skirt that keeps you in the kayak and keeps the water out.

3:42And so I forgot my training and I didn't pop my skirt. And instead I kicked myself out of the boat. I hit my head, which I was wearing a helmet. I hit my head just on the back of my kayak and I got super bruised up, like really bad on my leg because I kicked myself out of the kayak and I got really scared. And I was like, oh my God, I do not want to kayak ever again. But I did anyways. And that's on having brothers. And I probably wouldn't have if I didn't have them there. But here we are. And now I kayak and it's awesome. But that was really, really scary. And it hurt pretty bad. And I had a like very physical reminder for a very long time after that.

4:30Tasia Linwood:Yeah, there's so much there. One, brave of you and awesome that you did this. Also, what a cool thing for kids to do. Like, this sounds like an incredible organization. Also, yes, having brothers. Super annoying, but they push you, it sounds like. Yeah, they do. And they got you back out there. Yeah. Yeah. I know. Very grateful for them, actually. Just can't tell them.

5:00Tasia Linwood:At the end of the two-week camp, Tasia and the other young kayakers were offered a very meaningful opportunity. They were invited to apply for a chance to join the first descent of the Klamath River. For years, the river had been blocked by dams, but by 2025, most of them were finally removed. It was a historic moment that local tribes had been advocating for for decades. Tayshia understood how important this was for her community, so she applied and then trained hard for two years. We did this part as a celebration and part as a form of protest and activism. And I also did this a lot for my family and for my ancestors.

5:43Tasia Linwood:I'm Karuk, Okanagan, Ojibwe, Wampanoag, and Toono Orohan. Specifically right now, I'm talking about the Karuk people, who are from where the Salmon River and the Klamath River meet. is like right where I'm from. I don't think everybody understands the significance of removing these dams. Why were they there in the first place? Yeah. So the dams got first put in over 100 years ago. They were put in for hydroelectricity, which isn't a good energy source, kind of just like in general, period, because of its effects on both the land and the people. and because hydroelectricity is obviously like taking water and water is called a renewable source and that's why dams are considered a renewable energy source.

6:33But water isn't going to be here forever. It's not a renewable energy source. So it's actually like it's not really clean energy as much as people think it is.

6:44Tasia Linwood:So for people like me who were in San Diego, I've never seen this dam. I've never even been to the Klamath River. Tell me about the significance of removing them, especially for your community. Yeah, there's this thing that happens a lot with dams and is a direct cause of dams called eutrophication. And essentially that means that there's too many nutrients and toxins in the river. And so that can mean like a bunch of algae. And what it does is it takes oxygen out of the water. and that makes fish die because fish also need oxygen in the water and the algae. So essentially it like suffocates the fish and the fish die.

7:26In 2002, a lot of the fish died and there was just so much fish washing up on shore and just like covered in algae. It was really gross and traumatic because the fish are a part of who we are, not just as Karuk people, but as Native people. Almost every single Native person I know eats salmon, and our people relied on salmon pre-colonization. And so that was one of the direct effects of the dams. And along with that, it's an invasion of our space and our people. And it's one of those things that was taken from us, like our river, and putting the dams in. And it's a form of colonization and pain and heartbreak, and that's what comes from it.

8:23Tasia Linwood:The first ascent would require 310 miles of paddling and take a month to complete. Not all of the kayakers would paddle the whole thing. Many would join the group for sections of the river that matched their skill level. But Tasia was keen to complete the entire route. To prepare, she completed two semester-long programs over the course of two years, learning how to safely navigate everything from calm lakes to powerful rapids.

8:54Tasia Linwood:What was a typical day of training? What types of rivers are you doing? What kinds of things do you have to know? What sort of skills do you have to learn? You went from kayaking three days to you're going to kayak for a 30-day paddle on Class 4 and Class 5 rapids. Yeah. And to be the first. This is a big deal. Yeah. The first is a big deal because no one had ever seen the river like that in over 100 years. And the river changes and the water changes. And no one totally knew what it was going to look like and how the water was going to be and how the rapids were going to be. but anyways you have to know how to roll that's like really important there were some sections of the Klamath River descent where you had to apply to different sections and some not everyone would get to go to all the sections because of how either physically demanding it was or how challenging it was and so if you were like yeah I want to do all the river and I want to do like Like as much of the Klamath River as I can, you got to go and work harder and you got to go put in the hours and show the instructors and our teachers that you are ready and that you can do it.

10:08Like we're going to do it like in a couple months, like lock in, like go practice in the lake, bro. Like, come on now, because there's also the lakes on the Klamath River that were horrible and torturous and pretty much just like living hell. Why? Well, for one, they're flat water, so it doesn't help you get anywhere. Well, actually, it's not flat water. There's waves, and they don't go in any particular direction because it's not a river, and it's not just flowing downstream. And it was also windy, and the wind was blowing in the opposite direction, and it was really gross and really algae and really stinky.

10:48Tasia Linwood:Deja, I'm learning so much from you. I think it's so interesting. I want to go back because one of the most important things you had to do is know how to roll. How long did it take you to learn how to roll? I might sound like a badass, but I'm actually really scared of a lot of things. And so rolling was actually really scary. I absolutely like I walked in so hard and I was just like I was just like rolling on rolling on rolling. And I was like, that was my prime kayaking so far. What else was really beneficial that you learned when you actually paddled? Yeah, I think just perseverance and just like, you just got to keep going.

11:26Like Dory says, you just got to keep swimming.

11:29Tasia Linwood:Dory from The Little Mermaid. No, no, no. That's from Little Nemo. Or Fighting Nemo. Dory, just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. And that's what you got to do. You just got to keep going. Just keep paddling. Just keep paddling. And it's hard. Kayaking is like physically demanding and it hurts your shoulders and your core and your elbows. And you just got to keep going. And also just like going with the flow. Like sometimes on kayaking trips, nothing like is going to go the way that you expect it to. And plans will change and you'll miss your takeout or you'll go down the wrong path on a rapid.

12:10And it's just not everything is going to be perfect. and you just gotta go with the flow.

12:25Tasia Linwood:The sunshine is back and I'm planning to spend the next few months outside catching waves, camping and hiking the trails all around San Diego. If your summer plans also involve spending as much time outside as possible the REI Co-op MasterCard offers rewards and benefits that support your love of the outdoors. It's just for REI co-op members and earns card rewards on every purchase at REI and everywhere else MasterCard is accepted. What I love is that rewards are available in one to two days. So all of those stops on the way to the adventure from fuel for the drive to last minute gear runs, it all adds up.

13:05Tasia Linwood:See if you're pre-approved with no risk to your credit score. To learn more about the REI co-op MasterCard program, head to rei.com slash MasterCard dash podcast. That's rei.com slash MasterCard dash podcast. Terms apply.

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14:46Tasia Linwood:After two years of training, Tasia Linwood and a group of Indigenous youths set out to make the first ascent of the newly undammed Klamath River. They began in southern Oregon at the headwaters of the Wood River, a tributary that feeds into the Klamath. This area is especially polluted because it's located above the two dams that still remain. Okay, take me to day one of this first ascent. Like you guys, there's a crew of how many people, where are you, and when exactly was this? There was so much like going on. I was kind of scared. I was confused. I'm like, what's happening right now? And there's just like so many different of boats and so many different people and I'm like trying to find my boat and I gotta adjust it so it fits my legs and my hips and my back just taking in what I'm doing and where I am and also like making sure I'm staying present in the moment where were you we were camping at the headwaters of the Wood River.

15:49And so we did 19.2 miles that day. And I want to say three of those miles were on the lake. And the lake was horrible. And when we go off the lake, the nasty lake, might I add, no showers.

16:08Tasia Linwood:And the bathroom was bad. And then as we were kayaking down the Wood River, it turned into a lot of agriculture and so the river which was pristine at the headwaters was like really kind of gross at the end of the river and there was some bridges and there was mud and it smelled like cows that smelled like farm and it was muddy and there was these bridges and the river and there was grass and sticks and there was also really good uncrustables and also So one of the instructors, he had Twizzlers and they were really yummy and there was really good snacks. And we were kind of just meandering because it was really slow water because like the river is just like back and forth and back and forth and back and forth.

16:56And it was slow and it was like very serendipity or something like that.

17:05Tasia Linwood:What did you do for food? You had some Incrustables. So every day during breakfast and right after breakfast, we would make ourselves lunch. And it was really sweet. Sometimes my best friend would make me my lunch and she'd put little notes on it and she'd make me little hearts on my little sack lunch. It's fun having a bestie that does something hard with you or did something hard with you. And you have that shared experience. Yeah. So where would you sleep? I slept with her in her tent. so every night you guys slept in tents and you would kayak to a place get out and you'd set up your own tent um yeah sometimes but sometimes we were kind of tired and lazy and just didn't set up a tent and instead just like slept on the ground like on a tarp with our blankets and pillows and each other not a sleeping bag we had sleeping bags but we also like brought an abnormal amount of blankets to make our living situation as comfortable as possible so like we did use sleeping bags but the blankets were the memorable part and they we dude it was like so cozy like sometimes it looked like an actual bed because we would just like stack these blankets on top of each other and then have sleeping bags and then have other blankets on top of it and it was like really cushiony and comfortable

18:27Tasia Linwood:Tasia appreciated when she could use her cozy sleep setup, especially because the days on the river were long and often grueling. Between the heat from the sun, motion sickness from the lake waves, and muscle strain from paddling long distances, she was wiped by the end of the day. But there was always something to look forward to. Throughout the trip, the young kayakers had visitors from home and from indigenous communities around the world, who all came to witness their journey and be part of this historic event. Some of Tej's family members were even watching during one of the most intense moments of the paddle.

19:09Do you remember the biggest rapid you took? I believe the biggest rapid I've done was Big Ikes, which is on the Klamath River. And it was actually, there's a really funny story about this, is that my best friend was in front of me. Her name's Tay, by the way. So Tay was in front of me. There's these like two rocks and there's like water going in between the rocks and then on both sides of the rocks. We're supposed to go on the absolute right side. We kind of went like middle, right? Like, and we went over the rocks. So Tay got stuck in a hole and your kayak can just keep circulating until it flushes you out.

19:48And I was behind her I also flipped I pushed her boat out and my boat didn't get stuck and so both of us got pushed out at the same time and so on that day my dad and my brother and some of my aunts and uncles and cousins came to watch from the highway from like up on the cliffs and so they saw all this happen and my aunt was taking a video and she was freaking out she was like oh my god that's Tasia she's in the hole she's stuck it wasn't me though so that's good and they were all freaking out and i'm so glad that my uncle and my dad were up on the cliffs because if they weren't they would have tried to jump in and like save me or something this sounds like a really adventurous trip

20:31Tasia Linwood:it was it was something the hardest day was probably the day you did 19 miles or so yeah Yeah, 19.2 miles. That was my first day. And it was hard. Why? It was, okay, so it was hard. For one, the river part, the wood river part was hard because as I was saying earlier, it was just so like twisting and turning. And it was also really slow moving water. And so when the water is slow moving or not moving at all, it's really hard. It just doesn't help you in any way. So what did you say to yourself on those days that it was really hard? Well, in reality, I said, this is how you get muscles. So walk in because at the end of the day, this is how you get the abs.

21:20This is how you get them biceps. But on a more serious note, I also had to remind myself, like, this is hard and this is what I have to do. Like this, it wasn't a choice to do the first descent or to not do the first descent. It was something that I had to do not only for myself, but for my family and for my ancestors and for the people who went before me and didn't get to see the river undamped. And that's why I was doing it. And that's why I kept going.

21:51Tasia Linwood:Tell me more about that, especially as you approach the final day. That had to have been emotional. It was so emotional. On one hand, I was like, damn, I'm ready to go home. I'm ready to see my little sisters and just take a couple naps and just like relax. And on the other hand, I was like, now I have to leave. Like I'm now I have to I have to leave my best friend and I have to leave kayaking and I'm not going to get to kayak until who knows when. I was we were staying at this like RV camp type place and my grandpa was at the neighboring RV site. And so he was waving and hollering and singing.

22:31And so I got to see him right before I hit the ocean. And I went down and I, you can hear everyone. And my aunt and my uncle were there in rafts and canoes. And then it was us, all the kayakers in a line next to each other. And then behind us, we were followed by the rafts that had these people from all these different places. And we were all just hooting and hollering and singing. And we were just ecstatic. And then we got to the ocean and it was just like the emotion just like hit. And I was like, oh, my goodness. Like, wow. We're like we're here. We made it. We we did that. And it was an emotional day for all of us.

23:22Tasia Linwood:the first ascent was a huge physical feat but it also symbolized something greater after decades of fighting for the removal of these dams the kayaking journey was a celebration of indigenous pride resilience and sovereignty

23:42Tasia Linwood:I'm curious like how your family responded to you your mom your brothers and sisters your aunties your grandpa your community yeah everyone was just like ecstatic and excited and proud and like there's like two hands to this right there's like on one hand it was fun and it was like this awesome experience and once in a lifetime and exciting and fun and like those sorts of things and then on the other hand it's like this is powerful and this is important because not only at the last day but there was spots along the way all the way from Oregon to California where there were people on bridges and people at our put-ins and takeouts just like they were just so excited and happy and joyful.

24:33There's people crying tears of joy for this and for us. And it was really beautiful.