A 1,700 Kilometre Paddling & Cycling Adventure on the Columbia River

Between 2023 and 2024, I canoed and cycled 1,700 kilometres on and along the Columbia River.

I began my journey at the headwaters of the Columbia near Canal Flats, a small town in the Rocky Mountains. I followed the river south, past my home in Revelstoke, and all the way to southern Washington State. I did another few hundred kilometres the next spring, beginning near Priest Rapids Dam and finishing just past the town of Boardman, Oregon. Then in fall of 2024, I cycled 400 kilometres through the blustery wind of the Columbia River Gorge, finishing at the mouth of the river where it crashes into the Pacific.

It was a wild, thrilling, and challenging trip. While I originally conceived of it as a one-shot source to sea adventure, it evolved into something different that I’m very proud of. While paddling the river, the environmental disconnection caused by the Columbia River Treaty was striking. When I got off the river, I learned more about the interesting and disjointed effects of this international treaty I saw from my canoe, and decided to write a book about it.

I’ve completed a manuscript for a book I’m tentatively titling Slow Water: Exploring Disconnection on the Columbia River. This is an adventure memoir exploring environmental and personal disconnection. I’m currently on the hunt for an agent and hoping to publish the book. Below, I’ve included links to writing I’ve published about my experience on the Columbia, as well as media coverage about my adventure.

Hannah Griffin’s Writing & Media Coverage About Her Columbia River Adventure

Mountain Life Magazine—Stumped
Columbia Valley Pioneer—Editorial
Pinch of Dirt—Confronting Speedboats, Lazy Lagooners, and Loneliness on the Columbia River
Columbia Valley Pioneer—International Women’s Day: Hannah’s Excellent Adventure
Dominic Bonny Reports—Canadian Paddlers Gets Helping Hand From Columbia River Angel
KW3—Our Local Columbia River Angels Organization: Helping Paddlers
Stoke FM—Woman Gets Laid Off And Decides to Paddle the Entire Columbia River From Canal Flats to the Pacific
Stoke FM—All About the Columbia River Treaty