Ha! What a Joke!

I laughed when I read my fortune cookie at dinner Saturday night and asked if anyone wanted to trade. I was very confident that it wasn't going to happen. The fortune said I would soon start a new hobby. lol! Anyone who knows me knows I have enough and have not enough time in the day for the ones I have now. My good friend Bryan, who knows me well, said right out "You don't need another hobby Nora"! I agreed, we laughed, and I thought that was it. "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." This is how it went down. I think of it as a hat trick. That evening under the stars while sipping wine with blackberries crushed in it we were slack lining and and just hanging out. John had shown me before these chains with kevlar on the end used for fire dancing. I just thought "so cool". After it got dark he gave a demo. It was the most exciting thing I've seen in a long time! Damn he was good! The womens estrogen equinox group all came running over to check it out also. We were all amazed and I had that old feeling again...I gotta do that! John showed me how to start and it's tough. He's spent years working at it and it shows. Yes, I'm going to start out with the socks first to avoid self immolation. I feel also that with my left shoulder not having the sparkle that it once had it would be a great way to work it back to being coordinated again. Keep posted on this one...it could be interesting. The plan on Sunday for Aaron, John and I was to get up at the crack of dawn and go up on Rib Mountain for some bouldering. I have never done bouldering outdoors and very little of it in the gym. It hadn't piqued my interest that much before but I was going to give it a try. We went up the mountain and gave a holler to Craig to wake him up and went and looked at the boulders. The formations were fantastic! I was excited! Bouldering is quite a different mind frame from the climbing I've done. No ropes. No draws. Just shoes and chalk and one crash pad. I gave it a try and discovered I love it! I can't wait to get back to Rib Mountain to try it again. The climbs were high enough that a fall past a certain spot was not an option. Your mind had to be one notch past lead to do this kind of rock. It definetely caught my intrest now! On the day went and wow was Wausau fun! It was great to see Caleb, Dennis and Graeme on the water as work and new family responsibilities have kept them home. They looked fantastic out there! Bryan was rocking the hole with and without a paddle and just being awesome! This was also the first World Kayak Hometown Throwdown Competition and it was just great fun! John McConville taking first in points and Craig Esposito second...but hey, it didn't matter as the prizes were awarded by a drawing. I got a water bottle :) The day continued and there was a record amount of people on the water. 149 total!! It was good to see two of my students from CanoeU there, Doug and Stan, and doing great! There were more graduates from some of the other classes there also! Fledglings learning to fly! The day wore on and by three my roll was coming slower and I knew it was time to hang it up and call it a day. Up above I saw Dan the Rescue man...he smiled and said remember what you promised? Uh...yeah...I would swim the course this time. I slipped on my neoprene pants for protection from the rocks and we went up to bwahahaha...Diagonal! Dan was great! He gave me the boogie board basics and I started surfing....cool! Then it was time to ferry over to surfers left of the hole. I got out there and the water was much more powerful but I was surfing! Oh no! I felt my pants start to slip down from the water. Oh NO! They started to fill with water! I looked over at Dan and said I think I have a problem...help!! By then my pants were down below my butt...not good! Dan grabbed me and rolled me out of the wave. I told him what had happened and we laughed and I said next time I'd wear the full on wet suit....yes there will be a next time as I found that to be really exciting also. The whole weekend turned out to be just a great party on the river. The banks are looking great but still need more work. The 25th is the clean up party to finish the work. We have to keep Wausau looking great! I know I have a machette someplace in my house...what could be more fun than that? I'll fit that in between my three new intrests...bouldering, Poi, and boogieboarding rapids.

Fourth of July!

Fourth of July at Sturgeon Falls didn't happen this year for me. I went to Milwaukee to see my nephew Allan who had open heart surgery the week before. Allan, 31, has Becker's Muscular Dystrophy. A condition that affects the heart. Allan was on the transplant list when things got critical. He needed a pump put into his heart to be able to live long enough to get a transplant. People talk about hero's and courage but Allan is the definition of it for me. The week preceding his surgery he had to make the choice of whether to get the pump or not. It amounted to nothing more than a chance to live or go home with hospice. No guarantees on the surgery. The surgery went well until he started bleeding that night. His chest cavity was opened up twice in one day. The amount of selfless courage it took to undergo this surgery is staggering to my mind. He took the chance and hopefully he'll be able to spend a long wonderful life with his wife and children. Here's his Caring Bridge page http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/racer88 I spent Friday with him and even though he looks like he's been through a war he looks good. A hero is judged by how much of yourself you are willing to sacrifice for others. Allan is tops of my hero list!
Saturday morning I spent getting to know a distant relative of mine, Sherie, and her family. I learned how to "float a cow". It was fun being on a working dairy farm again. I fell in love with her Scotty puppy, Sam. Played with Allan's children and hit up the Sheboygan waterfront. Then I took the long way home. I got the call my paddling partners were on the move north...destination Norway MI. I hit the road and found myself within 10 miles of them on the interstate. We stopped in Styles WI for a brief picnic and made it to Pier's Gorge for some evening fun. The crew ended up being Gus, John, Justin, Paul and I. We played down at the bottom before taking Justin up to run the falls...he's a newbie. Whoops! It was kind of rough but he did great! That night we sat around the campfire looking at the gorgeous sight of the moon, one day short of full, reflecting off the river. Fireworks exploding in the distance, A nearby shotgun going off...twice. The night quieted down and one by one we fell victim to the Sandman. Morning came..hiking, biking and sleeping in seemed to be the various choices of our crew. We paddled the river and just enjoyed the day. What a great summer destination! Free camping and pleasant water! It was definitely the long way home late that afternoon but all in all a great weekend! Independence Day..a day to remember that it's honest independent thought that drives freedom and the heart and commitment to follow through.

When Playboaters Attack

Like moths to a flame, playboaters were drawn to the Wausau Whitewater Park this weekend with the promise of three open holes at the top of the course. It was the Wausau Whitewater Weekend. A weekend filled with all kinds of slalom racing events. I have always loved the grace and discipline of slalom boating. It's an incredible sport. In recent years the playboating scene has exploded in Wausau and for good reason. Many playparks only offer one or two holes. Even with the course taken up by slalom racing there is a lot to offer every level of kayaker in the top three holes. With a whole flock of us players there we joined in on the fun. Always true to our natures... freestyle is so ingrained in our psychics that we couldn't hold to the discipline. Since Little Drop has gained popularity as a nice playspot it was quickly figured out that if you run a slalom race you could stop and...oops...play Little Drop. Of course it was on the second run. First runs were reserved for dominating their class. John McConville had the fastest time on the course in a Jackson followed by Drew Ehlert in...yes...another Jackson. Sunday was the Slalom Survivor. A fun new game brought to us by Joe Jacobi. Just a short slalom with a few tasks that had to be done. Like head butting the poles and tossing toys into a basket. It was quite entertaining for sure. Best of all was if you ran the SS you were entered into a drawing for prizes! Top prize being a new Shred Ready helmet. Drew, John, Justin and I looked over the box of prizes and made our wishes. Justin is a new kayaker being mentored by John McConville and doing great. This weekend was his third and fourth day of whitewater and he was competing in the races! Sound familiar? Being new he needs a bit more gear. A helmet being on top of the list. Drew won the helmet and gave it to Justin in exchange for the pair of Crocs he had won. Whitewater kayakers are just great people! With the decline in the slalom boater numbers and the increase of playboaters a lot of thought was given to how to improve next years event. Most everyone was thinking that a combination run of freestyle slalom would be fun where you could stop and throw down until washed from the hole...or something on that line. Personally I ran as many races as I could. It was the first time running slalom for me and I really liked it. It's a great way to improve your skills in boating. We'll see what next year brings. Wausau would love to hear any suggestions or comments on this. Many more releases coming up soon!!

Paddlemania Weekend! (aka, Naked at Night)

It was another great party put on by Team Midwest Mountaineering. The weather was HOT and the water felt really good. I think this years turn out was the best yet! Many paddlers took their first tours of of the Lower with a fair amount of success. The upper wasn't ignored either with lots of paddlers styling Electric Ledge for their first time. My Saturday was spent starting Joi on her very first whitewater kayak lesson. She did great! Even did a 12 foot seal launch on the way back! Sunday was my day to paddle! I saw my favorite C boaters pull into the parking lot (minus 1) and knew it was going to be a good day. A total of five of us ran the upper and it was fun. Doug styled Electric for his first time. Sitting at the beach in the canyon I took a good look at Dave's C-1...so close I ended up trying it out. WOW! Was that different. I've loved watching C boaters and have had a lot of respect for their skills but I now have very good understanding of just how talented those people are! For the record I didn't flip but I didn't get into very much current either. Next we had plans to paddle the lower. For John it was his first time. We did the first couple of drops and I came to the sad realization that my energy level was below empty. We pulled off and decided to do the run another day. Good call. BTW the Saturday night party seems to be ending up with a tradition of skinney dipping...it wasn't dark enough for me :) Another great weekend! Thanks Team Midwest! (My favorite store!)

Wausau

The paddling community is growing in leaps and bounds around the Midwest.The last two releases has had a lot of newbies being mentored by experienced paddlers. Last week I brought Pamela, a newbie and her brother Jason, not a newbie but hadn't been out for awhile. They did great! This week John brought his friend Justin for his first whitewater experience. John had worked him on flatwater during the week and he had gotten his roll so he was ready. They worked on the bottom of the river with ferry's and peel outs and such. I was lucky enough to safety boat with them for Jason's first run down. He got his first surf in Rodeo hole...he was surfing for quite a bit! Followed by his first swim :) He ran Big Drop with a killer ender in the hole...way to style it! His second run down was just as fun. Another boater is born. So much fun! My day consisted of nearly all river time. Play and run. Rodeo hole is really sweet! I was a tired puppy at the end of the day!

I Gotta Little Bit...

...of play this evening. Dennis and I took our chances and headed to the Verm to see what the new gauge at 43cfs was. It wasn't bad. The best play on the river was Donut...as always. Spins and blasts were easy fun. So was hand surfing and King/Queen of the wave. Dennis ruled on that tonight. It sure felt good to be back at the Verm. I am hopeing that the next rain storm will bring the river back up to fun levels. Bigger is better. If you go right now just put in at RR. There isn't anything above that's worth the plastic off your boat. At least until the level gets to maybe 60cfs.

Ah Yes...Partytime, er, I mean Paddletime, Ah it's PADDLEMANIA TIME!

Paddlemania is fast approaching. June 20th! It's the time of the year when Team Midwest Mountaineering has their thank you bash for all of their loyal whitewater customers. Last year they changed the venue to the Outpost on the St Louis giving us so much more to paddle. There's going to be camping, river tours, boat demos, and gambling. By gambling I mean the Slot Machine Showdown where paddlers can take their chances at running the Slot. I see prizes are going to be awarded to all participants...hmmmm. Midwest usually gives out some good stuff. I got my favorite paddling top at one a few years back. Plan to camp and run the river both days. This will be my 4th year coming and my first time not having to fit work into the weekend! It's going to be a great time! Put a search in on my blog to check out the past Paddlemania's.

What's This? Water from the Sky?

Rain..you gotta be kidding...I've forgotten what that's like...Well I was reminded down in North Carolina...repeatedly. Anyway, my trusty rain gauge says 1 1/4 inch in Red Wing. I checked the Verm on the way home and this is what I saw. If we get the rain they predict for tonight then the Verm will have a little action on it. Cats and dogs baby! Let it pour! If you're really bored click on the middle photo to enlarge and see if you can spot the ducks...there's two.

The First Release

Saturday was the first release for Wausau Whitewater. The day broke a couple of records. The first was the most people for a first release and the second was the lowest high temperature for that day. The chilly weather didn't stop everyone from playing hard and having fun. Pamela joined me for her third time on moving water...she rocked! Her brother Jason also joined us to renew his love of whitewater after being "dry" for a few years. He sure wasn't rusty! The river was like a family reunion...it was hard to pass an eddy without seeing someone you haven't seen since last season. Bryan Z had his new Kingpin and was rocking the holes...loops and cartwheels. I didn't get any photos but Bryan did so check his blog out. See everyone next Saturday!

It Felt Good to Rock Out!

With the whitewater rock bottom low around here, Shirley and I headed for Barn Bluff this afternoon. I've climbed outside early this spring but all that ended when the water came up. It was definitely time to get back to climbing. We went to Jenna's first. I haven't climbed it since the rattlesnake incident last fall. We threw a few rocks up to see if anyone was home. Nobody, but I was still too creeped out from last time to enjoy leading Jenna's. We went down to Dealer's Choice instead. This would be my first outdoor lead of the year. I took my time and it went well. Shirley followed very nicely on top rope. I top roped it and was again amazed at the mental difference between leading and top roping. I love the challenge. For our first time out Shirley and I did well. We checked out a few other climbs that I'd like to lead soon. A very good evening!