Southeast Trip...Baby I Love You!

A beautiful spring in the upper Midwest and NO WATER!  I think this is the shortest paddling season the Midwest has ever seen.  It all went off at once and it was gone in a blink.  The quest for water began.  When I heard my Three Favorite Open Boaters, Alan, Dan, and Dave, were headed to do the Tellico River in Tennessee I joined right up!  To date I consider the Tellico to be the prettiest river I have ever seen and a must run.  I met up with Brian and Lori for a warm up run on the Nantahala and then we headed for North River Campsite number 2 in the dark of night.  Morning dawned and the river was running at a low of 300cfs but still runnable.  When I was car scouting I met a group of three very nice young men who were doing laps. They gave me a few tips and wished us well.  They lapped us several times.

  We put on and followed Alan's lead down.  We scouted and took our time just enjoying the beauty and and shooting video at all the fun drops...which were many!  We came to Baby Falls... a 19 foot falls landing in a baby soft pool.  For many of us this was the highest falls we had done.  Everyone styled their lines!  Could there ever be a better start to a trip?  Brian and Lori had to reluctantly leave to go back north and the rest of us traveled  in the dark to the Chattooga River.

  After a breakfast at Waffle House we were joined by Art for a day on Section 3 of the Chattooga. The sun was shining and the day went very well.  Ticking off the miles of rapids with smiles.  More video and photos and then we realized we needed to boogie to make it to the take out before dark fell.  As twilight descended Alan yelled back...it's Bull Sluice.  Alan was intent to run it and Dan set video fast.  The rest of us portaged trying to beat the dark.  We put in below and Dave said to follow he as he could see.  I couldn't see much else but I spotted some white sand on the other side and bee lined for it followed by Art. We all met up in the parking lot and headed back to town.  We needed food!

We found a nice bar called Zeppelin's that stayed open just a bit longer to accommodate us.  Fantastic place to eat in Clayton, GA with a hard core 60's early 70's rock theme going on.   Tomorrow was Section 4 and we all agreed that it was going to be a long day and we needed to be off before dark.

I cooked breakfast at the put in parking lot. Easy start to the day. The Chattooga is an awesome immensely  beautiful river! The rapids of section 4 follow much closer together and are just fun!  We followed Alan as he picked the lines down.  Needless to say I learned a whole lot about river scouting this trip.  After paddling the Chattooga I can see how the southern boaters become such great paddlers with the long runs like this. The day was long and again we realized we needed to boogie hard to get to the end before dark.  It became a paddle hard to get to the Five Falls Area.  We agreed to portage there as we had no time to scout or clean up any swims. It was getting dark fast.  When I came around the corner on the last riffles and saw the bass boat with it's lights on I knew there was no more whitewater. We had made it off before dark...just barely.  Just two miles of lake in the dark to find a take out that had no lights. By then I was on a mission. Dan and Alan stopped to stretch and put on more layers.  Art, Dave and I paddled on.  Dave stopped and checked his GPS.  Art and I paddled on.  Art stopped to go back and find Dave...I paddled on.  I was intent on finding the take out and getting off the lake.  Being a Yankee I wondered about water moccasins, alligators, and yes hippos.  On the water in the dark solid black of night the mind has fun freaking you out and my imagination can be a trip. I love it and I let it run and enjoy the trip.  I imagined I even heard banjos. I came around the corner and caught sight of the lights of a boater pulling his boat out.  Hallelujah! I marked the spot on the dark horizon and paddled hard towards it. When I arrived I flashed the lights to bring the rest of the crew in and stripped naked in the parking lot to change.  After all you couldn't see two feet in that dark.  I was cold and hungry and needed a beer.  Back at the vehicles one of us had lost his key.  After looking we concluded that it was not to be found and headed to town.  Our favorite bar was just closing the doors when we arrived.  Damn...being the only woman in the group I knew what had to be done.  I made it to the grocery store with only a few minutes to spare.  Grabbed some cheese to make nachos in the microwave and a tub of ice cream.  After an intense food session we all were happy and watching the videos from the day.  Next year on the list is all the rapids I didn't get to run because of the dark and also a Tallulah release.

Well it was time for a day off. Art had to get everything arraigned to have keys made for for his vehicle and it poured down rain for the most of the day.  The only thing I regret on this trip is not going through all the wonderful art shops in downtown Clayton.  We watched the gauges go sky high and past the unrunnable  level for our group that night.  We wondered what we were going to do the next day.  As it turned out the Tellico had come down to the high runnable range in the morning and we drove back there as fast as we could.  The features had changed a bit and I did my first rapid backwards after being spun by a sneaky rock.  No problem...I styled it that way.  We all ran down having a blast.  Baby Falls was bigger and the landing softer.  Baby I love you! I think we all do...such a great waterfall!

This was my first trip to the southeast rivers.  Wow!  We met some really cool people while we were down there.  The rivers are so incredible and fun! Next spring it'll be a two week trip to tick off more rivers and warm up for our creeking season up here.  Looking back I know the Tellico will always be my sweetheart river of the southeast.  The redbud trees were in full bloom everywhere! The beauty of spending Easter morning in the Smokey Mountains....priceless!

Beautiful November Day

So rare to see a warm sunny day WITH water in November. By this time each year many paddlers have hung up their paddles and are waiting for the pool sessions to begin. There was a whole bunch of paddlers out enjoying the Kettle yesterday. It was fantastic to see so many women out! Our group running down the river actually had more women than men. Not something I see often around here but it's happening more frequently. Today I decided to give Montana a taste of easy whitewater. I have only paddled her twice on flat backwaters on the Mississippi so this would be the first moving water. Armed with my three favorite open boaters as friendly instructors I warmed up on the flats above the rapids. I then started down river right with Alan, Dan and David waiting to play "catch" if needed. I made the eddy at Warm Up wave and then paddled down over the slide and into the eddy at Shoulder Hole. I practiced ferry's for a bit and then decided that it was time to change out to my playboat for the rest of the run. Many thanks to Alan, Dan, and David for being so patient. Being a crowded river I didn't feel comfortable paddling it down and would like to work on the basics on a easier river until I get the techniques down. It's funny how you view a river by what is under your butt. Yesterday was feeling it out and seeing just what to expect from her edges and stability. I like it! It was exciting to try out something new on the river...just like being a newb again.

Lower St. Louis on a Beautiful Fall Day

Happy Birthday to Dan! One of my three favorite open boaters. We celebrated in the best possible way...on the river! Aaron, Alan, Dan and I hooked up to catch a last run on the Lower St Louis before they cut off fish flow at the end of this month. The weather could not have been better...warm and sunny...the leaves just starting to turn colors. I haven't been on the Lower for quite a long time. I still hadn't ran Octopus and the Swinging Bridge yet. My first attempt at running Octopus was aborted due to a 20 foot log jackknifing out of the Beak in front of me blocking me from coming out of the Room. That was June 2007! Well today was the day...we had a small tight group and we were on the river to just enjoy. We leisurely meandered down the lower enjoying every possible bit we could and doing quite a bit of videoing. We set up at Octopus and scouted...everyone had a great run. The day was cruzing! Even the Boneyard was enjoyable for almost all of us. We pulled out and scouted Left Slot and the Hanging pool. With video set we all styled it. By then the Swinging Bridge was completely full of people watching us and more on the side of the river. Snakebite was just fine and we paddled towards the cheering crowd on the bridge. They were applauding us when Alan whipped off a roll...sheesh...the crowd went wild! Funny how we just ran all THAT and what tickled them the most is a roll. We pulled over and it was decision time. Dan has been wanting to run Fin Falls in an open canoe for awhile. We discussed it and the boys were all for it. I had a stellar day so I said I would run the video. At the top of Fin we scouted. I set up video and Aaron had the rope after deciding to not run it leaving Alan and Dan. Alan has speculated that he's never heard of anyone running Fin in an open canoe before so this was going to be something. Alan paddling a C1 led off and waited for Dan. Long story short Dan and Alan both styled it all the way down! What a great way to spend a birthday! Everyone has their top shelf of river memories where they store moments of very special runs. This run definitely went on the top shelf. I took a few photos along the way but here's Dan's video from the day.

Once Upon a Time...

Once upon a time there were three, extremely hot chicks who decided to run the St Louis. Lori, Natalie, and Nora. One by one they gathered in the evening at the Outpost for a little wild wilderness camping. That night they drank a little Summit and watched shooting stars while talking about things only three, extremely hot chicks will talk about. Morning came with a beautiful mist over the reservoir and the promise of a gorgeous day. We drove to the put in and saw a wonderful couple standing by the river. Becky and Dan. Dan looked at us and said Becky, I have to paddle with those three extremely hot chicks. Really, how often do you see three extremely hot chicks on a river? Becky said she understood and told Dan she would wait for him at the Outpost...even if it took forever. So three extremely hot chicks and Dan paddled off down the river. We came to the first wave and played a bit. We soon saw three more men paddling so hard you would have thought the devil was following them in a raft. They slid into the eddy and said that they had heard way over in the small distant town of Jim Falls Wisconsin that three extremely hot chicks were going to paddle the St Louis. They drove many miles because really, how often do you see three extremely hot chicks on a river? So Chris, Daniel, and Mike joined the three extremely hot chicks and Dan to paddle the Louis. While we hung out at first wave, a cute green frog popped up between Natalie and Nora with a wistful look on his face. Being extremely hot chicks he realized that there was no getting any lip from either us and he swam slowly away. Extremely hot chicks don't fall for the "Really I'm a handsome prince routine". Soon a raft with three "domesticated" men and a wife and children on board came floating by. They looked wistfully at the three extremely hot chicks and thought "Really, how often do you see three extremely hot chicks on a river. They floated on down the river. Then the three extremely hot chicks led the men down the river. Several of the men were newbies. Some without a roll or float bags but they did very well on the rapids. The three extremely hot chicks had the only playboats so we played the eddyline in the canyon. Dan's boat was a bit of a cross over so he was able to get some enders in also. We paddled on to Electric Ledge. Natalie and Nora looked at each other and said how do you want to do this? Rock, paper sissor's, and Natalie got to lead. Natalie and Nora styled down and waited for Lori to follow. She styled it down and hit a roll just for fun at the bottom and so the three extremely hot chicks waited to see how the men did. One by one they came down and they all did very well!! We were happy. We paddled out the last set of rapids and prolonged the day by playing around Upstream Downstream for a while. One last hurrah with the seal launch in the reservoir and we were back at the Outpost. Becky was waiting for Dan on the shore. Next time Becky will paddle with us and there will be four extemely hot chicks on the river and really how often do you see FOUR extremely hot chicks on a river?

Midwest Freestyle Clinics

Last year started the tradition of having freestyle clinics the two days prior to the competition. Colin Kemp and John McConville taught some great clinics last year that were so popular Wausau added a third instructor, Brian Tupper, to accommodate the increase of students. Last year my instructor was Colin. I paddle often with John so I was secretly hoping to have the "unknown factor" of the new guy, Brian. I got my wish. Brian has all kinds of mad skills and a very calm personality that enables a paddler to relax and work on skills. Patience being one of the most important traits for a whitewater teacher, Brian had it all. In my class I watched the students visibly improve within the first day and a vast improvement over two days. I would rate Brian as a top notch instructor and I was fortunate to have him. If these three instructors return again next year I believe that Wausau is going to be known for the Freestyle clinics also. Plus the addition of Bear Paw doing the intro to whitewater course I can easily see an influx of many new paddlers to the sport. With these types of instructors I can see so much growth across all levels of paddling ability. It's interesting to see the different needs of different levels of kayaking. I believe it gets to a point that for a very experienced student the technical ability of the instructor is just an afterthought where as what is needed for an experienced kayaker is a coach that can motivate the mind. Someone that knows how to break past that barrier in a paddlers mind to push them to believe the next step is possible. Even with teaching beginners mind control/fear control is important. Bottom line is instilling confidence in your student. That said I can confidently say the beginners that took the classes were confident enough to throw down at the competition. Next year it is going to be even bigger. My only regret is that I wish they would have the classes on Wednesday and Thursday and have Friday as a rest/practice day. Just my two cents. Hint, hint.