The Day I Forgot my PFD!

I am known far and wide as "THE" person who has extra of everything stashed in my truck.  If you forgot it, Nora's got it.  I always carry two PFD's in my truck. My rescue PFD and my play PFD. Not this day though.  I had just gotten back from the Northwest and unloaded my truck.  With my brand new PFD just arrived I took my older ones out and hung them on their hooks. I didn't get around to putting my new PFD in the truck before I went to my home river...The Vermilion.  I was bummed when I discovered this fact in the parking lot.  Since it would be an hour round trip home to get it and I spend more time in Donut Hole than on my living room couch I decided to paddle without it. All things considered including that I am a very strong swimmer and it's a small pool drop park and play river with lots of paddlers there, I wasn't too worried.
  The river was up from the summer rains.  We had a fairly large group gathered to play.  The Verm is a place to just go and hang out with friends and have fun.  Some of my best paddling memories are from this river.   We made it down to my favorite hole...Donut!  It was stomping and so much fun.  I chased one paddler down to the pool below when she swam.  It's a large safe pool for the most part and a favorite swimming hole for the local kids.  The only current is a jet on river right that pushes along a slightly undercut cliff wall.  In the summer the young people that hang out also like to butt slide down through Donut hole so it's not unusual for us to wait for them to go through.  Two young men were taking turns in the hole with us.  All was good.  Then one of the young men decided to try to talk his girlfriend into sliding down.  I could see she was very reluctant.  He then decided to try to persuade her by making out with her above the drop so all of us could watch.  "Come on baby...I'll be there to save you." We could see it all coming down.  I was next in the hole and it was to be my last ride and then I was headed out.  The pool below was filling up with the boaters that had washed or swam too far down and it was time to go.  Well she was finally convinced so I let them slide hand in hand through the hole and then I jumped in for my last surf.  As I turned to head down to the pool I saw only her in the fast water along the undercut with her boyfriend nowhere to be seen.  I had a suspicion something was very wrong and sped down to her.  When I caught up to her she had sank completely underwater and I could see she had no idea how to swim.  I was horrified to see she was actually drowning. I looked to grab something on her to pull her up but there was nothing to grab. I was just about to jump out of my boat when she hit the wall and grabbed on.  She pried her head above water as I pulled up next to her. She didn't realize at first I was there but pressed her head into the rock.  She was terrified, sobbing and hysterical.  I talked to her to calm her down and explained that I was going to give her the back of my kayak to hold on to and I would take her across the current.  Bobzilla had caught wind of what was going down and was there if I needed him.
  She was a sweetheart and listened to my commands.  Not being a swimmer she was hard to ferry across the current since she didn't know how to float.  I saw her boyfriend just watching in waist deep water on the sand bar.   I yelled at him to come and help her.  No response.  Again I told him to come and help her. Very little response.  He took a few slow steps. It was pretty obvious he really didn't give a %&*$.  Wow!  When I did get her onto the sand bar and she was standing I asked her if she even knew how to swim.  She said "no".  Now here the story pauses on my blog...One of my rules for my blog is to post nothing negative. When I learned her boyfriend had encouraged her to go down through rapids, without a PFD, when she didn't know how to swim a few, ah shall we say, negative things came out of my mouth.  It wasn't pretty.
  Ok back to the story.  The sand bar is only in the middle of the river and there is a small deep area next to the shore she needed to get out on. I told her I wasn't leaving the pool until she was safe on shore and towed her to shore.
  Observations in hindsight.  A friend just sent me this link today about drowning.  The parallels are amazing.  She was bobbing with her feet hanging down and her hair was just floating in the water around her head. There was a total of about  fifteen paddlers and young people hanging out down there and thankfully I saw what was happening. No one else noticed.  A drowning person can easily panic and pull down their would be rescuer.  I was very aware of this as I helped her out.  Being without my PFD put me at a disadvantage.  But then, in the past,  I have rescued a few others in serious drowning situations while just swimming without a PFD.  The best thing is to have training.  Not only in swift water rescue but also in CPR and lifeguard.  I am also trained in First Responder.  Thankfully it all came together and it was a good feeling to know it turned out right in the end.  Bobzilla remarked that "somebody" owed me some beer.  I laughed and said "somebody" probably wasn't old enough to buy me some beer.  I truly hope she dumped that boyfriend!

The Northwest ...Payette River

Minnesota girl headed out west!  YeeHaw...oh...wait...I lived in Oregon a long time ago.  This was my first trip back to the state I grew up in since I left in "69".  My first stop was to see Andy and John in Idaho. They were both working for Cascade Raft and Kayak as instructors and raft guides.  I don't think I've seen a better operation yet.  It is owned by the Long Family...world class kayakers and incredible teachers.  The knowledge they pass on to their employees is priceless!  John and Andy both encouraged me to attend a rolling clinic put on by Cascade to see  first hand their teaching technique.  I was amazed at how easily Chad Long put a new student in the proper position to roll within seconds.  I will definately be putting this knowledge to work back home.

  I was camped out with John and Andy on an island on the Payette River neatly tucked in between two class V rapids.   As music has the ability to penetrate your physical body and affect your soul the sound of the river flowing a few feet from my tent saturated me with it's song.  It became an essential element for me that I was reluctant to leave.  The Payette was my intro to big water...yes it was big in Colorado a few weeks ago but I have never seen whitewater such as this.  From class V rapids that stretch non-stop for miles, to super fun huge class III.  I could spend a lot of time just enjoying the area...and I will be back.

  

Kelly's Whitewater Park

  I took the time to go up to the new Kelly's Whitewater Park to check it out.  After looking at HUGE water on the Payette for days it struck me as small.  Well it's not.  My whitewater perspective had been pleasantly skewed.  The features are excellently created from easy to challenging.   The park it's self has brand new landscaping and a beautiful clubhouse.  Plenty of comfortable viewing for spectators and a backdrop of snow capped mountains...I just love Idaho!

   Special note.  The guys from the Midwest and I decided to do an easy paddle on what is called the Swirly Canyon section...class II-III.  The guide book says there's just some squirrely eddy lines in the canyon.  What it didn't say is that it takes about 500 whirlpools and squeezes them down into a half mile stretch with sheer walls.  If you know me you know I really dislike whirlpools.  There wasn't a single straight line anywhere to be found.  People were flipping (not me) and it was quite a time getting through.  I was taken spun backwards and slammed into a wall at one point.  By far the most unique stretch of whitewater I've seen yet. But everything for a reason...once through the canyon your fear of whirlpools is gone.

                                                                                                
                        Hot Springs at the Swirly Canyon Take out


  The rest of the crew moved on to Washington in the morning and I took Emily up on her invite for one more run on the Main Payette before I left.  I took my playboat this time and it was addicting!
I was very reluctant to leave Idaho, but Washington and Oregon were calling and I needed to see my friend Lori to see how she was fairing.  That evening I crossed over the Oregon State line for the first time in 41 years. I wondered if I would make it back to my home town of Coos Bay this trip.

Paddlemania with my My Personal Villain!

This weekend was the 12th annual Paddlemania.  It was going to be special for me as Saturday morning I was picking up my new kayak!  Not just any kayak but my Personal Villain!  This boat was darn hard to come by.  I wanted the the Elite and the wait I was told  was going to be three weeks...at least!  I was leaving for the Northwest in two weeks!  The demand for this boat is exceptional!  I did my home work and located one at Whitecap Kayak .  It was the only one in the Midwest for sale and I was hoping it was any color other than red, white, and blue. I had fallen in love with the blue, black and white one at CKS and was regretting not getting it while I was out there.  Lara said it was....yes...red, white and blue.  I saw it at Wausau and thought it's a swirled pattern and doesn't look too much like a Bomb Pop. OK...I'll take it!  I had already decided on the name of my Villain weeks ago.  Meet McMurray.  McMurray came into my loving custody  from the hands of a Pastor.    Pastor Neil Schroeter, the owner of Whitecap Kayak.  All things considered I asked him to Bless the boat.  Up until now all my boats had their virgin run on my home river, the Vermilion.  It was only fitting that McMurray was broken in on the razor sharp rocks of the St Louis during Paddlemania.  It paddled like a rock star!  I put it through the hole at the bottom of Electric Ledge and it didn't even pause a second. Still it wasn't the color I had imagined for my boat.  Back at the Outpost just about everyone wanted to see the large Villain.  I was amazed at the reaction to the color...people loved it!  I was assured over and over that red, white and blue IS the hottest color to get.  OK... it's my personal Villain and I still love it even though it's extremely bright and attracts large amounts of admiration.

  The 12th annual Paddlemania happened with a little bit for everyone.  A few lessons...a few tours...a first D with a Duo...lots of swims...one double extended swimming tour of a hole that was pretty bad and even a little stitching practice for our resident paddling MD...Burgess.  Surly Beer was consumed at record speed.  The Slot Machine Showdown was great entertainment as always.  Thirteen paddlers gambled....only two lost.  The door prizes from Midwest Mountaineering really rocked this year!  I had been putting off buying a new spray skirt and I won one right off the bat!  WhoooHoo!  Unfortunately there was no rampant nudity this year...maybe next  year. Thank you Team Midwest Mountaineering for putting this on!   Here is Todd's video of the Slot Machine Showcase.

  And for those of you that follow my amazing friend and artist Joi Electa...she had her second whitewater river lesson.  She styled down First Wave rapid!  Awesome!

Colorado 2010

This year has not been a good year for whitewater in the Midwest.  The creeks came and went so fast in Minnesota I changed my vacation plans and went to the Southeast for water.  Sturgeon Falls, our usual Memorial Day destination, was dry also.  Bryan, Caleb, Jade, and I made wise plans to go to Colorado instead.

  We came into Salida late in the evening and got our playboats wet and then had a beer with my friend Chris at the "Rope".  The next morning the river had risen to nearly 3000cfs.  Our plans for the day was to do the Fractions.  We hit up CKS in the morning for their Riverfest Sale.  I was pleasantly surprised to see Nick Troutman there and also meet Clay Wright.  I admit I was drooling over the Jackson Villain .  I'm still waiting to get mine from my local dealer, Midwest Mountaineering.  Then something happened that I have never seen before.  Clay and Nick said to go and take one of their personal Villains down the river today and give it a demo.  Yowza!  I went down and picked the color I liked and we headed to the Fractions.  Thank you team Jackson!

  On the way to the river I started to wonder if this was a good decision to take a new boat, not outfitted for myself personally, on my first run of this river at extremely high levels.  It turned out not to be a problem.  Jackson's outfitting adjusts so easily I fit snug in a matter of seconds.  

We met another group at the put in and we arraigned shuttle with them.  The Fractions start out very fast at 2900cfs.  I was feeling the edges on the new boat and seeing what she could do. On the first rapid one of the guys we had joined up with for shuttle swam.   We got him to shore and the crew chased the boat down around the corner and out of sight.  I stopped with the swimmer to make sure he was OK.  I looked around and saw I was the only one who had stopped with him.  I told the swimmer to walk downriver and I was going to find the crew.  I looked out and saw a rock and wood strainer taking up half of river right and I would have to do a must make ferry to river left and head down by myself until I caught up with the boys.  OK lets see what this Villain can do.  Dropping my blade into the water I headed across the current and made my line with ease.  Right now I'm feeling a lot of loving thoughts about the Villain!  Down a ways I found the crew... but no boat.  It was gone.  The swimmer joined us and we told him we'd keep an eye out for it.

  The rest of the river was high speed fun!  Back at Buena Vista I was reluctant to give back the demo Villain.  I had bonded with the boat and really didn't want to go back to my old boat for the rest of the weekend.  They will be in soon at Midwest. I don't do "waiting gracefully" very well but I will have to wait for my "personal Villain".

That night we listened to music and watched the pro boaters and drank some very good local brew.  It was a really great day.

Day two and the water just kept going up overnight!  We decided on Brown's Canyon.  We hooked up with three Minnesota boaters we ran into the day before.  Again at 3400cfs the river is fast.  The easy start to this river lulled the paddlers that hadn't ran it before.  Don't worry...it picks up further down and boy did it!   We picked up a couple of swims from one of our group who is a good kayaker but was just having a bad day....we all have them.  After her second swim she decided it was enough and started walking.I myself had a bad turn of events at the bottom of Zoom Flume when I was flipped and rolled and rolled and was slammed down each time again before I could get a breath...after several attempts I was out of the thin stuff they call air up there and pulled out. Caleb got me to shore and asked if I had hit my nose cause there was a little blood...no just a little too long under water.  After that episode he suggested my name should be Gnara....I kind of like it...lol!   I got back into my boat and we all paddled on.

  Before setting out that morning I had wondered what the Giant Steps would look like at 3400cfs.  I ran them at 1200cfs so I knew what the structure was underneath.  I could only imagine what it looked like at this high level.   It was incredible!!! The biggest and longest wave train I have ever ran!  Some waves were over 10 feet high!  Unfortunately one of our crew swam at the top.  FORTUNATELY...she was out of the river in seconds as a swim here would be a nightmare.  This is the start of the infamous boat rescue!  Bryan, Caleb Jade, and Jeramiah chased that boat for over a mile through huge rapids.  The strength and stamina to be able to do this is huge!  I was running sweep so I didn't realize there was a swim until I saw her boat in an eddy part of the way down.  I pulled over to get my breath on the river right of a huge rock and started looking for the swimmer and paddle.  Since Jeramiah was running after the boat I knew the swimmer was OK and headed down the rest of the rapid alone....again....as everyone else was so far ahead of me.  This rapid went on for over a mile before letting up.  At one point one of those waves knocked my paddle out of my right hand and threw me back on my boat.  The river here is very constricted and the waves refracting off the shore made for quite the paddle down.  I loved it!  The boat was rescued and the paddle was lost.  Again a good paddler just having an off day...everyone has theirs.  Back at the take out we all headed to Salida for beer and food...a great end to a great day!

 Monday and we only had time for a very quick paddle before hitting the road home.  I opted not to paddle the Fractions again but the boys made a bomb run down.  I took photos of them at Frog Rock and went back to CKS to drool, again, over the large Villain.  So maybe I like bad boys.  We enjoyed a few more beers at the Buena Vista take out with the other Minnesota crew and headed home. 

  This was an awesome trip with awesome friends!  Our crew was solid and times were good!  Memories that will last a lifetime!  Video is still being processed and I will post when they're done.

Side Note....

   I did make a big mistake that I will mention here.  While packing I reduced the gear I usually take along.  I had to pick one PFD and chose my rescue PFD.  What I didn't realize at the time was while it fits snug at an elevation of 800 ft. things change at 10,000 ft.  When I started running rivers at that level I found I couldn't breath....literally! It was scary to say the least.  When I asked Bryan to help me zip it before Brown's he pointed out it was too tight and that's why I had so much trouble breathing!  Your chest has to expand much more to compensate for the thin air.  Once it was loosened I had no trouble. 

Canoe U 2010...First Weekend

Rapids Riders is a club that is committed to teaching whitewater kayaking and canoeing in a safe and fun environment. Each spring we lead a fresh batch of newbies out on the fast moving waters of Minnesota. I have been with Canoe U for four years now.  The first two as a safety boater and this is my second year teaching.  One of the most rewarding things about teaching is seeing the growth of your students.  From Saturday morning on the lower Kettle to Sunday evening the growth as a kayaker was immense.  The joy on their faces at the end of the day on Sunday says it all.  Kayakers are a special breed of people.  Bonded together through the love and challenge of a river.  At the end of the weekend, nine students understood the experience of running a river.

This year I'd like to highlight the ladies!  We had a very nice group of ladies and they all were amazing women!  Each one taking the challenge of water in her way from bold to determined...all were successful!  My goal as an instructor is to make it easier for women to learn, and most importantly, stay with whitewater.

Now the men...whooo boy are they fun to teach!  We had a fun group of men with also that were not shy about running those rapids!  Reports from the other two groups confirmed that all the students were rocking the river and having fun.

The growth doesn't stop there.  Looking at the instructors and safety boaters many were students from the previous years.  Amazing kayakers now and awesome friends! Check out Bryan's Blog for his super photos!

In two weeks the students will come again to the rivers for their graduation weekend.  Another solid two days of running rivers.  It just doesn't get much better than this!

Kettle River Padlle Festival Number Four!

Tony Vavrika started the tradition of the Kettle River paddle Festival four years ago.  Since it's conception the water level has been varied from high water down to this years low water of 340cfs.  Still the highlights of the weekend are the down river race and the rodeo.

Saturday morning the weather was gloomy but it didn't dampen the spirits of the many paddlers that showed up.  My crew did a playboat run in the morning just for fun.  We found play still on Blueberry Slide and various spots down the river.  We turned around and went back to the top for the downriver race. As we waited for the racers to arrive at the put in we saw John Abraham pull up and we knew who first place was going to be.  John is an amazing racer from Duluth!

It was decided to go in heats separated by one minute.  They asked for the serious paddlers who considered themselves to be the fastest to go in the first heat.  Four young  men and I stepped forward.  OK...I thought...so what if I'm left in the dust.  I came to race. We started out in a group and I was in the middle.  As we approached the first drop I slowed to let the men boatercross battle it out for the narrow line down. I'm not a fan of boatercross racing.  I stayed with the pack after that never losing them as I had originally thought. I ended up taking 4th in the fastest kayaks!  Even at low level there was carnage.

 Back at Robinson Park we were greeted with Surly beer, I love their coffee beer, and more and more paddlers were rolling in.  It was time to head to the Gaslight bar where a great chicken dinner awaited us. I have to say I love the Gaslight!  They have the best Bloody Marys and always have great music! Tony as always puts on a very fine event and the swag table was heavy with great products from the sponsors. The paddlers were truly Blessed to be provided for by those sponsors!

Everyone outside NOW!  The fireworks  were to begin!  I am not exaggerating when I say these are THE BEST fireworks I have ever seen. The first year I saw these fireworks the lady next to me had tears in her eyes!

By then I was pretty tired and was thinking my tent sounded pretty fine but the movie was starting.  The Call of the River by Kent Ford.  I thought I'd watch a bit and then head back but I was hooked from the first minute.  This is an amazing film documenting the history of whitewater paddling.  The old footage and photos of some of the worlds pioneers in paddling!  See how many you can recognize.

Sunday dawned with sunshine and warm temps!  Beautiful!  Rodeo day!  We all put in and paddled down leisurely.  We had many new paddlers and with the river low it was the perfect time to mentor them down.  Hell's Gate is the last big rapid on the river and our destination was at the bottom.  The hole was friendly and the competition just as friendly.  Graeme Bloor taking first place.

This years low water attracted many new paddlers as well as the experienced.  As I looked at who I considered experienced I saw that it was many Canoe U alumni that have gone on to become solid  paddlers.  Some becoming instructors as I did. The community is also growing with more women coming into the sport. Also Ivan Bartha from the University of Minnesota St Cloud came down with a large crew of new and experienced kayakers and brought various boats for everyone to demo. Predominately a variety of Jacksons but also some C1's and canoes.

Thank you Tony for another great Kettle Fest!  Also a great big thanks to the city of Sandstone and the sponsors that make this a spring tradition!  You can check out all the information at  Kettle Fest  I'm looking forward to next year!!

Jackson Kayak is so Wrong!

They call this color "moss green". They're so wrong!  It is exactly the same color as "sunshine on spring leaves".  I knew this spring I wanted a new boat.  I had been at the top weight range of my Allstar and knew it was time to find more volume.  I had tried out the Superstar a couple of years ago but found the boat itself to be too big for me to be comfortable in.  While I was comparing boats on Playak.com I saw that the new 2010 Superstars were about the same length as my older Allstar just with more volume. Precisely what I was looking for.  In my mind I started dreaming...I thought a yellow and white kayak this time and for some reason I named her Sunshine in my mind.  When I called Midwest Mountaineering I talked to their sea kayaking specialist Jerome.  Looking on the computer he said there was only one in stock and it was red. I wasn't excited.  It didn't fit as Sunshine and I didn't want to wait  as the first Wausau Whitewater release was this weekend.  I called back a bit later and talked to their whitewater specialist Peter. No he said...the red one is the older style.  We have one 2010 Superstar and it's moss green.  I thought not quite the Sunshine I imagined but I told him I'd take it and pick it up the next day.  He described it as a light green and I though it could be any kind of green but green is a favorite color of mine so what ever it was I'd be OK with it.

I got up early in the morning and headed to Midwest.  They were setting up for the Expo so they were closed but "open" for me to pick up my new boat.  Jerome led me into the boat yard and I saw her leaning next to the door.  A little thrill went through me...Damn she was cute!  Perfect! The color was unusual and alluring.  I loaded her up and headed to the river for a quick paddle before work.  I was able to play for an hour on my favorite hole.  The sun was shining down though the newly budded trees and on the carry back up I stopped for a rest and noticed there was no difference between the color of my boat and the color of sunshine on spring leaves.  I know I'm going to love playing in Sunshine!

This year I also want to go with more volume on my creek boat.  I was able to sit in the Villain S prototype at Canoecopia this February and liked the feel of it.  The larger Villain has 92.5 gallons of volume and I am thinking that this will be my next creek boat.  I was able to demo a Villain S at Wausau and was very impressed.  I took my first stroke out of the eddy and was impressed with the acceleration speed.   I took the Villain S down the slalom area of the park looking to see what kind of precision control it had.  The balance was great and it handled each move with ease and a crispness I liked.  Most of all I like the feel of the lower deck height and my knees being in a better position to control the boat.  Very nice!

Strange how things work in your life.  My Occoee that I bought last fall was the first boat I named and I call her Montana since she came from Montana.  I knew before I saw my Superstar she would be named Sunshine and she is sunshine...on spring leaves.  Daydreaming about my new creeker to come a name popped into my head and I knew immediately that it was the perfect name for my Villain. I'm going to call him McMurray.  Somethings you look at and you think...aw that's naughty...and you smile.  I'm going to enjoy riding the hell out of McMurray...that boat needs to be paddled hard.  Now hmmmm...what color should I choose?

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!

Sick Creeking

The Midwest creeking season always starts hard and fast.  It doesn't wait for anyone and the window is small.  Even smaller this year.  The Vermillion River, which is my home river and spring warm up, opened up last weekend.  I wasn't on the starting line for the first time this year as I attended Canoecopia for my first time.  Monday afternoon found me paddling the Verm at a nice high level. Life was good but I noticed I was coming down with a head cold.  I blamed the wild party at the bar Saturday night in Madison for the virus...but it was a great night so I didn't mind.  I spent the week just running the Verm with my creek boat.  Once with my play boat but declined to play since this cold was developing nicely and I used my better judgment (for once) against rolling in Vermillion water.  I wanted to be ready for this weekends creeks. I did notice that the only time I could breath was when I was on the river so this was good. So I thought.

  Friday night I talked with Anthony and said I'd be up in the morning unless I came down with pneumonia.  I knew my cold was kicking my behind but this only comes once a year and I didn't want to miss a minute of it. I'm "over 50" now and know my creeking days are going to be short.  I handcuffed and muffled my better judgement and drove the three and half hours north.  After all the plan was only to do the Lester and maybe the Stewart or Sucker river.   Easy put ins and take outs. I knew being sick I could still do those easily and get my fix.

I met the crew at the Lester River.  Unfortunately the levels were falling out extremely fast.  I was disappointed as it was to be my first run on the Lester.  We drove north.  Low water everywhere until we saw the full parking lot at the Split Rock.  My favorite run of all times, I had run it last spring and had the most fun of any river. The computer in my head said glitch...there is no way you will be able to make the 3 mile hike in AND paddle while being sick. I reached for more mental duct tape and muzzled my better judgment. I did briefly entertain thoughts of just running my camera instead...very briefly.

 I did the hike in....3 miles up hill with my boat wheezing and hacking.  I arrived at the first rapid and knew I was done before starting.  But the river lured and enticed me as they do every paddler.  I put on hoping I still had it in me.  I was running with Aaron, Andy, Anthony and Dave.  They waited patiently for me to get my breath but it felt like I was holding the reins on four wild horses that wanted to run. So off we went...I felt so good to be on the river and running.  The first big drop and I pitoned and missed my two rolls at the bottom. Having run this river before I knew I had no time to play with another few rolls as what was coming up next was no joke.  I pulled out and finally admitted to myself...hey I'm really sick and this river is really something you need to be top of your game to run.  I told the guys I'd catch up with them tonight and not to wait for me and started the walk out.

Well I started the "drag my boat out" walk.  Three miles down hill right?  I hadn't gone far when I slipped in the mud and fell with my leg twisted in a bad position.  My thought was I could have easily broken a leg there.  As it was I took the skin off of my finger tip.  I walked a bit further on when I saw I wasn't carrying my paddle.  I had stowed it in my boat.  I looked back and sure enough it was gone.  I ran back and found it close to where I took out.  OK now I'm standing there with all my gear...mud all over my new drysuit and blood freely running off my hand feeling pretty disgusted with my self not running a river I love and not accepting my limitations. Totally ignoring my life rule of if something is in the way of what you want to do accept it as it was not meant to be because there is something better you should be doing instead.

So I trudged on. Three miles down hill...right?  Oh no..it's the only place in the world other than our parents memories that it's up hill both ways. For real!  I came to the biggest hill and looked way up at the top.  I just didn't have it in me mentally to go up that hill.  It had bothered me that the river was just down the hill and that alone I could easily paddle the water between the big rapids. I knew the river well so I wasn't too worried. So with my hand still dripping blood I started through the woods to access the river.   At least it was really downhill.  Pulling and jerking the boat through trees and downfall I was determined to reach the river.  Well I did reach the river below Under the Log rapid but found a high steep cliff ended the hill.  Looking back up at the loooong way I had come down the hill I knew there was no way I was going back up.  The sun was dropping and with thoughts of my cockpit being a cosy place to sleep for the night I searched for an access.  I found a steep rock strewn gully with ice still clinging to the sides that cut down the cliff  to the water. OK...it would be a bit difficult but the other option was back up the hill.  I roped my boat down between the trees.  climbed carefully down on the ice and rock aware that no one knew I was here and it would be kind of bad if something did happen.  Being independent all my life I have done a lot of outdoor adventures like this so you just slow up and  make sure every hold and move is solid and counts. As I approached the bottom I was dismayed as it didn't look like there was any place to set my boat to get in. I thought I'd have to drop into the current and swim my boat and paddle to the shallow island in the center and get in there. But as luck would have it there was a small shelf of rock  just upstream that with a little finagling and fine balance I was able to get into my boat and launch. The stress melted away with the first paddle strokes and an euphoria wrapped around me....I was happy. It had turned into an adventure.

I floated out to the lake and was surprised to see boats in the parking lot still.  I had said my goodbyes to Caleb and told the rest of the crew I would meet up with them later.   They weren't the crew I was with but another crew of paddlers I knew, and they,  on the other hand, were shocked to see me paddling out as they were waiting for me to come out of the trail.  I took them up on their offer of jambalaya and a warm place to stay for the night.  I was touched by their concern but it also made me realize that my mind set is so very far from others.  I have spent a lifetime of relying on myself only and being so independent and single minded that I forget others don't think that way.  I tried to thank them and they had to strain their ears to hear me since my voice was now nearly gone.  The next morning I woke with no voice again and listened to my better judgment and opted not to paddle. It nearly killed me not to paddle. It was a great weekend and I was glad to see friends and get to know some of my fellow paddlers better.  I lent my helmet with my GoPro to Dave that day so he captured some video of what I missed.  Check it out.

Verm Tuesday

Fisherman's drop today. The standing waves before the drop are gone and this feature developed. Check out the video also. The second photo is what is in the hole they blasted yesterday.  An old drain pipe...ok? Why?