Picture the North Shore

After leaving the St. Louis River I continued north to Tofte Minnesota where I met up with Joi. Our plans for a girls weekend were many. Kayaking, hiking and photography. We started with breakfast and made an itinerary...I have no idea why I even attempt to make an itinerary as I have never kept to one...but it gave us something to do while eating breakfast. We decided to try to photograph the wild wolf pack and then hike the Kadunce. We headed to the wolves den. I have seen Joi's photos of them from this summer so I was anxious to see them. Unfortunately they were not a home. Lots of tracks and scat but no wolves. Stops that morning included the Cross River and Sugarloaf Cove for a little photography. Then I thought I'd like to see the falls on the Caribou River. The Caribou was the first waterfall that I had ice climbed, or I should say ice bouldered because I wasn't using a rope. I was interested in seeing how deep the pool was at the bottom. The hike is stunning! I had never been to the top of the falls and found it to be well worth it. Joi and I were taking tons of pictures along the way. We had nothing but time. I used several different settings to see what was working and why. At the top we followed the river for a short time. I started to get a bit of a hincky feeling at the top and then Joi said she had heard something moving in the bushes up ahead. It could have been anything but we didn't see what ever it was. But...my devious mind was at work. I was thinking how freaky it would be if when we got back and went through our photos we saw a cougar in the background tracking us. Maybe even two. It would make for a great story. Now I know that the only thing in the woods that frightens Joi is cougars so I didn't bring this up until we were back down closer to the falls. Needless to say I totally creeped her out. The rest of the weekend while hiking I was doing the "here kitty, kitty, kitty," thing. That evening we had a nice paddle on Lake Superior and then demoed more kayaks in the pool. Sunday we were up before the sun and did some sunrise photos and then headed to the Split Rock. Joi had never hiked it before and wanted to see it. We spent another day photographing one of the most beautiful rivers on the North Shore. Time for me to start heading south. I made stops at Gooseberry Falls, The Knife River, and Stoney. By that time the sun had set on a great weekend spent with great friends. Just before I left I confessed to Joi that there really were two courgars in the woods...her eyes got wide with fright and she said "No!' I smiled and said "Yes there were...us." Enlarge the photographs by clicking on them...you may just see something else or maybe not.

Black Friday...Beautiful Day.

Finally I had a weekend off. Three days of no work and the weather for the end of November was incredible! I stopped at Midwest to pick up a few boats for Joi to try out and headed north. I actually had butterflies in my stomach I was so excited to be back on the road again! It has been a long time (for me). The sun was shining and my first destination was the St. Louis River. Actually it was the only destination in Minnesota with any water running to speak of. This late in the season I was curious to see what the mystery last drop looked like. The reservoir is drained each winter and with the dropping of the level one last drop opens up. I met up with my friend Jack at the Outpost and we ran the shuttle. We both had opted for creek boats today as the water was mucho cold and we were just into running the river. How blessed were we to have a warm (for Minnesota) sunny day with just a fun level to paddle. We took our time and just enjoyed the paddled chatting, laughing and just hanging out. We finally made it down to the Mystery Drop at the end. I wanted a good look at it as the one and only other time I ran it it sucked my playboat back in and I had to surf it out. We pulled out and looked at it from the right and then crossed over and looked at it from the left. We both took the small boof on the left and then we ferried out to look and see what the middle looked like. I am told this ledge becomes a very sticky hole at certain levels. Very interesting to see. The sun was on it's way down as we crossed the reservoir. Thin ice lay in patches around the edges and I had my fun ice breaking through. Was this my last paddle for 2009? I can't say for sure but if it was Jack and I had a stellar day on Black Friday!

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.