Wausau

Fun day at Wausau! Everyone is getting ready for the Midwest Championships and the competition just keeps getting better every year! I worked today on loops...it's getting closer! I also made it my job today to get trashed in the hole as much as I could...I did a good job at it! More fun! Just a note about next weeks Saturday release. If you go a day early you can catch R.E.O. Speedwagon at the Marathon County Fair Friday night. One more note,
I had my best combat roll yet. I rolled up only to bounce off a rock that flipped me again and also knocked my paddle out of one of my hands. I went over the next little ledge and regained my paddle set up and came up. By then I was under the bridge below the RR hole. It even surprised me how long I was able to hang out under water!

Shane's Second Day

Shane and I went to Douglas Point to do some flatwater work in our whitewater kayaks. I had taken Shane to Taylors Falls a week ago and he like it. I let him use my creek boat for his first time out. This time I gave him my ZG. We worked on rolling, bracing, paddle strokes and some stern squirts. I'm happy to say he's got great balance! We just need more work on rolling. He has a natural inclination to playboat. BTW when I say I gave him my ZG...I meant it's all his now! All we need is some rain on the Verm and he'll be surfing with the rest of us! Shane and I went on to play frisbee golf in River Falls. It was the first time I've played it and I really liked it! Then we went on to see Batman...great movie!! All in all I we had a great Mother and Son day!

Shane learning the high brace.

Thought of the day

"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. . .Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. . . Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."
- Helen Keller, deafblind American author, activist and lecturer

Wausau Junior Olympics

These last two days I spent in Wausau for the Junior Olympics. I must confess my motive was selfish...open water to play...but the reality was a very rewarding time. I did get all the hole time I could handle plus I got to see the future of kayaking. These young people are amazing! From watching the graceful slalom racing to throwing it down in the hole these kids rocked. Phonics Monkeys, McNasty's and huge air loops were common place. After competion was done for the day the kids played. Several swam the course with boogieboards and bodysurfing. It was like having a group of otters playing down the river with you. Lots of fun! I did have all the hole time I could handle and I played it alot. Since loop was the trick of the week to learn I was trying a few...it's kind of getting there. Dan, the rescue swimmer and I figured out how he could loop with his boogieboard. He did great!

Sturgeon Falls!

Happy Independence Day! I was fortunate to be able to make another trip to Sturgeon Falls this year. It was 30,000cfs BIGGER than when I went on Memorial Day and it was awesome. I didn't realize the difference until I dropped onto Triple S and looked down from the foam pile trying to decide if I wanted to go in that or not. Chamelion was just a green wave...a big fun speed bump on your way to Triple S. The wash out behind the island was challenging to say the least. If you caught it right you had friendly huge whirlpools to express your way back to the island. If you went too far it got kind of ugly. That was huge water! I went up with Burgess and Scotty and joined other Minnesotans, Jack, Mike and Melissa, Jeremiah, Missy and Tina. We met Canadiens that had traveled from Calgary and Edmonton the first day there. After meeting them I have a real desire to travel more of Canada. Sturgeon is so beautiful and even though there were annoying jet skis infringing on nature, nature still rules. We met some of the Winnipeg locals also. Very good people for sure! Burgess and Scotty were rocking Surfers and Triple S. Scotty caught several good surfs on Big Mouth throwing blunts and making it look easy. The easiest way back to camp was to just ferry out above and drop down thru the meat of it all. Taking the green tounge into the waves between Big Mouth and Surfers. That was something to drop into! I chose NOT to catch Big Mouth but Burgess and Scotty did! Wow...maybe next year for me. I feel Blessed to be able to make this trip two times with great friends this year! I guess I can say I am satisfied with long distance traveling for now and am content to stay to the home waters for a bit. I'm thinking this fall there may just be one or two long trips scheduled. We'll have to see how things work out.




Our neighbor...a bear trap!

Wow! Wausau!

What an amazing day at Wausau! I met Laura in the morning at Wausau and gave her the tour. It was the Wausau Whitewater Weekend and all the slalom racers were racing. I love watching them! But...I also wanted to get in and paddle. Laura had her first taste of dropping into a "real" playhole for her first time...she did really well! I posted her video below. It was great seeing all the usual suspects paddling today. I've watched them over the last couple of years and they have gotten soooo good! They're a joy and inspiration to watch! Their loops are getting almost automatic! Personally I had a great day with my rolls feeling like they should and not one second try! I am so looking forward to Sturgeon this next weekend! This is going to be a great summer for everyone! The Midwest Freestsyle Championships are going to be killer this year! Laura shot my camera and got some great shots of everyone! Thanks Laura! BTW...Shift!

Wow! What a Weekend!!

Eleven of us headed to the Upper St Louis on Saturday to have some fun. With us was three new Canoe U grads and a few paddlers that had never done the St Louis before. It's been kind of funny recently as when the Louis gets down to a newbie level we plan to take the newbies and then it "bumps". The last time it "bumped" to 7000cfs which was waaay out of newbie range but waaay fun for us! This last time it only bumped from 1500cfs to 2700cfs. Challenging for newbies but doable. They did very well and it was a fantastic day on the river. It's been wonderful to see the enthusiasm that this years grads have for whitewater. Everyone is progressing at their own level and each time I paddle with them I see the improvements they've accomplished. There are differences in the way men and women learn whitewater for sure. Men tend to throw themselves at the water with all the testosterone they can muster (I mean that in a good way) and they accel at a fast rate. Women on the whole start a bit slower and take things more cautiously. I'm impressed to see the women this year! They are not going to give up and are hungry for more. I've been able to paddle with Laura, Lynn, Rosie and Sara since Canoe U and have seen them flip, swim and take some good beatings and they still have the determination and great spirit to come back with smiles on their faces and ready for more.

Fledglings Starting to Fly!

Canoe U Graduate, Laura had her first night of Donut play. By the end of the night she was getting on the wave consistantly and also getting some side surfs in! Way to ROCK!

This years group of paddlers are a fun, ambitious talented group. It's going to be a blast seeing them fly!

Paddlemania 08

Paddlemainia turned out to be a beautiful day between the random rain drops. Rosie and I headed up to Carlton for the festivities and had a great time. It's always fun up on the Louis and even more so when there's a party going on. I was able to see several of my Duluth paddling buds that I haven't seen much of this year. Most everyone ran the Upper Louis today at 2800cfs either in kayaks or in Jorge's raft. The highlight today was the Slot Machine Showdown. The House lost today with the score being House, 1, Players, 3. Not saying who though. You had to be there. Swag was raffled off and I won some Sex Wax...OK!? It was either that or the nose plugs. The new venue was great! Thanks Team Midwest Mountaineering!

Lesser Scaup

With the water getting really low it's nice when something new shows up on the Vermillion. Tonight it was a Lesser Scaup hanging out in RR pool. This is the first one I've seen down there. My photos of him didn't turn out because of the lighting and distance so I pulled one from the internet. These ducks winter down south and head to Canada during the summer. He made some remark about the tame water and mentioned he'd be surfing Sturgeon by this weekend...lucky ducky!

6-17-08 Update on the Scaup. Still there...tonight we saw ducklings with so she'll be hanging around Railroad for awhile. Talking to my co worker whos a big duck hunter he says that is unusual for a Scaup to nest down here. He see's them come thru in the fall on the third week of October every year.