More from later that day on the Thompson River to come.
Friday, August 5, 2011
Silver Run Falls
Early this spring I was fortunate enough to get a shot at Silver Run Falls on the Whitewater River. It's a classic park in huck with a rowdy little lead in slide to a 30ish footer. Click on the link to the team pyranha blog for a short writeup or go directly to the video on vimeo.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Green Race 2010
The leaves are falling here in the southeast and my favorite time of year is here. This year's Green Race should be a good one with lots of people coming out to post their time. As always, Momma Green isn't letting everyone through unscathed and I'm sure some have already been injured in battle. Good lines to everyone competing!
My training, or lack of training, has generally consisted of doing cardio during the day and then drinking beer at night which I'm sure offsets everything I've gained during my runs. Up until a few days ago the Green has been shut off except during the weekends so this has added some difficulty for practicing also. But do I really need practice on a run I've paddled a kajillion times? The answer is no. All I need is the right run at the right time and a little bit of luck to be around the top of the pack. Will I win? No, not this year not a chance in hell. But that doesn't mean I'm not going to try.
In this day in age it's all about going out your hardest and representing for the home town (pertaining to the Green Race). I may not win, but I'm going to fight off as many of the out-of-towners as I can. And I hope my fellow local boaters do the same, because they surely must feel the same as me when it comes to this matter.
So foreigners, nancies, pro-kayakers, Teva athletes, dirtbags, and anyone non-local who feel they're bringing the heat this Saturday, rest assured that we will bring thy heat also. Or, something like that. Alright, enough shit talking. Here is a headcam video I put together from a beautiful day on the Green. I just got a gopro camera and have had a blast playing with it this weekend. I look forward to capturing some of the other goods here in the southeast with this thing on.
The video is uploaded to Vimeo in HD so until I figure out how to embed it into this post just follow the link.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Monday, June 7, 2010
Cali 2010
May 4th, 2010. Flying over the Sierras it became evident just how early it was to be headed to California. Cold weather and stormy skies plagued the entire trip. I slept with my down jacket on every night and rarely took it off during the day. "Drying" gear froze overnight on a regular basis. It wasn't quite what I envisioned but the cold weather did at least keep things from blowing out. After being picked up in San Francisco by the trustee ol' Drew Duval our first stop would be the S.B. of the Feather to meet Will Pruett and Nick, who had been there the previous two days enjoying some juicy flows. The Chattanooga boyz go fast and that's what we did, not much scouting, if any other than 99 problems, was done as we blazed the river in a little under 2 hours. The following photos are from a variety of trips down the S.B., all photos by me except the two of me by Nathan Klema, thanks buddy.
The classic falls above the takeout. Although an easy waterfall, this thing still dishes out plenty of broken paddles and bloodied faces. Pack your Werner, AT's weren't standing up to it.
After jumping in with the Janney brothers and Christian Cook in from Colorado we went back to the S. Branch. Then we ran the Little North Fork Middle Feather down to Milsap Bar. Sweet run although there's some burly mank in there. A few ultra-classic drops and the two-day aspect of the run keep it good in my book, but again, overall not classic.
I believe this is Jaroslavs drop. I dropped my watershed camera bag in here and it got recirculated in the hole/eddy for a while before Tom could grab it. Luckily, I was using my camera at the time.
This was the classic drop at the end I'd been waiting for. I remember it from old Scott Lindgren videos and now I finally know what river it's on.
We ran Canyon Creek and got to hang out with Anthony from Reno. He provided entertainment in the evening as he usually does. Then we ran the Upper Middle Cosumnes, which I actually ran several times while out there. These couple photos are from a high water day. The burl swirls were in play and Tom took a swim early on. He got redemption at Skate Park shown below and all the other good rapids on this run.
The South Fork Merced is an incredible river, one of my favorites to date. We saw an opportunity to put on after a couple of cool days when the level dropped to 800 Cfs at Wawona. We made the immediate drive south and put on with now warm temps and a mostly sunny sky. The first day is awesome, big drops with plenty of swirls for everyone. Everything can be run but most people make a few portages in there. We elected to paddle past Superslide and camp a little ways down past some of the burliest stuff since the level would rise for day 2. A large group led by Evan Garcia had the same idea and we ended up in nearby camps. That night it rained again. Waking up the next morning I saw the level had clearly risen but the sun was out and the river looked very inviting. We picked our way down through burly rapids and had a great day, everyone was stoked to of had a safe trip down at high water. To Tom, Christian, Louis, Mike, and Nathan, that was a great trip I will always remember. Look forward to paddling with you boyz next time.
Somewhere in there we paddled the Secret Stash section on the W. Feather. It's a cool run with a few distinct mini gorges that pack powerful rapids in each.
R. Kelly on the first and best drop.
R. Kelly on the first and best drop.
Tom stylin' it
One of the last days I did Golden Gate on the S. Fork American with Will Pruett, Nick Murphy, and Nathan K. We were all expecting a super burly long day but to our surprise it wasn't too hard. We made one portage around Brain Fade due to wood and skirted a couple of the meat lines but everything else is really manageable. Nate was the only one to attempt the meat line at Taco Bell and it burled him up real good resulting in a swim and lost paddle. He came out no worse for the wear.
Right side of F-111 Falls. Will took an exploratory line under the rock shelf that extends out from river right.
Nick Murphy going with the left line.
Cali was great. It's always a cool feeling when you can actually look forward to returning home after a paddling trip instead of dreading it. Not only do I return home to a great girl, I get to come back to Asheville and reap the benefits of summer living in Western NC. Most importantly, this trip to California was a growing experience for me since I learned alot about what I want to do in life. More about that later, now I just wish some of these afternoon thunderstorms would bring creeks up. We'll see about that.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Roadtrip
Great week in the southeast! Started off with a fun day on Wilson Creek with the gals on Wednesday and Linville on Thursday. Got some rain and the weekend off so Ryan and I figured we'd head to West Virgina where snowmelt had kept Mann's Creek flowing for days. After making a few phone calls we determined Mann's Creek may well be running a very low flow. Instead, we set our sights on a little known creek in Virgina that drops close to a 1ooo feet in three miles. You may recognize some of the drops and the mandatory portage in the pictures below from the American Whitewater page on Bottom Creek. You won't find any flow info there but you will find several photos posted by Gordon Dalton along with a few important notifications about the mandatory portage that is hard to spot from upstream. Go with someone who knows it your first time so you don't miss it and die!
Eye of the needle aka Inner Earth. This picture doesn't show the long entrance to the portage which could be easily mistaken as a great rapid. Go with someone who knows where to get out.
Ryan styles Three Blind Mice. This is the last serious drop but the creek continues for another mile of steep class 4.
Ryan warms up on the Kettels.
Despite the low flow we had a blast out there and were blown away by the creek. We hung out with friends and met some great people. Thanks Steve and Joey. Saturday night we headed to Watauga where we experienced sweet free camping at the put-in. We awoke to a perfect level for Watuaga. Good times.
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