Day 4 in Colorado!

Vallecito


Earning Our Turns

This is one of my favorite runs anywhere in the world. I hadn't done it in years. In fact the last time I was up there was 1998 I think. Once again we had the crew we had been traveling with. Billy, Aaron, Jennifer, and I were joined by Luke from the
Durango area, and at the take out we ran into an adventure waiting to happen.

Looking At The Rock Shift In No Way Out


There was a small group of folks at the take out trying to get all set up to actually do the first RAFT descent of Vallecito. We were a little skeptical to say the least. I had been skeptical before when the fellas ran the Green a year ago, so I tried to stay open minded as I watched them heft the raft and head up the trail. If you don't know Vallecito it is a tight tight technical run with a couple spots in it that exiting the river is nearly impossible. The potential of those guys for swims and flips was very high.
We headed up the trail with the intention of helping those guys out if they needed it, but we also had a first timer with us and some nerves about the new shift in the rocks at "No Way Out" that we had heard about. It was a great first time level, and I was psyched to be back after so long.


Nice Line Jennifer

The very first drop is a sweet 6 foot boof, then a sketchy little log dodge, and then a little warm up and get ready for Entrance falls which is a beautiful drop. One of my favorite boofs around.


Trash Can Rapid

We waited a long time at the bottom of the drop for the raft as well as scouting out Trach Can which just below Entrance falls. The raft didn't show for a long time so I started wondering if they had second thoughts and the group including the other potential safety boater started downstream thinking that maybe they had bailed.


Fuzzy Bunny One of the Softest Boof Around

The fun thing I remember about Vallecito is that most of the directions for the rapids are "just follow the water", or "give it down the middle". We were doing pretty well for the most part. There is this one funky rapid call Pick Up Sticks that pretty much tumped everyone over but no issues. The video footage of that is pretty funny cause no one really made it look smooth.



We got a ways down there and got to a two rapid series. Very small eddies between the two rapids and both are fairly substantial drops. It was taking us a while to get all scouted and lined up when around the corner came, the RAFT. We had all our group down except Jennifer who was scouting and getting in her boat when the raft came down and that is when all hell broke loose. One guy falls out in the first rapid and doesn't get back in the boat until the end of the first drop. The other guy in the raft didn't see his buddy get in the raft and he must have thought he was in an eddie or something because the next thing I know is I see this guy jumps out to try to stop I guess but doesn't stop the raft pretty much at the same time as the first guy is climbing in. So there he is just getting it together to drop into the next rapid by himself. He actually ended up styling the drop, but the other guy was in an eddie where he couldn't walk upstream, downstream, or out of the river. So he had to buck up and swim across the river between the two drops. Luckily he made it and after a bit we had them back together.


The Jump From The Raft


Going Solo Through Paddle Bitch

This all took about an hour to get sorted out so our whole group had gotten a little disconbobulated. So peoples rythms were off and bad lines ensued for the rest of the run. Makes for good video but a slightly nerve racking finish to the run. The raft flipped in No Way Out and some wall banging happened with the kayakers, but it seemed to me that the new rock shift was good to go. Luckily the run ends with a super smooth little 6-7 foot boof so everyone could get the good feel back.

Everyone got out safe and sound and we were all happy to have dry clothes on and a cold beer in hand.

Here is the video footage. I broke it into two segments so the videos aren't quite so large.
Vallecito Part 1
Vallecito Part 2

Gone Paddling

The kayak will have to wait a few days - my wife & I are going paddling this weekend. We are canoeing a section of the Torch River, north of the town of Love, Saskatchewan. It's supposed to be a pretty good section of whitewater and we will run it on Saturday, then probably re-run a shorter section again on Sunday, heading home either Sunday evening or Monday morning. We are doing this trip with other members of the Saskatoon Canoe Club and it is a trip that can only be done when there is sufficient water in the river (ie during spring runoff).

For a good photo of what the river looks like when it is not flush with spring runoff, visit Neil Rawlyk's web site.

Here is a slideshow of photos from the trip:

Day 3 in Colorado!

Upper Animas


The Put In Is A Stunning Setting

This all started at a bar the night before. I think that many things good and bad have started with a discussion at a bar. Over Margaritas we were trying to decide what to paddle next and it came up that almost none of us had run the Upper Animas before. Others in the crowd decided that that was a travesty and that it needed to happen.


Paddling Into The Gorge

So that is how we ended up putting on the Upper Animas at 1:00 pm. If you don't know the Upper Animas it is 26+ miles of continuous class 2-3 most of the way with some continuous class 3-4 thrown in there and couple drops that you should scout. This drop called No Name is the hardest drop on the run. Not a major major rapid but super fun with some funky twisty stuff in the middle.


Woody In No Name, Styled It


Jennifer In No Name

We stopped for a quick peanut butter sandwich after No Name. We still had a long way to go. Luckily the day was classic Colorado Blue Bird so we had good sun almost the entire trip.



The sceneary is really unbelievable on this run. I constantly found myself saying wow. This was a pretty typical scene. Big peaks, or tight little canyon, small tucked in valleys, all kinds of awesome sceneary.



This run would be an awesome overnighter. From what I understand people use the train to drop gear off mid way down the run and they will leave it for you and then pick it up if you arrange it at the train station in Durango.

The sun went behind the mountains while we were still on the river and that was when we noticed how cold the river was. With just a couple miles and the Rockwood box left to paddle we jumped out at the last spot of sunshine up on the side of a hill. Soaked it in and jumped back in the boats for a very cool romp through another box canyon. The Rockwood Box is alot like the Bakers Box. This section is super tight, a little pushy, and few fun rapids but not as hard as the Bakers Box.


Hiking Out At Rockwood Box

By the time we finished the semi epic shuttle for the run the sun had gone down but we were treated to the full moon coming up over the peaks near Silverton.


Moon Rise Over Molas Pass

Day 2 in Colorado!

Bottom Box Again

We woke up on our second day the water hadn't started to rise yet so we needed to find another run that would work with less water. So its back to the Bakers Box. I had done this run last year with Dunbar Hardy at pretty high water. It was incredible and a little fiesty.

Here is the Video from last years run. Bakers Box 2005

This year the water was a little lower and more managable for a larger group. We called up Billy and Aaron, a couple of transient kayaker types who had been sleeping on the couches of all the Liquidlogic staff. We also got old schooler Andy Corra who had run this years and years and years ago to join us, and that put the pressure on Woody to join us for the run. So with Jenn and I that made 6 people in the gorge. Which worked great especially at this slightly lower water level. It was a perfect level for taking first timers in.

The whole thing starts with a mile walk in across private property. Very sketchy access so please please please make sure that you talk to a local before you get on this run.

After the walk its a 100 foot climb, lower, down to the river. The climb is a little sketchy especially if you aren't a rock person. Most folks put in below the first rapid and then jump in. The first drop is a slide over the middle of a large rock filling most of the river with holes on either side. No problem but sketchy looking.

After that the rapids get a little pushy but are mostly broken with good pools at this level. One that stands out is called the Plunge I think. About a 8- 10 foot sloper into super boily water.

This is the Long Rapid. The only really long extended rapid. For the most part this section is drop pool and can take a fair amount of water but if something goes wrong your boat is going a long way. We ran into a guy who had lost a boat on his trip and had to paddle an extra 10 miles or so to catch it. The Box is only 3 miles I think so dude got a little extra training in.


There are a couple places where the river is no wider than the boat is long and it is truly a stunning place.


The run went great no issues. The old school styled it. The new school styled it. Jen styled it and I didn't swim.


Here is the video from this year.
Bakers Box 2006

Day 3 coming soon.
Shane

Day 1 in Colorado

I had planned to head out to Colorado to do some paddling this spring all winter and a week before I was set to leave. Jennifer Cribbs called and said she wanted to go. I was psyched I didn't have to do he drive by myself. So she jumped on board with me and Biscuit, my dog.

It was the crack of 5:00 pm when we left Ashevegas headed for Colorado. We didn't know where in Colorado but we were headed to Colorado. We started calling all our friends trying to find out what was going to go first and the closer we got the worse the prognosis for water. "Its cloudy and cold today, stuff is dropping".
"The only stuff that is running is in Durango" So Durnago was the destination.



Woody rung us up while we were driving the low route, I-40 all the way into New Mexico then up to Durango. He said we should have a warm up run on the Piedra first and then stuff was going to start running because a warm spell was on the way.



Day 1 in Colorado was a nice mellow paddle on the Piedra River just outside of Pagosa Springs. The level was low but the section was just what the doctor ordered after a straight through the night drive. The Piedra was a technical class 3+4ish run with a handful of fun drops. Of note the rapid Woody called Eye of the Needle had changed quite a bit. He said that a rock used to sit right in the middle of the rapid and now it is a good 30 feet downstream and a little left of center so this rapid has gotten a lot easier according to Woody and the locals we have talked to.
Unfortunately I didn't get a shot of that.



It was a beautiful run. We had bluebird skies, and cold beers at the take out. We did the lower half of the run. I guess there are a few more miles upstream that we didn't do. I could see this being a fun overnight trip.

All in all it was a sweet warm up and a great place to chuck it with Biscuit.


Time to go drink a margarita!
I will try to post everyday of the Colorado experience.
Shane

Fiberglass, Stage III

My wife helped on Saturday and we glassed the underside of the deck. I used 4 ounce (4 oz./sq. yd.) cloth (West Systems 740) for this step in order to save a bit of weight and use a bit less epoxy (the rest of the boat has been sheathed in 6 ounce cloth). I had actually intended to use the 4oz cloth on the topside of the deck as well but 'accidentally' used the 6oz cloth (I grabbed the wrong roll but convinced myself it was the correct roll). I put an extra strip of cloth just in front of the cockpit and two extra layers behind the cockpit to strengthen these areas for getting in and out of the boat. I really liked working with the 4 oz cloth - it wet out easily and conformed easily to curves, particularly the radius of the bottom side of the coaming riser.

My father-in-law was on hand to take lots of photos (in fact, I think the flashes may have prematurely degraded the epoxy) so I'll post some photos later.

While I had the epoxy out, I also made a curved panel that will become the backband. I made a form to the desired backband shape (a more rounded version of the cockpit back shape) out of 1" thick particle board and tacked a piece of 1/8" birch plywood to it, allowing the ply to assume a fair curve. I then used a scrap of 6 oz cloth to glass over top of this and allowed it to cure (where it remains). Once fully cured, I'll remove the glassed plywood from the form, then may glass the inside of the curve (maybe - I'm not sure if the second layer is necessary and may make the backband too stiff). I'll then use this curved piece to cut out the final backband shape, adding slots for the webbing which will hold it in place behind the seat.

With the whole boat now sheathed in fiberglass, I'm practically done right? Here is my current "To Do" list:

1. Build cockpit coaming lip
2. fiberglass the coaming
3. sand epoxy smooth on hull and deck (external)
4. apply 3rd fill coat to hull & deck?
5. sand the epoxy some more
6. cut hatches
7. build hatch lips
8. build & install moby latch system
9. make & install soft padeyes
10. make & install regular padeyes (internal tie down points)
11. make & install cheek plates
12. carve pieces to fit into the extremities to fill the cavities that will be impossible to glass at the seam
13. mate the deck and hull once again and glass the interior seam
14. glass the exterior seam
15. make the seam glass transition "seamless"
16. make & install bulkheads
17. carve seat out of minicell foam
18. build and install backband
19. drill holes at bow & stern for grab loops
20. varnish
21. sand
22. varnish
23. sand
24. varnish
25. install deck lines & bungees
26. install grab loops and toggles

Once the above list is completed here are a couple more items I could turn my attention towards:

1. carve paddles
2. make spray skirt
3. make paddle float
4. build cradles for car-topping
5. build cart
6. make pump
7. make tuuliq

My First Surfing Trip!

A few years ago I had rented a surfboard for an hour while we were in New Zealand and I had managed to get up a few times and actually surf a wave. The funniest part of the experience was while I was laying on my belly trying to look for waves to surf I saw a wave that looked like a really good one. Way bigger than what I had been seeing. I paddled as hard as I could and managed to catch it. I felt the wave pick me up a little like it does in the river, and then I was able stand up after a lot of wobbling around and waving my arms. I finally got it together enough to look around and it was then that I noticed I was surfing a wave that didn't even come close to being up to my knee. Its all in your perspective isn't it?

Those first initial surfs planted a seed and every once in a while I would rent a board for a couple hours and try it out, but I never really got any feel for it. A group of us had tried for several years to put together a surfing vacation, well finally this year we got it together and it pretty much has changed my life, well at least for one week a year.



Dixie Marie, Big Simon from Switzerland, Maria (and her two kids), Whitney, Sophie, and I spent a little more than a week learning how to surf. It was perfect. Sayulita is a perfect spot for learning. Its a mellow little break that was consistent and soft. Its pretty fun to be a beginner again. You learn so much so fast. And it really is fun to be a total geek. Especially if you can laugh at yourself which is what I did a lot of.


It was great everyday. Wake up go do a couple hour surf first thing. Go get a cup of coffee. Hang out at the house. Eat some lunch. Take a nap. Go surf again until you couldn't move your arms and then go drink margaritas and each fish tacos. Then repeat. I think we are going to do this every year.


We already started looking at our next trip where it might be, what the waves are like, what the logistics would be, when is the best time to be there, etc... sounds kind of familiar.

If you haven't surfed before I highly recommend it. It was awesome. The one thing that was super lame though was some of the surfers attitudes. Its crazy to me that folks could have such an amazing sport, activity whatever you want to call it, and then have such a crazy attitude.

We did meet lots of very cool surfers and it seemed like the most experienced surfers were the coolest. I think they realized that there were plenty of waves. They even smiled and laughed when we cut them off and fell on our heads. They would give us little key instructions just when we needed them and ask us about the waves we surfed.


It really makes you appreciate what we do have with kayaking. Rarely if ever do you run into anyone that has a bad attitude on the river. Its an awesome thing we have I hope we can always keep it so casual.
Here is a video of the surf action with good surfers, and us.
Sayulita Surfing Video

Shane