Friday, August 25, 2017

LEADING FROM WHERE I STAND - KNOWING WHERE I'M STANDING

 By Outside Adventure to the Max Guest Blogger Kate Hives

I have long craved a map and a compass. I long for the certainty that comes through being able to plan for the journey, know where I stand in a landscape and can then clearly navigate the terrain to the next way point. My chosen career in wilderness guiding has been a fitting metaphor to fulfill this desire. I have become fluent in the languages of True and Magnetic Norths, I have learned to read the clouds and feel wind directions to predict weather; and I have studied the tidal cycles, learning how to work with the power of the ocean. I have slowly, ever surely become a great navigator of this wild and beautiful ocean meets forest terrain. Somewhere, though, there emerged a deeper longing – a longing to know more intimately an inner wilderness.

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I couldn’t have told you about this longing two years ago when I began my thesis journey at Royal Roads University.  I could have told you that I was interested in the connection between Nature and Culture, but never could I have told you that my studies would take me deeper in to my own connection with Self and an inner wilderness I had only previously had a glimpse of. I could have told you I was going to embark on a Vision Quest, but I never expected how my life would unfold after the ‘questing’ was over. It is only with the gift of hindsight that I can see clearly that I wanted to explore the more psychological dimensions of wilderness adventure, to peek into the intersections and embraces of inner wilderness and outer wilderness.

As I began this journey I felt as though I was blind, stumbling around in a place that felt uncomfortable, in a fog of not knowing that was more extensive than I had ever experienced. I had no map, not even an inkling of what the territory might look like. What I truly lacked was a compass that I could use in the dark. So, I stopped searching and I started listening, using deep self-awareness as a compass for how to proceed, when to proceed, if I should proceed. I began realizing that what I was seeking was nothing more than to see myself through the eyes of loving compassion that I might see mySelf wholly in all my glorious paradox – to learn to see myself as an Innocent and a Dragon, a humble servant and a powerful leader.

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The concept seems so much easier to put in a sentence than to practice as a human being. [I use the spelling of ‘mySelf’ to imply a deep self-awareness that Carl Jung might call soul connection.]

At this point in my thesis journey, which I recognize extends far before and far beyond my time here at Royal Roads; I can see the delicious darkness that holds juicy secrets that need time still to germinate; I am able to hold mySelf with a greater loving tenderness; and have an ever-increasing compassion for my fellow humans and the earth upon which we live. I am certainly not finished this journey and sincerely doubt it will ever truly be ‘finished’, but in my searching for inner health, equilibrium and knowledge, I feel as though my compassion for others has increased as I find it for mySelf.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThis love I spoke of in the last paragraph, I don’t mean it as a gushy, ooy-gooey kind of smoochy way, I mean it as a deep acceptance of something, in this case myself. Being able to spend enough time in the shadowy realms of my human experience and being, so that I may better understand these places and perhaps be able to work with them as I work with ocean currents on the sea. This love for mySelf that I have been cultivating in the darker days of winter has strangely begun to spill out. It has begun to affect the ways I interact with and see other people, the other-than-human beings around me and has been, it appears, to be a curious by-product of inner reflection.]

My journey has been inherently impactful to me as a leader, especially in terms of the concept of ‘leading from where you stand’, if only because I am more fully aware of just where it is I am standing. I embarked upon a Vision Quest as a grounding foundation for my study. The vision quest is designed to initiate participants and invite them on a journey towards being able to more wholly embody their truest Selves, to encounter soul and learn to use Ego in service of its deepest longing. A year and a half after my Quest I have traveled through initiation, which took a lot longer than I expected – or hoped- and am now actively participating in the Return (which has also taken a lot longer than I had imagined). This process of bringing the gift, mySelf, back into the world is a heavy task. It seems as though it is requiring me to be more responsible than ever before – deeply responsible to mySelf.

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To clarify how truly big this responsibility to mySelf is, feels like a daunting task. If I can try to distill it down into its simplest form: responsibility to mySelf means I am open and clear about where I am now; that I can listen enough to hear when I need sleep, to be social, or to run in the hills; that I can be compassionate enough to honour those needs in myself and in turn, others; to continue to trust that I will always have what I need (even if it doesn’t always feel like it); and that everything I can be, I already am. Ha, no big deal right!?!

Kate Hives is an adventurous sea kayaking guide and rough water coach with SKILS  based out of Vancouver Island.  She has explored Canada from coast to coast and has paddled in Patagonia, Chile, Malaysia, Tasmania, North Wales and Scotland. Keep up with Hives in her blog At home on the water.  Outside Adventure to the Max is always looking for guest bloggers. Contact us at Nickayak@gmail.com if you are interested.

Friday, August 18, 2017

LOON LAKE RHAPSODY


I wish, my dear, dear friends, that you could share this divine day with me here. The soul of Indian summer is brooding this blue water, and it enters one’s being as nothing else does. ---John Muir

There was an undeniable feel of magic in my paddle and exuberance in the movement of my kayak while skimming across the cobalt-blue of the lake. In each stroke the far-off peaks loomed closer, the shimmering water appeared cleaner and the wilderness became ever so clear. A small party paddlers accompanied me on this trek to adventure and serenity. No cell phones or text messages allowed, this place is more akin to the handwritten words of Thoreau, Emerson and Muir. Yes, to truly appreciate the enchantment of this lake was to paddle it.

At 6,378 feet, Loon Lake sits in the northern section of the Crystal Basin Recreation Area in the Eldorado National Forest along the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains just to the west of its famous and much bigger neighbor Lake Tahoe and within hiking distance to the federally protected Desolation Wilderness. Four other lakes and reservoirs are the also included in this recreation area spanning over 85,000 acres of forested rugged terrain. Union Valley Reservoir is the largest with some 24-miles of shoreline. While other lakes include Ice House Reservoir, Gerle Reservoir, and Wrights Lake.

Loon Lake was created in the 1960s by the Sacramento Metropolitan Utility District as part of a network of mountain hydropower plants. The nearby is Loon Lake Chalet, is a popular winter recreation destination, but in summer people flock to the lake with its three campgrounds and the boat ramp provide areas perfect for camping, hiking and kayaking.

Current Adventures Kayak School and Trips has hosted this two-day overnight one-of-a-kind camping experience in August at the lake for the past decade. By day we explored the coves and bays while meandering around sun bleached granite boulders that look like an armada of islands dotting the lakeside. We even saw a bald eagle perched high above the lake in his tree top surveying his kingdom. While at night, we lounged along the rocky beach looking towards the heavens while viewing the Perseid Meteor Shower. The darkness was interwoven awed responses of,  "Oohs and ahas and There goes one!" when a meteor streaked by, stretching out its long tail across the sky till finally burning out in a glorious display of fire raining from the sky.

All the meals, camping equipment and kayaks were provided for paddlers and first-time campers to enjoy a cozy "roughing it" in-style camp-out, freeing them to only de-stress and unwind in the realm of nature along this alpine reservoir.

In a letter to friends, while visiting Lake Tahoe, naturalist John Muir wrote of the lake's hypnotizing charm as he said,  "As I sauntered through the piney woods, pausing countless times to absorb the blue glimpses of the lake, all so heavenly clean, so terrestrial yet so openly spiritual.”

And for anyone who has spent time at Loon Lake they can relate. Its sapphire blue of the water gleaming against the shadows of mountains is a magic waterway to tranquility and bliss.

If you want to go Current Adventures Kayak School and Trips 
PHONE: 530-333-9115 or Toll-Free: 888-452-9254
FAX: 530-333-1291
USPS: Current Adventures, P.O. Box 828, Lotus, CA 95651
info@currentadventures.com
owner Dan Crandall dan@kayaking.com

Friday, August 11, 2017

TWO PADDLES AND THE GREAT RIVER RACE: A CAMPFIRE TALE

Canoes Races, George Catlin
“Don't adventures ever have an end? I suppose not. Someone else always has to carry on on the story.” J.R.R. Tolkien

It was going to a long wait along the South Fork of the American River. I had lost the coin flip and was delegated to being the shuttle driver for my paddling companions coming down river. I picked up some coffee, beef jerky and some caramel popcorn on the way down to the river access and settled in for a long tedious wait. Sitting back along the bank of the stream I was hypnotized into a trance as I watched the dancing billowing waves stream over the rocks and then subside into a quiet pool at the takeout.

"You know this used to be more of a pit-stop than the finish line the first time paddlers came down this river." said a voice behind me. It was the grizzled old Storyteller who had told me tales one evening around the fire while at Loon Lake.

"It all began with a big race that started way up there past what they call Chili Bar now," he continued, "In those days they didn't have dams or give the rapids names for that matter. And they raced non-stop for about 100-miles all the way down to the confluence of the Sacramento River or as one of the area tribes called it  "Nome-Tee-Mem", meaning, water from over the hill."

Under the Falls, The Grand Discharge, Winslow Homer
Now most boaters know, the South Fork starts high in Sierra Nevada Mountains and is fed mostly by melting snow. The 20-mile or so run from Chili Bar to Salmon Falls that features about 20 named rapids and countless other little ones. In summer, flows are usually rated up to Class III or so, but with high water, in the early part of the season they can bubble up to a good Class IV rapid in places. After that, the river flows into Folsom Reservoir, then into Lake Natoma before heading almost straight west for about 25 miles to the Sacramento River.

"You see Native Americans inhabited the American River valley for at least 5,000 years before the Spaniards and Americans showed up." said the Storyteller, "They called it Kum Mayo, which means "roundhouse" and used its resources for everything. The oaks and pines provided shelter while the deer and fish provided food. And to honor the Kum Mayo and the river spirits that brings the salmon back from the sea to spawn and later die. A race was held to show the young  salmon the way back to the ocean since they have no parents to guide them."

A long paused followed. He straightens his Fedora. Then took a flask from his jacket's pocket. Opening it, he then and took a swallow, then looked at me and then back to the river.

"A great adventure is what lies ahead of them," he whispered,

"Other than walking," the Storyteller went on to explain, "Canoes and rafts were the primary methods of transportation for the tribes and they relied on them for hunting, fishing and trading expeditions. And of all the area paddlers, Tahoe was the best of the best."

"Hold up there," I interrupted, "You mean a guy was named after the lake?"

Lake Tahoe, Albert Bierstadt
"It was the other way around kid," claimed the Storyteller,  "Legend says he put out a forest fire by paddling his canoe around the lake so fast that he created massive waves and tornado-like water spouts that extinguished the fire, saving the villages along the shore. They say his super human paddling caused the lake to fall from the heavens, hence the name Tahoe meaning "Lake of the Sky."

"Now there were three types of canoes used," the Storyteller reminded me as he continued his story, "Dugout, birch bark and reed canoes and all them crowded beach come race day. Tahoe's canoe was a sturdy and heavy dugout. He craved it from an oak tree and painted it with streaks of fire. He and his craft would surely be unbeatable."

"A cheer of exuberance came over the crowd as a young warrior toted a small narrow watercraft down to the river over his shoulder. Constructed with whalebone-skeleton frame and animal skins stretched over its hull, the boat had a covered deck with only a small opening on top. Carrying a double-bladed paddle the young venturer was known as Two Paddles."

Father and Son Out to Sea, I.E.C. Rasmussen
"The very first kayak on the South Fork," I blurted out with excitement.

"That's right kid and I'd estimate there have been about million or so since," asserted the Storyteller, before he continued his tale.

"Now Two Paddles was the bravest of all the braves. He had paddled area lakes and rivers and had even traveled to the far north where he had learned to paddle like the Inuits,  perfecting a technique that allowed the kayak to be righted after rolling upside down."

"Tahoe scoffed at the narrow little boat with two points and said to Two Paddles, "You will be crushed on the rocks where the Water Babies reside then eaten by the Water Lynx."

"Two Paddles laughed and said, "I will fly over the Water Babies' rapids like the wind and hurtle past the great water cougar where the river become one."

"You see aside from distance and rapids, the paddlers would face three crucial challenges in finishing the race," revealed the Storyteller, "The Water Babies living in the rapids of the gorge, the Water Lynx that lived at the confluence of the north and south forks of the river and the Fish-women at Suicide Bend. All could prove to be deadly."

"Water Babies, sea monsters and mermaids?" I questioned.

The Water Babies, Jesse Wallcox Smith
"If you believe in that kind of stuff," he murmured, "Washoe legend tells of small humanoid type creatures inhabiting bodies of water sometimes causing illness or death of a person. Hearing and responding to the Water Baby's cry can result in catastrophe. Kinda like a gremlin, I suppose. They like to upset and roll canoes in the fast water. I'm sure they still exist to this day, so try to ignore their crying if you hear it."
"The Water Lynx, " he continued, "Was a powerful mythological water creature that was something of a cross between a cougar and a dragon. Those who saw it, and not many who did survived, said it was an enormous monster with a long prehensile like tail made of copper or gold that could snap a canoe in half drowning its paddler."

"And last there was the Fish-Women," the Storyteller smiled, "These were beautiful half-naked creatures with fish tails and the upper bodies of goddesses. They would sit on the rocks at the edges of the deep pools or above swift rapids combing their shimmering long black hair while singing alluring love songs to young warriors encouraging them to jump into the fast-moving stream. The name stuck. They still call it Suicide Bend."

"As expected Tahoe took the lead at the start of the race," the Storyteller emphasized, "His heavy canoe smashed through the rapids, waves and even through the rocks of Kum Mayo leaving behind the armada canoes. Two Paddles even had difficulty keeping up with Tahoe's canoe at first."

Courtesy of Weird U.S.
"In the gorge, the sound of Water Babies the crying echoed over the canyon and the foaming river. Canoes and paddlers turned broadside into whirling water as the little demons appearing like human babies made the warriors try to help them by reaching into the water, only for themselves to be pulled into the swift current by the little devils. It wasn't long before most were swimming and their boats were sinking. In his hefty boat Tahoe lost little time ignoring the weeping Water Babies while proceeding on. Two Paddles, however,  was turned upside down in the swelling boil and came face to face with one of Water Baby's devilish grins. But he rolled his kayak back up in a swirling cesspool of debris and fragments of the busted canoes and paddles."

"Only a handful of paddlers emerged from the gorge. Tahoe was in the lead and Two Paddles was at the very end as they approached the confluence of the two rivers," the Storyteller pointed out, "It's all dammed up now with Folsom Dam, but back then, past the peninsula where the two rivers met was the home of the Water Lynx."

Courtesy of Cryptomundo
"Tahoe awoke the slumbering panther as he paddled into the rivers' junction. It gave out a mighty roar as it slapped its paw at Tahoe's canoe. Missing by inches, it sent a wave of water over Tahoe's bow. The next paddlers were not so fortunate. The half lion and half dragon snapped the next canoe in two with a mighty blow from its serpent tail made of gold and then proceeded to wrap it's glistening tail around another boat, lifting high into the air, before smashing it against the wall of the canyon as the terrified canoeists scrambled out of the water and ran for their lives."

"Two Paddles and his kayak race past the splinters of the sinking canoes," emphasized the Storyteller, "Only to have the lynx catch sight of him and give chase. It was a game of cat and mouse as the dragon-cat ran on top of the water in hot pursuit. But Two Paddles was just too fast as he rolled, weaved and somersaulted across the water. The Water Lynx soon tired of the hunt and made one last pounce, but Two Paddles slipped away by a whisker has creature dove into the deep underneath him."

"The race was three-quarters of the way over and only three paddlers remained," the Storyteller explained, "As they approached a bend in the river they heard the most beautiful sound they had ever heard. It was the song of the Fish-women. Legend says that these sirens had even bewitched the river here by confusing it to turn sharply to north creating a vibrant wave train of chaotic churning water over a clay ledge only to make it turn again with a sharp pivot to the left, sending the stream backward in a circular boil. It's still the river's last rapid and the place where the Fish-Women set their trap for the unsuspecting."

Mermaids, Jean Francis Auburtin
"Their voices were like angels," the Storyteller speculated, "Enchanting and alluring, calling them ever so close and asking for them to stay forever. Tahoe was overtaken by their beauty and paddled closer and closer to see their desirable form.
"Their song is as lovely as they are," yelled Tahoe, "I must get up to see them, to hear them."
"Don't listen to them or look at them," warned Two Paddles, 'They will only bring you death."

"But, Tahoe was spellbound and had to stop to gaze at them and when he did the creatures grabbed his boat from below and started rocking it violently trying to make Tahoe fall into the stream. But, his canoe was too heavy for them and Tahoe used his paddle to knock them all away. The other paddler, however, wasn't so lucky. Under the same spell, he also stopped paddling and capsized in the circular eddy of the last rapid. He was quickly pulled under by the Fish-Women and never seen again."

"Now only Tahoe and Two Paddles were left," proclaimed the Storyteller, "There would be no more rapids or monsters, now only the river tested their endurance. You see, in those times the river there was a boundless string of marshes and wetlands giving it the appearance that they were traveling through a chain of lakes. It was here that Two Paddles and his lighter craft was able to catch Tahoe and his lumbering heavy dugout. For the first time in the race, they were side by side."

"The setting sun was blinding as they approached the finish line, the brown silty water of "Nome-Tee-Mem." Faster and faster they paddled, with each stroke the river loomed ahead of them. Their bodies ached and sweat poured from them, but they would not slow down or stop paddling."

"Along the shore, the local bands gathered to watch," divulged the Storyteller, "But wasn't just the humans of the valley, the deer, bear and wolf viewed from the woods. Eagles and hawks peered down from above, while the otters, salmon and trout watched from below. They would all tell their children and their children's children of this epic race."

"So who won?" I finally pleaded.

"It's a mystery." said the Storyteller looking off to the river. He was watching my two friends paddling together after going through the last rapid.

Indian Canoe Race, William de la Montagne
"One story says, Tahoe crossed first into the big water only to die when his heart gave out from paddling his heavy canoe, " he sighed, "Another legend says that Two Paddles finished first, only to have Tahoe immediately challenge him to another race. The next day they raced on to the ocean and some say they kept paddling from there."

"So which one do you believe?" I queried.

"I think they crossed together like your friends out there," the Storyteller concluded, ''They started out as rivals and ended up as brothers. Each looking out for one another while on the water. Because in the end, winning didn't matter as much as the journey together."

Friday, August 4, 2017

PETE'S RIVER TIPS

Photos provide by Pete Delosa
Tuesday tip: When you're headed out to the river, make sure you're getting in your boat for the right reasons. You will have to decide for yourself what the "right reasons" are. For me it's about sharing the experience in a beautiful place with beautiful people. What are the "right" reasons for you?
California based kayaker Pete DeLosa is headed back to school this month. This time as a full time high school instructor teaching introduction to engineering to the next crop of students. DeLosa writes that he is very excited about his road ahead and looking forward to great many opportunities to inspire our next generation.
Here at Outside Adventure to the Max ,, where Delosa is often featured as a guest blogger, we are not surprised that Delosa, a Current Adventures Kayak School & Trips  instructor will be sharing his knowledge with future engineers. The guy loves to teach. We know this from his love of paddling and his desire to instill that into others. Whether you are an experienced paddler or brand new to paddling, DeLosa is always willing help you as a boater develop that edge you want to make you a bettet kayaker.
"Pete is hands down one of the most awesome human beings I've met," said  paddler and The River Store empolyee, Ethan Howard, "Along with mentoring me in the game of whitewater, he has also taught me valuable life lessons that I will never forget."
So as we send DeLosa back to classroom, we look at some of his wit and wisdom he has shared with us in his Tuesday Facebook posts offering insight, protocol, and civility for your next time on the river.

Tuesday Tip: If you're headed to the river with out a crew of your own and just hoping to meet up with someone who you can tag along with and get a shuttle, don't go to put it and wait there. This is generally considered bad form. Instead, go to the take out and wait for others to show up. This way when you are talking to people you can offer to participate with the shuttle. You may get lucky and not need to but people will appreciate the offer and you won't be making them choose between squeezing you in and leaving you stranded.
Tuesday tip: We all know we're supposed to point positive on the river. What about talking positive? It can be loud and hard to hear on the water. Recently while kayaking I heard a buddy behind me say "left." That was the only word I caught. I thought I knew where I was going, but he did know that run better than I did so I changed course and went left. Turns out, what he said was "don't go left." Well, all's well that ends well and it worked out OK. I just missed a sweet boof and instead beatered through a janky crack. For future let's all get in the habit of talking positive as well as pointing that way.

Tuesday tip: If you're carrying your boat on a narrow path with a wall on one side and a cliff on the other, don't carry your boat between you and the wall. Keep it on the cliff side. This way you won't accidentally bump the wall with your boat and send yourself flying off the cliff.
Tuesday tip: When you're surfing a wave and you're at the top trying to stay on, leaning forward will help you slide down the wave. Similarly, if you're at the bottom and you want to get to the top, leaning back will drag you up the wave.
Tuesday tip: When doing stern squirts don't throw your body back as you take your stroke. This actually keeps you flatter. Instead, concentrate on squeezing your knee to your chest.
Tuesday tip: Have you been working on flat spins or cartwheels lately? Make sure your keeping your head and your shoulders ahead of your rotation.
Tuesday Tip: When taking your boof stroke, do not throw your body backwards. Throwing your body back drives the bow of your kayak down which is the opposite of what you're trying to do. It is bringing your chest to your knees that will keep your bow up. Keep your core engaged and imagine you are doing a sort of sit up as you take your stroke.

Tuesday Tip: If you're headed to the river with out a crew of your own and just hoping to meet up with someone who you can tag along with and get a shuttle, don't go to put it and wait there. This is generally considered bad form. Instead, go to the take out and wait for others to show up. This way when you are talking to people you can offer to participate with the shuttle. You may get lucky and not need to but people will appreciate the offer and you won't be making them choose between squeezing you in and leaving you stranded.
Tuesday Tip: You know that hole you paddle around on your local run? The one you never go in because you're a little scared of it. We have one somewhere. Next time you go by it, consider floating into the hole sideways. If you continue kayaking sooner or later you're going to get caught in a hole by surprise and you're going to get worked a little. Nobody ever thinks to practice this but if you do get a little stuck on purpose every now and again, you'll be much more ready for it when it just happens.
Tuesday tip: If you're going to keep your kayaking gear in your car consider getting a dog such as a pit bull with rabies to keep watch over it while you're away. Another good option may be a vehicle that explodes during forced entry. This will go a long way to prevent your stuff being stolen, or at least if it is stolen the thief won't steal from anyone else, ever.

California based kayaker Pete Delosa is a member of Team Pyranha and sponsored by Immersion Research and Shred Ready. You can catch up with Pete on his blog River-Bum.com and watch his videos on You-Tube
Outside Adventure to the Max is always looking for guest bloggers. Contact us at Nickayak@gmail.com if you are interested.

Friday, July 28, 2017

OVER THE BOW: LOON LAKE


“For my part I know nothing with any certainty but the sight of the stars makes me dream” – Vincent Van Gogh

Clear skies the group, mostly 20 women boaters getting ready for their first trip on water. The pristine blue water and textured granite shore of lake creates a post card like vision. There is a lot more water than the year before. California's drought seems like a distant memory with views of patches of snow can be seen on the horizon of mountains, while the cobalt waters of the lake are brimming up along the rugged shoreline.

At 6,378 feet, Loon Lake sits in the northern section of the Crystal Basin Recreation Area in the Eldorado National Forest along the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Nestled up close to the federally protected Desolation Wilderness, the recreation area is capped by the majestic granite peaks and traversed by lakes, reservoirs and streams spanning over 85,000 acres of forested rugged terrain along the Crystal Range.

Current Adventures Kayak School and Trips has hosted this two-day overnight one-of-a-kind camping experience in August for last decade. During the days, paddlers escape the heat while exploring the pine scented lake's many sapphire colored coves and bays and textured granite islands.

 At night the campers are treated to a night-time paddling experience to view the Perseid Meteor Shower.
All the meals, camping equipment and kayaks are provided for paddlers and first time campers to enjoy a cozy "roughing it" in-style camp-out, freeing them to only de-stress and unwind in the realm of nature.

If you want to go  
Current Adventures Kayak School and Trips 
PHONE: 530-333-9115 or Toll-Free: 888-452-9254
FAX: 530-333-1291
USPS:Current Adventures, P.O. Box 828, Lotus, CA 95651
info@currentadventures.com
owner Dan Crandall dan@kayaking.com

Over the Bow is a feature from Outside Adventure to the Max, telling the story behind the image. If you have a great picture with a great story, submit it to us at nickayak@gmail.com

Friday, July 21, 2017

POSTCARD FROM EPPIES

 "Every stroke, every few strokes, at least, think about opening those top hand fingers. If your just clenching down you are going to get tired in a hurry. Your whole body is going to tense up. It's not going to as fun and your'e not going to be as fast. You're going to be a lot faster. If you have a lot better technique. Its going to be a lot easier on your for that last part of the race." --- Dan Crandall 

Training night
For the past month Current Adventures Kayak School and Trips was conducting  intensive kayak workouts for racers building up to last weekend's Eppie’s Great Race.  It's the final leg of Sacramento's annual race. Iron men, women and teams will transfer from bicycles to kayaks and canoes at the Jim Jones Bridge and paddle the rest of the 6.35-mile stretch along the scenic American River Parkway to concluded  this weekend. Known as “The World’s Oldest Triathlon” the race is one of the largest paddling event in the United States.


River lines from Dan Crandall
Founded in 1974, the race features a 5.82-mile run, a 12.5-mile bike and paddle on the lower American River from the Sunrise Access to River Bend Park. Filled with all its ripples, eddies and one rapid requiring whitewater skills the paddling portion of the annual race is for most the exciting and challenging part of the race. While most participants come with running and biking skills many of them have never paddled the river. The Current Adventures instructors helped those paddlers with fundamentals of paddling and river reading that will came  in handy on race day.

Running San Juan Rapids
Here is a look back of at some of the highlights of race day and those training sessions on the river.

 
Pre-Race Clinic




Race Day

Race Day

Current Adventure Kayak School ant Trips
PHONE: 530-333-9115 or Toll-Free: 888-452-9254
FAX: 530-333-1291
USPS:Current Adventures, P.O. Box 828, Lotus, CA 95651
info@currentadventures.com
owner Dan Crandall dan@kayaking.com

Friday, July 7, 2017

BORN TO PADDLE, KAYAKING WITH KIDS

    The first river you paddle runs through the rest of your life. It bubbles up in
  pools and eddies to remind you who you are. --- Lynn Culbreath Noel


"Can I fall in?"
That question is usually unheard of in my adult classes. Just the thought of rolling upside in their kayak would strike terror into them. But, this query came from smiling freckled-face ten-year-old girl with boundless energy and little fear.

"Sure if you want to," I replied.

The girl and kayak in one motion capsize with a plop, gurgle and splash. An instant later, in text-book maneuver, she lowers her head to the bow, pushes her legs and feet clear of the kayak and then drops them to the bottom and brings her still smiling face up alongside her kayak.

It's an annual rite of summer on Lake Natoma near Sacramento Ca., as nearly dozen kids were taking part in Current Adventures Kayaking School & Trips youth kayaking classes. There the students learned paddling skills and water safety while developing a deep appreciation nature.

"Kids love kayaking and most take to it almost instantly," said Current Adventures' Dan Crandall, "We get them smiling at the beginning of class and have them laughing by the end."

Anyone who works with kids regularly knows they come with have short attention spans and aren't to focused on learning the technical aspects of the forward, back or sweep strokes.The key for instructor John Weed, is to keeping paddling exercises fun, short and interesting. He used a game of keep-a-way to get the students to paddle and steer their boats. From the shore, it looked like a mayhem of bumper boats crashing about the lake, but before long the students are discovering how to propel and turn their boats while chasing a green ball.

Another game Weed used to help kids practice boat control all while having fun was called Sharks and Minnows. He is instructed one kid to be a shark while all the other kids were all minnows.

"I'm hungry!" called out the shark.

"And I'm a little minnow," cried the scattering minnows trying not to get tagged by the shark, because once tagged they become a shark.  It kept going until every paddler became a shark. By using these active games the young kayakers were soon making new friends and having fun all while building paddling skills that they can be used on the lake or river.

Next, it was off to explore. Across the flat-water, the lake offers some special hideaways like “Swampland” and “Berry Pond". As the kids toured the hidden backwaters occupied by turtles, tadpoles, deer and other critters, the wonders of nature came alive to them. Quietly paddling along they became naturalists as they explored and made their own discoveries in the lush wetland.

On day three the Junior class ages 10-14, moved on to the easy moving waters of the Lower American River. On the river, the young paddlers after two days of paddling lessons tested their new skills on moving water. While a little apprehension came over the group at the sound of rushing water, but it was all smiles on the other end after they punched through a series of fast water. Before the day was over the youths are immersed in river reading, river signals, and moving water paddling maneuvers.

"This class leaves them begging for more, said Crandall, "The kids always leave these classes super excited and many come back year after year."


Meanwhile back on the lake, I had pushed the kayak up on to shore and dump all the water out of it with help from the still smiling and dripping wet ten-year-old girl. I was going to get plenty of practice doing over next couple days when she asked, "Can I do that again?"


 If you want to go
Current Adventures Kayak School and Trips 
PHONE: 530-333-9115 or Toll-Free: 888-452-9254
FAX: 530-333-1291
USPS: Current Adventures, P.O. Box 828, Lotus, CA 95651
info@currentadventures.com
owner Dan Crandall dan@kayaking.com