KAYAK SUMMER 2022

It is the glistening autumnal side of summer. I feel a cool vein in the breeze, which braces my thought, and I pass with pleasure over sheltered and sunny portions of the sand where the summer's heat is undiminished, and I realize what a friend I am losing. --- Henry David Thoreau

We were lying on a white granite beach on a high Serria lakeshore staring up into the cosmos. Campfires were prohibited, and rightly so. So, the stars blazing in the sky were our only source of light since the full moon had leaped over the peaks of the mountains just yet. We were waiting for meteors to streak across the sky when someone mentioned Elan Musk's Starlink. It's a satellite internet constellation operated by SpaceX, providing satellite Internet access coverage to 40 countries around the world. Starlink now boasts well over 2,000 functional satellites orbiting overhead.

Sly Park Paddle Rentals 

Moments later, the strange moving chain of bright dots resembling a brilliant caravan of lights traveled from west to east across the sky. I tried to count the number of the bright lights but quickly lost count as they moved in succession across the sky. Lasting a few minutes, it was like a freight train rolling by and heading off to some faraway place. And then it was gone. The progression of satellites was a quick and stunning display. And then disappeared into the sky.

My summer was like that too. It's a very fast succession of days that dwindles at the dawn of autumn. Now once again, I'm saying goodbye to my well-spent summer days.

When my wife, Debbie, and I moved from Fair Oaks to Placerville, California, last May, it brought me much closer to the proximity of Sly Park and the South Fork of the American River.
Sly Park and Lake Jenkinson were a given since I was once again working the boathouse for Sly Park Paddle Rentals for my fifth year in a row. My weekends were filled with a steady dose of canoeing, kayaking, and swimming. And to think I'm lucky enough to be getting paid for it.
On the South Fork, on the other hand, I only got to cross the Highway 94 bridge. Like a lot of paddlers, I look over the bridge while driving over it to check out the current and see if I see any boats or anyone I know. And wish I was there. It didn't matter if the flow was high or low. I wanted to go. The South Fork whitewater will have to wait a while longer.

GAT training with Current Adventures 

They had been waiting for a long-time to be racing on the Lower American River. After a Covid-related shutdown for the past two summers, the Great American Triathlon race and our training resumed with Current Adventures. Dan Crandall and I showed the racers for the racers the best lines for the kayaking section run down the American River through San Juan Rapids. Win or just participate, our paddlers rocked their evening training sessions. By all reports, they rocked it on race day.

My summers wouldn't be summer without our Annual trips to Loon Lake and down the Sacramento River with Bayside Adventure Sports. Our jewel is Loon Lake on the east side of the Sierra Nevada. A scenic vista along the entire lake. It has picturesque mountain views and splendid emerald color waters surrounded by white granite boulders, laced with Sierra junipers growing on tops and ridges and in the splits between the glacier pavements of granite. My paddling partner john Taylor and I spent the whole week there leading two different groups during August. Our paddlers never know how valuable these quiet places are until they paddled into them for a few days.

 

Loon Lake with Bayside Adventure Sports

Our Sacramento River weekend trip near Red Bluff, California, finished my summer season just last weekend. The highlight was seeing Lassen Peak, one of the largest domed volcanoes in the world, as a backdrop for our fast river run.

Sandwiched in between, I paddled throughout the summer, trying to squeeze every drop out of our summer I could.

 

Lake Jenkinson & The Boathouse

"Suddenly, I experienced the feeling of longing, longing for the canyon. It was almost as if we left something back there." Recalled adventure paddler Andrzej Pietowski when describing the fleeting moments of looking back into Peru's Colca Canyon, the deepest on earth, after making its first descent down it, "Something viable, breathing, some small but living part of ourselves. The longing has remained with me ever since."
Summer 2022 is over. It's time to officially remember what day of the week it is. I do look back, longing for more of it. I feel like I left part of myself behind. I feel like I left something out.
And now, as we hurtle ourselves toward another autumn, I reflect on that high Sierra beach watching Starlink satellites trek across. Just like them, summer might be gone, but memories still flicker.

Here is a look at some of my favorite images from this past summer.

The Sacramento River with Bayside Adventure Sports 

Lake Natoma 

The Lower American River 

Shore dinner at Loon Lake 

GAT training on Lower American River 

Lake Jenkinson

The Lower American River 

Lake Jenkinson 

Keep up with Outside Adventure to the Max, on our Facebook page and Instagram and now on Youtube.

BACK ON THE WATER: 2022 GREAT AMERICAN TRIATHLON TRAINING

The peaceful evening river shoreline was shattered by Dan Crandall's epic battle cry. Somewhere between the Tarzan scream and the Rebel Yell, the sound pierces the quiet and echoes throughout the valley. Moments later, the paddlers he is leading chime in with their call. Crandall tells the group in doing the cry will ease their tension and freak out the racer in front of them on the river. It will also let folks know racing is back on the American River Parkway.

The Great American Triathlon returns this weekend in Sacramento. The race, formerly known as Eppie's Great Race, will have athletes run, bike, then paddle the American River. Organizers took two years off due to the pandemic, but this Saturday, they are bringing the 40-plus -year-old tradition July race back to the parkway. The race, formerly known as Eppie's Great Race, will have athletes run, bike, then paddle the American River.

Dan Crandall works with a paddler.

While most triathlons have participants swim along with a bike and run, the Great American Triathlon uses kayaks and stand-up paddleboards for the water leg of the race.

"It's definitely different. What I say is, you are on top of the water, not in the water. You can enjoy the view, talk to people while you are paddling," race director Nicole Young told KCRA-TV.

The kayaking portion does provide a different dynamic from other triathlons with its "no swim" competition feature, and with the two years break, some racers may be a little rusty when it comes to paddling the river.
Like in past years, to help people get on the water, Crandall, the owner of Current Adventures Kayak School and Trips offered an array of training nights. During the last couple of weeks, to get the participants familiar with the river, he and his instructors have shown them the fastest and safest routes on the water to ensure success come this weekend. Over the years, Crandall and his instructors have coached over 1,000 participants to build their confidence, paddling skills, and river reading knowledge.

"Keep those hands loose and drive your feet into the foot pegs to get your power," Crandall calls out to the boaters preparing to leave the Sunrise access, the starting point for the kayaking section of the race. Crandall reminds racers to focus on their pace and use more than just their arms to make the boat go. He encourages them to use their core for maximum power and endurance.

San Juan Rapids

The Boston Marathon has Heartbreak Hill. Great American Triathlon has San Juan Rapids. It's a rapid, where racers can lose valuable time and go from first to 31st by miscalculating the boil. During the practice sessions, the paddlers were encouraged to run the rapid a couple of times during their training sessions to familiarize themselves with its flow and circular eddy.

"Lean forward. It's more about finesse than muscle here," warns Crandall while approaching the rapid. "Let it push you around a bit. Just get through it, and most importantly, smile and show the river you are not afraid. If you show fear, the river will dump you for sure."

During each of the training nights, there were more smiles than swims as the boaters navigate the troublesome rapid and paddled downriver to the finish line at River Bend Park. For some, it's their first trip down the river. For others, they are looking forward to racing again after the 2-year break.

Crandall and the Iron Hussies

 The 2nd Great American Triathlon is sponsored by Innovations Health Systems, a Citrus Heights-based healthcare holding company and managed by Capital Road Race Management. This year’s triathlon is once again raising funds to support the American River Parkway Foundation and local children’s charities.

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

Keep up with Outside Adventure to the Max, on our Facebook page and Instagram and now on Youtube.

THE FIVE MOST COMMON THINGS FOUND AT RIVER CLEAN-UPS

Just out of reach from my hand, the last beer can of our clean-up lay sunken in the clear water of the Lower American River. We were under the old Fair Oaks Bridge along the upper part of the American River Parkway the Saturday before Earth Day. I had organized a clean-up paddled on this popular stretch of river to help celebrate the week.
I maneuvered my kayak about above the submerged Aluminum can and reached down with the end of my paddle to lift the can to the surface. No luck the drown can only fell further away. I grumbled to think how many more cans just like this one litter the river bottom.
"Looks like I'm going to get wet," I told my paddling John Taylor as I paddled toward shore.
"You're not going to be best by a beer can, are you," he said, as I got out the kayak and waded waist-deep into the chilly waters of the river.
"No, I'm not," I said, as I reached down and pulled the mud and water-filled can to the surface like it was a valuable artifact or treasure. But, my prize quickly lost its luster. I drained away the slit and water and tossed it into John's canoe full of other junk and garbage we had collected that morning, ending our clean-up battle.
When I paddle, I usually pick up trash along the way. I'm in the habit of steering toward a floating plastic bottle or fishing a beer can or plastic bag out of a tree. As a steward of the lake or river, I try to pick up and pack out litter along the waterways. However, when I'm taking part in a river clean-up, I will put in a little extra effort to make these waterways trash-free by removing unique and common items alike.
According to American Rivers, a conservation organization aimed at protecting wild rivers, restoring damaged rivers, and conserving clean water, here are the 5 most common items found in river cleanups.

Cigarette Litter
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cigarette smoking remains the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States. Cigarette smoking kills more than 480,000 Americans each year. And if that doesn't choke you, think about this. The chemical carcinogens of discarded cigarette butts are capable of leaching into surrounding water where they can harm and kill aquatic life. A study found that one cigarette butt can kill half of the fish in 1 liter of water. That is if they don't eat them first. Wildlife often mistakes the butts for food making them another threat.
Still, cigarette butts are the most littered item on the whole planet. It's estimated that over 120 billion have been discarded into the environment and washed into our rivers and the ocean. The Ocean Conservancy’s 2018 International Coastal Cleanup Report stated that 2,412,151 cigarette butts were collected worldwide in 2017. This is an increase from the 1,863,838 butts collected around the world in 2016.

Plastic bags
The good news. Consumers in both the US, Canada, and Europe are doing a great job curbing their use of plastic bags. Fewer are ending up in waterways around the world. Several countries, states, and cities have already banned their use. We have changed our habits by taking previously used bags with us on our trip to the supper market. Plastic bags are not seen as much as they use to, hanging from the branches of trees, flying in the air on windy days, and floating on our rivers. But that does not mean they have gone entirely.
Plastic bags are still amongst the most common items found in river clean-ups. Animals and sea creatures are hurt and killed every day by discarded plastic bags that they mistake for food.
“Death from eating any of these items is not a quick one and it is not likely to be painless,” marine ecologist Dr. Lauren Roman told the Guardian, “It’s a pretty awful way to die.”
The plastic bags, over time, break down into microplastics and drift throughout the water column in the open ocean and become virtually impossible to recover.

Plastic bottles
The bad news, more and more plastic bottles are now clogging oceans and rivers. According to Healthy Human, Americans buy 29 billion water bottles a year. For every six bottles people buy, only one is recycled and U.S. landfills are overflowing with 2 million tons of discarded water bottles, that is if they even make it to the landfill. Plastic bottles tossed into a river will head downstream and eventfully end up in the ocean. Rivers are a one-way conveyor belt of material," Ocean plastic pollution researcher at the University of Plymouth, UK, Richard Thompson told New Scientist, “They connect the sea to people that could be thousands of miles inland. And their actions can have an influence on the accumulations of plastic in the oceans.”
Once there the bottles can float on the sea surface for years, if not centuries, taking a long time to break down. Currents, winds, and waves can, after a journey of several years, bring them to the center of ocean basins, where they accumulate in 1,000km-wide circulating systems known as gyres. The vast garbage sea patches resemble an island of trash.

Food Packaging
“Mother’s Cantina is located steps from the Atlantic Ocean and the number one piece of trash we see on the beach is Styrofoam containers,” Ocean City, Maryland Tex-Mex Restaurant's Ryan James told FoodPrint, last year after before Maryland became the first state to enact a ban that prohibits restaurants, cafes, food trucks and supermarkets from packaging foods in foam containers. Styrofoam food containers and disposable coffee cups are big culprits in that are why several cities from New York and Seattle to Freeport, Maine, and Encinitas, California, have passed similar legislation; other bans on single-use plastics, including straws, have gone into effect.

Aluminum Cans
This brings us back to that aluminum beer can in the river. According to Ecowatch, almost 100 billion are used in the U.S. annually, and only about half of these cans are recycled. The rest go to landfills or into the environment and much of that is washed into our waterways. While Aluminum also come with their own eco-price: the production of each can pumps about twice as much carbon into the atmosphere as each plastic bottle.

Paddling back to the access with our garbage bags full of many items above included all of the above. We were amazed as well as disheartened by the amount of trash we found in and around our little river sanctuary. Cleanups like ours, are critical to ensuring that lakes and rivers remain beautiful places for us all to enjoy, yet they are only part of the solution. Ultimately if we want to protect our lakes, rivers, and waterways we need to create an awareness to others to reduce the amount of trash being littered into our environment by encouraging everyone to pack out their trash and dispose of it properly.

Act Now! Make the River Cleanup Pledge
Outside Adventure to the Max and American Rivers is asking for you to take action and clean up and protect the rivers in our own backyards. We need your pledge. The premise is simple. Every year, National River Cleanup® volunteers pull tons of trash out of our rivers. By picking up trash you see around you every day, you can prevent it from getting into the rivers in the first place.

 Keep up with Outside Adventure to the Max, on our Facebook page and Instagram and now on Youtube.

 

2020 IN REVIEW: PICTURES OF THE YEAR

 

I turned 60-years old this year. But in the year of Covid-19, the celebration ended abruptly. Like everyone, a lot of my plans were either canceled or put on hold. After orders to shelter in place spread across the country last spring, upending some of our favorite outdoor activities, we all soon learn to simply adapt. We made Zoom calls, hosted online events, and found ourselves saying, maybe next year when, things get back to normal, a lot.

“COVID-19 is not just a medical challenge," surmised writer Amit Ray, "But a spiritual challenge too. To defeat covid humanity need to follow the path of self-purification, compassion, nonviolence, God, and Nature.”

With the ongoing pandemic, this past year was a difficult one for us all. However, throw in a contentious election, the wave of shocking police brutality and continuing problems with race relations, along with global warming that caused havoc with West coast wildfires and hurricanes in the Southeastern part of the United States, 2020 will surely be remembered well into history. 

Lake Natoma

 Ironically the pandemic had a positive effect on the outdoors. Embracing the quarantine lifestyle and social distancing, many of us headed into our own backyards to explore again.
While kayaking, canoeing, and paddleboarding are considered to be a form of exercise, the practice of social distancing could easily be accomplished once on the water. The only problem that occurred was limited or challenging access to public waterways. Venues were locked down in the early part of the spring due to overcrowding.

By mid-summer, while our classes with Current Adventures Kayaking School & Trips had taken a hit, the boat rentals at Sly Park Paddle Rentals were packed every weekend as folks flocked to Lake Jenkinson to escape quarantining inside. Doing outdoor activities close to home amid the pandemic was a way for people to exercise their bodies, minds, and spirit. More than once, I told our customers once at the lake to enjoy the moments on the water. Paddle towards the sound of the waterfall and forget about the rest.

Like always, the highlight of the summer was my annual no-frills expedition to Loon Lake with Bayside Adventure Sports, a Christian-based outreach group. The lake trip was a perfect mix of kayaking, camping, and great friends. Not to mention, the lake views, sunsets, and star gazing were amazing.

By Autumn, Covid-19 restrictions were relaxed, but the fire season had once again erupted in California. Ugly clouds of smoke blotted out the sun and sent us back indoors due to air quality. More trips were canceled as campgrounds were shutdown.
It seems 2020, for will for me, will be thought of more for what I didn't do. Rather, than what I did. However, I did get to run South Fork of the American and a few times and had my first down a section on of Sacramento River.

The Lower American River

It was a difficult year, as we all learn to adjust to living under the guise of the pandemic. We have mastered the art of socially distancing, we wear our masks and smile with our eyes and wave to each other instead of offering a handshake or a hug. Boy, I miss the hugs. But even so, I have witnessed inspiration and perseverance from my family, friends, co-workers, and even strangers, as they haven't given up during these Covid times. Yes, Yes, 2020 will be remembered as a very weird year when the world came to a sudden halt. But for we overcame and just kept paddling on.

So as 2020 draws to a close, I look back at some of my favorite images from this past year. 

Lake Jenkinson

North Fork of the American River

Donner Lake

Lake Jenkinson

South Fork of the American River

Sly Park Paddle Rentals on Lake Jenkinson

Loon Lake

Lake Clementine

The Lower American River with Bayside Adventure Sports

Folsom Lake

Lake Jenkinson

Keep up with Outside Adventure to the Max, on our Facebook page and Instagram and now on Youtube.

THE LAST JOURNEY HOME

Salmon are incredibly driven to spawn. They will not give up. This gives me hope. --- Kathleen Dean Moore

In the opening scenes of the 1992 film Last of the Mohicans, three hunters are on a frenzied chase through the forest. They are pursuing a bull elk that comes breaking through the trees, just as Hawkeye, played by Daniel Day-Lewis raises his rifle. With true aim, he brings down the creature with a startling crash. The breathless hunters are silent. There no cheers or accolades. Then in mournful sorrow, the Indian father pays tribute to the fallen elk by saying, "We're sorry to kill you, Brother. We do honor to your courage and speed, your strength."
That scene crosses my mind as I was paddling on the Lower American River and encountered the migrating Chinook or King Salmon. They were traveling up upriver from the Pacific Ocean to spawn.

As they had done for untold centuries, these creatures were completing their life cycle by spawning, laying eggs, and dying in their natal water, "Where they themselves had first known the quickening of life."
"It was the climax of existence," wrote naturalist Sigurd Olson after witnessing the eelpout spawn in Northern Minnesota, "The ultimate biological experience toward which everything previous was merely a preparation."  
Obeying their urges that were implanted in their genetic structure long ago, the salmons' entire life had led them to this supreme event. For eons, the salmon had spawning grounds of over 100 miles in the American River and its tributaries. But with Nimbus Dam just upstream, it is the end of the journey for these “wild salmon,” that avoid the fish ladder of the Nimbus Hatchery. Instead, they will lay and seminate eggs in gravel nests in shallows of the river beds.
At Sailor Bar, they find clean, cool, oxygenated, sediment-free fresh water for their eggs to develop. 

 The river was alive as it moves over the rocks with a quiet whisper. From my kayak, I watched the dazzling show of nature. The salmon were swimming against the flow of the current. I could see their single dorsal fins above the waterline. They were contorting their bodies and swishing their tail fins to clean any sediment in their nest area. It was like watching something prehistoric. This ritual to reproduce been has been practiced since the dawn of time.
"I have seen salmon swimming upstream to spawn even with their eyes pecked out, " wrote author and environmentalist Kathleen Dean Moore, " Even as they are dying, as their flesh is falling away from their spines, I have seen salmon fighting to protect their nests. I have seen them push up creeks so small that they rammed themselves across the gravel. I have seen them swim upstream with huge chunks bitten out of their bodies by bears. Salmon are incredibly driven to spawn. They will not give up. This gives me hope."

While spawning time celebrates the sheer primeval laws of procreation. It also marks the end of their life cycle. The salmon aging process has been accelerated as they migrate to the spawning sights like the American River's Sailor Bar. Scientists say it would be like if we as humans, aged forty years in two weeks. Most of them stop eating after they return to freshwater. Their bodies change. The male develops a hooked snout and a humped back. And in using every bit of energy they have for the return trip, they are simply exhausted, and they die.

As paddle back toward the lagoon of Sailor Bar, I came across one noble salmon lying motionless on the shallows more dead than alive. It was in the final moments of its epic life.
Like the hunters in The Last of Mohicans, I felt a certain melancholy as I witness the death of this river brother. I thought about its life of traveling in the distant ocean. How twice it swam twice under the Golden Gate Bridge. How it navigated the ocean dodging whales, seals, sea lions, and fisherman's hooks, and how it found its way back home to spawn.
Seagulls and turkey vultures were pecking and feasting on the numerous dead carcasses littering the riverway. No doubt this one would be soon included with those others. Its journey was now complete, as its body would provide vast amounts of nutrients back to the habitat. But not before I would say a prayer, to honor its courage, speed, and strength.
 

Keep up with Outside Adventure to the Max, on our Facebook page and Instagram and now on Youtube.

THE JOY OF PADDLING IN AUTUMN

"The perfect weather of Indian summer lengthened and lingered, warm sunny days were followed by brisk nights with Halloween a presentiment in the air." --- Wallace Stegner 

Autumn is a perfect time to paddle. Okay, Okay. For me, any season is the right time to get into my kayak and paddle the river or lake. However, in the fall, I do enjoy certain paddling benefits that do not accompany the other season as well.

Journeying down the Lower American River last weekend, I traveled quietly along on the downstream stretch under brilliant skies and heard the ripples and rush of the river. While summer had come and gone, the water temperature was still warm enough to wade into while getting in my kayak. It has been a warm start to our fall season so far this year in California. Wildfires and red flag warnings have been in the mix since Labor Day in this year's historic fire season.
 

The American River is running at an easy flow. Water levels are always a consideration this time of year. For area lakes and reservoirs, water levels are down, unlike during the springtime when they are brimming. For nearby Folsom Lake, even if the water level low, there is still plenty of water for paddling. The speed boats and jet skis have left for the season, leaving behind fewer waves and an uncrowded lake. Late into the fall, the lakeshore can look like the surface of Mars. While neighborhood favorite Lake Natoma water levels are always fluctuating, when it's when water is high, it offers some hideaway sloughs to explore. In the lake's backwaters, with fewer leaves to contend with, I'm able to spot the deer easily through the trees along the shore. While in the air, I was thrilled to see the lake's bald eagle couple make a soaring flyover. And towards sunset, I came across a beaver moving through the water. He slapped his tail to give me a warning that I was too close, I suppose. It went on its way of preparing for winter, while I paddled by.
 

Back on the American River, the day was already a success with seeing a bald eagle, several snow-white egrets, and a playful river otter who greeted me with few grunts as I paddled by.
It's time for the salmon run and the area fishermen were out this past weekend. While some line the shore side by side, others are hip-deep in the stream. I'm not a fisherman of any sort, but I can't help by marvel at their artistry of the flyfishermen as they cast their lines with precision and flair.
“Until a man is redeemed he will always take a fly rod too far back," wrote “A River Runs Through It” author Norman Maclean, "Just as natural man always overswings with an ax or golf club and loses all his power somewhere in the air.”
The experts have made their casting poetry in motion, even if they come home without a fish. As writer Roderick Haig-Brown said, "There will be days when the fishing is better than one's most optimistic forecast, others when it is far worse. Either is a gain over just staying home."

It's like that for me with paddling, I suppose. In the solitude and sanctuary of the water, I've never had a bad day of paddling. Going down the river, my mind reflects on my autumn paddling memories from the past.
“There is something incredibly nostalgic and significant about the annual cascade of autumn leaves,” wrote, Joe. L. Wheeler. Maybe so? Floating along, it's easy for me to drift off and think about those The cool and crisp mornings of my Minnesota canoe and kayak days. The bugs were long gone after the frost came and the placid lakes rendered stunning reflections of reds, yellows, and oranges across the waters at Maplewood State Park against the clear blue fall sky. But I often forget fall doesn't' last long in the northern tier. There when an unexpected cold snap and early snow would ice my paddling season.
 

The weather and colors did not have dramatic along the American River as paddle over the rushing slide of water above the Fair Oaks Bridge. Only a few pale yellow leaves on few trees scattered along the shore. The sloughs of Lake Natoma offer a bit more, along with the lakes in the Sierra and the foothills.
Canoe guru Bill Mason said, “Anyone who says they like portaging is either a liar or crazy.” I'm sure the dozen or so fisherman lining the back across from me must be thinking as I carried my kayak back over the rocks of the slid to paddle upstream back to Sailor Bar.

It was not a solitary paddling experience. I chased a few migrating salmon before they disappeared under the water. Ducks and geese, a common sight along the shoreline, pay little attention to me as I trek past them. During the summer, of course, the river is crowded with other boaters and rafters. But this time of year, the interest in floating along the river has faded for most.
Even for fishermen, time is limited. Fishing season end on this section of the river on October 31st.
Going upstream, I have two more portages to go before getting back to Sailor Bar, so I take my time to enjoy the peace and the solitude. As I dip my paddle, a rustling of fall leaves swirls through the air and landed ever so softly in the water beside me. I take another forward stroke while the leaves are being gentling are carried off by the current of the river going the other way.

 

The appearance of autumn does not call for the disappearance of kayaks or standup paddleboards. Fall and wintertime waters offer a quieter and solitary experience. Who doesn't appreciate fewer bugs, crowds, and empty parking spots at the access? Just remember simple safety factors involving hypothermia. Even water temperatures as high as 75 and 80 degrees F (24 and 27 degrees C) can be dangerous, but generally the colder the water, the faster it happens.

Another tip for your cold-weather paddling adventures: The sun is starting to set earlier and earlier, and you will have to keep this in mind while you are out on an autumn tour. When the days are short, you’ll want to utilize as much sunlight as possible. Daylight savings times ends on November 1st.

FIVE simple tips for anyone looking to extend the length of their paddling season into the winter months.

 

1. Wear your PFD! 
2. Layering up against the cold. 
3. Familiarize yourself with rescue techniques 
4. Be well fed and hydrated when paddling.
5. Mind the light 

Keep up with Outside Adventure to the Max, on our Facebook page and Instagram and now on Youtube.

 

URBAN PADDLING: A TRIP DOWN THE LOWER AMERICAN RIVER

 

Most of us picture paddling out in the heart of nature. It is easy to see ourselves gliding along on a serene mountain lake or into the bays of a country lake. For the more adventuresome, maybe running a scenic wild river or out in the ocean against a rugged coastline is more your style. But as more and more people take up paddling, an urban kayaking trend is emerging. Paddlers from coast to coast say paddling along their urban waterway has changed their perspective of their neighborhood river and the city along its banks. Switching to panoramic views of skyscrapers, bridges, and other urban dwellings instead of mountains or forest scenes offer paddlers an alternate aspect of their town often not seen.

"We love urban kayaking and it was fun to see the Minneapolis skyline from the water," wrote Minnesota based blogger Jenna Kvidt in Wander The Map! while paddling through on the Mississippi through the heart of the Twin Cities, "It’s a perspective of the city we had yet to witness, plus getting out on the water is always a great time."
Once New York paddler Noriko Okaya got over her fears of paddling New York City's Hudson River, she wrote there was no better way to see the city.
"Just over the horizon the Hudson offers magnificent views of the Manhattan skyline and a unique view of some of the most iconic man-made landmarks of the world, including the Empire State, Chrysler, the Standard, Whitney Museum, and One World Trade Center," wrote Okaya in PaddleXaminer, " Not many people get to see the city the way we do from the water, and in my opinion, it’s the best way to see New York."
While Jennifer Koerner, who is with Up the Creek Expeditions based in Jacksonville, Fla., found beauty at every turn while touring the St. Mary's River.
"At first, I couldn't imagine why someone would want to paddle by buildings and bridges. But look at the railroad trestle up. It looks like art to me," Koerner told First Coast News.

After sliding my kayak into the Lower American River at the Rossmoor Bar Access in Rancho Cordova, Ca., just east of Sacramento, I said to my paddling partner John Taylor, "How lucky we are to have this river right in our own backyard just minutes from my home."
Taylor is a veteran of many voyages down the American says no trip has ever been the same.
"I'll see something different every time," John said.

The Lower American River meanders through a network of highways, suburban streets, and urban bustle for 23 miles immediately after leaving Lake Natoma and Nimbus Dam, all the way to the confluence with the Sacramento River. At least that is what the map says, but on the river, we are in a different world.
The American River Parkway is a looping green ribbon that shelters the river and its shore for most of the way to the Sacramento River. Often called "the jewel” of the Sacramento Region, the river is the central focus of the Parkway, which features a good-mix of fast-moving currents, along with some slow and lazy flows that are perfect for most beginning paddlers. Annually more than 5 million visitors use the Parkway, not for paddling, but hiking and biking also.

It was a late summer trip for us. Past the season when a large rafting crowd frequent the river in large yellow or blue rafts with full coolers and no paddles. Popular on the hottest days of the summer, the river turns into a jamboree of hijinks, loud music, and bad sunburns. During a mid-summer trip where I took two groups down the river on the same day, I told them that the morning group would see nature, while the afternoon group would see "wildlife."

We put in on the river below San Juan Rapids with two other paddlers, skipping the sometimes tricky rapid. We still have a long way to go with an estimated 17 miles to the confluence with the Sacramento River. There is a bright blue sky, a slight breeze, a relaxing flow, and no sign of anyone outside of a few fishermen.
Classified as a “Recreation” river within the State and Federal Wild and Scenic River Systems, it was a little hard to imagine we were surrounded by the city. Since being established, the American River Parkway has ensure the preservation of the river's naturalistic environment.
"With the American River at my feet," wrote David Dawson, in the American River Parkway Foundation newsletter Stories from the Parkway, "I saw nothing of the two million human beings who surrounded me in the Sacramento metropolitan area. I saw no streets, no cars, no buildings, and no lights."

 Varieties of animal wildlife such as wild turkey, deer, and hawks can be seen at every bend, while river otters and beaver wait till twilight. We saw a few deer passing over a few fast ripples near Ancil Hoffman Park. As the river turns to the south leading up River Bend Park, we paddle past a row of river homes and under the Harold Richey Bicycle Bridge, to signify that we are not that far from civilization. 

The river speeds up down to Harrington Access as we encountered Arden Rapids. It is not as challenging as the San Juan Rapids as the river pushes against gravel deposits creating some standing waves.
"Go right down the middle," John tells the others.
It's a rubber raft graveyard as we encounter sunken trees and shredded rafts along the way. On a summer trip, we watched the Fire Department rescue some rafters stuck in the snag of trees.

Islands and channels provide jungle-like exploring opportunities along the way, But now it was time to paddle because the current had slowed. We heard the roar of city traffic at the Watt and Howe Avenue bridges. While cruising past the monolithic-looking structure of Sacramento's' Water treatment plant, we saw the Guy West Bridge suspension bridge. Designed to resemble the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, it is used by bicyclists and pedestrians to get to the Sacramento State University campus. From now on, the closer we will come to the Sacramento River the more bridges we will encounter. 

Like most urban areas, Sacramento is plagued with a growing homeless population. We paddle past scores of tents, tarps, and encampments line the river shore along with shopping carts, abandoned bicycles, and piles of trash. It is illegal to camp along the American River Parkway, but efforts to rousted the homeless from the riverway have been limited since for most, there is nowhere else for them to go.
I told John, "As much as I love this river, this is a terrible existence for them. How stressful and dangerous their lives must be. My heart goes out to them.

A train horn bellowed from above on railroad trestle as we come up to Sutter's Landing. Like all river towns, Sacramento history intertwines with the river. Captain John A. Sutter established a permanent camp and later built his fort south of the river. There is not much evidence from the past here as the dirt used to construct levees were built to elevate the city to prevent flooding leaving behind open pits. It became the city landfill for number years. Now through restoration, it is a popular park along the Parkway.

As we continued downstream, the pace slows considerably. We might have been in a hurry to get to the Sacramento River and Discovery park but, the Lower American River was not. It's deep and wide now. The ripples are gone and the river appears idle. Our kayaks were tugged along lazily like Huck Finn on the Mississippi. We paddled by two railroad bridges, one with its supports spray-painted with graffiti and was a former railroad bridge now reserved for bikes and pedestrians.

We are in the heart of the city now, except it still seems wild. Here the river is cradled by trees, obscuring any urban buildings from view. Only the I-5 bridge and a few motorboats let us know our journey is almost finished.
In the distance, a jet ski and rider revs up and heads out on the Sacramento River just past the Jibboom Bridge, a historic metal truss dinosaur of a bridge built-in 1931. A swing bridge from days gone by, it now has only light traffic in its park setting. It is the last bridge we pass under during our paddle down the American River.
The Sacramento River was a dingy pale brown compared to the American River and its clear flows as we crossover into its murky water turned up by powerboats. We look to the south and finally see the city of Sacramento and its tall high-rise buildings and waterfront.
While we had to wait till the very end of our great urban adventure down the American River to see the skyscrapers of Sacramento, our trip still gave us all a new perspective of our city and its waterway. 

And no matter how many times I will paddle The Lower American River as John says, it will always be a new and different experience every time, especially when I see it over the bow of your kayak.

Keep up with Outside Adventure to the Max, on our Facebook page and Instagram and now on Youtube.

KAYAK SUMMER 2020

Lake Clementine

Making storytelling photos has always been my mantra. Throughout my journalistic career to now, as I document my kayaking paddling days, on Instagram, and for my post in Outside Adventure to the Max, I want to tell you a story. Each day, I hope to capture in a photograph what the day was like and what did. Was it sunny and bright or a bit gloomy? Was I with or leading a group, or was I on a solo trek across the water?

Sunset Paddle on Lake Natoma

I love to shoot a lot of my photos in the so-called Golden Hour. I have a propensity to light and shadows and the mood it presents. I find it irresistible to let those magical moments pass without trying to catch just a part of it. I can not lie. It makes for beautiful pictures, especially when on the water. Those serene moments make my kayak tripping a bit romantic and picturesque.
Yet the storyteller in me also wants to share my so non-romantic things about my paddling days. The grittiness of the heavy kayak and steep portage to the sluggishness of sluffing boats at the end of the day at the boathouse, to the unplanned swims, Not all my paddling days are a memory of cool Kodak moments.

Summer 2020 was far from picture perfect and a bit more unalluring and unappealing than any photos can suggest. By most accounts, it was an unfocused and somewhat shaky ordeal that will be remembered more for what we didn't do rather than what we actually did.

Sly Park Paddle Rentals

For all of us, Summer 2020 certainly did not start all that well. The as the novel coronavirus know as the COVID-19 pandemic abruptly canceled and delay it from the start.
"Now we have something that turned out to be my worst nightmare," the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, told CNN in June, "In the period of four months, it has devastated the world."

At the start of the summer season, self-quarantining recommendations and restrictions became the norm. Movie theaters, indoor restaurants, and churches were closed. Events and festivals were canceled, and stacks of guidelines were imposed, calling for "social distancing" by staying at least six-feet part from one another.
Across the country, popular national, state, and local parks and beaches were either closed or were limiting access as health officials raised health concerns about large, possibly maskless, groups of visitors arriving and potentially skirting social distancing guidelines.
But as we all know, going outside is good for us, especially in a pandemic. Being in nature and the fresh air can help us relax and feel less stressed, which is what we needed most both then and even now. 

South Fork of American River

So I took advantage of my free time to head to the Lower American River and even run the South Fork of the River with a couple of guys during the early days of the summer shutdown.

As the stay-in-place restrictions were relaxed, outdoor places like state parks suddenly become important in a new way. They were safe places, but only if people recreated reasonably. Masks for many became the fashion as we looked in either bandits or doctors when they arrived a the boat launch. At Sly Park Paddle Rentals, where I worked after the delayed start, I would give all the equipment a sanitizing bath in E-san 64 after each rental. As the pandemic lingered into the middle of summer, people continued to flock to places like Lake Jenkinson, giving me a busy and brisk business as folks tried to escape the routine of the pandemic by getting on the water. 

Loon Lake

But just the same, it was not all work and no play. The after-hours canoeing and kayaking sessions in the lake helped give me a sense of normalcy. An annual trip down the Lower American River and no-frills expedition to Loon Lake with Bayside Adventure Sports, a Christian based outreach group, gave me a chance to lead a great group of paddlers. Okay, okay! That week on the was close to picture-perfect as could be, for me and maybe all them. It was the highlight of my summer.

But with every high, there comes a low. And this seemly apocalyptic summer dished out a slew of record-breaking temperatures, devastating wildfires, and ghostly orange and Martian-red skies from the shadow of smoke blowing eastward during the ladder part of the summer. A mid-September camping trip to Sierra Mountains Silver Lake was called-off due to the threat of fire danger, and my days on Lake Jenkinson were plagued with smoke and haze. It led me to get some dramatic photos, but also a realization that with climate change being unchecked this could be a prelude of things annually. 

Lake Jenkinson

It's official. No matter how I regard it, this lost summer is over, and fall has begun. Time to start planning for next year. While for some, this ominous year of 2020 can not get over quickly enough as we all deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, racial unrest, and looming contentious election. As we start the Autumn season, we search for that silver lining.

“Our main job as artists is to make the art that only we can make, right now in the times in which we are living,” wrote California College of Arts Dean of Fine Arts Allison Smith to her students this past year. “The art you are about to make will be a source of survival, and it will change us all for the better,” she concluded. 

So in these crazy times, I look back on my summer 2020. I certainly will cherish all my photo moments, both good and bad, all the friendly faces, and all the memories of my time on the water. To help me and maybe even you cruise through to till next summer, I picked out some of my favorite images I created over the past few months to help recall the past season like no other.

Here is a look at some of my favorite images from this past summer.

Loon Lake with Bayside Adventure Sports

Lake Jenkinson

 

Sly Park Paddle Rentals

Donner Lake

Lake Jenkinson

Lake Valley Reservoir

North Fork of the American River

 

The American River Parkway

Lake Jenkinson

Lake Jenkinson

Keep up with Outside Adventure to the Max, on our Facebook page and Instagram and now on Youtube.