UNALIENABLE RIGHTS: THE PURSUIT OF PERSONHOOD FOR RIVERS AND LAKES

The river as plaintiff speaks for the ecological unit of life that is part of it. Those people who have a meaningful relation to that body of water—whether it be a fisherman, a canoeist, a zoologist, or a logger—must be able to speak for the values which the river represents, and which are threatened with destruction. --William Douglas

 

Sliding my kayak gently into the water, it's not hard to grasp why in a few short years how this river has become so significant to me. I've come to know this river's fickle moods. Its high water winters and early spring rush, Its summertime playfulness, and its autumn bounty when the native Chinook salmon swim back upstream to spawn. I've paddled its slumberous wide curves and through its fast water rapids. I've watched its water roaring like thunder pouring its last dam and followed its a clear and bright ribbon of water all the way to its end to dip my bow at its milky confluence.
Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “A river is more than an amenity, it is a treasure.” I heartily agree. For me and many others, Northern California's American River is a rare jewel to behold. Fed by the melting snowpack of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the river is an essential source for the area's drinking water, a productive provider of irrigation and hydroelectric power, and recreational highway for paddlers and fishermen. In its final twenty-some miles before pouring into the Sacramento River, it dispenses a peaceful serenity and magic to every creature along its wild banks despite being so near urban complexities of the city. And yes, to a certain extent it seems to be a living being in itself.

The Whanganui River

The idea of environmental personhood, a legal concept that designates certain environmental entities such as rivers and lakes with the same rights and protections as a person in hopes of establishing new statutory frameworks that go beyond normal environmental protection. The theory has been gaining ground in recent years. In 2008, Ecuador became the first country to enshrine the legal rights of nature in its constitution and in 2011, Bolivia passed a similar law. New Zealand became the first country to grant a specific river legal rights to the Whanganui River in 2017 and was followed by India’s northern state of Uttarakhand granting the right to be legally protected and not be harmed to the Ganges and its longest tributary, the Yamuna River held sacred by millions of Hindus.

This past July Bangladesh became the first country to grant legal status to all of its rivers. In its landmark ruling, the Bangladeshi Supreme Court move is meant to protect the world's largest delta from further degradation from pollution, illegal dredging, and human encroachment. In its ruling, the court said, “Water is likely to be the most pressing environmental concern of the next century,” calling for their countries' rivers to be protected “at all costs”.

Blue-green algae bloom on the shore of Catawaba Island on Lake Erie in 2009.

Meanwhile, in Toledo, Ohio, toxic algae bloom in Lake Erie contaminated drinking water shutting off the city's water supply for three days in 2014. Many blamed nearby farms fertilizer runoff as the culprit. Whereupon, this past February, Toledo voters passed what is known as the Lake Erie Bill of Rights aimed at protecting the great lake and giving empowers Toledo citizens the right to file lawsuits on behalf of the lake. The ordinance's constitutionality was immediately challenged court by an area farmer sighting "it can never guarantee that all runoff will be prevented from entering the Lake Erie watershed." The state of Ohio also joined in on the lawsuit, arguing the state, not the citizens of Toledo has the "legal responsibility" for environmental regulatory programs. The case still remains in litigation. However, this past month, Gov. Mike DeWine unveiled the voluntary “H2Ohio” initiative to address phosphorus runoff.

"It gives the right to the river to exist, to flourish and to naturally evolve and a right to a stable climate free from human-caused climate change impacts," Yurok Tribe General Counsel's Amy Cordalis told National Public Radio after the native American tribe has granted personhood to northern California's Klamath River, making it the first known river in North America given that status at least under tribal law this past spring.

Cordalis says the Klamath's water management and climate change have led to lower water flows and even fewer salmon, the Yurok's main source for food.
"The salmon runs are the lowest they've ever been," Cordalis told NPR, "Even this year, it was anticipated that the returning salmon runs were going to be strong, but they never showed up. We don't know where they are. We have been doing all we can to protect the river and, you know, working within existing legal frameworks. And it's not enough."

The Klamath River

As the movement to give in legal rights to rivers and lakes grows with support even coming from the United Nations, it has also been met with resistance from industry, farmers and river communities, who argue that giving the laws will infringe on their rights and livelihoods without a clear path forward.
“The biggest danger is that if you establish that a river has a right, then who is going to determine what that right is?” Don Shawcroft, president of the Colorado Farm Bureau told the Boulder Weekly in 2017, as proponents were pushing the state to grant the Colorado River legal rights.
For the rivers and lakes which lack a voice of their own, those decisions will be left to future policymakers to determine, as advocates warn of climate change, pollution, urban sprawl, mining, poor infrastructure management as well as drought and floods that currently endanger our bodies of water

"I think this is, is a reflection of a change of societal values," Cordalis concluded with NPR, "So we're in a climate crisis. And we need new tools to respond to that crisis. And in this country right now, corporations have rights as a person. And that's because historically our country valued commerce. And so I think it's a logical next step in this era of climate change to give the same kind of legal recognition to the natural environment and to nature."

Photographer Laura Gilpin declared, “A river seems a magic thing. A magic, moving, living part of the very earth itself.” Sitting alongside the Lower American River earlier this week, the river does seem alive as it moved steadily to the sea. Flashes of Chinook salmon among the river's ripples, scores of gulls, ducks and turkey vultures soar and flutter above, while I catch sight of black-tailed deer bounding through the stream. It's nature's age-old symbiotic relationships between the river and its creatures. As long as the water keeps flowing, the river and its wildlife will continue to exist. As humans, facing climate change, we need to recognize this natural world around us and make our duty to care for it, protect it and pass it on to generations to come.
By granting a river a right to be a river, we can all take the giant steps in understanding the other living beings around us and bare the responsibilities we owe to them.

Want to see more about Outside Adventure to the Max. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram

KAYAK SUMMER 2019

The music of the far-away summer flutters around the Autumn seeking its former nest. --- Rabindranath Tagore

Please stay a bit longer summer, I don't want to see you go. I want a few more quiet morning floating along in a canoe. A couple additional lazier hot afternoons by the water and several extra-long summer nights sitting around a campfire watching the moon and stars. So sorry Autumn, but I'm just not ready for your cool days, rainy nights and falling leaves.

Canoe morning on Lake Jenkinson

Yes, I'm not ready to it give all up. I've grown accustomed to my shirtless and sandal days at the boathouse, my kayaking evenings at the lake, waiting and watching for the sun to set and the moon to arise. And please, please don't take away my meandering times on the river listening for the rumble of rapids.

Summer 2019, by far exceeded my expectations with a season of fun adventures on or near the water. At Sly Park Recreation Area, I worked the weekend boat rentals for my second straight season sporting large-brimmed straw hat and zebra tanned feet from produced by my Keen sandals. There were some slow easy goings spells, tranquil canoe mornings along with busy and brisk business is good times intermixed throughout my summer. Like a kid at camp, the best part, of course, was being on Lake Jenkinson where canoeing, kayaking, and swimming were all part of my daily grind.

Current Adventures training nights

Last summer, when Eppies called it quits, I thought my training nights and boat prep were over. But, when The Great American Triathlon picked up the baton to continue the great race of running, biking and paddling along The American River Parkway, Dan Crandall and our crew at Current Adventures Kayaking School & Trips geared up for another summer run in training paddlers for the river leg and a way to navigate those pesky San Juan Rapids.

For the new and old faces with Bayside Adventure Sports, a Christian based outreach group, my summer leading them offered several day trips and evening outings to area lakes, an annual run down the Lower American River and no-frills expedition to Loon Lake, where we were treated to some great kayaking camping and amazing sunsets. For years it has been one favorite places to visit, now it's one of theirs.

Bayside Adventure Sports at Loon Lake.

Waterfalls and waterfall trails seemed to be a focal point of my summer. The cascading Sly Park Falls was always a hit for all of those I brought there on kayak outings and after-hours paddles. Who doesn't love a hike to a waterfall? While on a rare trip, where Debbie and I didn't take any boats, we still found our way to the stream when we hiked the waterfall trail at Grover Hot Springs State Park. On a hot summer day after our trek, there was nothing better than kicking off shoes and dipping our toes or better yet getting to stand in the chilly shower.

Lake Jenkinson

"All in all, it was a never to be forgotten summer," wrote Canadian author L.M. Montgomery, "One of those summers which come seldom into any life, but leave a rich heritage of beautiful memories in their going."
Montgomery, best known for a series of novels for chronicling the life of the fictional Anne Shirley set on Prince Edward Island, always painted summers on the island "as near to perfection as anything can come in this world." But she also took delight in Autumn when she wrote, "I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”

Yes, no matter how I regard it, next Monday marks the first day of fall, which of course subsequently, is the official end of summer. Thanks for the memories. To remind me and you, of the summer not to be forgotten, I picked out some of my favorite images created over the past few months that should keep those memories burning bright.

 

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

 

Bayside Adventure Sports on Lake Natoma

 

Paul at Sly Park

Loon Lake

Lake Jenkinson

The Lower American River

Moonlight paddle on Lake Jenkinson with Current Adventures

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

2019 GREAT AMERICAN TRIATHLON TRAINING

This weekend they will be running, biking and paddling again on The American River Parkway as the Great American Triathlon on kicks off its inaugural event. Following the same course as Eppie’s The Great Race which called it quits last year after 45 years, The Great American Triathlon includes all the Eppie's ingredients of a 5.82-mile run, a 12.5-mile bike and the final leg a 6.10-mile paddle down the American River.

Last year it looked like the end of the traditional summer race when Eppies organizers decided to discontinue the event following a steady decline in participation. For many like Dana Thompson-Maker, they thought their kayak racing days on the river were over for good.

"It was sad, it was bittersweet," said Thompson-Maker, "It was wonderful doing it but, it was also sad because we were hearing it was going to happen anymore."

But earlier this year, co-founder of Innovations Health Systems Ken McGuire took up the mantel to keep the race alive.
“I felt it was too great a tradition to let die,” McGuire told The Carmichel Times, “People came here from all over the USA to compete. Eppie’s was a boost for our national profile. For all sorts of good reasons, keeping Eppie’s alive seemed critical.”
In the same spirit of Eppies, the new race will also be a philanthropic drive to support the American River Parkway Foundation and local children’s health charities.

It's good news to Thompson-Maker who enjoys the fun and comradery of race day.
"We were thrilled. Absolutely thrilled! " said Thompson-Maker, "I think it's smaller number right now, but the more people hear about it, the more they will want to it."

With the new race also containing kayaking portion like before, it provides a different dynamic from other triathlons with a "no swim" competition feature. To help people get on the water, Dan Crandall the owner of Current Adventures Kayak School and Trips offered an array of training nights and one clinic during the last couple of weeks to get participants familiar with the river, learn 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 build their confidence, paddling skills, and river reading knowledge.

"Keep those hands loose and drive your feet into the footpegs to get your power,' Crandall calls out over the water to the group of boaters while preparing to leave the Sunrise access, the starting point for the kayaking section of the race.

"I was a little apprehensive at first I've never on the river," said first-year participant Mary Closner, "I've normally just putz around the lake, but my group needed a kayaker so here I am."

Like Heartbreak Hill in the Boston Marathon, the kayaking portion of the race runs right through San Juan Rapids, a place where racers can lose valuable time and easily go from first to 31st by miscalculating the boil. During the Current Adventures' practicing 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.

"Keep smiling and lean forward. It more about finesse than muscle here," warns Crandall while approaching the rapid. "Let it push you around a bit, but just get through it,"

During each training night, there were more smiles than swims as the boaters navigate the troublesome rapid and then head downriver to the finish line at River Bend Park.

"I'm so glad I took the course from Current Adventures," said Closner, "I learned quite a bit with this being my first time on moving water. Now to turn it into a personal victory."

Current Adventure 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

Want to see more about Outside Adventure to the Max. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram

THE FATAL FLAW

“Trust your own instinct. Your mistakes might as well be your own, instead of someone else’s.” --- Billy Wilder

I'm that guy who likes to bring on camera on every outing on the water. After working as a photojournalist most of life it just seemed natural for me to tote along with a camera and document my time on the river or lake. When I first started paddling, I would pick out my favorite image for my paddling journals. When social media blew up, I jumped on board and shared pictures with my Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages. For me, it's been a fun and easy way to look back on my experiences on the water. But along with was that, came that underlining worry that was always out there circling my kayak like a shark or crocodile.

Current Adventures 50+ Kayaking Class

Anybody and everybody who knows anything about photography knows that cameras and water just don't mix. These days most DSLRs can handle a few drops of rain, but a torrential downpour or an accidental drop into the lake can turn that once expensive piece of Japanese electronics and mechanization into one soggy piece of junk.

In the advent of outdoor adventure photography, Timothy O'Sullivan one of the better Civil War photographers went west after the war to document US government explorations expeditions of Isthmus of Darien (Panama) and the Grand Canyon. Using large-format cameras, glass plates, and wagon loads of darkroom equipment and chemicals, O’Sullivan hauled them up and over mountains, across deserts, through jungles, and down rapids while producing a classic and memorable volume work that are sill uninfluential to this day.

Conditions were brutal, as O’Sullivan faced extreme heat and bitter cold, dense jungle and dangerous swift rivers. In today's Panama, on an expedition in search of a canal route, he encountered dismal photographic conditions due to heavy rain. While disaster struck on an 1871 voyage down the Grand Canyon when O'Sullivan lost all the three hundred negatives glass plates he made when several of the expedition's boats capsized in the Colorado River.

Lake Natoma

In a quote attributed to him, O'Sullivan said, "Place and people are made familiar to us by means of the camera in the hands of skillful operators, who, vying with each other in the excellence of their productions, avail themselves of every opportunity to visit interesting points, and to take care to lose no good chance to scour the country in search of new fields for photographic labor."

Since the invention of the camera, scouring of the earth in search of those interesting points and majestic places has been a labor for photographers everywhere. As Ansel Adams said, "“A good photograph is knowing where to stand.”

Clean up paddle on Lake Natoma with Bayside Adventure Sports

And for that reason alone, I have strived throughout my photographic career to make my great pictures by putting my camera into interesting as well as usual places. During my TV and newspaper days, I followed the mantra of legendary photographer Bob Capa who said, "If your pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough."

When I got into paddling, my camera always came along in a gallon-size plastic bag. Those were in the days before I knew what dry bags were. I can remember on my first canoe trips carefully taking the camera and lens out the plastic bag, shooting a few pictures from the bow and carefully stowing it back into the bag and then into my backpack in the hull of the boat.

Lake Natoma with Bayside Adventure Sports

Thank goodness technology sped along and gave me a rugged and affordable waterproof camera that shoots both pictures and video but could also survive all kinds of tough and watery environments that I could dish out for it. Compact enough without ditching quality, it fit perfectly under my PFD making it easy to pull out and photograph others with me on my adventures, while simple enough to use to position it in a tree or on a rock to recorded my outing while alone.

In a recent report published in the Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care found that 259 people died between 2011 and 2017 while stepping in front of the camera in an often dangerous destination. To achieve that dramatic shots, in most of these incidents shot these selfie-risk takers defy their personal safety to get that photo, that is until that would-be photographer slips and tumbles down over the cliff into a ravine or body water. Drowning, falling from a moving vehicle or high location was found to be the most common cause in leading to their deaths.

"It’s easy to write off these tragedies as catastrophically bad judgment," wrote Kathryn Miles in Outside Magazine Online, "Armchair internet commentators have had a field day with each reported death. For every lament of young lives, lost...you’ll find an equal number of comments about how the two were “surprisingly stupid,” “coddled,” “careless,” or “self-obsessed."

While I don't condone the high-risk selfies culture in any way and my heart goes out all these young victims families. Nevertheless, in a way I can see what they were hoping to achieve by putting themselves and their cameras in a distinctive and different position and away from the so-called standard shot despite the threat of peril.

A bobcat along the shore of Lake Natoma

Last month, to avoid that conventional and traditional and somewhat standard over the bow shot, I haphazardly station my camera on that slippery slope of peril and paid for it. Now I've done this many times before in other places and have had great results. I would put the camera with a float strap on a flat rock and set the timer to shoot a picture every few seconds or more and would paddle out into the water making a few passes in front of the lens.

As I paddled away, I could only watch in horror as the camera slipped off its perch into the water. Float strap stayed above the surface for only a moment, but the attached carabiner weighed it down. Who knows, I might have made things worst as reached out with my paddle in an effort to scoop it up. It sank even more.

In the clear water of the American River, I could, now only watch helplessly from my kayak as the camera, float strap and carabiner made a spinning slow-motion dive into the dark deep of the river. My heart sank as I watched the camera faded out of sight while relearning an old lesson that I always knew. Cameras sink.

Lake Natoma

Moving Day at Lake Jenkinson

Here is a look at some of my favorite images from this year so far. 

We are always looking for guest bloggers to share the stories and pictures of their adventure. Keep up with Outside Adventure to the Max on our Facebook page and Instagram.

Lake Clementine

Lake Natoma

Full Moon Paddle with Current Adventures

Snowshoeing in the Sierra

Lower American River

Bayside Adventure Sports on Lake Jenkinson at Sly Park

Want to see more about Outside Adventure to the Max. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram

OVER THE BOW: LAKE NATOMA

The world of life, of spontaneity, the world of dawn and sunset and starlight, the world of soil and sunshine, of meadow and woodland, of hickory and oak and maple and hemlock and pineland forests, of wildlife dwelling around us, of the river and its wellbeing--all of this [is] the integral community in which we live. --- Thomas Berry

I often tell people paddling with me that after we push off onto the water of Lake Natoma we will be experiencing a different world even though we are in the heart of a densely populated urban area. Kayaking through the sloughs never ceases to amaze them of how they can escape into a backyard of nature just minutes from the buzz of city traffic.

The narrow and popular 5-mile lake, part of the California State Parks' Folsom SRA located just east of Sacramento is a haven for wildlife viewing. On just about any day, paddlers can get a close-up view of black-tailed deer, river otters, egrets, herons, hawks, pelicans, beavers and pond turtles. A convocation of eagles just in the past couple of years has taken to nesting on the lake's high banks offering a treat to anyone just to see them soar.

It's no secret that kayaks are an amazing way to view wildlife in their natural habitat. Recently, paddling through the lake's sloughs across from the Negro Bar access it was easy to imagine I was on safari. The early spring season guaranteed me quiet solitude through the trails of slough channels and ponds. I moved along in stealth-like silent around each bend and cranny. Down low just inches off the water if I would see anything it would be almost eye to eye.

"Don’t just look for animals on the water," wrote photographer and paddler Galen Leeds in his blog in 2011, "Look on the immediate shore, but also a little distance onto land. Some of my best wildlife images of raccoons, deer, bobcat, elk, and coyotes all came about while I was kayaking. They don’t necessarily watch the water for dangers and might not notice you if you stay quiet and fairly still. If they do notice you, you are such a different creature from the person that is walking and stomping around, that they generally aren’t as frightened, and can be more curious as to what you may be."

It was late in the afternoon. The warm sunlight had just broken through a thin layer of clouds as I paddled through the narrow ponds and dredge pilings of the lake. I rounded a bend into a large lagoon surrounded by tall horsetail, blackberry bushes with a lone grassy rise overlooking the water when I saw the top of its head and ears. I couldn't believe my luck. It was a bobcat.

Bobcats are one of the four native wildcats to North America. About twice the size of the average house cat, they can be distinguished based on its long legs, large paws and a distinctive black-tipped tail that appears to be “bobbed” or cut off. A stealthy and solitary crepuscular hunter, they primarily prey on rabbits, birds, small game and rodents during dawn and dusk hours.

Although bobcats prefer to inhabit environments with a dense vegetative cover or steep rocky terrain, they are highly adaptable to both wild and urban landscapes. Due to the ever-expanding human population and the destruction of their habitat, their numbers are steadily decreasing each year as reported by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

I pulled my camera out of my PFD while I silently glided closer to where the cat is sitting. It was partially hidden by the knoll and I couldn’t get a clear shot. Quietly and slowly I paddled one stroke. The momentum of the stroke pushed me carefully toward the animal.

As I moved ever closer, the sunbathing wildcat awoke from its solar nap and sat up in a proud posture focusing its attention on me and my moving kayak. Its distinguished jowl-like ruffs on its cheeks and black spotted coat glistened in the sunlight, while its large ears with slight tufts of hair at the tips stood upright giving the wildcat a magnificent regal appearance. Its eyes were gleaming without blinking as it stared back at me with such a powerful look as if the creature was looking deep into my soul.

My 12th paddle day of the year must be my lucky day. You can read about last year's Paddle Day 12 encounter with a bobcat at Lake Clementine in Outside Adventure to the Max.

In Native American mythology, the bobcat is an important character in many of their legends. Rarely seen, these cats took on a mystical quality and possessing great spiritual energy. Because of their elusiveness bobcat alongside the coyote, in their stories are symbolized as the fog and the wind. Mysterious creatures difficult to both see and catch.

I held my breath and my body tighten with pumping adrenaline as gazed upon the big cat through my viewfinder and over my camera willing the moment to last a bit longer. But I was getting too close, the bobcat whole body was now attuned to my presence. As I'm stalking it, it soon was stalking me with its body is low to the ground and hind legs coiled and ready to pounce.

The faceoff ended as quickly as it began. The big cats' predatory gaze at me and my orange kayak faded as it decides, I'm more of a potential threat than I am prey. It quickly vanishes into the safety of the underbrush, while I turn my kayak around and paddle away happily in absolute gratitude for experiencing this lasting wilderness effect in my own backyard.

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, we would love to see it. Submit it to us at nickayak@gmail.com

Want to see more about Outside Adventure to the Max. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram

SAFETY AND PREPARATION FOR WINTER TO SPRING KAYAKING

Courtesy of The River Store

While watching it rain and snow this winter we can all perceive it's going to be a fantastic spring season for paddling your area rivers and lakes.  Surely the excitement is there. For most of us who have had our boats locked away this past winter, there would be nothing better than grabbing our gear and heading back out on to the water as if nothing had changed since last season.

But with safety being the top concern Dan Crandall owner of Current Adventures Kayaking School and Trips wrote on the CA website, "Don't just “Fling” into spring paddling! Think about the important stuff before going? Remember, days are still short, water is cold and the weather is unpredictable! There are also way fewer paddlers and rafters out in the winter to be of help if needed and many new potential hazards to be found."

It's great advice for us all. As Crandal states, "A lot of paddling safely is based in common sense."
Here is a list of Crandall's reminders that you need to take care of before venturing safely out to the water this season.

South Fork of the American River 2017

Two weeks or more before your first outing

• Check all gaskets and put the dry tops/suits on to make sure they aren’t cracked and ready to rip out. Gaskets tend to last two or three seasons at best and fail when you can least afford it. A failed gasket at the put in or on the run has ruined many a paddling trip! If they are questionable, get em replaced. FYI, The River Store (info@theriverstore.com) offers quick turn around service whenever possible on gasket repairs.
• Check out your boat for cracks, frogs, or spiders before they surprise you. Tighten all of the bolts, replace missing or worn pieces of your outfitting and make sure your float bags hold air!
• Stretch your skirt onto the boat and repair any rips or badly frayed areas (check it thoroughly on the inside of the skirt as well!)
• Get your cold water gear together, with , booties, neo socks, pogies or insulating gloves, skull cap, Capilene and fleece underlayers and spare fleece in your boat
• Good 1st Aid kit along with firestarter, hand warmers, energy bars, duct tape, space blanket, flashlight and a few thin plastic grocery bags as emergency “socks”, “mittens” or skull caps.
• Use a “new” Drysuit in a pool or easy water and try swimming in it BEFORE you take an unwanted test on a river. Air and the restrictiveness of a drysuit can really affect your swimming ability if you are not familiar with how to “bleed” the air and with what it feels like to swim in a drysuit.  

Courtesy of Current Adventures Kayaking School & Trips

First Tracks

• Paddle familiar runs first, and a step below what you were paddling at the end of last season.
• DON’T fall into the common trap of getting a late start- especially on unknown or higher than normal runs. ALWAYS plan in a margin for error. It only takes one unexpected portage or a swim or two by members of the group (or other groups you run into) to throw your timing way off and create a series of new issues and potential risks or epics.
• Paddle a familiar and comfortable boat the first time or two out. Not the time to jump right into a new boat or a new demo boat! A river running boat with more volume and hull speed will help offset any sluggish timing or lack of practice and conditioning on your part, especially on new, high or faster water runs.
• Paddle runoff (vs. Dam release) rivers on their way DOWN! Rivers on their way up can be VERY unpredictable in terms of how high the water is or will get, and for the debris and in some cases chemicals or bacteria and sewage they pick up on their way UP! Running rivers on their way up have likely been a prominent factor in more unwanted ramifications or dangerous scenarios for kayakers than any other single element.
• A breakdown paddle should always be in everyone’s boat, for your use or more likely to save someone else (and their group) a much longer day or a walk out.
• Check LOCAL weather for the area you‘ll be paddling before you go, since Spring weather can be much different due to microclimates or be spotty and cause things like flooding or snow in one area and nothing an hour away. Bad access roads can sometimes get you on the way OUT even if you were able to get in, so a shovel, chains, plenty of gas are all worth having. Low snow melting into the rivers on a sunny day or dams reaching their spilling point and adding a large surge to the existing flow can be very misleading and really catch you off guard in terms of the unexpected rise of rivers. (Slab Creek Reservoir on The South Fork American is a classic for this and can add thousands of CFS to the flow almost instantly once it spills) .Do your homework and know the dams and diurnal flow timing for the run you’ll be on!
• Realize that the gauges you are reading on flow sites are not always at the put in where you plan to go, and can over or under-represent the flow you’ll find when you get there (Chamberlains on the North Fork American has a gauge that is miles downstream of the put in for instance). Look at trends on gauges ( rising or falling, etc.).
• Paddle with people you know and whose skills you are comfortable with on a given run or under expected conditions. Qualify new paddlers to you or your group THOROUGHLY before getting on the river with them. Don’t be afraid to decide not to run if you are not comfortable with the group, or tell someone else you do not think they should be there. Any one person can put all others in a group at risk if they are not prepared. Ask the same questions of others you would ask of yourself: Are they dressed well enough, paddling a familiar boat, been paddling at that level already this year, SOLID roll, etc.?? Have their own throw rope and SWR training so they can rescue YOU if necessary?
• Consider some Winter or early Spring cross training by getting out surf kayaking or even out on the lake just to work the muscles and conditioning a little. Better yet, get an early lesson with a qualified instructor to help start your year off right and take away a bit of the anxiety associated with first runs out on the year or after a lay-off.
• Got questions?? Anxiety?? Call up the local shop or instructor who knows you or the local runs and get some more input/advice before you make your decisions. 

"Think of Spring paddling as a new performance," Crandall wrote in conclusion, "You are in with a cast of characters, and that you all need to get your costumes and props ready, and then do a dress rehearsal before you really get to the main show. One person can destroy the whole show if they did not get things ready on their end."

The Atmospheric River Flows Again

Nimbus Dam

Heavy rains from a weather system known as an "atmospheric river" the latest in a series of storms to pound Northern California earlier this week. It caused flooding that inundated a town north of San Francisco, along the Russian River and forced thousands to flee.
As the heavy rains moved in dam operators also have opened their gates to make room for the expected run-off in the days and weeks ahead. Releases at Folsom Dam accompanied by releases at Nimbus Dam downstream have impacted low-lying areas along the American River Parkway with flooding.
Our best advice we can give when it comes to paddling in flood waters is: DON'T! Remember flood waters are just very unpredictable and littered with debris.

Forest Service To Relaunch BWCA Permit System March 4

Just like an overloaded canoe, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area reservation system was swamped with technical glitches causing it to crash when it first went live back on in January. Only a few people were able to reserve permits before the system failed.
Area outfitters warned U.S. Forest Service officials that the crush on the new first-come, first-served reservation system that replaced the lottery system for BWCA permits could overwhelm to its capacity. Permits for an area where motors are allowed are especially coveted.
Officials say the technical issues with the software have been addressed and additional testing has been completed. Permit registration will begin March 4th and may be reserved through September 30th. To make a reservation the new website is recreation.gov.

Want to see more about Outside Adventure to the Max. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram

2018 IN REVIEW: PICTURES OF THE YEAR

And so for a time, it looked as if all the adventures were coming to an end, but that was not to be.---C. S. Lewis

It's that time of year again when I look back on some of my best images of the last year. Like always, it's difficult to narrow it down to just a dozen. I have so many favorites,  involving an anecdote or recollection behind each image captured while at the river or lake. From those fast times on the Lower American River to the slow-motion days at Sly Park each photo has its own story. So Yes it's hard to pick just a handful of pictures that stand out above the others.

A bent rack

"Someone once said that wherever I am is the perfect picture," long-time famed sports photographer Walter Iooss Jr told WPB Magazine, "I didn’t like the way it sounded but I believe that. It’s not that I’m positive of it deep down inside, it’s that I have to believe it. When you make that decision – ‘This is the place to go’ – you’ve got to live with it. There’s no alternative.”

As a young photojournalist, I followed the career of Iooss, the undisputed maestro of sports photography, boasting an exceptional career that spans over four decades. His iconic photographs of Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, the memorable “catch” by Dwight Clark during the 1982 NFC Championship Game, and dazzling portraits of basketball superstar Michael Jordan have been showcased in Sports Illustrated where he has over 300 covers to his credit.

Eppies Great Race training

“Photography is not a job. It’s a way of life,” he told WPB Magazine,  “I live it, think it, and feel it. It’s just in my DNA. I’ve always felt the moment."

I feel the same way. I just love taking pictures of special ripples in time and telling stories. For most of my life, I worked as a photojournalist in both print and broadcast media in a daily grind of trying to provide storytelling images or video to the folks reading the paper or watching their local TV news. At the end of every year, I would usually gather up my best of the best pictures or TV clips and send them off to an array of contests and judgings.

50+ plus paddle with Current Adventures

I won a few awards but never lost. As Iooss has said, the real joy of photography is in the discovery and magic of the moments like shots of Current Adventures' John Weed providing protection while shadowing a young paddler through his first rapid, an anniversary kiss on the water and an Eppies racing smile.
There is one of a lone paddler in the smokey veil of a wildfire and another of my wife Debbie paddling past the remnants of a past fire. There is fun on a glow paddle with Bayside Adventure Sports but also the slog of a portage back up river.

The Lower American River

“Passion, curiosity, excellence, the drive to always want to do it well,” he said Iooss, “You have to reinvent yourself. You can’t stay in one spot.”
So as 2018 draws to a close, I look back at some of my favorite moments I had kayaking with this past year.

You can follow us on Facebook and on Instagram

Current Adventures Kid Classes

Current Adventures Kid Class

Eppies Great Race training

Lake Jenkinson

Stumpy Meadows

Lake Natoma

Duck photobomb

Glow Paddle with Bayside Adventure Sports

The Lower American River