HEADWATERS

 Rivers must have been the guides which conducted the footsteps of the first travelers. They are the constant lure, when they flow by our doors, to distant enterprise and adventure, and, by natural impulse. --- Henry David Thoreau,

Ask anyone why they started paddling and you will likely a hundred different answers. Some are like Thoreau are seeking that cosmic connection to nature and "all her recesses.'' While others like whitewater paddling coach Anna Levesque, say it's a way to face your fears and the perfect scenario to learn about yourself.
"That’s what I originally loved about kayaking," Levesque told Outside Magazine, "You have that exhilaration from being scared, but you have to act in spite of that fear. It’s a great way to cultivate courage, which is being afraid of something and doing it anyway.”

Parks closed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Kayaking is a sport that can have profound impacts on folks and can indeed be a life-changing experience. Current Adventures Kayaking School & Trips' Dan Crandall says most folks come into kayaking with some element of fear and intimidation.
"But with good instruction can easily overcome that," said Crandall, "And in so doing develop a strong sense of self-confidence that carries through all chapters of their lives. It's my opinion that those who choose to get into kayaking are often subconsciously looking for that self-understanding. And as their confidence builds, they become a better and happier version of themselves."

As a kayak instructor, Crandall has seen this rebirth over and over again in his paddling pupils. They discover the joy of paddling and the intoxication of the water, especially on bucket trips, like going down the Grand Canyon.
"An adventure like kayaking the Grand Canyon is the epitome of self-discovery and reflection," said Crandall who leads annual trips down the canyon, "Removing all semblance of a regular routine and choosing to place yourself in the heart of nature and adventure allows a person to truly come to a recognition of what is most important to oneself."

Face masks due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

From paddling the turbulent waters of the Colorado River thousands of feet below the Grand Canyon’s rim to just about any other river with a bit of current, Levesque says the key is accepting that you can’t control the river, but you can control your kayak.
"Kayaking becomes fun when you learn to navigate your kayak (the only thing you can control) in a dance with the water (what you can’t control, but can learn to navigate)," she wrote in blog, Mind Body Paddle, "Uncertain times and situations can be approached like navigating a river. You don’t always know what’s around the bend, but you can keep looking ahead knowing that you can control your own boat."

In many cases, misadventure always leads to the best adventure as people often surprise themselves by finding themselves.
"Return to routine often puts into full relief the distinction between what you really enjoy and who you envision yourself to be." said Crandall, "The social nature of a Canyon trip or most kayaking outings gives positive support and affirmation to those who allow themselves to open up and be themselves to others because everyone else is there for similar reasons."

South Fork of the American River

Rivers are no longer unknown waters, but still, as Thoreau said they are a constant lure to the desire for adventure, self-discovery, and changing one's destiny.
"Kayakers as a group," said Crandall, "Are amazingly real, appreciative, positive, and fulfilling the natural inclinations that "good people" bring to life when they escape routine and constraining elements in their life."

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

 

New Year's Day paddle with Bayside Adventure Sports on Lake Natoma

Lake Clementine

Lake Natoma

Carting in past Lake Natoma's locked gates

John Taylor on Lake Natoma with wheels & paddle

Lake Natoma

Sailor Bar & The Lower American River

Lake Natoma

Sailor Bar & The Lower American River

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 and now on Youtube.

ADVENTURE ON THE HORIZON: 2019

Rather than saying, good luck and good fortune to you this New Year, let me say work hard, laugh often, continue to learn, be kind, help others, pray for wisdom and then good fortune will see you this coming year. --  Robert Rivers

So what’s on your adventure horizon for 2019? As we stride into the new year, here are 5 trends we will see more of in the next year and beyond. Onward.
 
MORE BOATS IN MORE STORES

We don't have to tell you that over the past decade, that there has been an increased awareness in healthy lifestyles accompanied by a growing number of water sports enthusiasts across the US. According to the Outdoor Foundation's 2015 Special Report on Paddlesports, participation is on the rise, with almost 22 million Americans hitting the waterways in 2014—three million more than in 2010, the first year the study was completed.
"Paddlesports are gaining a lot of steam due in part to three factors: accessibility, affordability, and approachability," Joshua Silva, the Brand Marketing Manager at Jimmy Styks SUP Boards, told the website Very Well Fit.
Expect to see more inexpensive recreational kayaks and SUPs not just at the crowded boat launch but also in the big box stores like Costco and Sams Club along with other stores like Target, Walmart and TJ Maxx as the trend becomes more and more popular.

MORE PLACES TO ACCESS THE WATER

As the paddling community continues to grow to expect to see local municipality constructing long sought access areas to river and lakes. Paddling groups and community partners across the country are working to develop sites that will provide paddlers and boaters an improved put-in and take-out along popular stretches water.
"We've heard from the community that they would certainly like to see the river access improve at that historical boat launch, and I know that the folks that own dogs will appreciate an area," City of Eau Claire Forestry Director Todd Chwala, told WEAU-TV about a proposed project on the Chippewa River.

MORE SOLO TRIPS

“I wanted to follow a drop of water all the way from the Continental Divide (in Colorado) to the Gulf of Mexico,” Hannes Zacharias told the Kansas City Star about his 2,060-mile river trip from the Arkansas River’s headwaters near Leadville, Colo., to the Gulf of Mexico last summer.
It seems that those quiet me time paddling session are on almost every paddler's bucket list. Expect to see more tales of long journeys down river or around the circumference of a big lake alone. Who knows? Maybe they will inspire us to take even a trip of our own.

MORE WOMEN PADDLERS

Ladies were born to paddle. According to the Frontenac Outfitter's website, women represent about 45% of the kayaking enthusiast population and at that rate, their segment is growing, they will soon outnumber men. Kayak and SUP manufacturers, suppliers, and outfitters will continue to take note of this trend and eagerly adapt to meet their demands.
"I started paddling around and fell in love with it," wrote world-class kayaker Anna Levesque on her Mind Body Paddle website, "The challenge of having to balance combined with the body-alignment awareness and the great workout that it provides can’t be beat. Not to mention the fact that it allowed me to take my yoga practice to the water!"

Courtesy of Nick Troutman via Facebook

MORE HIGH TECH GEAR
Never before in paddling has there been so much high tech gadgetry. Pro paddlers now use everything from fitness trackers that can count paddling strokes to cameras to them keep their competitive edge. The kayakers use GoPro cameras while practicing tricks to get insight into their body mechanics after viewing it in slow-motion
“You can really figure out, ‘What am I doing?’” Pro-paddler Nick Troutman, told Digital Trends, “Either ‘What am I doing wrong’ or ‘What am I doing right? Why did this trick go bigger or better than the other trick?’ You can really slow it down and analyze exactly the difference between the moves.”

SHUTDOWN AND THE PARKS

The partial federal government shutdown, which began on Dec. 22 last month, has forced furloughs of hundreds of thousands of federal government employees and leaving many of our US National Parks without most of the rangers and others who staff campgrounds and otherwise keep parks running. Unlike shutdowns in some previous administrations, the Trump administration has left parks open to visitors despite the staff furloughs.

Courtesy of the Boulder Daily Camera News

At the Grand Canyon, the state of Arizona is paying for trash collection, custodial services for bathrooms and snow removal from sidewalks and trails. Stores and restaurants that aren’t run by the government are open. Campgrounds are open, but there is no reservation and check-in and check out process.
Meanwhile in California, at Yosemite National Park, trash collection, along with visitors’ centers and the park’s restrooms have been closed since the shutdown began. Joshua Tree has been operating with some staff, but beginning this past week, it's not allowing camping because of health concerns about near-capacity toilets. Earlier this week, Volunteers have been working to keep the beloved desert jewel as pristine as possible hauling out the trash and keeping toilets stocked with supplies hoping to keep the park accessible.

In Minnesota, officials at Voyageurs National Park issued a statement saying that "park roads ... may remain accessible to visitors, but will not be plowed.
Other affected parks in Minnesota include the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway, Grand Portage and Pipestone national monuments, and the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area.
Services at Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River and Ozark National Scenic Riverways in southeast Missouri have also been disrupted due to the shutdown.
“We’re deeply concerned about the approach the administration has taken,” told the New York Times, "John Garder, the senior budget director at the nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association. “Keeping the parks open is clearly causing threats to health and safety of visitors as well as wildlife and natural and cultural resources. We are worried about parks themselves, about park rangers who are demoralized, and the many businesses that depend on visitors.”

PADDLE DAY #141

Had a great time over the Christmas break paddling with my son Cole Carlson as I paddled to a new personal record of 141 paddling days in the calendar year. Onward to 2019.

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A SHINY NEW YEAR

          The best way to predict your future is to create it -- Abraham Lincoln

It has been raining in the lower elevations of Northern California and snowing higher up in the mountains this week. Good news for the state's water supply.  The Sierra Nevada snowpack is a frozen reservoir that provides roughly one-third of the state’s water has been given a much-needed boost after several major storms have dumped between up to four feet and ten feet of new snow over the mountains.

“Things are looking very positive,” Frank Gehrke, chief of snow surveys for the state, told the San Jose Mercury News after officials Department of Water Resources earlier this week took their first manual snow survey of the year near South Lake Tahoe.
“We’re showing a wet, cold pattern for the rest of this week into next. That’s a real good sign. In years past we have come up to do the survey and the forecast is for dry. But now we have a nice wet pattern setting in right now.”
So as California enters what could be its sixth year of drought, the statewide total was at 70 percent of normal and according to Gehrke, certain to increase in the coming days.

So forget the ball drop in Times Square, watching the snow fall and listening to the sound of rain is the only way to ring in the new year.  It's time make that New Year's resolution to kayak more because the rivers and lakes will be hopefully brimming with water. Plan an expedition or at least an overnight canoe trip. It's a new year and time to think big!

On New Year's Day, Freya Hoffmeister announced her next challenge, the never-before-attempted kayak circumnavigation of North America. The German adventurer will attempt the 30,000-mile journey over the next eight to ten years, paddling alone in stages of three to five months. The route travels of the famous Northwest Passage, a crossing of Hudson Bay and a trip through the Panama Canal. It will outline the coastline of 10 countries, including the United States, Canada, Mexico.

“Freya will paddle in two half loops, starting twice in Seattle and finishing twice in New York City,” explained in a press release posted on her Facebook page. “She’ll paddle northwards half of the year’s trip time and southwards the other half." Hoffmeister is one of the world's most prolific expedition paddlers. She circumnavigation Australia in 2009 and her circuited of South America, in six stages from 2011 to 2015. She also circled Iceland and New Zealand’s South Island, both in record time. Last year she paddled around Ireland, a 43-days, in yet another groundbreaking expedition.

 Okay, maybe not that big. But for some even small trips can be big.

Last year Florida paddler Mary Meyers, 83 and a half-dozen girlfriends, the average ages of 80, got together and kayaked four of her state's central rivers in four days. Based in a cabin they paddled some of Florida's prettiest waters.
"We inspire each other," Meyers told the Tampa Bay Times, "There's so much talent among this group. We find solace in the river."
She has some advice for the new year to anyone who hesitant about not getting outdoors for an adventure, "Get rid of your pills, get rid of your pillows, and get yourself a paddle!"

While you won't see one drop of water in the movie La La Land, it's hard after watching the film not to come away without some motivation and inspiration about following your dreams.  It's about aspiring actress Mia, and a jazz pianist Sebastian trying to make it big in show business. In one discouraged by a lack of not getting jobs, Mia unloads on Sebastian about her failing career. Sebastian pulls her back to reality by saying, "This is the dream. It's conflict and it compromises and it's very, very exciting."

So it's 2017, dream big, plan big. Take along the trip, or be in kayak or canoe race and just get out there.  The former member of the Canadian Freestyle Whitewater Kayak Team and Bronze medalist, Anna Levesque said, "You don't have to be a daredevil to enjoy the river."

And we agree. You just have to dare yourself to get out there and enjoy it.

RIVERS, ISLANDS, AND MOUNTAINS

 

                         
                                         I cannot rest from travel: I will drink 
                                      Life to the lees: All times I have enjoy’d
                                   Greatly, have suffer’d greatly, both with those
                                  That loved me, and alone, on shore, and when
                                        Thro’ scudding drifts the rainy Hyades
                                       Vext the dim sea: I am become a name;
                                       For always roaming with a hungry heart 
                                                 Alfred Lord Tennyson

On a clear day at access at Sailor bar, I can see the Sierra Nevada Mountains They're snow-capped,  looming and like John Muir said calling for us come. In between are the forks of the American River brimming with spring runoff, roaring down to the basin. Turning to the west, it's a water trail to the Pacific. Down the American River, pouring into the Sacramento River and the Delta before reaching  San Francisco Bay. In some places the water is slow and gentle, almost meandering lost without direction, while in other places it's quick and furious moving with such force that it has carved out the canyon that cradles it.  However, water isn't concerned about the past, it lives in the now. Leonardo Da Vinci said, "In rivers, the water that you touch is the last of what has passed and the first of that which comes; so with present time."

 "One of the reasons I love whitewater kayaking to much is that it forces you to focus on the moment," wrote a former member of the Canadian Freestyle Whitewater Kayak Team and Bronze medalist Anna Levesque in her recent Girls at Play newsletter. " If you don't pay attention in a rapid you could end up somewhere you don't want to be. People are addicted to whitewater kayaking because they felt that intense joy that comes with being really present, at the moment. You don't have to be a whitewater kayaker to experience this. Sea kayakers experience this and lake paddlers who can get really quiet and pay attention to the beauty around them are also able to experience the present moment"

Some good advice as we head into the summer paddling season. It's great to look back on our experiences on the water, but we should be reminded that our best days are just any days we are paddling. So seize each day and enjoy each moment in the mountains, lakes, rivers.

Here are a few of my favorite images from this year so far.

Lake Natoma

Lake Jenkinson

South Fork of the American River

Lake Tahoe

Lake Natoma

South Fork of the American River

Angel Island

Lake Tahoe

WATERFALL FALLOUT

CUMBERLAND FALLS

 When all the dangerous cliffs are fenced off, all the trees that might fall on people are cut down,all of the insects that bite are poisoned… and all of the grizzlies are dead because they are occasionally dangerous, the wilderness will not be made safe. Rather, the safety will have destroyed the wilderness.    R. Yorke Edwards

I listened to the reaction of the morning area television anchors watching the video that went viral last month of two professional kayakers plunging over 65-foot Cumberland Falls. As they broadcasted it to their viewers they used the words foolish, stupid and crazy to the describe the trip over the frigid falls in Kentucky. They ended the clip by telling their viewers that the two cited and fined a couple of hundred dollars for trespassing and that the two won't be attempting this stunt again anytime soon. Just the thought of going over any waterfall seemed inconceivable and little bit crazy to them. But, on social media, where we seem to look for amazing and wild exploits on a daily basis the video received more than a million views, and more than 22,000 shares.

"We did not expect it to get thousands of views or for people to be there watching," Nick Troutman, told WKYT-TV, "We were super intrigued by the falls. It was more just a personal goal we set. "
Brothers-in-laws and world champion freestyle kayakers, Dane Jackson and Troutman have years of experience on even rougher waters and have been down much bigger waterfalls. "We scouted the area and got our safety plan together," explained Troutman. Unfortunately, they missed that going over the falls was illegal.
"There are signs there saying no swimming, wading, or boating in that area," said Kentucky's State Parks Captain Dallas Luttrell to WKYT-TV, "It is extremely dangerous not only for those participating but also for the first responders who would have to go out there. For the main reason of safety, it is simply not allowed,."

The park ranger say those rules are in place for a reason and what is seen in the videos is strongly discouraged. "I would not encourage just anybody to go out and try it." agreed Troutman, "It does not work like that."

Extreme athlete and kayaker Tyler Bradt isn't just anybody. In 2010, his insane 189-foot free fall over Palouse Falls in Washington state shattered the world record for the tallest waterfall ever paddled. He told Men's Fitness how he survived his death-defying plunge. “When you hop in your boat at the top—that’s the scariest moment, up there on flat water getting ready to drop over a very big horizon." said Bradt, "Once you’re in the kayak and approaching the falls, keep one blade in the water to control the angle of your approach. When you’re paddling toward the lip of the waterfall, the key is to take a couple of strokes to get going just a little faster than the water around you before you drop.”

"You’re thinking, ‘Am I making the right decision? Is this a good idea? Bradt, continued, "The enormity of your situation is overwhelming, but it’s also the moment you need to react. That’s when I move into my tuck so I won’t land flat on my back or go upside down. When you land you want to be fully forward on the front of your deck with your paddle off to the side so it doesn’t come back and hit you.”
"It's a great adrenaline rush," blogged former member of the Canadian Freestyle Whitewater Kayak Team and Bronze medalist, Anna Levesque, she has paddled in some of the biggest water around the world and leads whitewater clinics in Central America. "The feeling of dropping off the edge can be thrilling and terrifying at the same time. Stay focused on your paddling not on your nerves."

The moment of glory comes when the kayaker sticks the landing. “The goal is to land with your boat vertical. You want to land feet down so that you’re penetrating the water surface with the least amount of impact." said Bradt, "My paddle snapped. It really dazed me. It’s an impact that I’ve never felt before—like a car crash."
Compare to that, Troutman's and Jackson's made their plunges look almost easy,  "I hit the line exactly how I had planned and couldn’t of been happier." Troutman later posted on Facebook.

 

After fulfilling their wild ride,  the two extreme athletes both agreed it's something they like to attempt again, only legally next time. "We did end up getting a fine from the park ranger, though he was good-mannered about the situation." posted Troutman,  "Hopefully we can apply for a permit or something because it truly is a really beautiful waterfall and we were honored to ride it." Dane Jackson agreed in his Facebook post, "Pretty stoked to have sent Cumberland Falls! Bummed that it ended in getting charged with trespassing, but it’s still an epic waterfall and one of my new favorites!”