KAYAK SUMMER 2016

        When autumn dulls the summer skies, And paler sunshine softly lies --V.O. 
        Wallingford 

As summer comes to an end, I always look back on those long warm days and even nights on the water. Each day. Each and every one them was a unique adventure and experience for me. Kayaking towards a horizon of mountains on the reservoirs and lakes of the western Sierra or reading the river's flow and picking a good line whether going up or downstream. So when people ask me, which I prefer, the smooth and calm of the lakes or the swift or gentle flow of the river?  My answer of course is...well, both. For me, it would be like picking a favorite child.

Lake Natoma with Current Adventures

Yes, the call to the lake is forever powerful. As American writer and conservationist Henry David Thoreau said, "Lakes are something which you are unprepared for; they lie up so high, exposed to the light, and the forest is diminished to a fine fringe on their edges...So anterior, so superior, to all the changes that are to take place on their shores, even now civil and refined, and fair as they can ever be.""

South Fork of the American River

But, who can resist the pull of the river?
"Rivers are magnets for the imagination," said author Time Palmer,  "For conscious pondering and subconscious dreams, thrills, fears. People stare into the moving water, captivated, as they are when gazing into a fire. What is it that draws and holds us? The rivers' reflections of our lives and experiences are endless."

Lake Jenkinson

This past summer I paddled out on both lakes and rivers as often as could with my wife Debbie, my son Taylor or the gang at Current Adventures Kayak School & Trips.  So either,  a lake or a river it was an adventure in fun and friendship that keep my memories of summer burning bright.  Here are a few of my favorite images from this summer kayaking.

Lake Tahoe with Bayside Adventure Sports

Lake Clementine

Moonlight paddle on Lake Natoma

Lake Natoma

North Fork of the American River

Eppies Great Race

Loon Lake

End of Summer at Lake Jenkinson

2016 VIDEO BLOG & PHOTOS OF EPPIES GREAT RACE TRAINING

So keep your chin up it helps you breathe. It helps you get more torso rotation and it helps you keep looking ahead. Looking ahead is what makes you faster and keeps you on better lines. So if you find your chin tuck in staring at the cockpit. Get it up! Keep reminding yourself that the whole race...Dan Crandall

It's the final leg of Sacramento's Great Race. Ironmen, women and teams will transfer from bicycles to kayaks and canoes at the Jim Jones Bridge and paddle the rest of the 6.35-mile stretch along the scenic American River Parkway to concluded Eppie’s Great Race this weekend. Known as “The World’s Oldest Triathlon” the race is one of the largest paddling event in the United States. Founded in 1974, the race features a 5.82-mile run, a 12.5-mile bike and paddle on the lower American River from the Sunrise Access to River Bend Park. Filled with all its ripples, eddies and one rapid requiring whitewater skills the paddling portion of the annual race is for most the exciting and challenging part of the race. While most participants come with running and biking skills many of them have never paddled the river.

For the past month, Current Adventures Kayak School and Trips have been conducting intensive kayak workouts for racers building up to weekend's race. The instructors helped the paddlers with fundamentals of paddling and river reading that will come in handy come race day.
Here is a look back of at some of the highlights on the water including at the flat water lessons on Lake Natoma, both half and full sessions on the river and of course views of that pesky San Juan  Rapids.

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

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2016 EPPIES GREAT RACE TRAINING

The water glistens in the late afternoon sun. Across the way, kids frolic in it ankle-deep, while father down fishermen dot the rocky shore of the stream and huddling below the bike bridge kayakers in PFDs and bike helmets lay out a rainbow of kayaks at the edge of the beach. Anticipation, elation and anxiety churn in each one like the river before them. Looking out over the quiet scene their thoughts of doubts and hesitation are instantaneously interrupted by the booming voice of Dan Crandall.
"Are you ready to paddle tonight? We gotta about a week left. I want to hear something out of you otherwise we're just going to give up...Go home. Watch TV.  Eat popcorn. Peppermint Patties.  Drink milkshakes. All that good stuff you want to do, that you can do the day after the race."

Crandall and his staff from Current Adventures Kayak School and Trips have been conducting intensive kayak workouts with racers for the past several weeks building up to Eppie’s Great Race next week. Known as “The World’s Oldest Triathlon” the race is one of the largest paddling event in the United States. Founded in 1974, the race features a 5.82-mile run, a 12.5-mile bike and a 6.35-mile paddle held along the scenic American River Parkway in Rancho Cordova and Sacramento. That 6.35 miles down the American River with all its ripples and one rapid requiring whitewater skills presents the most challenging and exciting part of the annual race. Participants are expected to transfer from bicycle to boat at the Jim Jones Bridge for the final leg of the race. While most of them come with running and biking skills many of them have never paddled the river.

"Kayaks steer from the back," Crandall tells the group in some beach instruction,  "You have to learn to speak this boat's language. It's a combination of edging correctly so the kayak knows what you're after and following your stroke through behind you, that matters."

Current Adventure's sessions have given instruction on paddling technique, river reading and turning troublesome San Juan Rapids into a speed bump. However, this year the rapid has offered many challenges for the new paddlers.

"Lean forward and smile, " said Crandall, " Show the river you are not afraid and keep a paddle in the water."

There are three ways to pass through San Juan Rapids.  Being off to the right provides the best waves, in the middle for a fun drop and extended bubble wave or stay to the far left and avoid the rapid only to feel it's powerful eddy effect. Underneath the rapid, the river flows back together smashing into the cliff creating a circular boil, before slowing down to gentle speed.  The practicing racers are encouraged to run the rapid a couple of times to familiarize themselves with its nature.

Some paddlers have used these sessions to update their skills and get in a practice run for the event, while others are kayaking for the first time. The instructors help each paddler with paddling fundamentals that will be handy come race day.

"You gotta stay in the current all the way till the outside of that corner." Crandall, calls out as the kayakers raft up together,  So just think about that tonight. Start being very aware of the lines on the river. Use landmarks look ahead. Every time you come around a corner, set a new course to the next corner, don't just be staring at the bow or the deck of your boat. Looking ahead is what makes you faster and keeps you in better lines."

At the end, of course, tired paddlers pull their kayaks across the finish lines with an understanding of the river and what is hand for this next weekend's great race.

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

2015 IN REVIEW: PICTURES OF THE YEAR

 

 To the attentive eye, each moment of the year has its own beauty, and in the same field, it beholds, every hour, a picture which was never seen before, and which shall never be seen again.”  Ralph Waldo Emerson

"I can still see so many of the lakes, whose shores and hills are forever changed after the storm," said paddling guru Sigurd Olson, as he recalled the cast of lakes his canoe had taken him to in the Boundary Waters. He painted a watercolor of with his mind of each dip of the paddle, portage, and campfire, "It seems like yesterday… the early-morning bear on Brant Lake, that long portage from Hanson Lake to the South Arm of the Knife, that perfect campsite on Jasper Lake."

I have those very same feelings when it comes to my trips to the lakes, rivers, and ocean. The excitement and rush of the South Fork to the stillness of Loon Lake. Gearing up to race the American, and slowing down at Lake Clementine. The unknown of Tomales Bay, to the familiarity and comfort of my own neighborhood lake. Each and every day I recall with my own passion of the paddle.
Ojibwe Anishinaabe painter and paddler Mike Ormsby said, "When we come to add emotion to our paddling, we create a vision." Those places are now almost scared to me, calling me to return once more.

Rollins Lake

 My kayaking flows in abundance in my dreams and memories. Recollecting on the times alone, but mostly on the time spent paddling with others. In an interview with kayaker Byrant Burkhardt, he said, "When I paddle with others I get to enjoy the experience in ways I can’t alone. I love showing people familiar places to me that are new to them – it’s a chance to relive the wonder I felt my first time." I have enjoyed that fellowship this past year. I have had the good fortune of kayaking with Erik Allen and members of Bayside Adventure Sports, The Sacramento Paddle Pushers and Dan Crandall and the gang at Current Adventures Kayaking School and Trips and mostly my wife Debbie who is always up for an adventure. We all share the same passion of being outside on the water.

So as 2015 draws to a close I look back at some of my favorite places and people of the past year.  And in the new year, I look forward to even more adventures on the water, trail, and snow. Wishing all of you the same.  Happy Holidays Everyone!

Lake Clementine & Bayside Adventure Sports

Lake Natoma

Lake Natoma

Lake Natoma

Lower American River

Current Adventures

Lake Natoma

Lake Natoma

Lower American River

Loon Lake

Eppies Training

Loon Lake

Tomales Bay

KAYAK SUMMER 2015

As summer comes to an end, I look back. I long for the those lost days on the water with a paddle in my hand. Each day was an exceptional gift of either a journey into the past or a voyage into the future. With each dip of the paddle my senses awakened. The smell of the lake, the roar of the river and the spray of the ocean. Here are a few of my favorite images from this summer kayaking.

Lake Clementine

Eppies Training

American River and the Fair Oaks Bridge

Eppies Pre-Race

San Juan Rapids

North Fork of the American River

Loon lake

Lake Natoma

Tomales Bay

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

Eppies Paddle Training

 

Eppie’s Great Race known as “The World’s Oldest Triathlon” is the one of the largest paddling event in the United States. Founded in 1974, the race features a 5.82-mile run, a 12.5-mile bike and a 6.35-mile paddle held along the scenic American River Parkway in Rancho Cordova and Sacramento.
That 6.35 miles down the American River with all its ripples and one rapid requiring whitewater skills presents the most challenging and exciting component of the annual race. Participants are expected to transfer from bicycle to boat at the Jim Jones Bridge for the final leg of the race. While most of them come with running and biking skills many of them have never paddled the river.

"When you go through bridge bays," instructs Dan Crandall of Current Adventures,  "You'll want to drop over into that deep faster current along on that right shore."

Current Adventures Kayak School and Trips has conducted intensive kayak workouts with racers for the past several weeks building up to this weekend's race. The sessions have provided instruction on paddling technique and have turned troublesome San Juan Rapids into a speed bump for the participants.

"Are you ready to paddle tonight?" yells out Crandall from his kayak like a general addressing his troops in formation, as he paddles back and forth in front of a line of kayakers. 
 "We gotta about a week left. I want hear something out of you otherwise were just going to give up...Go home. Watch TV.  Eat popcorn. Peppermint Patties.  Drink milkshakes. All that good stuff you want to do, that you can do the day after the race."

Some paddlers have use these sessions to update their skills and get down a practice run for the event, while others are kayaking for the first time. The Current Adventure instructors in stride help each paddler with paddling fundamentals, boat handling abilities, and reading the river for the day of the race.

"Start being very aware on the lines on the river." said Crandall  "Use landmarks look ahead. Every time you come around a corner, set a new course to the next corner, don't just be staring at the bow or the deck of your boat. You'll get lost. People will pass you. You'll end up in eddys going the wrong direction. The trolls will find you! So keep your chin up.  It helps you breath. It helps you get more torso rotation and helps you keep looking ahead.  Looking ahead is what makes you faster and keeps you on better lines."

At the end of course at Riverbend Park tired paddlers pull their kayaks across the finish lines with an understanding of the river and what is hand for this weekend's great race.

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