SWIMMING LESSONS

 

Bogart: How'd you like it?
Hepburn: Like it?
Bogart: Whitewater rapids!
Hepburn: I never dreamed. . .
Bogart: I don't blame you for being scared -- not one bit. Nobody with good sense ain't scare of whitewater.
Hepburn: I never dreamed that any mere physical experience could be so stimulating.
-The African Queen 

Erik Allen looked at me sternly. Things needed to happen fast and now. I was soaking wet standing in swirling ankle-deep freezing water after being tossed about in the rapids of the North Fork of the American like a bobbing float toy. I had gathered enough strength to swim to the rocky shore and found some footing. The boat I had used was somewhere downstream, consequentially leaving me marooned on the wrong side of the river.  It was Groundhog's Day.

"You're going to have to swim across to the other side of the river," Erik said over the sound of the rushing water. "There is no trail here. We're on the wrong side dude!"

Moments before,  I had suffered a  classic boater's beat down nightmare. Upstream, I had rolled and was forced to swim. I could still see the emerald wave moving in slow motion. It was curling, big and looked ten-feet tall. I was hypnotized by its size and power. I lost focus and froze, committing the cardinal sin of white-water kayaking.  I had stopped paddling just hoping to ride it out.

"Fearful or tentative paddling is often a self-fulfilling prophecy, " said Team Pyranha's Pete Delosa, "When we are afraid of what might happen when focus on that thing and thereby cause it to happen. It's better to paddle aggressively and stay focused on the desired outcome. This is, of course, easier said than done a lot of the time. But, when you're tense the boat isn't able to rock with the water under you. You and your boat can't move independent of each other and that's when you get knocked over."

There is a saying on the river that every paddler, even the good ones are in between swims. According to the Whitewater Rescue Institutes's Mike Johnston, "When you fall in whitewater, it's common to be held underwater for a few seconds. Time seems to slow down. It's sort of like the dog years ratio, one actual second of submersion seems like about seven seconds. When you need to breathe and can't, three seconds can seem like twenty. This isn't a long time at your desk but can feel like forever at the bottom of a rapid. Don't panic."

When I rolled and broke away from my kayak,  I was on my back with my feet downstream.  I had one hand locked to my paddle and the other latched to the floundering boat as I bobbed along in the Class III torrent. The turbulent and aerated waves frothed and bounded dishing out its fury on my body and boat. Keeping my feet pointed downstream, I  used my body to angle through the current maneuvering right or left, with the boat in front of me.  I kept my body long and streamlined to maneuver smoothly and efficiently. The goal now was not to get hurt.

"The world goes dark, " writer and adventurer Joe Kane said in his book Running the Amazon, a firsthand account of the only expedition ever to travel the entire 4,200-mile Amazon River from its source in Peru to the Atlantic Ocean, as he describes his swim through the abyss of churning rapids. "The river— the word hardly does justice to the churning mess enveloping you— the river tumbles you like so much laundry. It punches the air from your lungs. You're helpless. Swimming is a joke. You know for a fact that you are drowning. For the first time, you understand the strength of the insouciant monster that has swallowed you. Maybe you travel a hundred feet before you surface (the current is moving that fast). And another hundred feet—just short of a truly fearsome plunge, one that will surely kill you— before you see the rescue lines. You're hauled to shore wearing a sheepish grin and a look in your eye that is equal parts confusion, respect, and raw fear."

Erik was quick to my rescue after I had bounced like a floating beach ball through the big waves. "Let go of the boat and grab on," he yelled out. In a moment of hesitation, I clung to my boat even tighter rolling into the fury of the rapid. People forget to emphasize that on single boat trips, the backup plan is always self-rescue. It's a good risk management to apply the buddy system to every river trip.

Erik Allen has what they call the water gene. A former Navy medic,  he has taken up adventure guiding as his true passion. He is at home on the water as he is on land. He often leads groups snowshoeing, camping and hiking as well as kayaking. He is used to taking care of others while out in the wild.
"Let go of the boat and grab on," he yelled again. I released my boat and watched it from the corners of my eyes drift away from me. "Give me your paddle!" I reached my paddle out from the waves. Erik snatched it from my hand. Then I swam with all my might to reach the back of his playboat. Stroke one, stroke two, and one more. The freezing water was leaving me breathless as his boat rushed ahead just out of reach. Another lunge forward and finally  I caught his stern handle as the waves punched at me again and again. As I caught breaths of air between the trough of waves,  I hung on tight to his boat as we were poured into a huge rapid.

Everyone should know about the potential for entrapment in moving water. I tried minimizing the risk of foot entrapment in moving water by keeping my feet up while hanging on the back of Eric's boat. My feet could act like hooks possibly to get caught between cracks in rocks or any type of nook or cranny on the bottom of the river. However in this improvised swimming position with my hands forward clutching Eric's kayak, I banged my knee and shins against the rocks. You would think after soaking for thousands of years they would be a little softer, but as we all know, rocks are very hard.

"Now swim, swim!' Erik shouted. I had turned from being a defensive swimmer to an aggressive one. Aggressive swimming is used to get from point A to point B as fast as possible. I let his boat go and with the American crawl kicked it into high gear,  setting a ferry angle to cross fast-moving current. Ferrying swimmers use the same techniques used when boating. Keep your head up so you can see where you are going, set a ferry angle and swim hard. Faster water uses a smaller angle and very slow water I could simply swim directly across at a 90 ° angle. As a former high school swimmer, I knew how to push my arms forward. Before long the I found some shallow rushing water.
After that long swim,  I was very tempted to stand up when I got close to the rocky and rough shore. The water was still moving very quickly and was deeper than my knees. Standing up to early I knew I could possibly get knocked down.  I took my time to stand when I found some decent footing. The only problem was it was on the wrong side of the river.

"You do not know how long you are in a river when the current moves swiftly. It seems a long time and it may be very short." Ernest Hemingway wrote in A Farewell to Arms. Joe Kane seems to follow it when he wrote, "That is River Lesson Number One. Everyone suffers it. And every time you get the least bit cocky, every time you think you have finally figured out what the river is all about, you suffer it all over again.”
I pretty much lost everything but my paddle. For boaters on the South Fork of the American River, Current Adventures Kayak School and Trips' Dan Crandall, offers these tips, "Any gear lost to the river will more likely end up in the reservoirs below, but in much worse condition than when it left you. All gear such as throw ropes and dry bags should be tied in and your name and phone number on each piece of your gear are always sound pieces of advice and will help tremendously in your gear's return." Mine gear, however, was lost for good.

"Catch your breath,"  Erik said, I sensed the stress in his voice, "We will go when you're ready." He said while peering downstream searching the shoreline for the missing boat. With every moment it was getting further and further downstream.

No man with any sense is going to willingly jump back into a freezing river again.
"Are you ready?" he asked.
Dripping, shaking and aching in pain, All I could say was "Let's go."
 I dove into the river clinging tightly to the playboats back handle. I didn't have time for fear and shook off the cold of the water. My goal was to push through or in my case be dragged over to the other side. Into another wave. It seemed to crash around us. I took gulps of air between plunges underwater. Losing track of time and feeling as the water and rocks beat down on my body.  Erik delivered me half-way and I had to swim the rest.

A lonely woman hiker watched the whole thing from the trail. As I climbed out of the river and limp up the side of the shore. She greeted me looking stunned.
"Should I call 911?" she asked.
 Still, out-breath and I shook my head no.
"Are you alright?"
I nodded and said breathlessly, "It's just another day on the North Fork of the American River."
"I almost died whitewater kayaking six years ago," she said with sympathy.
I laughed and said to her "It almost killed me today."
Then took off down the trail in search of Erik.

This article was originally published in Outside Adventure to the Max on February 19, 2017. 

 

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OVER THE BOW: FOLSOM LAKE

Rainbows reminds us that even after the darkest clouds and the fiercest winds there is still beauty. --- Katrina Mayer

"It might not have been the longest trip I have ever taken on Folsom Lake, but it was one of my most memorable ones," I wrote in my kayaking journal in March of 2014.
Enduring hardship and bad weather, or other forms of suffering—actually creates good experiences, says paddler and writer Tim Shuff. He called it a mechanism by which some of the most powerful moments of our lives are seared into memory.
"You go out expecting to find ecstasy and are instead surprised to find discomfort, and then endure discomfort to be surprised all over again by ecstasy," he wrote in Paddling Magazine, "Life is a roller coaster and I’m always amazed by my need to learn its lessons over and over again."

Storm clouds gathered as we took to Northern California's Folsom Lake that is part of the

Folsom Lake State Recreation Area. The reservoir and Folsom Dam is a watery expanse that extends about 15 miles up the North Fork of the American River and about 10 1/2 miles up the South Fork of the American River. It is located 25 miles east of Sacramento, California.
My paddling partner Erik Allen said we would be paddling in a little rain. While Erik is a gifted paddler, he missed it in regards to his weather-predicting abilities. It poured on us.

Blustery winds and driving rain came across the lake, giving us a feeling of kayaking on the high seas. Our boats bounced on the high waves in the teeth of the afternoon gale. The waves took us up and down soaking us to the skin with each splash in the lake.

But then after a toboggan ride in churning waves, the nasty storm subsided with the sun breaking through the stormy clouds and yielding a brilliant rainbow over the lake.

So I will remember if Erik says there will be rain to also plan on a rainbow.

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

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SWIMMING LESSONS

Bogart: How'd you like it?
Hepburn: Like it?
Bogart: Whitewater rapids!
Hepburn: I never dreamed. . .
Bogart: I don't blame you for being scared -- not one bit. Nobody with good sense ain't scare of whitewater.
Hepburn: I never dreamed that any mere physical experience could be so stimulating.
-The African Queen 

Erik Allen looked at me sternly. Things needed to happen fast and now. I was soaking wet standing in swirling ankle-deep freezing water after being tossed about in the rapids of the North Fork of the American like a bobbing float toy. I had gathered enough strength to swim to the rocky shore and found some footing. The boat I had used was somewhere downstream, consequentially leaving me marooned on the wrong side of the river.  It was Groundhog's Day.

"You're going to have to swim across to the other side of the river," Erik said over the sound of the rushing water. "There is no trail here. We're on the wrong side dude!"

Moments before, I had suffered a classic boater's beat-down nightmare. Upstream, I had rolled and was forced to swim. I could still see the emerald wave moving in slow motion. It was curling, big, and looked ten feet tall. I was hypnotized by its size and power. I lost focus and froze, committing the cardinal sin of white-water kayaking.  I had stopped paddling just hoping to ride it out.

"Fearful or tentative paddling is often a self-fulfilling prophecy, " said Team Pyranha's Pete Delosa, "When we are afraid of what might happen when focus on that thing and thereby cause it to happen. It's better to paddle aggressively and stay focused on the desired outcome. This is, of course, easier said than done a lot of the time. But, when you're tense the boat isn't able to rock with the water under you. You and your boat can't move independent of each other and that's when you get knocked over."

There is a saying on the river that every paddler, even the good ones are in between swims. According to the Whitewater Rescue Institutes's Mike Johnston, "When you fall in whitewater, it's common to be held underwater for a few seconds. Time seems to slow down. It's sort of like the dog years ratio, one actual second of submersion seems like about seven seconds. When you need to breathe and can't, three seconds can seem like twenty. This isn't a long time at your desk but can feel like forever at the bottom of a rapid. Don't panic."

When I rolled and broke away from my kayak, I was on my back with my feet downstream.  I had one hand locked to my paddle and the other latched to the floundering boat as I bobbed along in the Class III torrent. The turbulent and aerated waves frothed and bounded dishing out their fury on my body and boat. Keeping my feet pointed downstream, I used my body to angle through the current maneuvering right or left, with the boat in front of me.  I kept my body long and streamlined to maneuver smoothly and efficiently. The goal now was not to get hurt.

"The world goes dark, " writer and adventurer Joe Kane said in his book Running the Amazon, a firsthand account of the only expedition ever to travel the entire 4,200-mile Amazon River from its source in Peru to the Atlantic Ocean, as he describes his swim through the abyss of churning rapids. "The river— the word hardly does justice to the churning mess enveloping you— the river tumbles you like so much laundry. It punches the air from your lungs. You're helpless. Swimming is a joke. You know for a fact that you are drowning. For the first time, you understand the strength of the insouciant monster that has swallowed you. Maybe you travel a hundred feet before you surface (the current is moving that fast). And another hundred feet—just short of a truly fearsome plunge, one that will surely kill you— before you see the rescue lines. You're hauled to shore wearing a sheepish grin and a look in your eye that is equal parts confusion, respect, and raw fear."

Erik was quick to my rescue after I had bounced like a floating beach ball through the big waves. "Let go of the boat and grab on," he yelled out. In a moment of hesitation, I clung to my boat even tighter rolling into the fury of the rapid. People forget to emphasize that on single boat trips, the backup plan is always self-rescue. It's good risk management to apply the buddy system to every river trip.

Erik Allen has what they call the water gene. A former Navy medic, he has taken up adventure guiding as his true passion. He is at home on the water as he is on land. He often leads groups snowshoeing, camping, and hiking as well as kayaking. He is used to taking care of others while out in the wild.
"Let go of the boat and grab on," he yelled again. I released my boat and watched it from the corners of my eyes drift away from me. "Give me your paddle!" I reached my paddle out from the waves. Erik snatched it from my hand. Then I swam with all my might to reach the back of his playboat. Stroke one, stroke two, and one more. The freezing water was leaving me breathless as his boat rushed ahead just out of reach. Another lunge forward and finally I caught his stern handle as the waves punched at me again and again. As I caught breaths of air between the trough of waves, I hung on tight to his boat as we were poured into a huge rapid.

Everyone should know about the potential for entrapment in moving water. I tried minimizing the risk of foot entrapment in moving water by keeping my feet up while hanging on the back of Eric's boat. My feet could act like hooks possibly to get caught between cracks in rocks or any type of nook or cranny on the bottom of the river. However, in this improvised swimming position with my hands forward clutching Eric's kayak, I banged my knee and shins against the rocks. You would think after soaking for thousands of years they would be a little softer, but as we all know, rocks are very hard.

"Now swim, swim!' Erik shouted. I had turned from being a defensive swimmer to an aggressive one. Aggressive swimming is used to get from point A to point B as fast as possible. I let his boat go and with the American crawl kicked it into high gear, setting a ferry angle to cross fast-moving current. Ferrying swimmers use the same techniques used when boating. Keep your head up so you can see where you are going, set a ferry angle and swim hard. Faster water uses a smaller angle and very slow water I could simply swim directly across at a 90 ° angle. As a former high school swimmer, I knew how to push my arms forward. Before long I found some shallow rushing water.
After that long swim, I was very tempted to stand up when I got close to the rocky and rough shore. The water was still moving very quickly and was deeper than my knees. Standing up to early I knew I could possibly get knocked down.  I took my time to stand when I found some decent footing. The only problem was it was on the wrong side of the river.

"You do not know how long you are in a river when the current moves swiftly. It seems a long time and it may be very short." Ernest Hemingway wrote in A Farewell to Arms. Joe Kane seems to follow it when he wrote, "That is River Lesson Number One. Everyone suffers it. And every time you get the least bit cocky, every time you think you have finally figured out what the river is all about, you suffer it all over again.”
I pretty much lost everything but my paddle. For boaters on the South Fork of the American River, Current Adventures Kayak School and Trips' Dan Crandall, offers these tips, "Any gear lost to the river will more likely end up in the reservoirs below, but in much worse condition than when it left you. All gear such as throw ropes and dry bags should be tied in and your name and phone number on each piece of your gear are always sound pieces of advice and will help tremendously in your gear's return." Mine gear, however, was lost for good.

"Catch your breath," Erik said, I sensed the stress in his voice, "We will go when you're ready." He said while peering downstream searching the shoreline for the missing boat. With every moment it was getting further and further downstream.

No man with any sense is going to willingly jump back into a freezing river again.
"Are you ready?" he asked.
Dripping, shaking and aching in pain, All I could say was "Let's go."
 I dove into the river clinging tightly to the playboats back handle. I didn't have time for fear and shook off the cold of the water. My goal was to push through or in my case be dragged over to the other side. Into another wave. It seemed to crash around us. I took gulps of air between plunges underwater. Losing track of time and feeling as the water and rocks beat down on my body.  Erik delivered me halfway and I had to swim the rest.

A lonely woman hiker watched the whole thing from the trail. As I climbed out of the river and limp up the side of the shore. She greeted me looking stunned.
"Should I call 911?" she asked.
 Still, out-breath, and I shook my head no.
"Are you alright?"
I nodded and said breathlessly, "It's just another day on the North Fork of the American River."
"I almost died whitewater kayaking six years ago," she said with sympathy.
I laughed and said to her "It almost killed me today."
Then took off down the trail in search of Erik.

This article was originally published in Outside Adventure to the Max on February 19, 2017. 

 

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

2017 IN REVIEW: PICTURES OF THE YEAR

Sometimes I arrive just when God’s ready to have someone click the shutter. --Ansel Adams

As a photojournalist in both print and broadcast media throughout my news career, I spent most of my most life getting pictures. My news photographer experiences included covering major floods and fires, national, state and local politics, school shootings, and extreme weather conditions, such as tornadoes, blizzards, and droughts. My goal each and every day was to provide storytelling images or video to the folks reading or watching.

Paddling with Current Adventures 50+ class

Most of my career was spent pre-Internet, Facebook, Instagram and pre-computer. Believe it or not, there was a time I had to wait until the next day to see my published picture in the papers. No likes or favorites back then. It was just nice if someone glanced at the shot long enough to read the byline. Of course, if they hated it they would call the editor and complain threatening to cancel their subscription. Major dislike there.

Bayside Adventure Sports at San Juan Rapids

Like most young photojournalists, I followed the careers of globe-trotting and photographers and dreamt of working for Sports Illustrated or National Geographic. Traveling the world and taking pictures of my passion along the way, if only, right?

"It’s hard to remember where I am when I wake up some mornings," photographer Peter Holcombe said in a 2017 interview with Canoe & Kayak Magazine. Living with a camera in hand, Holcombe and family of three sold their Colorado home in 2014 and moved their family and business into a Winnebago RV, and hit the road with a trailer of kayaks and SUP board, exploring wild and beautiful places. Since then, they have traveled over 150,000 miles through 49 states, exploring most of the National Parks and chasing whitewater.

The Lower American River

"We have paddled in places we could have only dreamed about before," Holcombe told Canoe & Kayak, "Not only visit amazing places but get to “live” there and really experience what they have to offer. I often paddle or create images during the day and do the imaging work at night. This often means I work till midnight or later so I can get on another river the next morning. This pace is tiring, but I love it."

I can picture myself in the same way. Exploring wild and natural places is my passion. There is not a day I don't think about kayaking. Every time I cross any river bridge and look down I wish I was there. Every time I see a lake I want to put a boat on the water. Every day paddling brings a re-charge to my mind, soul and body.

High water in 2017

So as 2017 draws to a close, I look back at some of my favorite places and people I had the good fortune of kayaking with this past year. I'll be looking forward to even more in paddling days to come in the next year.

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Current Adventures Kids Classes on Lake Natoma

Current Adventures Kids Classes

Moonlight Paddle on Lake Natoma

Lake Tahoe

An evening with Bayside Adventure Sports

Hiking at Sly Park

Rolling with Eric Allen on Folsom Lake 

Lake Natoma

2016 IN REVIEW: PICTURES OF THE YEAR

San Francisco Bay with Bayside Adventure Sports

In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit. -- Albert Schweitzer

I have to admit when it comes to kayaking, I could be classified more as a fanatic than just plain enthusiast. I think about paddling all the time day and night. I dream about my next trip on the river and visualize my last trip to the lake. I consider a day that I don't get out on to the water as almost a day lost.

Professional paddler and filmmaker Rush Sturges wrote on Facebook, "I go to sleep thinking about this river and I wake up excited to paddle it.  People ask me if I ever get bored?  And I never do at these levels. This is the first section of the Little White we call "Gettin Busy" at 4 feet today. It's fast, technical, and steep. But when you're in control of the flow, there's nothing better."

On Lake Tahoe with Cole Carlson

Lake Natoma with Taylor Carlson

I can picture myself in the same way. Anytime I cross any river bridge I look down wishing I was there.  Like Sturges pointed out, there is nothing better than being on the water. So as 2016 draws to a close,  I look back at some of my favorite places and people I had the good fortune of kayaking with this past year. My two sons who both came out to California for a visit this past summer. It was thrilling to take Cole on his first trip down the South Fork of the American River and both got to on an overnight trip to Lake Tahoe. Father and son camp-outs are always special no matter how old they are.

Any day on the water on with Dan Crandall, Kim Sprague, John Weed and the rest the gang at Current Adventures Kayaking School and Trips and The River Store, is always a great day. If it was just a job to them they would have quit it a longtime ago. But, it is their passion for kayaking that flows through them like an untamed river. They are deep in experience and share their thirst of paddling with first-timers and veterans with assurance, confidence and conviction. After paddling with them, you only have one question. When can we go again?

The Lower American River with Current Adventures.

And only to go again and again with Erik Allen, Brian Hughes and members of Bayside Adventure Sports. God created the Earth to RIDE IT. CLIMB IT. CATCH IT. EXPLORE IT. PROTECT IT. I'm hoping for some more trips like the one to Angel Island along with many day trips to some area lakes and rivers.

But mostly I couldn't do any of kayaking without the support and encouragement from my wife Debbie. Always up for an adventure, she shares my same passion of being outside whether on the water, snow or trail.

Lake Jenkinson with Debbie Carlson

In Chasing Niagara,  a film directed by Sturges and produced by Red Bull that focused on Rafa Ortiz’s journey of being the first person ever to go over Niagara Falls in a kayak, Oritz offers this lesson. “I don’t really believe in regretting things, you know?” said Rafa Ortiz. “I believe in that anything that has happened in my life is for a reason and you know there is definitely things that have happened in my life that I would, you know, if I could I would think that I want to change but I think that anything that happens is for a reason and it just makes me who I am.”

Like Oritz, these experiences made me who I am. So as the year comes to a close, I look forward even more adventures on the water, in the years to come and wish you all the same.

The Lower American River with Bayside Adventure Sports

Eppies training on Lake Natoma

Eppies training

Kids Class with Current Adventures

Eppies Race Day

Barking Dog Rapid

The Rainbow Bridge

Lake Valley Reservoir

Loon Lake

Loon Lake with Current Adveentures

The Shoe Tree on the Lower American River

Sunset on Lake Natoma

RETURN TO ANGEL ISLAND

 
The struggle for spirit has replaced the physical, and in his evolution psychologically man’s greatest minds have become aware of the emptiness of material striving. The struggle has become a positive drive toward perfection, all in keeping with his final hope: realization of the kingdom of God within him. – Sigurd Olsen

The day started much like all my other trips. An early morning two-vehicle caravan from Sacramento, along Interstate-80, to Highway 101 and then unloading our kayaks in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge at Horseshoe Bay. Hazy skies and calm seas greeted us along dozens of Marin County Firefighters taking part in a training exercise at the Coast Guard station there. It was a  reminder that some of the wildest sea conditions on the entire West Coast can be found just past that sea wall. The bay is known for steep waves, fast and swirling currents and howling winds blowing through that Golden Gate. On the eastern horizon emerged Angel Island.

In August 1775, across the continent, the American revolution was just beginning. George Washington had just taken command of the Continental Army.  In England, legendary sea Captain Cook had just completed his second voyage around the world and looking out from where we currently were,   Lt. Juan Manuel de Ayala had brought his ship, the San Carlos, into San Francisco Bay for the first time.  Every other sea captain like Francis Drake had sailed on past the fog encased bay entrance by the time Ayala stumbled upon the now world-famous bay.
His purpose for the trip along the California coast was to give a detailed account of the area that future Spanish ship captains. Ayala’s pilot, Don Jose’ de Canizares, explored and mapped the bay, while Ayala stayed aboard the San Carlos anchored in a little cove island that now bares his name.  Following a custom then common among Catholic explorers of naming sites for the religious feast days nearest to the time of discovery, he christened Isla de Los Angeles, (Spanish for Island of the Angels).

"This is certainly a fine harbour," Ayala reported "It presents on sight a beautiful fitness, and it has no lack of good drinking water and plenty of firewood and ballast. Its climate, though cold, is altogether healthful and it is free from such troublesome daily fogs as there are at Monterey since these scarcely come to its mouth and inside there are very clear days"
Ayala and his crew stayed for 45 days along the island exploring, mapping and trading with Indians, only to sail out the bay and NEVER return.

It would be his loss. I mean who hasn't left their heart in San Francisco. Angel Island now part of the California State Parks system is just one of the many gems the Bay Area. This is my second kayaking-camping trip to Angel Island with members of Bayside Adventure Sports, an active Sacramento based outdoors church group. Transformation through recreation in God's creation is the guiding ideal for participants. The group organizes weekly biking, hiking, skiing, and kayaking outings, along with camping and ski trips throughout the year.

"Starting a good tradition," said Brian Hughes, one of the paddlers on the trip,  "Each year is different because of different weather conditions and exploring different parts of the island and the Bay. It's a challenging experience with awesome buddies. It has made me appreciate God's creation and the value of friends."

We caught the "Flood" tide for a free tide directly to the island. Our hearts seemed to pound a little harder as we exited Horseshoe Bay and feel the surge of the ocean. My longtime paddling partner Erik Allen and I traded off taking the lead across the 3-mile stretch as Angel Island loomed ahead of us, getting larger with each stroke.

Last year, Hughes paddled a sit on top kayak and towed a paddle board. This year he has a sleek sky blue touring kayak he is paddling for the second time since he bought it. Ron Bischel missed last year's trip us and is kayaking the bay for the first time. It's an easy paddle till we catch the swell of the rapid waters of Raccoon Straights. It pushes us past Stuart Point and towards the shore of the island. Up the hill through the trees is our campsite.

In an article titled Catching the Late Show in this year's spring issue of Adventure Kayak, writer Charlotte Jacklein says it's a fundamental fact that one of the greatest things you can do with your kayak is to go back-country camping. She wrote, "Day trips are certainly fun and beneficial, but camping out of your kayak exponentially magnifies all the joys of paddling and spending time in nature with friends."

Angel Island is within view of 4.8 million people around the Bay Area and has countless visitors on daily basis hiking Mount Livermore and touring the historic features of the island. But, when the last ferry left and the sunset, the island was pretty much its own world. It became an extraordinary backcountry adventure, offering the solace of any wilderness camp except it had stunning views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the twinkling lights of San Francisco. That night tired after paddling in the wind around the island we reflected and philosophized about the day's paddle, life and God in tranquility.

 "Fellowship and strenuous fun, " said Hughes, "It is a major part of my social and faith connection.  Without it, I wouldn't have much going on that gets me revved up. We had one less person this year, but was still good"

Paddling guru Sigurd Olson knew about paddling and camping together and how it can lead to deeper understanding of our relationships with each other, nature and ourselves when he wrote "There have been countless campfires, each one different, but some so blended into their backgrounds that it is hard for them to emerge. But I have found that when I catch even a glimmer of their almost forgotten light in the eyes of some friend who has shared them with me, they begin to flame once more. Those old fires have strange and wonderful powers. Even their memories make life the adventure it was meant to be."

We hiked to the top of the 788-foot Mount Livermore the island tallest point on the island the next day before paddling back to Horseshoe Bay. It was a few days away on land and sea that recharged our lives and souls till we all can paddle and camp together again. Ayala may have never returned, but I'm looking forward to more paddling trips with the guys to the little bay island for many years to come.

 Click on the following links for past stories about kayaking in San Francisco Bay and visiting Angel Island in Outside Adventure to the Max.

 PADDLING SAN FRANCISCO BAY: VIDEO BLOG
Angel Island
Under the Golden Gate