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.

Paddle Back

 

There is something about paddling: the quiet rhythm of the blade sliding in and out of the water, the feel of my body's movement and tempo as I lean into the stroke and pull the paddle toward me. Relaxed, glide, I stroke again. Needing each other to cross the lake, my body and my kayak have become one. My feet, knees and thighs unseen under the bow sway back and forth holding steady to the course while my arms and torso, operating like a turbine, charge us forward. In each motion of the paddle, the horizon inches forward and the rest of the world slips further behind.

The world is at peace except for hurried ripples made by the bow slicing through the stillness of the lake. Behind me, the water surface is now scratched and broken into millions of tiny undulations drifting into the calm of the lake. Ahead of me lies the illusion of a priceless mirror laying flat against the earth and reflecting images of the trees and hills cradling this canyon lake. The sky is jet blue, the shore is dark and water is an upside down copy sharper than any photograph could ever produce. 
Environmentalist and wilderness guide Sigurd Olson was more poetic in his description, while paddling the lakes and forest of Northern Minnesota and Ontario, Canada. "If it is calm," he wrote in Open Horizons, "The canoes drifting through reflections with nothing to break the vast silence but the hypnotic swish of paddles, there are moments when one seems suspended between heaven and earth."

Not far ahead, a turkey vulture soars overhead with its wings tilted upward.  With it's ugly red-head and diet of the dead, its not as majestic as the eagle or hawk . The bird is looked at with disdain to most. It circles and spirals on prevailing wind currents with little change to its large out stretched wings. It looms over the lake and canyon, holding me in a trance while I paddle below.
It has been a bad week and the vulture knows it. There are problems at work, troubles at home and doctors with test results. Life is not as tranquil as this peaceful lake. Tribulations dwell outside these canyon walls and that vulture wants to devour us. 
I pass the outcropping of the tower rock formations that the vultures call home and whisper to myself
"Not today my friend. I maybe trampled, but I'm far from extinguished." I paddle on as the vulture slips out of sight.

"The first thing you must learn about canoeing is that the canoe is not a lifeless, inanimate object; it feels very much alive, alive with the life of the river," said film maker and canoeist Bill Mason in Path of the Paddle, "Life is transmitted to the canoe by the currents of the air and the water upon which it rides."
There is energy and healing in the water. It has power that Mason said instilled life into my kayak and now transfuses into me. Water has been revered throughout the ages for inspiring the human spirit with hope and tranquility.
 In Psalm 23, one of most quoted Bible verses of all time, David is led down beside quiet water and his soul is restored.
 This trip to the lake has rejuvenated my vitality in the same way, as it has done countless times before. A friend once told when kayaking she hardly can remember what day it is. The lake was her portal of escape and a place to rekindle her mind.
The sun is falling behind the ridge. Along the highest points, the sun still hits the glimmering peaks while the valley is turning shadow.  It is time to turn around and paddle back to the access. It is a drug. A temporary high that always leaves me wanting more and more. This why I return to the lake every chance I can, so I can feel the paddle, it's rhythm and the sensation of the water. My consciousness is cleared and refocused.
"Penetrations into the unknown, " wrote Olson in Open Horizon, "All give meaning to what has gone before, and courage for what is to come. More than physical features, they are horizons of mind and spirit, and when one looks backward, we find they have blended into the whole panorama of our lives."
In a few short hours on the lake, I have undergone a recharge. My mind is at ease and my burdens have lifted. I paddle back restored.

Record Pace...My First 6 Months of Kayaking

Paddling day #1 Jan 1, Folsom Lake

My California paddling portfolio after 73 days of paddling so far in 2014. Each day has brought an escape and adventure.  These are just some of the beautiful places I have kayaked this year.

Paddling Day #10, Jan 31, Lake Clementine

 Paddling Day #19, Feb 25, Folsom Lake

 

Paddling Day #27, March 19, Lake Natoma

The two best reasons to buy a kayak rather than just renting are sunsets and sunrises. -- Thomas P. Jones

 Paddling Day #31, March 25, Folsom lake

Paddle Day #36 April 6, The American River Parkway

         Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.
        A. A. Milne, Pooh's Little Instruction Book   

 

Paddling Day #37, April 8, Folsom Lake

Paddling Day #60 North Arm of Folsom Lake

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 a natural impulse, the dwellers on their banks will at length accompany their currents to the lowlands of the globe, or explore at their invitation the interior of continents.

- Henry David Thoreau

Paddling Day #69 June 18, Lake Natoma

    The Sun shines not on us but in us. The Rivers flow not past, But through us.   John Muir

Paddling Day 71  June 21, Lake Natoma

The first river you paddle runs through the rest of your life. It bubbles up in pools and eddies to remind you who you are.
- Lynn Noel, Voyages: Canada's Heritage Rivers

Paddling Day #73 June 26, Lake Valley Reservoir

The Jumping Rock

Working up the courage to jump.

Launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment...there is no other life but this. Henry David Thoreau
 The hardest thing is just finding the courage to jump. After all, I climbed all the way up through rough rocks and poison oak. Jumping off is the easiest way down.

 That's what crossed my mind as I stood on top of the "jumping rock" on Lake Clementine. I joined Bayside Adventure Sports to take part in the Tuesday Evening Activities. The group gets together, weekly for kayaking, stand up paddle boarding and tonight, cliff jumping.
 From the top of the rock, I looked out over an emerald vision. The lake water, freshly melted snow from the Sierra, is now warm enough for a swim. Our paddle boards and kayaks hover motionlessly like toy pieces on glass. At the cliff's edge. it seems like I'm looking down into forever. It's deep enough. At least Erik, our leader has assured us of that. He has been jumping off this rock since he was a kid. It is a long way down. I'm sure the longer I stand there, the more I will talk myself out of jumping. One thought races across my brain. How much is this going to hurt?

 The first to leap is Evan. He has taken a flying start from much higher up. He hangs in the air waving his arms and legs like a puppet on a string until he collides with water in a huge splash. His head pops to the surface quickly with exultation. Up next is Erik, a quick nod to the camera, and then he is over the edge. Falling...Falling... Falling,  I see the splash, but can't hear it. I'm the only one left on top.
 I inch down to find my position on the rock. Gosh, it's a long way down. I look for some firm footing for my leap. The rock isn't smooth or even. There will be no running start.
  Am I sure, I really want to do this? It is now or never. I take moment to study the water.  To late to back out.  One...Two...Take a giant breath....Three...
 The fall is fast and short. It's exhilarating feeling flying through the air. The lake gets closer and closer. I point my toes and hold to the camera as gravity pulls me into the pool. I'm engulfed in the cool green water. I swim to the surface and pop my head up in relief. It wasn't so bad. If we had some more time I think I would jump again, as crazy as that sounds.

Oh my Darling, Clementine...

When I started out kayaking, I dreamed of far off places to dip my paddle.  I wanted a quiet wild places with tranquil clear emerald, a half lake, half river water. I wanted a place to unplug from the day to day tension of reality to reach out for the universe. I wanted to hear the haunting words of Meriwether Lewis echoing  off the canyon walls.

"As we passed on it seemed as if those scenes of visionary enchantment would never have end." 

 Our truck, with kayaks overhead, rounds the narrow road down the gorge and behold Lake Clementine.  A shining finger of water nestles down between trees and rock. It calls for an adventure in stillness.
  Lake Clementine is a four-mile long and narrow waterway in the popular Auburn State Recreation Area near Auburn, Ca.  The dam, creating the lake was built in 1939 by the Army Corps of Engineers. It is a debris dam designed to keep the silt and other debris, dating back to the gold rush (hydraulic mining), out of the lower American River. The water cascading over the dam offers a man-made waterfall and rainbow for the lucky hikers on the trail.
 Summer brings out the water skiers and other boaters.  But, it is winter now. We have the lake to ourselves. The water is so smooth it has a mirror-like reflection, only to be shattered by the bow of our kayaks. This is traditional flat-water kayaking at it's best.

The North Fork Dam.

  Just past the ramp way of the boat launch and marina is Robber's Roost, 1,457 piece of limestone towering over the lake. It's many little caves and pox marks on the spire make it a perfect nesting spots for the the turkey vultures soaring over the reservoir.
 On one recent trip,  I came across two kayaking birders with high power binoculars. They seemed mesmerized by their flight. They had paddled to just below pinnacle to watch.
 Water fowl, ducks and geese, find their way closer to the water. They dance across the water just a little ways away as we paddle by. Their honking will cry out their warning of our coming near.

Paddling under Robber's Roost.

  Paddling up even farther up the lake are boat-in campsites and picnic spots which are popular in the summer months with boating and water skiing crowds. They are inviting sandy beaches and shade trees. But, it is winter now in the foothills and these spots are deserted except for the geese. Those days, will have to wait for now.

Camp sites along the lake.

  The lake turns to river after the campsites. The North Fork of the American River presses against my kayak going up stream.  It is not that difficult yet. The water here flows at gentle pace.  The current is much faster up river. The whitewater rafters have even named a pair of rapids. One is called Bogus Thunder, the other is, Staircase.
  I'm just heading toward the second access at the upper part of the lake called Long Point.  I'll have a quick lunch here before turning back toward the dam.

At Long Point.

  In the late afternoon on Lake Clementine the sunlight dips around the foothills, taking us from the  blue light to the sun light at every bend. There is coolness in the shadows and warmth in the sun. But it is not equal. It is late in the afternoon and the shadows are claiming the valley. We will have to  race back to the dam to beat the setting sun.

Heading back in the shadows of the foothills.

 So far I have been to Lake Clementine three times.  All short little outings, providing a classic flat-water kayak fix to my energize my spirit, my soul... and build a bond with this new lake with every dip of my paddle.