KAYAK SUMMER 2022

It is the glistening autumnal side of summer. I feel a cool vein in the breeze, which braces my thought, and I pass with pleasure over sheltered and sunny portions of the sand where the summer's heat is undiminished, and I realize what a friend I am losing. --- Henry David Thoreau

We were lying on a white granite beach on a high Serria lakeshore staring up into the cosmos. Campfires were prohibited, and rightly so. So, the stars blazing in the sky were our only source of light since the full moon had leaped over the peaks of the mountains just yet. We were waiting for meteors to streak across the sky when someone mentioned Elan Musk's Starlink. It's a satellite internet constellation operated by SpaceX, providing satellite Internet access coverage to 40 countries around the world. Starlink now boasts well over 2,000 functional satellites orbiting overhead.

Sly Park Paddle Rentals 

Moments later, the strange moving chain of bright dots resembling a brilliant caravan of lights traveled from west to east across the sky. I tried to count the number of the bright lights but quickly lost count as they moved in succession across the sky. Lasting a few minutes, it was like a freight train rolling by and heading off to some faraway place. And then it was gone. The progression of satellites was a quick and stunning display. And then disappeared into the sky.

My summer was like that too. It's a very fast succession of days that dwindles at the dawn of autumn. Now once again, I'm saying goodbye to my well-spent summer days.

When my wife, Debbie, and I moved from Fair Oaks to Placerville, California, last May, it brought me much closer to the proximity of Sly Park and the South Fork of the American River.
Sly Park and Lake Jenkinson were a given since I was once again working the boathouse for Sly Park Paddle Rentals for my fifth year in a row. My weekends were filled with a steady dose of canoeing, kayaking, and swimming. And to think I'm lucky enough to be getting paid for it.
On the South Fork, on the other hand, I only got to cross the Highway 94 bridge. Like a lot of paddlers, I look over the bridge while driving over it to check out the current and see if I see any boats or anyone I know. And wish I was there. It didn't matter if the flow was high or low. I wanted to go. The South Fork whitewater will have to wait a while longer.

GAT training with Current Adventures 

They had been waiting for a long-time to be racing on the Lower American River. After a Covid-related shutdown for the past two summers, the Great American Triathlon race and our training resumed with Current Adventures. Dan Crandall and I showed the racers for the racers the best lines for the kayaking section run down the American River through San Juan Rapids. Win or just participate, our paddlers rocked their evening training sessions. By all reports, they rocked it on race day.

My summers wouldn't be summer without our Annual trips to Loon Lake and down the Sacramento River with Bayside Adventure Sports. Our jewel is Loon Lake on the east side of the Sierra Nevada. A scenic vista along the entire lake. It has picturesque mountain views and splendid emerald color waters surrounded by white granite boulders, laced with Sierra junipers growing on tops and ridges and in the splits between the glacier pavements of granite. My paddling partner john Taylor and I spent the whole week there leading two different groups during August. Our paddlers never know how valuable these quiet places are until they paddled into them for a few days.

 

Loon Lake with Bayside Adventure Sports

Our Sacramento River weekend trip near Red Bluff, California, finished my summer season just last weekend. The highlight was seeing Lassen Peak, one of the largest domed volcanoes in the world, as a backdrop for our fast river run.

Sandwiched in between, I paddled throughout the summer, trying to squeeze every drop out of our summer I could.

 

Lake Jenkinson & The Boathouse

"Suddenly, I experienced the feeling of longing, longing for the canyon. It was almost as if we left something back there." Recalled adventure paddler Andrzej Pietowski when describing the fleeting moments of looking back into Peru's Colca Canyon, the deepest on earth, after making its first descent down it, "Something viable, breathing, some small but living part of ourselves. The longing has remained with me ever since."
Summer 2022 is over. It's time to officially remember what day of the week it is. I do look back, longing for more of it. I feel like I left part of myself behind. I feel like I left something out.
And now, as we hurtle ourselves toward another autumn, I reflect on that high Sierra beach watching Starlink satellites trek across. Just like them, summer might be gone, but memories still flicker.

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

The Sacramento River with Bayside Adventure Sports 

Lake Natoma 

The Lower American River 

Shore dinner at Loon Lake 

GAT training on Lower American River 

Lake Jenkinson

The Lower American River 

Lake Jenkinson 

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BACK ON THE WATER: 2022 GREAT AMERICAN TRIATHLON TRAINING

The peaceful evening river shoreline was shattered by Dan Crandall's epic battle cry. Somewhere between the Tarzan scream and the Rebel Yell, the sound pierces the quiet and echoes throughout the valley. Moments later, the paddlers he is leading chime in with their call. Crandall tells the group in doing the cry will ease their tension and freak out the racer in front of them on the river. It will also let folks know racing is back on the American River Parkway.

The Great American Triathlon returns this weekend in Sacramento. The race, formerly known as Eppie's Great Race, will have athletes run, bike, then paddle the American River. Organizers took two years off due to the pandemic, but this Saturday, they are bringing the 40-plus -year-old tradition July race back to the parkway. The race, formerly known as Eppie's Great Race, will have athletes run, bike, then paddle the American River.

Dan Crandall works with a paddler.

While most triathlons have participants swim along with a bike and run, the Great American Triathlon uses kayaks and stand-up paddleboards for the water leg of the race.

"It's definitely different. What I say is, you are on top of the water, not in the water. You can enjoy the view, talk to people while you are paddling," race director Nicole Young told KCRA-TV.

The kayaking portion does provide a different dynamic from other triathlons with its "no swim" competition feature, and with the two years break, some racers may be a little rusty when it comes to paddling the river.
Like in past years, to help people get on the water, Crandall, the owner of Current Adventures Kayak School and Trips offered an array of training nights. During the last couple of weeks, to get the participants familiar with the river, he and his instructors have shown them 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 to build their confidence, paddling skills, and river reading knowledge.

"Keep those hands loose and drive your feet into the foot pegs to get your power," Crandall calls out to the boaters preparing to leave the Sunrise access, the starting point for the kayaking section of the race. Crandall reminds racers to focus on their pace and use more than just their arms to make the boat go. He encourages them to use their core for maximum power and endurance.

San Juan Rapids

The Boston Marathon has Heartbreak Hill. Great American Triathlon has San Juan Rapids. It's a rapid, where racers can lose valuable time and go from first to 31st by miscalculating the boil. During the practice 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.

"Lean forward. It's more about finesse than muscle here," warns Crandall while approaching the rapid. "Let it push you around a bit. Just get through it, and most importantly, smile and show the river you are not afraid. If you show fear, the river will dump you for sure."

During each of the training nights, there were more smiles than swims as the boaters navigate the troublesome rapid and paddled downriver to the finish line at River Bend Park. For some, it's their first trip down the river. For others, they are looking forward to racing again after the 2-year break.

Crandall and the Iron Hussies

 The 2nd Great American Triathlon is sponsored by Innovations Health Systems, a Citrus Heights-based healthcare holding company and managed by Capital Road Race Management. This year’s triathlon is once again raising funds to support the American River Parkway Foundation and local children’s charities.

Current Adventures 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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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

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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

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