STARRY STARRY NIGHT....LOON LAKE PART I

I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.”--Jack London

"There goes one!" a voice calls out in the darkness.

"Where? I didn't see it," says another.

"Through the Big Dipper. It had a bright tail."

"Oh man! I missed it. What is that?

"An airplane." says another.

"Geez, were not going back till I see one."

Lost in space between the stars in the heavens and the serene of the lake, we are adrift in the magic of the night. The constellations, Pegasus, Cassiopeia and Ursa Minor shine brilliantly in the moonless sky as our eyes focus toward the east in anticipation of catching falling star.
There are less than a dozen of us floating in the tranquility of Loon Lake. Our bobbing armada of kayaks are lashed together by our fingers tips as each boaters holds tightly to the boats between them. Colored glow sticks dangle in the shadows of our figures while some of our headlamps give an eerie glow. It's just after ten and there is a slight gleam over the mountains. It seems like the whole universe is presented before us.

Loon Lake renders the perfect backdrop for the annual Perseid Meteor Shower during its peak in the month of August. The Crystal Basin Recreation Area's lake on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains just west of Lake Tahoe, offers scenic beauty, limited crowds and no light pollution. Tucked away and only a short drive from Sacramento, California, Current Adventures Kayak School and Trips have been providing overnight camping trips for the meteor shower for nearly 10 years. With meals, camping equipment and kayaks provided, paddlers and first time campers enjoy a cozy "roughing it" in-style camp-out. 

"I love the night time paddle,  says long time lake
visitor Djuna Archer, "It's looking up at the stars. This time we have no moon so its beautiful. It's quiet, serene and lovely."

This is our second time out on to the water. We had kayaked the length of the lake earlier during the day, however at night, the lake takes on foreign appearance. The California drought has taken a toll on Loon Lake, dropping it excessively. It is lower than most can ever remember. Just finding our kayaks on the shadowy lake shore is an adventure in itself. In line, we are an illuminated parade of headlamps over the rocky beach to the boats and then, one by one we drop our kayaks into the water and drift into darkness. We follow the leader,  Current Adventure's Dan Crandall's glowing head-ware to the center of the reservoir.

In the middle of the lake we group together and lean back looking at the stars. The day time heat is gone and a coolness brushes over the water. Our voices and the sound of the kayaks bumping together breaks the silence of the lake. We feel the slight vibration of the water below us as the rocking bows gently remind us we are not on solid ground. There is the mystery of water below us and a dazzling array a stars above. Our thoughts navigate us through time and space... How long does it take the light of the stars to touch the earth? Can those satellites see us from above? I wish I could stay here forever.

"Especially in the dark nights," naturalist Henry David Thoreau said long ago while night fishing on Walden Pond, "When our thoughts had wandered to vast and cosmogonal themes and other spheres, to feel this faint jerk, which came to interrupt our dreams and link you to nature again."
  

Our thoughts are disrupted by a flash of a meteor's trail. Fourth of July oohs and awes charge the air. But, the shooting star is gone much to quickly to fully enjoy its splendor. The Perseid shower is known to rise gradually to a peak, then fall off rapidly afterward. We have just missed the peak by a couple of days. The meteor shower is more of a sprinkle but intermittent with wonder and laughter from our group on the lake. Seeing a falling star is always special, however catching it with new friends while kayaking a high Sierra lake is simply magical. It is an experience we will remember for a lifetime. Dan left a light flashing on the shore so we could find our way back. We had a campfire, a couple of bottles of wine and a full day of paddling waiting for us tomorrow.


If you want to go
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

This Outside Adventure to the Max was originally published On August 21 2015.

OVER THE BOW: LAKE VALLEY RESERVOIR

The 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, with here and there a blue mountain, like amethyst jewels set around some jewel of the first water, - 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. -- Henry David Thoreau 

A smokey haze floated over the water and mountains at Lake Valley Reservoir. A forest fire was raging down in the hills and the smoke was blowing our way. So much so, I even questioned my decision to paddle here. The smoke fogged our view of the Sierra, burned out eyes and throat a common occurrence during California's fire season. Setting off across the lake, I just hoped the wind would change and the smoke would clear.

Lake Valley Reservoir is at about 5,000 feet in the Sierra Nevada Mountains located just off Interstate 80, south of the Yuba Gap. About 2 miles long, the Pacific Gas & Electric lake offers a variety of shoreline from rocky to tree-lined banks, perfect for a day of exploring. The Sierra lakes and reservoirs have water in them this season, and Lake Valley Reservoir is no exception. The water lapped against the glacier-polished granite along the southern shoreline offering an inviting spot for a summer swim.

My wife Debbie and I had other ideas as we paddled to the peninsula at the far end of the lake. There a small island juts out into the lake and raised wall looks over the lake. It provided us with a perfect spot to picnic, swim and watch two courting eagles hang in the sky. The smoke had cleared and the day was neared perfect. We paddled back lazily along the sunken tree-line in what seemed like an ancient world.

"Simplicity in all things is the secret of the wilderness and one of its most valuable lessons." wrote paddling guru Sigurd Olson,  "It is what we leave behind that is important. I think the matter of simplicity goes further than just food, equipment, and unnecessary gadgets; it goes into the matter of thoughts and objectives as well. When in the wilds, we must not carry our problems with us or the joy is lost."

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

WHY DO YOU PADDLE?

By Pete Delosa

There are so many things that we could do on any given day. Yet, we choose to spend our days kayaking. Sometimes we are kayaking with friends down chaotic whitewater. Other times we are by ourselves on alpine glacial lakes. Why do we choose kayaking? For me, there are a few main reasons that come to mind.
First, I’ll talk about the sensation. It’s not all that different from the feeling someone might get riding an amusement park ride. I’m not particularly excited about roller coasters but I do love the feeling of making dynamic moves on the water. It could be snapping a tight turn into an eddy, launching off a good boof, or just rolling through the waves. There is something exhilarating about smoothly transitioning from one edge to the other while moving through various currents and feeling the cool splash of the water on your face and the warmth of the sun all at the same time.

Another thing that keeps me coming back to the river is conquering my own fear. Most people don’t believe me when I tell them, but I’m terrified of the water. It makes perfect sense though when you thin about it. What could be more satisfying than taking on your biggest fear? Every time I get in the water I get a little better handle on a fear that has had great power over me my entire life. I grow a little bit and become a stronger person one paddle stroke at a time, every time I go out. I don’t know any other way to get that kind of personal satisfaction. It has taken me longer than most to get to where I am in paddling because of it, but perhaps I’ve learned more along the way as a result.
Finally, and most importantly, kayaking for me is a means to access a place. Some of those places are otherwise inaccessible and some of them you can drive right up to, but it isn’t just about getting there. It’s about being in remarkable places and feeling a part of the place when you get there. I love the sort of dance we do with the amazing power of this world. I love how it makes me realize how small I am in the grand scheme of things. It’s one thing to go and look at the amazing incomprehensible power of nature. It’s even better to get in there and really experience it, to be a part of it, to be just one drop of the water in a vast river.
This is why I kayak, but that’s just me. Why do you kayak?

Pete Delosa is a California professional kayaker with Team Pyranha and offers great insight into the world of whitewater kayaking for Outside Adventure to the Max. You can catch up with Pete on his blog River-Bum.com and his videos on You-Tube. 
Outside Adventure to the Max is always looking for guest bloggers. Contact us at Nickayak@gmail.com

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

FULL MOON & SUMMER SOLSTICE

                     
                 I slip, I slide, I gloom, I glance, Among my skimming swallows;
                 I make the netted sunbeam dance Against my sandy shallows.
                 I murmur under moon and stars In brambly wildernesses;
                 I linger by my shingly bars; I loiter round my cresses;
                 And out again I curve and flow To join the brimming river,
                 For men may come and men may go, But I go on forever.
                 Lord Alfred Tennyson

It's an old saying we have all heard before. The two best reasons to own a kayak or canoe are sunsets and sunrises. Who can argue? The sunlight flashing in each droplet from our paddles as the water glows in a golden glitter. No one can resist the sight of tranquil lake basking in either new or dimming light. Nevertheless, in their confines we find the moon giving us another reason to stay afloat.

"One summer night, out on a flat headland, all
but surrounded by the waters of the bay, the horizons were remote and distant rims on the edge of space." wrote Rachel Carson environmental activist,  "Millions of stars blazed in darkness, and on the far shore, a few lights burned in cottages. Otherwise, there was no reminder of human life. My companion and I were alone with the stars: the misty river of the Milky Way flowing across the sky, the patterns of the constellations standing out bright and clear, a blazing planet low on the horizon."

Carson who alerted the world to the impact of fertilizers and pesticides in the environment, best known for her book the Silent Spring, went on to describe how an ordinary night on the water was extraordinary, and often looked past by many.
"It occurred to me that if this were a sight that could be seen only once in a century, this little headland would be thronged with spectators. But it can be seen many scores of nights in any year, and so the lights burned in the cottages and the inhabitants probably gave not a thought to the beauty overhead; and because they could see it almost any night, perhaps they never will."

This past week, however, the summer solstice, the longest day of the year and June's full moon called the Strawberry Moon by early Native Americans marking the beginning of the strawberry season, coincided together in a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. This event happens only once every 70 years.
With about 17 hours of light, the day didn't want to yield to the night still the lunar globe burned brightly in the twilight.

And as the sun slipped behind the horizon and the moon climbed into the evening sky, a hush came over the handful of transfixed boaters I was leading Lake Natoma during a  Current Adventures Kayak School & Trips full moon paddle.  Our voices had seemed to be bewitched and taken away in total fascination. The moon has that kind of power. If it can control the tides of the sea, rending one speechless under its luster is effortless to it.

"There is something haunting in the light of the moon," said writer Joseph Conrad, "It has all the dispassionateness of a disembodied soul, and something of its inconceivable mystery."

The mystery of the moon and stillness of the lake rekindled our senses while gliding silently along, soaking in night's peaceful enchantment. All around me, I heard the gentle sound of lapping of the water against the bow. The air was fresh, damp and motionless. In each stroke, we paddled its coolness fill our lungs. The water and night soon engulfed me in the darkness. Looking out across the silver lining of the lake other kayakers were now fleeting shadows afloat on the shimmering haze.

Check your calendar for next full moon and bring that special someone along for a romantic voyage or the whole family for a moonlit kayak adventure. Many outfitters or local state park across the country offer sunset and full moon paddling sessions and provide all the gear for a reasonable price.

If you want to go contact:
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

THE WATER GENE

We are never far from the lilt and swirl of living water. Whether to fish or swim or paddle, of only to stand and gaze, to glance as we cross a bridge, all of us are drawn to rivers, all of us happily submit to their spell. We need their familiar mystery. We need their fluent lives interflowing with our own. ---John Daniel  

"Will I really need this?" Cole asked me.
I looked down at the fast flowing  South Fork of the American River,  our kayaks and then to one of my two crumpled up wetsuits I was handing him. The full neoprene wetsuit would be warm on that day, however, the water was even colder.
"It's pretty cold, " I said, "That water was snow a few weeks ago."

That is how I offer fatherly like advice. Usually by stating the obvious.  El Nino had provided moisture for a great spring runoff quenching the thirst of Northern California's dry rivers. However, my youngest son Cole didn't know that. This was his first trip down the South Fork. I promised Cole since moving here,  I would take him whitewater kayaking to coax him to come for a visit. He had experienced some whitewater back in Minnesota and Wisconsin, but he had never paddled anything like the South Fork before. It would take a learning curve.
He also hadn't paddled in over three years. That's not to say he hasn't been on the water most of the time. He was on leave from the U.S. NAVY and just back from a deployment. I joked with that he needed a bumper sticker saying "My Other Boat is the USS Arlington."

As I watched him roll into his west suit, all my memories of paddling and trips with him flooded into the back of mind. It wasn't so long ago I was taking him on his first canoe ride on Lake Trowbridge and camping trip to Lake Bemidji State Park. In those days, I was sure he would always be eight-years-old and hoping he would inherent my same love of paddling.

"This is why I am teaching you to kayak rivers," wrote Canoe & Kayak Magazine contributing editor Christian Knight in a 2014  Father's Day letter to his daughter, " The river will be the objective disciplinarian I can never force myself to be. It’ll reward you with euphoria when you do well and punish you when you don’t."
"I realize, of course, you are only 8-years-old now." he continued in his letter,  "I haven’t even taught you how to Duffek or how to roll. I’m still sheltering you from eddy lines that stretch and yawn into miniature whirlpools. I still clutch your cockpit through rapids that are whiter than they are green. If somehow, you do flip, I’ll pray you’ll have the composure to remember the steps I have instructed you to repeat back to me before sliding into every river we’ve paddled together."

Everyone knows that blood is thicker than water. But, when they're mixed together with an enthusiasm and determination to kayak or canoe, it becomes an overpowering energy, consuming of one's genetic makeup. It's the natural and instinctive need to be on the water, or as  fellow paddler, Kim Sprague calls it "The Water Gene." And when passed down to one's children, they will have an ingrained deep-rooted essential need to seek out rivers, lakes, and oceans. Hence: They were born to paddle.

When Cole and I slid into the South Fork we were paddling together for the first time in three years. The river carried us away swiftly through a line of standing waves.  He lights up smiling and says to me "This is fun!"
His "Water Gene" ancestry had kicked in with each dip of his paddle. I have no idea where I got mine. My dad wasn't a boater, but he took our family swimming every summer in Nebraska lakes and made sure I took part in school and church canoe trips. My dad would marvel then on how I could single handily turn the 17-foot Grumman aluminum canoe past the bridge abutment and back through the eddie line and right up to the landing. He might not have paddled, but at least he helped get me to the water's edge.

"My Dad showed me the importance of finding my own serenity." wrote Wet Planet Whitewater's   Courtney Zink, in a tribute to her father,  "His love for water stems from that, and from spending that time with him in canoes on calm lakes, rowing through rapids, and fishing from river banks, he introduced me to that connection as well. That has brought me back to the Northwest as an adult, to stand on the banks of the Washington whitewater and find a sense of peace and balance in the chaos of the river."

In running the popular surfing wave area paddlers know as Barking Dog,  I told him to wait upstream while I cruised down along the side of it so I could get some video and pictures. Now I'm sure many have gone through "The Dog" backward before both planned and unplanned. But, probably not on their first time through it. Cole paddled down after my signal and positioned himself looking upstream on the edge of the wave paddling with all of his might to stay there, before rolling back into the rapid. I held my breath and thought he hasn't paddle for a long time as he disappeared underwater. A moment, to my relief he rolls upright.  He has the water gene alright.
"I kind of hurt my shoulder when I rolled back." he later told me, "That's why I couldn't get right away. The second or third time I got back up."

I was proud like all dads would be. It was just like he'd scored the winning run or came in first in the race by handling that wave so well. A little family honor was upheld. The current Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau knows about that family “rite of passage”.  When you grow up in Canada you need to know how to canoe early, especially if your father Pierre Elliott Trudeau. The elder Trudeau was Canada 15th prime minister and had a passion for paddling in the Canadian wilderness.

"Maybe my most indelible canoe memory from that cottage was one of the rites of passage for the Trudeau boys," the younger Trudeau recalled in an essay in Cottage Life magazine,  When we hit five or six years old, our dad would put us into the canoe and we’d shoot the rapids on the stream that went down into Meech Lake. There’s a little dam there, and in the spring they’d open the dam, and there would be a huge V and a standing wave. With much trepidation, we’d sit in the front and go down the drop. I look back on it now and laugh because my father was sterning, and there was nothing I could do from the bow to aim it right—but it was very, very important for us to do it. To get into the bow of a canoe with my father for the first time, to be the bowman for the first time, and to go down this big, scary rapid."

High flows mean high times on the South Fork of the American River. We followed each other along trading off the lead back and forth the rest of the way through the bouncy waves and churning rapids.  It was a treat to paddle with him after such long time. Every day in Father's Day when I get to paddle with him and see him challenging the currents and lines of the river. He is my paddling legacy flowing from my water gene pool.

We had just finished the run to add to our memories, when Cole said, "I'm sure glad you brought those wet-suits. That water was cold." Once again I stated the obvious. "Well, it's my job to take care of you"