Kayaking is my intimate relationship with water. I feel vulnerable and at the water's mercy. Sitting in a boat, only millimeters of carbon and fiberglass keeping me dry and protected, I am connected to the forces at play. I feel every ripple, every current and the slightest breezes. I am exposed to all elements and my inferiority is constantly being thrown at me. Whether I am paddling the fjords, exploring the surf, following the river, or just riding the ocean swells, I am nothing but a tiny speck riding on the back of a giant. A giant that can’t be conquered. A giant that forces me to adapt and prepare for the unexpected. A giant that reminds me of the control I don't posses. For me, kayaking is a meditation of humility...Daniel Fox
I introduced myself at the Bayside Adventure Sports paddle and SUP outing last weekend. How much did you paddle last year, one asked. "Ninety-one days last year," I said, "Not as much as I did the year before. I did 131 paddling days that year. But, every year I make a goal to paddle one hundred days during the year."
I have thought about that a lot this week. That equals a few hundred times of loading, unloading and loading my kayak. Millions upon millions of paddling strokes, and mostly, rushing home from my jobs to get on to the water. We all know the cycle... Sleep, work paddle. I pulled it off this past week, getting five days of paddling in the last ten days with plans of going again tomorrow.
"I go to sleep thinking about this river and I wake up excited to paddle it," posted on Facebook whitewater kayaker and filmmaker Rush Sturges, "People ask me if I ever get bored and I never do at these levels."
I feel the same way, like many of us, do. I spend my time trying to balance work and paddling. I like to work but I can't wait to go paddle again and again. It's where I want to be, seeing the light and the water reflecting an image of my Nirvana. To spend time with my friends and family in amazing places and seeing those places from a perspective that you wouldn't get to otherwise.
Paddling philosopher Sigurd Olson once said, "Water reflects not only clouds and trees and cliffs, but all the infinite variations of mind and spirit we bring to it."
“Adventure is worthwhile in itself.” - Amelia Earhart
By Pete Delosa
I recently posted an article that was a re post of something a
good friend of mine had written about why we seek out challenges on the
river and what it means to manage our fear on the water. If you follow
me on Facebook you may have seen that I posted a link to an article
about just the opposite a few days ago. It talks about how we get caught
up in the hype from our sport and how that can cause us to feel
inadequate if we are just having a mellow day on an easy river.
(There is a link to this article at the end of this post. It is well
worth a read.) It is this idea I want to expand upon in today’s post. If you know me or are familiar with my writing, then you know that I
am a native of the South Fork of the American River (SFA) in California.
This river is the state’s quintessential class II – III play run. It is
home to two kayaking schools and about 50 rafting companies. The river
offers three sections. The upper class III, the middle class II (C to
G), and the lower class III.
</>Your’s truly enjoying a run on the SFA. During the heart of the season here I'm at The River Store at some point almost everyday and at the CCK outpost a couple times a week. I run into other paddlers at these stores as well as at the access points along the river and at the restaurants and other hang outs. One of the things I love about this sport is meeting other paddlers and sharing our stories and experiences. I love to chat with other boaters, and an easy opener for a conversation is to ask someone, “where are you (or were you) paddling today?” Nearly all of the time people answer me with “just C to G” or “just the gorge.” Why the “just?”
When answering this question do people feel like they are inadequate? Do they think that they are being judged or looked down upon because they didn’t run the hardest run in California today? Am I causing them to feel this way? I hope not. If I’m asking you the question of where you went boating today at a hang out near the SFA, odds are I was “just” on the South Fork too. I very well may have “just” paddled c to g. Only I didn’t “just” paddle it. I paddled the shit out of it. No matter what stretch I was on or which boat I was in, you can rest assured that I enjoyed my day on the river. I had exactly the kind of river day that I was looking for today, and I hope you did too.
From here on let’s agree to drop the “just.” Let’s be proud that we packed up our gear, and we got out there today and that we had exactly the type of day we were looking for. Let’s celebrate that we had our own adventure, or that we had our own mellow day with our friends. If you went on the water and had fun then you won today and that is worth celebrating. Other people might have been looking for a different kind of day today than we were and that is OK. I hope they found what they were after, but that doesn’t take anything away from our success. Enjoying an early summer day on the river with my friends.
The bottom line is, get out there and have fun and stop comparing your day to other people’s. Stop thinking that you have to do the most epic thing ever to have a day worth sharing with others. Don’t ever let anyone, including yourself, make you think that your adventures are any less real than anyone else’s.
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
We need the tonic of wildness, to wade sometimes in marshes where the bittern and the meadow-hen lurk, and hear the booming of the snipe; to smell the whispering sedge where only some wilder and more solitary fowl builds her nest, and the mink crawls with its belly close to the ground.– Henry David Thoreau
"Stay back," she whispered, "I want to take a picture." My wife Debbie likes all creatures great and small. It's like being married to a fairy tale princess the way all animals are drawn to her and her to them. Often while kayaking, she used her quiet voice reassuring the ducks, geese, and deer that they are safe and they need not be afraid while she passes by, while at the time warning me to give them a little more space as I draw near in my boat.
She paddles quietly ahead through the narrow section of water, while I stay back quietly watching. She inches forward, barely using her paddle and hoping not to scare off the duck sitting transfixed on a log coming out of the water. It doesn't move.
"You're alright.'' she says assures the waterfowl as she brings her camera phone to her eyes, "You're alright." It is the same for me. Everything is perfect.
"The shore is an ancient world, for as long as there has been an earth and sea there has been this place of the meeting of land and water,"wrote Rachel Carson environmental activist who alerted the world to the impact of fertilizers and pesticides in the environment, best know for her book the Silent Spring, it is easy to picture her out gathering water samples in the old wooden canoe as she illustrates her passion for waterways when she said, "Yet it is a world that keeps alive the sense of continuing creation and of the relentless drive of life. Each time that I enter it, I gain some new awareness of its beauty and its deeper meanings, sensing that intricate fabric of life by which one creature is linked with another, and each with its surroundings."
Like for Carson, these waters are my sanctuary. I don't get much time to reflect, except out here. These are quiet waters of tranquility that have been filtered through my life. On a fast-moving river or the ocean, I'm looking for eddy lines, currents, and tides, but in the calm of the backwater, I do some of my best thinking out there as I float along. These are the places that inspired Thoreau, Emerson, and Muir. Sometimes, I conjure up deep thoughts about God and the universe but mostly inner thoughts are simple ones as I paddle around the marsh. How are my children doing? Could I have handled that better at work? Should I buy another kayak?
"There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature," observed, Carson, "The assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the winter. The lasting pleasures of contact with the natural world are not reserved for scientists but are available to anyone who will place himself under the influence of earth, sea, and sky and their amazing life."
I lose track of the time, I lose track of Debbie. She has gone out of sight into another cove. The water on Lake Natoma's depth is always fluctuating. Today, we caught it at a high level offering more slough coves to explore. The water imbibes a feeling of magic. It takes on an art form of textured richness that no photograph could convey. The sky and pond flow in a collision of reflection. Time seems to slow and stand as still as the glassy water surface. In the sunlight, turtles lounge on rotting tree branches, while fish make sudden boils below my bow and the waterfowl stand like statues. Across the bow comes the fragrance spring flowers intertwined with the earthy scent of the lake's aquatic garden. Before long I find Debbie again in the watery maze. Our bows break the stillness of the water sending small ripples carrying dancing flecks of light back toward the shore and ahead of us the lake glistens.
"When I would recreate myself, " penned writer Henry David Thoreau "I seek the darkest wood, the thickest and the most interminable, and to the citizen, most dismal swamp. I enter the swamp as a sacred place–a sanctum sanctorum. There is the strength, the marrow of nature."
When all the dangerous cliffs are fenced off, all the trees that might fall on people are cut down,all of the insects that bite are poisoned… and all of the grizzlies are dead because they are occasionally dangerous, the wilderness will not be made safe. Rather, the safety will have destroyed the wilderness.R. Yorke Edwards
I listened to the reaction of the morning area television anchors watching the video that went viral last month of two professional kayakers plunging over 65-foot Cumberland Falls. As they broadcasted it to their viewers they used the words foolish, stupid and crazy to the describe the trip over the frigid falls in Kentucky. They ended the clip by telling their viewers that the two cited and fined a couple of hundred dollars for trespassing and that the two won't be attempting this stunt again anytime soon. Just the thought of going over any waterfall seemed inconceivable and little bit crazy to them. But, on social media, where we seem to look for amazing and wild exploits on a daily basis the video received more than a million views, and more than 22,000 shares.
"We did not expect it to get thousands of views or for people to be there watching," Nick Troutman, told WKYT-TV, "We were super intrigued by the falls. It was more just a personal goal we set. "
Brothers-in-laws and world champion freestyle kayakers, Dane Jackson and Troutman have years of experience on even rougher waters and have been down much bigger waterfalls. "We scouted the area and got our safety plan together," explained Troutman. Unfortunately, they missed that going over the falls was illegal.
"There are signs there saying no swimming, wading, or boating in that area," said Kentucky's State Parks Captain Dallas Luttrell to WKYT-TV, "It is extremely dangerous not only for those participating but also for the first responders who would have to go out there. For the main reason of safety, it is simply not allowed,."
The park ranger say those rules are in place for a reason and what is seen in the videos is strongly discouraged. "I would not encourage just anybody to go out and try it." agreed Troutman, "It does not work like that."
Extreme athlete and kayaker Tyler Bradt isn't just anybody. In 2010, his insane 189-foot free fall over Palouse Falls in Washington state shattered the world record for the tallest waterfall ever paddled. He told Men's Fitness how he survived his death-defying plunge. “When you hop in your boat at the top—that’s the scariest moment, up there on flat water getting ready to drop over a very big horizon." said Bradt, "Once you’re in the kayak and approaching the falls, keep one blade in the water to control the angle of your approach. When you’re paddling toward the lip of the waterfall, the key is to take a couple of strokes to get going just a little faster than the water around you before you drop.”
"You’re thinking, ‘Am I making the right decision? Is this a good idea? Bradt, continued, "The enormity of your situation is overwhelming, but it’s also the moment you need to react. That’s when I move into my tuck so I won’t land flat on my back or go upside down. When you land you want to be fully forward on the front of your deck with your paddle off to the side so it doesn’t come back and hit you.”
"It's a great adrenaline rush," blogged former member of the Canadian Freestyle Whitewater Kayak Team and Bronze medalist, Anna Levesque, she has paddled in some of the biggest water around the world and leads whitewater clinics in Central America. "The feeling of dropping off the edge can be thrilling and terrifying at the same time. Stay focused on your paddling not on your nerves."
The moment of glory comes when the kayaker sticks the landing. “The goal is to land with your boat vertical. You want to land feet down so that you’re penetrating the water surface with the least amount of impact." said Bradt, "My paddle snapped. It really dazed me. It’s an impact that I’ve never felt before—like a car crash."
Compare to that, Troutman's and Jackson's made their plunges look almost easy, "I hit the line exactly how I had planned and couldn’t of been happier." Troutman later posted on Facebook.
After fulfilling their wild ride, the two extreme athletes both agreed it's something they like to attempt again, only legally next time. "We did end up getting a fine from the park ranger, though he was good-mannered about the situation." posted Troutman, "Hopefully we can apply for a permit or something because it truly is a really beautiful waterfall and we were honored to ride it." Dane Jackson agreed in his Facebook post, "Pretty stoked to have sent Cumberland Falls! Bummed that it ended in getting charged with trespassing, but it’s still an epic waterfall and one of my new favorites!”
There is something about the rush of whitewater. The chaos, the churning and boil as the stream's thunder and roar echoes across a valley's chasm. It's a call of the wild few can resist. Naturalist John Craighead says, "The call is the thundering rumble of distant rapids, the intimate roar of white water. a primeval summons to primordial values." While writer John Daniel reflected the same sentiment when he wrote, "The stream sings, a subdued music, a scarcely audible lilt, faint and fluid syllables not quite said. It slips away into its future, where it already is and flows steadily forth from up the canyon, a fountain of rumors from regions known to it and not to me." Seeing that tiny trickle at the beginning, that was fresh snow only weeks before now building and turning into a sparkling river of rapids tumbling down through chutes and falls, pouring into pool after pool of effervescence.
For kayaker Pete DeLosa the call was deafening and couldn't be ignored especially after El Niño, a strong warm-water mass in the Pacific had pumped moisture and new life into the veins of the California water supply.
"Went from no water in California to everything being high! So great to see water returned to the South Fork." posted the Team Pyranha's Delosa on his Facebook page, "There are several options farther upstream that have been getting a consistent flow. The roadside Kyburz section offers continuous Class IV rapids for several miles and just below that the Riverton to Peavine section has a semi-remote feeling with Class III and IV rapids."
This is one of California's top Class IV river runs, through the scenic beauty of El Dorado County east of Sacramento. Folks will only see flashes of the South Fork of the American River's tumbling white water while driving on along Highway 50. Most are hidden from highway view as the river drops into a deep canyon for the next 20 miles featuring a combination of dynamic rapids along the course. Brimming with new flows after some past years of low water due to drought, area kayakers are finding reasons to paddle and explore it again.
"A successful weekend of paddling at home." posted DeLosa, " I got a couple Kyburz runs in which I've been wanting for a while. It's great to have a few miles of roadside class IV so close to home. The highlight, however, was getting out on the river Saturday with a couple young paddlers and getting to take them on their first high water run at Chile Bar. Super exciting to see young chargers learning and getting after it."
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
The
rain has pounded against my window this week, leaving drops of water
forming tiny rivers streaking across the glass pane. Each drop is deeper
and wider than the last. The storms seem almost endless now after
nearly five years of drought. The “Godzilla” El Niño which has formed in
the western Pacific has sent one rain event after another into northern
California much the delight of the kayaking and paddling community.
A
parade of storms have continued to soak the Sacramento valley and pile
up snow in the Sierra. Folsom Lake is rising so fast that, the U.S.
Bureau of Reclamation, which manages Folsom Dam, opened the floodgates
for the first time since May 2012 allowing a huge waterfall to spill
down the face of the dam. The releases are necessary to deal
with the runoff from this past weekend's storm and another expected wet
weather
system in the forecast. Bureau official Shane Hunt told the Sacramento Bee, that dam operators will continue to watch
storm-waters flowing into the lake as the week progresses. “We’ll see how it plays out,” he said. “We may adjust up or down.”
Downstream from Folsom Dam and Nimbus Dam, the Sacramento police helicopter warned campers along the American
River Parkway to consider moving to higher ground. Sacramento County
officials were considering closing some parkway access points because of
flooding concerns.
"Water levels on area waterways can rise very, very quickly if they
start letting extra water out of the dam," Sacramento Fire Department
spokesperson Chris Harvey told FOX 40 News, "Were advising people to use a lot of caution."
Veteran area paddler Mike Rumsey agrees, "The guy in the rec boat with his dog, short sleeves,
shirts and no PFD might disagree with me." said Rumsey, "But yeah it dangerous! Fast
cold water. A few years back when I was new to serious kayaking
we did a trip from Sunrise to Miller Park on the Sacramento. The river
was at 10,000 cfs going through Ardent Bar Rapid. The last guy in our
group of three went over in his sea kayak. We hurried and did a
assistance rescue, got him back in his boat let him go. A log sticking out then clunk he's broadside with the log trying to hang on. By the time my other partner got to shore and out
of his boat, the guy on the log had went under. Good thing there were
no branches on that log. That's a river you got to give major respect."
PHOTO BY PETE DELOSA
Upstream where the
north and middle forks of the American River meet near Auburn, paddlers
admired the raging whitewater. "I finally got to do the run below the
confluence and experience the Gay Wave." said Team Pyrnaha's Pete Delosa,
"Unbelievable world class surf wave down there. I may have a chance to
get on Traverse Creek for the first time.
Super stoked to fall off that waterfall. I've been wanting to do it for
years but it only runs during rain events like this one. I'm supposed to
drive to Washington for a race that could get cancelled because flows
are too high. It's nice to cancel because it's high rather than too low which has happened to me a couple time in the past few years."
With
all this water, experts still say, California has seen only an average
amount of precipitation this year. “February was incredibly warm and dry,” says David
Pierce, a researcher at Scripps Institute of Oceanography told The Atlanitc,
“If you look at the curves of El Niño, February to April is when we see
rainy years differentiate themselves. It’s already March. There’s
another six weeks of wet season, then that’s all she wrote.” The rain
totals have differed throughout the state. Northern California has had a
great year, while the southern part of the state still seems
gripped by drought.
This year's Sierra snow pack should
offer some banked up moisture. Melting snow accumulated through the
winter slowly released through the dry spring and summer will keep
those rivers running and filling the upper reservoirs. The
snow pack had been doing well. At the end of
January, it sat at 110 percent of normal, but in February sank to 80
percent, according to Pierce. However, this weekend, another storm is expected to drop an extra two to three feet of snow
above 4,000 feet, putting the snow pack above normal again.
PHOTO BY KATHY MORRISON
That's good news for paddlers this summer with those once thirsty rivers are flowing again in northern California. "Heck yeah I'm stoked about the up coming season." said Rumsey, "I
spent most my river time on the South Fork. It hasn't had water like this
since I started paddling. It's looking like water all year as long as there are no
warm storms melt the snow pack. This season were going to step it up."
"From
a business perspective I hope this rain means more people are going to
be able to get out more often." said DeLosa, "I hope people who are not
yet paddlers will see the opportunity to get involved in this outdoor
community. New paddlers coming in and taking lessons and experienced
paddlers
excited about the upcoming season buying new gear are both good for the
industry and the community can't survive with out the industry any more
than the industry can survive with out the community. I'm personally
looking forward to helping folks progress their skills this spring. I
hope to see a lot of people taking on new challenges and having success
with all this water."
No epic adventure started with "On a bright sunny day. . ." tweeted adventurer Sean Conway.
We were grateful for the rain. It has been very dry since Christmas.Raindrops bounced off the windshield in big thuds before the wipers could push them away. We were driving down a winding road to the lake after leaving the highway. Gray clouds were everywhere as the lake came into view. As we parked and began unloading the sky unloaded on us.
What is about adverse weather that makes my boat trips more memorable? A man vs nature type endeavor. I'm not saying, I don't like bright sunny days. I really do. Nothing is better than kayaking along while being kissed by the sun. In a state known for its sunshine, I have experienced lots of dazzling days this past year. However, across most of the country, unfavorable climates and kayaking coexist. Snow, rain. sleet and fog are paddled through heartily.
Both Canoe & Kayak and Adventure Kayak magazines always publish photos of boatmen and women manning up against the harsh environment. Sarah Outen and Justine Cugenven pounding through heavy wind, rain and waves while making their way through the Aleutian Islands, while kayak adventurer Daniel Fox's expedition from Victoria B.C. to San Francisco experienced a full blast of nature making his trip come to an end.
"The wave literally fell on me, and within a second the kayak was broken in two below my knees," Fox told, Canoe & Kayak, "It was quite a swim."
The heavy rain didn't last long. Just long enough to send two fishermen running for cover and get our gear and kayak seats a little wet. This was the first time my kayak partner Erik Allen had brought me to Rollins Lake. The lake at 2,100 elevation, is on the western side of the Sierra near Colfax, California. It is a 900-acre reservoir with 26 miles of shoreline, perfect for paddling year round. Erik was on a mission to scout out some trails near the mouth of the Bear River. Our plan was to kayak up the lake and river as far as we could before the current pushed us back.
The water looked like green emerald under the gray skies. We kayaked along the rust color shore, breaking up the quiet water. Around the bend loomed a bank of mist hanging over the lake. Erik, who grew up close by has paddled the lake many times before, but for him, there is always something new.
"Rollins Lake is always changing," whispered Erik, "It never looks the same."
Lakes are like that. I thought back to my paddling days in Minnesota, remembering the way the snow looked along the shore of Red River Lake and the way the rain came down in the early spring on Beers Lake in Maplewood State Park. The day's conditions have framed many of my paddling memories. My sons will always start their tale of camping with, "Remember how cold it was or how it rained when we went to..." The day's weather has added to our experiences whether it was fair or foul.
A layer of fog engulfed us as we paddled farther along. It was like floating on a cloud. I let Erik paddle up farther ahead so I could get a photo. Before long he disappeared in the white haze dropping into the unknown.
Our paddle through the mist added to the magic of our trip to the lake. The rainy and foggy weather is now etched into another paddling memory.
If you wait for the perfect day. You will never go. "Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating," said English writer John Ruskin, "There is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather."
This article was originally published in Outside Adventure to the Max February 20, 2015
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