SUMMER NOTES FROM THE BOATHOUSE

 

Give me solitude – Give me nature – Give me again – O Nature – your primal sanities --  Walt Whitman

Walk back into nature, bring on the serenity and embrace the solitude.

In 1845, Henry David Thoreau embarked on an odyssey living simply on the shores of Walden Pond. Decades later naturalist John Muir would travel into the Sierra and while writer Jack London would head to the wilds of Alaska. All of them sought something in the spirituality of nature and wanted to inspire others to do the same. As Muir wrote, “In every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks.”

Now, I'm the first to admit I'm nowhere near as profound as Muir or as gifted with the prose of Thoreau, but for the second straight summer season, I was in charge of the weekend paddle rentals at the small boathouse on the upper part of Lake Jenkinson at Sly Park Recreation Area.

As I have described before, Lake Jenkinson is an idyllic summer setting nestled in the Sierra foothills near Pollock Pines, California. Like a souvenir from my childhood memories, a feeling on nostalgia rekindles upon seeing the placid lake surrounded by a fringe of tall pines similar to the Northwoods. In other words, it's a perfect spot while away your day paddling.

Divided by a narrow channel, the lake has two components. A larger rounded lake that is home to speedboats, picnic, and campgrounds and a swimming beach, while the upper lake has an old-fashion fell being narrower, much quieter and home to the boathouse. Over the summer, again I would rent out a boatload of kayaks, canoes, and standup paddleboards all while keeping a series of notes recounting events and my daily, observations of my days on the lake.

May 18...Dan and I had hopes of opening Sly Park Paddle Rentals this weekend, but the rain and cold have washed out most, if not all of our plans.
We met there any way to prep the boathouse for next week's Memorial weekend opening. The first thing to do was empty all the rainwater out of the canoes.

 May 25...The lake glistens with majesty when I first got here today. the emerald-colored water was still and quiet and unbroken. I brought some PFDS up from the warehouse and staged them with my Necky tandem at the boat ramp across the way and paddled them across. with everything else, I would have to make a couple trips back and forth.
Not much traffic on the lake. Only a couple of fishing boats, but they were gone by noon after the clouds moved in and the wind picked up. The only company I have is a little flycatcher who has set up a nest over my boathouse window. She has a little brewed up there I found out last week. She flies back and forth tending her babies. She has got used to me yet.

May 27...Memorial Day. We were rained out yesterday. It a bad week to start the first days of summer with rain and snow falling. After opening up I spent the first part of the morning dumping rainwater out of the canoes and kayaks. It's always a chore.

 June 2...I can attest to the lake still being very cold. A couple a weeks ago the flag we use to promote the business rolled off the dock and sank below it. It was roughly 15-feet below. I brought my wet suit and fins today to see if I could get it. 
In getting ready for the cold water I had to work up the courage to jump in. When I did it, it took my breath away. I dove to the bottom grabbing the flag and then bring it back up to the surface and tossing it on the dock. If were not for my fins I would not have made it to the bottom.

The first several weekends of being open I was hampered by cool and rainy weather.  A series of two impressive thunderstorms kept many potential boaters away and off the water. The only benefit however to the snowy winter and wet spring was that Sly Park Falls continued to gush and rumbling in a marveling display of water and power.

June 15...I have always said my favorite time of day on Lake Jenkinson is morning. However,  last evening while leading a group for Current Adventures we had an amazing time on the water. The wind was gone and the moon was glowing over the pines making for a beautiful experience on the palicid lake. 
It's a scene right out Tolkien's Middle Earth, as we paddle under the cover the pines against the gentle tug of the creek flowing into the lake. Before reaching the walk bridge we could hear the roar of the falls. Beaching our kayaks, it's was only a short walk from there. The water cascading over the ledge was a foaming white stream. It was magic for everyone. They don't whether to cheer or just stand in awe in the fading primeval light.
 
June 22...A good crew for last night's Solstice Paddle. I love the light on the water as it changes from its burning orange to a subdued glow of pink, blue and green.. The trees in distance flicker in the long summer day as we paddle past. 

June 23..Folks are excited to get to the water today. They always come in three stages. The first show up after opening around 10 A.M. Then at noon, followed by another rush at 2 P.M. But no one is in a real hurry.  Everyone is very patient with the process of getting on to the water.  But what is so amazing to me is all the different languages I hear. Today, I heard English of course, but also Farsi, Spanish, Madraina Chinese, Hindi, Arabic, and Russian all my boat dock. They all came together to experience the song and language of the paddle.

My customers are not the only one who drop by the boathouse. The lake is home to an assortment of wildlife that I observe throughout the summer including, deer, ducks and geese and a congress of ravens, and two eagles who have set up a set across the lake from the boathouse.

June 28...The eagle pair sit side by side in the trees to my southeast near the entrance of the creek. It's always a thrill for me to see them. It takes my breath away to watch them fly over with their white heads and tails glistening as the flyover searching the water for fish. yesterday the two were out and caught the eyes of two harassing crows intend on pushing them back to their side of the lake. It was natures dogfight as the crows pushed them back into their own territory.
 
 July 4... It's been a busy holiday on the lake for me today. Lots of boats going in and lots of boats going out. My friend Paul showed up toward the end of the day. After closing up we paddled up to the waterfall and enjoyed the sight of my eagle friends perched high in the tree.

 
July 14...I never mention the drive through the park, but it's a highlight of my day both arriving and leaving. Its the only time I get to see the rest of the lake. on cool mornings driving through the tall pines, I almost feel like I'm going back in time when I pass the campgrounds. The smoke from their fires filters through the trees silhouetting their modern-day wigwams and teepees.

 July 27...had a big group from Bayside Adventure Sports come out to the lake this evening to take part in an after-hours paddle. We toured the lake. visited the waterfall all while enjoying the stillness or evening on the water. For many, it was their first visit to the park.

August 4...We were sold out for a time being. It's is a mark for a hectic few hours and a very long clean up. 

People always ask why I'm not opened during the middle of the week. My response is because it's pretty much a ghost town around here then. Other questions like, what's like what's a canoe? And how many people can fit in make you make me cringe while questions like last week's, I kid you not, can you load a tandem kayak inside your car? Give me a chuckle.
When opening during the weekend there is always plenty to do in dealing with the business end of the boathouse by keeping all the paperwork in order and tending the boats, however, I do enjoy that time in between, when I study the lake and trees.

August  10...I spent the night up the road and when I got here early to find one of our tandem kayaks missing. It had been stolen overnight. I called the rangers right away to report. I had hoped that someone just took it on a joyride and it would be recovered quickly, which proved to be the case when a paddler found it ant towed it back to me.

 August 11... Yes, I do enjoy the quiet times on the lake before the crowds arrive along with their boat chatter. I like to slip away in canoe for of course, to a brief of time to just float in the palicid stillness of the lake. The soothing sensation of gliding silently takes me away to another world to study the beauty of God's creation. 

August 18...I do swim a lot at this job. Often after boats that break away or when I get busy and have pushed the boats off the other side of the dock and I have to jump in to retrieve them. 

September 2...Labor Day, It's fair, bright and still warm to start the day. I'm a bit melancholy on how fast the summer season has slipped away. Time is so fleeting like a wave on the water. As warm as it is it certainly doesn't feel like summer is ending.

As long as the people keep coming and the weather stays nice, we'll be keeping the boat rentals going into the fall months of September. It's "soothing employment" as Thoreau called it to bask in the warmth of the sun, overlooking the pond while shoving boats and canoes around throughout my days. I couldn't find a more peaceful utopia. As Muir wrote in his classic, My First Summer in the Sierra, "Weariness rested away, and I feel eager and ready for another excursion a month or two long in the same wonderful wilderness. Now, however, I must turn toward the lowlands, praying and hoping Heaven will shove me back again."

If you want to go on a canoe or kayak trip at Sly Park 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

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CLOSE ENCOUNTERS

Photo by Josh Bastyr @steeringsouth via ViralHog

Crews this past month have begun working on clearing away the tons of rock and rubble that have blocked the bike trail alongside Lake Natoma since 2017 when winter storms caused a landslide to cover parts of the trail between the Nimbus Dam and Negro Bar Recreation Area that is within California State Park's Folsom Lake SRA just east of Sacramento.

"We're finally fortunate enough to have a contract executed that will start the first phase of the project," Rich Preston, state parks superintendent told ABC 10, "This first phase will last a couple weeks during the initial cleanup, but the trail is going to remain closed until we can do the rest of the stabilization."

Negro Bar Recreation Area

State parks officials say the trail should be back open later this year, but so far no specific date has been  given.

Since the landslide area, many area bikers have ignored the warning signs and climb over a rocky trail to continue on their way, while local paddlers on the lake likewise came up for a closer look. But after seeing three sensational online videos of up-close encounters with massive collapses of ice and rock along the shoreline one might not be to tempt in getting up close.

In Alaska, kayakers, Josh Bastyr and Andrew Hooper, who operate the YouTube channels Steering South and Home With the Hoopers, respectively, ventured out near Spencer Glacier this month. The 11-mile long glacier rises about 3,500 feet above a glacial lake in the Chugach National Forest, located just 60 miles south of Anchorage, Alaska.

As reported by ACCUWEATHER, the two were paddling around the area, when they heard the sound of calving in the distance.
“We keep hearing calving happening and big splashes happening,” Bastyr explained as he narrated his video while paddling up close to the giant glacier. “It sounds like a gunshot going off. We’re going to try to get over to where we think it’s happening. It looks like that’s where it just happened.”

As they continue to move closer in front of the glacier, chunks of ice continued to break and fall in front of them, But moments later just like out of a Hollywood movie, a massive chunk crumbles away and careens into the water. On impact, an enormous splash sends an explosion of a spray of water and a huge wave in their direction.

“Oh my God, look at it,” Bastyr can be heard saying as he furiously paddles away from the scene. “Oh my God. Oh my God, we’re lucky to be alive right now.”
While some viewers to his Youtube channel will point out that the two were too close to the glacier for their safety, Bastyr does not disagree.

“It was the most intense thing I have ever experienced. We know we were way too close, and that we are lucky we didn't get hurt,” Bastyr wrote in follow up on his Facebook page.

Photo courtesy of Jon Smithers and Craig Blacklock

Meanwhile, also this month at Lake Superior's scenic view at the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore a tour group of 18 kayakers escaped injuring when a section of cliff broke away and fell leading to some frightening moments on the water.

Closest to the rockfall was paddler Maxim Rigaux who said it was the sound of the collapse he'll remember most.

"It was like experiencing an explosion from very nearby," he told WLUC-TV

The colorful sandstone cliffs of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore along with its beaches, sand dunes and waterfalls are a popular destination for kayakers on the big lake. Rising up some 200 feet over the lake,  the cliffs are a unique landscape that is shaped by the power of Lake Superior and are very susceptible to erosion from natural weather conditions along the lake.

In a television interview with WLUC-TV, Rigaux recounted how he started recording when he saw some small rocks falling from the cliff.

"We thought the worst was over, and then actually," he said,  I don't know why, but I just started recording another one,"

Moments later the massive rockfall started raining down into the lake, raising a plume of water and dust covering him and his kayak with a cloud of dirt

"You're beneath the massive rockfall and you have no idea how much more will fall down," he said. "It was quite frightening, especially for a few seconds."

At that same time, Jon Smithers, a nature and wildlife photographer from Saint Peter, Minn. was piloting a drone from a pontoon boat just outside park boundaries with fellow photographer Craig Blacklock when he turned the drone toward the sound just in time to see a huge rock shelf crumbling down and hitting the lake in an explosion of dust and water near the group of kayakers.

“I was really shocked,” Smithers told MLIVE.com, “I had never seen anything like that before. That entire shelf just fell off right in front of our eyes. It was just really incredible. The aroma of old dirt was just ridiculous. Honestly, that was as cool as seeing it fall.”

In all cases, experts urge caution whether hiking or paddling along cliffs or near glaciers. Staying on the trail and fighting the urge to get too close is key to safety.

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OVER THE BOW: HOT SPRINGS CREEK FALLS

Water is the most perfect traveller because when it travels it becomes the path itself! ---  Mehmet Murat ildan

I've always loved the sound the sight and sound of rushing water. The raw power of churning and boiling water through a constricted channel, pouring downward and beating away at anything in its path. Its foamy spray of fresh and rejuvenating cool mist and of course, its thunderous crescendo of rumbling and reverberation. As naturalist John Craighead maintained that the sound of distance rapids is a "primeval summons to primordial values." While Sigurd Olson suggests that running rapids will touch the wildness in your soul.

Yes, from the babble of the brook to the earthshaking crashing of whitewater the sight and sound fast-moving water has always called for me. Even back in the Midwest, where the sight of a quick-moving water gradient was a bit of novelty to me outside of Minnesota's North Shore. To see anything that even resembled a waterfall, I had to visit a dam site or wait for a thunderstorm to pour water through a culvert.

Photos by Deborah Ann Klenzman

So walking the Grover Hot Springs State Park Waterfall Trail with my wife Debbie, I was brimming with that same excitement with every step along the way. Located near Markleeville, California in the eastern Sierra, Hot Spring Falls is just one the highlights for the park known for its vista views of towering peaks, scenic meadow and a mineral pool fed by six hot springs.

It's roughly mile and a half hike to the falls over a trail that outside of few places where we had to do some minor rock climbing is not that difficult and good for hikers of all skills levels. The Burnside Lake Trail starts near the campground across portions of a newly created boardwalk with resting and viewing platforms through the sensitive meadow area. In other sections, the trail is reinforced with pack soil over crushed rock. We followed it all the way out of the park on to U.S. Forest Service land leading along Hot Springs Creek where the trail branched off to the falls.

Before long we heard the rumble of the first set of falls. Climbing over the rocks and boulders we climbed down from the trail to the first set of falls along the way to enjoy the spray of the cold icy waters after our hike on a hot summer day by kicking off our shoes and dipping our toes in the pools below the chilly shower.

The stream cascaded down through a series of rocky outcrops, giving the effect of it's many waterfalls rather than just one, We continued to follow the creek up to the next fall and tranquil pool before finding another, which proved to be by far the most awe-inspiring view of cascade of the the trail. It certainly made the hike's scratches and sore feet all seem worth it as we admired its sight.
Dropping vertically from its cradle of rock and trees, the falls poured over the ledge in a magnificent fashion. I tossed off my shoes once again to relish in the falls, to feel its cold damp rock, be deafen by its thunder and bathe in its spray.

As contemporary Turkish playwright, novelist and thinker Mehmet Murat Ildan wrote, "Waterfalls are exciting because they have power, they have rainbows, they have songs, and they have boldness and craziness!” I can only agree. They are truly one of creation most magical and breathtaking sceneries. Their power, roar, and brilliance in nature's tranquility will always beckon me to travel their waterfall trails.

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, we would love to see it. Submit it to us at nickayak@gmail.com

#JustAddWater

Wow! What a great way to end a trip to Loon Lake. Came home to have my fabulous prize from @nrsweb and @kleankanteen waiting at the door for being a lucky winner in the #JustAddWater contest. Thanks, guys!

How can you #JustAddWater to your summer adventures? Tell them in a post on Facebook or Instagram, include #JustAddWater and tag (@nrsweb) and you’re entered! They are awarding weekly winners all summer, plus one amazing grand prize including a full SUP package from us, and gear from Chaco, ENO, Klean Kanteen, Ruffwear, and Yakima Racks. Learn more at nrs.com/justaddwater

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LOON LAKE ANTHOLOGY

“To be whole. To be complete. Wildness reminds us what it means to be human, what we are connected to rather than what we are separate from.” --- Terry Tempest Williams

The wilderness serves as a common metaphor for a space or time of confusion, transition and growth according to both philosophers and theologians. The bible tells of the Israelite's struggle through temptation, chaos, and revelation as they wandered through it. In the new testament, Jesus does much of his ministry in an urban setting, but many of his most transformative moments occurred in outdoor settings on bodies of water, mountaintops, and deep in the wilderness. As American Bible Society's Jenny Phillips points out, "The wilderness of the Bible is a liminal space—an in-between place where ordinary life is suspended, identity shifts, and new possibilities emerge."

American naturalist and philosopher John Muir tells that the wilderness is a place for healing, inspiration, and renewal when he wrote, "Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul."

At 6,378 feet, Loon Lake sits about 100-feet higher than Lake Tahoe in the northern section of the Crystal Basin Recreation Area in the Eldorado National Forest along the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Offering pristine blue water, textured granite shore and awe-inspiring views one could find a no better wilderness for solitude and tranquility.

Nestled up close to the federally protected Desolation Wilderness, the reservoir created in the 1960s by the Sacramento Metropolitan Utility District is a popular recreation destination for camping, hiking, and kayaking.

As a kayak leader in Bayside Adventure Sports, a church-based outreach program to encourage Christians to connect in an outdoor setting. I have wanted to take some the group on a one-of-a-kind overnight camping and kayaking experience to the Loon Lake for quite some time. With the manta, GOD created the Earth. RIDE IT. CLIMB IT. CATCH IT. EXPLORE IT. PROTECT IT, I knew from my past visits to the lake it would be a great venue for a little recharging of their our own.

At the boat, my crew of John, Jim, Debbie, and Erin scanned the lake horizon, which seemed to be a treat to the eyes. Some patches of snow could be seen on the mountains, while the cobalt waters of the lake were brimming up against its rugged boulder-lined shoreline. I pointed to the northeast, far across the way to where we would camp. The only way to get there was either hike or paddle.

We paddled with the wind, around the peninsula to the northeastern part of the lake called Pleasant Lake. Mostly out of the wind, it would be where we would enjoy most of our time while camping and paddling on the lake. We kayaked to the boat-in campsite, landing our kayaks on a point of granite reaching out into the lake.

Over the next couple of days, we explored the coves, bays, and islands of the lake, slowing meandering around glaciers exposed granite boulders dotting the shoreline. While at night, we reclined along the rocky beach looking towards the sky while we enjoy breathtakingly stunning sunsets across the western horizon. It was an experience we will remember for our lifetimes.

In the firelight, with the stars only above we embraced the quiet and solitude of the wilderness. It was a time for us to bond as a group and draw us even closer in our relationship with God. Above a meteor shot across the sky before burning up into the boundless heavens. It was in that moment of tranquil bliss, I ponder these words of John Muir.

"Oh, these vast, calm, measureless mountain days, inciting at once to work and rest! Days in whose light everything seems equally divine, opening a thousand windows to show us, God. Nevermore, however weary, should one faint by the way who gains the blessings of one mountain day; whatever his fate, long life, short life, stormy or calm, he is rich forever."

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CANOE MORNING

Thus the Birch Canoe was builded

In the valley, by the river,

In the bosom of the forest;

And the forest's life was in it,

All its mystery and its magic,

All the lightness of the birch-tree,

All the toughness of the cedar,

All the larch's supple sinews;

And it floated on the river

Like a yellow leaf in Autumn,

Like a yellow water-lily.

  Paddles none had Hiawatha,

Paddles none he had or needed,

For his thoughts as paddles served him,

And his wishes served to guide him;

Swift or slow at will he glided.

---  from the Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

It was another quiet early weekend morning on the lake that I have come to look forward too. Just turning my truck into the park and driving with the windows down along the lake's conifer wooded shoreline as giving me a feeling of jubilation as the earthy scent of pine delights my scent of smell. It's the perfume of the forest. So sharp, so sweet, and ever so refreshing as anyone who has taken a therapeutic walk in the woods will tell you.

Arriving at the boathouse and to access I gazed down the path to the water below. The lake glistened a golden glow in the bright morning sun silhouetted by the rising row of pines. Where there were ripples on its surface there are brief flashes of diamonds. I inhale the view of tranquility taking in both its sight and sound. It's time to reset my body, mind, and soul because my rush to the lake is over.

I'm not the first, nor will I be last to find that elation about the beauty of water the forest. A nineteen century Wesleyan Missionary in Northern Canada Egerton Ryerson Young called it one of those sights that seldom comes to us in a life, where everything is in perfect unison.

"I was entranced by the loveliness of the sight," Young wrote in his book By Canoe and Dog-Train Among the Cree and Saulteaux Indians, "The reflections of the canoe and men and of the island and rocks were vivid as the actual realities. So clear and transparent was the water that where it met the air, there seemed to be only a narrow thread between the two elements. Not a breath of air stirred, not a ripple move."

The upper lake part of Lake Jenkinson is much narrower and quieter then its larger sister lake nestled in the picturesque setting of Sly Park near Pollock Pines, California. Divided by a narrow channel, the larger rounded lower lake is home to the speedboats, picnic, and campgrounds and swimming beach while the upper part features a path to a waterfall, two nesting eagles and in the morning when the lake is still, a place to canoe.

Where do we come from and where are we going?" wrote filmmaker and canoe guru Bill Mason, "There is no better place and no better way to follow this quest into the realm of spirit than along the lakes and rivers of the North American wilderness in a canoe.”

Pushing away from the dock at the boathouse, the Old Town canoe is transformed into a time machine with each quiet stroke of my wooden paddle as it takes me back to the way it used to be.  My morning solo paddles are a reflective time as I ponder the water, the trees, and the sky. In a way, it's sad that so many sleepy campers just up the way, miss this time on the water.

The calming emerald green waters design what looks like a moving painting as it ripples and shimmers and reflects on its fluid canvas. The gentle sound of my paddle dips and singing birds create a soothing magic of serenity. But then again, I have had a few mornings when a hurried fishing boat passes by with its droning engine desecrating the morning's tranquility and sanctuary. At this time of the morning, the only way to honor the lake and its transparent placid flat waters is by canoe with only a paddle.

“The movement of a canoe is like a reed in the wind," wrote canoeist and naturalist, Sigurd Olson, "Silence is part of it, and the sounds of lapping water, bird songs, and wind in the trees. It is part of the medium through which it floats, the sky, the water, the shores."

Sweeping my paddle, I glide among the ducks and geese at the little bay across from the boathouse. Below, I can look down into its crystal depths and see a few fish darting away from the movement of the canoe. If I'm lucky, one of the neighboring eagles will fly over while fishing the lake from above. I can't really go much further, nor do I really want too.

I find solace in the just floating idly in the little bay watching and listening to the creation about me. As writer John Graves pointed out, "Canoes, too, are unobtrusive; they don't storm the natural world or ride over it, but drift in upon it as a part of its own silence. As you either care about what the land is or not, so do you like or dislike quiet things. . . . Chances for being quiet nowadays are limited.”

Of course, the time is fleeting on the water. As the sun comes up, the park wakes up, as folks seek the relief of the lake's cool waters to escape the summer's blistering heat. I take a few more sips of my coffee before I make one big giant turning stroke back to the dock.


If you want to go on a canoe or kayak trip at Sly Park 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

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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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PYRANHA FRENZY: AN INTERVIEW WITH DAVE FUSILLI

Dave Fusilli left and Pete Delosa on the South Fork of the American River.

Whether it's river running, creeking or freestyle kayaking, Dave Fusilli says he loves all aspects of kayaking and admits it's pretty hard to narrow it down to any particular favorite when it comes his time on the river.
Growing up in Pennsylvania, he confesses that at first that he found kayaking a bit scary when mom and dad took him out. In college, however, Fusilli says he was bitten by the whitewater bug igniting his passion for the sport. From then on it was his mission to paddle much as possible. Since he's gone on to become a world-class boater and has paddled on some of the world's most demanding rivers.
A longtime employee of Pyranha Kayaks, he started his career with them on Team Pyranha, the company's sponsored group of whitewater specialists used to promote their boats and products, before switching to Pyranha's West Coast sales and distribution team

When he is not on the road, Fusilli can usually be found going rapid to rapid and bridge to bridge on the Little White Salmon River near his home in Oregon.
"The thing I love most about kayaking is being outside in some of the most beautiful places on the planet," said Fusilli, "Add to that the focus and respect one has to have with themselves as well as the natural world around you; it's a special sport for sure."

Photos Courtesy of Dave Fusilli

Fellow boater and Current Adventures Kayaking School & Trips instructor Pete Delosa says its guys like Fusilli who make the truly kayaking special.
"One thing that makes Fusilli stand out in the whitewater world is that no matter where he is kayaking it’s always evident that he is there to have fun," said Delosa, "Despite being one of the best creek boaters in the world he never turns his nose up at class II."

We caught up with Fusilli a couple of weeks ago at a demo day at The River Store to asked him about Pyranha, this year's big water and his paddling life.

OAM: You just made a big swing through California. With all the snow this winter the flows should be amazing all summer long. How has it been? Any favorite places you can't wait to get back too?
DF: Yeah there is a huge snowpack this year making for a very long season on CA! So far I have enjoyed the Kern, a few runs on the Middle Feather and a bunch of laps on the Upper Middle Consumnes! I can't wait to get back on the South Merced, Upper Cherry, and Royal Gorge. These runs are going to drop in maybe later than paddlers have seen ... possibly ever.

OAM: Tell us about your involvement with Pyranha.
DF: Pyranha... yeah I started paddling as a team paddler in 2006. From there I started helping organize our team and this added some income. That lasted up until the fall of 2017 when I added another role which brings us to today. I still help with the team, but also manage our West Coast warehouse, sales, and distribution for the West. I still do a lot of media for Pyranha as you might know. Some are specific edits, such as the 9R2 promo, but a lot more is to help keep the brand poppin.

OAM: You have been paddling for quite a while now so what your all-time favorite boat? What made it so special?
DF: I think my all-time favorite boat is the original 9R. The reason being is it was unlike anything I had ever paddled at that time and it changed whitewater kayak design. All brands chased and are still chasing the 9R. A boat with that much rocker that is that fast and flew out of drops like it does was just a whole new feeling. A very close second is the Ripper. I still really like freestyle kayaking and the Ripper allows me to be creative on the creeks where I live. It's so fun!

OAM: You seem to border on the outrageous in your exploits are you really that bold?
DF: I don't really know about that? I know lots of my friends that send it harder than I do. When I run something it seems to me like a pretty good to go line. I've been kayaking a long f*cking time as well so my perception may be a little different than most.

OAM: Who were your greatest influences? What advice did they give you?
DF: My Mom, Dad and a good old boy from PA, Jess Hartman were big influences when I was learning to paddle. My Mom said don't ever give up... or she more showed me that than said it. My Dad took me kayaking a lot, he still paddles. He also really showed me a passion not just for kayaking, but the outdoors in general. That lives deep, deep in me. Jess Hartman was huge at pushing me to the next step. I was very motivated, but so was he. We would paddle every day after a long day of raft guiding on the Lower Yough. Boofing, cartwheels, blunts... Jess helped me with all of this.

OAM: If you take anyone living or dead on an adventure with you, who would you take and where would you go?
DF: I would actually like to take all of our world leaders down 21 days in the Grand Canyon. We would do raft support, most of the side hikes and eat mushrooms a hand full of times. I think this would change the world. I'm totally down to do this if anyone could round these f*ckers up. I'd do it for free even.

OAM: How do you spend your offseason?

DF: I will kayak all winter long, but mostly from where I live. I love skiing and snowboarding and I will hit the gym a good bit. Lifting weights is cool and I think it helps to keep my body parts intact. I will probably go on some trip, but not sure where yet?

OAM: Where can you kayak in your neighborhood?
DF: I can walk to the White Salmon River from my house! This has been a dream since my last dream which was to kayak all over the country/world.

OAM: Describe your perfect day?
DF: Upper Cheery, but it flows right into Big Kimshew creek that then goes into Dinkey creek which flows into Manns creek, and into Skookumchuck at sunset (but somehow I'm now in my Carbon Jed), and into the Green Truss. I then walk to my house, sit on the back deck and drink a beer. Something like that.

You can keep up with Fusilli on Facebook and Instagram and watch his videos on Vimeo and YouTube. You can learn about Pyranha Kayaks and Team Pyranha by clicking on the links.

 

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