CHRISTMAS STARS

“Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childish days; that can recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth; that can transport the sailor and the traveller, thousands of miles away, back to his own fire-side and his quiet home!” ---Charles Dickens

It's officially winter now. We observed the winter solstice that happened earlier this week. For the last six months, the days have grown shorter, and the nights have grown even longer for us in the Northern Hemisphere. All of it leading up to the shortest day of the year this past Monday. In terms of daylight hours, last Monday was 5 hours, 24 minutes, shorter than the first day of summer this past June. But now that's all about to reverse. We will be adding a few moments of light added each day from sunrise to sunset.

John Taylor & Bayside Adventure Sports

 "The winter solstice has always been special to me as a barren darkness that gives birth to a verdant future beyond imagination," said American spiritual teacher and author, Gary Zukav, "A time of pain and withdrawal that produces something joyfully inconceivable, like a monarch butterfly masterfully extracting itself from the confines of its cocoon, bursting forth into unexpected glory."

As the calendar year turns and launches into a new year, there is no doubt we are hoping for some "unexpected glory." Especially after this past year of somewhat bleak darkness with this ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. But as everyone knows, it is on the darkest nights when the stars are the brightest. In the year 2020, the stars in my life as bright as ever.

In my kayaking universe, I look forward to every day on the water I can. Dan Crandall and the other superstars on Current Adventures Kayaking School and Trips have been there for guidance and encouragement all along the way. Despite Covid-19, we did have a busy summer of getting people on the water at Sly Park Paddle Rentals to enjoy the shimmer of Lake Jenkinson. We look forward to returning to our normal schedule of classes, tours, and moonlit paddles in 2021.

We had an unofficial of count over 30 paddling events with Bayside Adventure Sports this past year. Pretty good considering, Covid-19 took away a couple of months while quarantining. Of course, none of it would have been possible without our leaders John Taylor and Randy Kizer. Sure, I have some great ideas, but those two made it happen this year.
The highlights of the season were many. They included our annual Lower American River run, our camping kayaking trip to Loon Lake, and our always popular sunset and moonlit paddles on our area's lakes.

My wife, Debbie is and will always be my guiding star and inspiration. With her deep devotion to God and love for everything living great and small, I strive to be like her in mind and spirit. For the two of us, Christmas came early and twice this year. The first time in May with the birth of Maddie. And once again in October, with the birth of KDK. We are both excited to take the journey into being grandparents.

And I would like to thank our faithful readers of Outside Adventure to the Max.  I hope the future is now brighter for you all.

 Merry Christmas

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2020 IN REVIEW: PICTURES OF THE YEAR

 

I turned 60-years old this year. But in the year of Covid-19, the celebration ended abruptly. Like everyone, a lot of my plans were either canceled or put on hold. After orders to shelter in place spread across the country last spring, upending some of our favorite outdoor activities, we all soon learn to simply adapt. We made Zoom calls, hosted online events, and found ourselves saying, maybe next year when, things get back to normal, a lot.

“COVID-19 is not just a medical challenge," surmised writer Amit Ray, "But a spiritual challenge too. To defeat covid humanity need to follow the path of self-purification, compassion, nonviolence, God, and Nature.”

With the ongoing pandemic, this past year was a difficult one for us all. However, throw in a contentious election, the wave of shocking police brutality and continuing problems with race relations, along with global warming that caused havoc with West coast wildfires and hurricanes in the Southeastern part of the United States, 2020 will surely be remembered well into history. 

Lake Natoma

 Ironically the pandemic had a positive effect on the outdoors. Embracing the quarantine lifestyle and social distancing, many of us headed into our own backyards to explore again.
While kayaking, canoeing, and paddleboarding are considered to be a form of exercise, the practice of social distancing could easily be accomplished once on the water. The only problem that occurred was limited or challenging access to public waterways. Venues were locked down in the early part of the spring due to overcrowding.

By mid-summer, while our classes with Current Adventures Kayaking School & Trips had taken a hit, the boat rentals at Sly Park Paddle Rentals were packed every weekend as folks flocked to Lake Jenkinson to escape quarantining inside. Doing outdoor activities close to home amid the pandemic was a way for people to exercise their bodies, minds, and spirit. More than once, I told our customers once at the lake to enjoy the moments on the water. Paddle towards the sound of the waterfall and forget about the rest.

Like always, the highlight of the summer was my annual no-frills expedition to Loon Lake with Bayside Adventure Sports, a Christian-based outreach group. The lake trip was a perfect mix of kayaking, camping, and great friends. Not to mention, the lake views, sunsets, and star gazing were amazing.

By Autumn, Covid-19 restrictions were relaxed, but the fire season had once again erupted in California. Ugly clouds of smoke blotted out the sun and sent us back indoors due to air quality. More trips were canceled as campgrounds were shutdown.
It seems 2020, for will for me, will be thought of more for what I didn't do. Rather, than what I did. However, I did get to run South Fork of the American and a few times and had my first down a section on of Sacramento River.

The Lower American River

It was a difficult year, as we all learn to adjust to living under the guise of the pandemic. We have mastered the art of socially distancing, we wear our masks and smile with our eyes and wave to each other instead of offering a handshake or a hug. Boy, I miss the hugs. But even so, I have witnessed inspiration and perseverance from my family, friends, co-workers, and even strangers, as they haven't given up during these Covid times. Yes, Yes, 2020 will be remembered as a very weird year when the world came to a sudden halt. But for we overcame and just kept paddling on.

So as 2020 draws to a close, I look back at some of my favorite images from this past year. 

Lake Jenkinson

North Fork of the American River

Donner Lake

Lake Jenkinson

South Fork of the American River

Sly Park Paddle Rentals on Lake Jenkinson

Loon Lake

Lake Clementine

The Lower American River with Bayside Adventure Sports

Folsom Lake

Lake Jenkinson

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THE LAST JOURNEY HOME

Salmon are incredibly driven to spawn. They will not give up. This gives me hope. --- Kathleen Dean Moore

In the opening scenes of the 1992 film Last of the Mohicans, three hunters are on a frenzied chase through the forest. They are pursuing a bull elk that comes breaking through the trees, just as Hawkeye, played by Daniel Day-Lewis raises his rifle. With true aim, he brings down the creature with a startling crash. The breathless hunters are silent. There no cheers or accolades. Then in mournful sorrow, the Indian father pays tribute to the fallen elk by saying, "We're sorry to kill you, Brother. We do honor to your courage and speed, your strength."
That scene crosses my mind as I was paddling on the Lower American River and encountered the migrating Chinook or King Salmon. They were traveling up upriver from the Pacific Ocean to spawn.

As they had done for untold centuries, these creatures were completing their life cycle by spawning, laying eggs, and dying in their natal water, "Where they themselves had first known the quickening of life."
"It was the climax of existence," wrote naturalist Sigurd Olson after witnessing the eelpout spawn in Northern Minnesota, "The ultimate biological experience toward which everything previous was merely a preparation."  
Obeying their urges that were implanted in their genetic structure long ago, the salmons' entire life had led them to this supreme event. For eons, the salmon had spawning grounds of over 100 miles in the American River and its tributaries. But with Nimbus Dam just upstream, it is the end of the journey for these “wild salmon,” that avoid the fish ladder of the Nimbus Hatchery. Instead, they will lay and seminate eggs in gravel nests in shallows of the river beds.
At Sailor Bar, they find clean, cool, oxygenated, sediment-free fresh water for their eggs to develop. 

 The river was alive as it moves over the rocks with a quiet whisper. From my kayak, I watched the dazzling show of nature. The salmon were swimming against the flow of the current. I could see their single dorsal fins above the waterline. They were contorting their bodies and swishing their tail fins to clean any sediment in their nest area. It was like watching something prehistoric. This ritual to reproduce been has been practiced since the dawn of time.
"I have seen salmon swimming upstream to spawn even with their eyes pecked out, " wrote author and environmentalist Kathleen Dean Moore, " Even as they are dying, as their flesh is falling away from their spines, I have seen salmon fighting to protect their nests. I have seen them push up creeks so small that they rammed themselves across the gravel. I have seen them swim upstream with huge chunks bitten out of their bodies by bears. Salmon are incredibly driven to spawn. They will not give up. This gives me hope."

While spawning time celebrates the sheer primeval laws of procreation. It also marks the end of their life cycle. The salmon aging process has been accelerated as they migrate to the spawning sights like the American River's Sailor Bar. Scientists say it would be like if we as humans, aged forty years in two weeks. Most of them stop eating after they return to freshwater. Their bodies change. The male develops a hooked snout and a humped back. And in using every bit of energy they have for the return trip, they are simply exhausted, and they die.

As paddle back toward the lagoon of Sailor Bar, I came across one noble salmon lying motionless on the shallows more dead than alive. It was in the final moments of its epic life.
Like the hunters in The Last of Mohicans, I felt a certain melancholy as I witness the death of this river brother. I thought about its life of traveling in the distant ocean. How twice it swam twice under the Golden Gate Bridge. How it navigated the ocean dodging whales, seals, sea lions, and fisherman's hooks, and how it found its way back home to spawn.
Seagulls and turkey vultures were pecking and feasting on the numerous dead carcasses littering the riverway. No doubt this one would be soon included with those others. Its journey was now complete, as its body would provide vast amounts of nutrients back to the habitat. But not before I would say a prayer, to honor its courage, speed, and strength.
 

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NEW ADVENTURES ON THE SACRAMENTO RIVER & VIDEO

"I wanted to be the first to view a country on which the eyes of a white man had never gazed and to follow the course of rivers that run through a new land." ---Jedediah Strong Smith:

In 1828, mountain man, explorer, and trailblazer Jedediah Strong Smith led an expedition up the Sacramento River through the north end of California’s Central Valley. Thinking it was the Buenaventura River, a fabled waterway once believed to run from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean of what is now the western United States. In finding the river's true source, Smith believed he could link the east and the west with a water route by finding a waterway from coast to coast.
Of course, it didn't happen. As many explorers have found all water routes are more mythical than factual. Upon reaching a point on the river near present-day Red Bluff, California, the explorer determined it to be impassable and veered off to the northwest and the Pacific coast.

"April 10, 1828, I moved on with the intention of traveling up the Buenaventura but soon found the rocky hills coming in so close to the river as to make it impossible to travel. I went on in advance of the party and ascending a high point took a view of the county, and found the river coming from the Ne and running apparently for 20 or 30 miles through ragged rocky hills. The mountains beyond appeared too high to cross at that season of the year or perhaps at any other. Believing it impossible to travel up the river, I turned back into the valley and encamped on the river with the intention of crossing.” Jedediah Strong Smith

As a modern-day explorer, I can understand Smith's zeal for venturing into the unknown and discovering new places and remote sights. My wanderlust is always looking for different and unfamiliar rivers and lakes to explore. As J.R.R. Tolkien wrote, "Not all those who wander are lost.”
That being said, unlike Smith, the Sacramento River has been mapped, explored fished, and rafted by countless before us. Our roughly trip 25 mile trip from Anderson Riverside Park south of Redding to Bend Bridge Park north of Red Bluff is hardly the first descent. Because of its fast and lively flows, this section of the Sacramento River is extremely popular for canoeing, kayaking, and rafting. However, for everyone in our group of four paddlers, the riverway had been on a long bucket-list of one we wanted to explore.

Being California's longest river, the Sacramento offers frequent ripples, its share of standing waves and swirling whirlpools, and steady currents moving quickly in this semi-remote section of the river. Weaving southward past a few highway bridges, the river provides a cross-section of scenery along the way and able spots for camping on both sides of the river.

Likely, Smith didn't experience this section of the river. He turned off into history before exploring this section of the Sacramento River. But for the four of us, the river trip dared us for a new adventure of exploration and fresh horizon. As Astronaut Neil Armstrong said, "I think we're going to the moon because it's in the nature of the human being to face challenges. It's by the nature of his deep inner soul... we're required to do these things just as salmon swim upstream."

 

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BLESSINGS OF THANKSGIVING

 

 "My Thanksgiving is perpetual. It is surprising how contented one can be with nothing definite — only a sense of existence.” –-- Henry David Thoreau

 

In this Covid-19 world, there might some might think there is little to be grateful for. After all, we are amid a surging worldwide pandemic. The death toll continues to mount at staggering 244,00 Americans, which health experts say could double by spring. The economic numbers are just as bad, with millions of unemployed Americans as governors and mayors across the U.S. are ratcheting up restrictions in the onslaught of the virus resurgence.
I reflect on those who have died and those who have fought to survive while being sick. I think about the overwhelmed healthcare providers and the ordinary people who are struggling without paychecks.

That is what was crossing my mind as I took a quiet morning paddle along a stretch of the American River just last weekend. It was a brilliant California mid-fall day with not a cloud in the sky. Storms would be bringing rain and snow in the week ahead. But that day provided an unusual view of the glistening Sierra Nevada Mountains to the east.
The customary array of waterfowl joined on the water. Big Canadian geese with blackheads and white cheeks come begging for food in the Sailor Bar lagoon, while white and grey seagulls canvass the shallows of the river. A blueish-grey great blue heron stands motionless on one leg at the water's edge while a small brood of merganser race by across the water. The dashing male wood duck with his intricate plumage of a green head and brown has caught the eye of two females, who look a little drab next to their male counterparts. Along the rocks of the shore, one small sandpiper hops along the rocks while soaring up above the half dozen turkey vultures circle in the sky.

 
A deer followed by another come out to the river's edge. Curiously both study me, till they decide, I'm a bit too close for their comfort, and they wandered back into the brush.
In the shallows, I catch sight of Chinook salmon migrating back home to spawn. I ponder the journey they have made after wandering huge distances in the ocean for several years only to swim back upstream to their original birthplace. Scientists have various theories about how this happens. Some believe that salmon navigate by using the earth’s magnetic field as a compass. Others suggest chemical cues that they can smell to find their way back to their home stream.

Like the salmon, we are pulled back to thoughts of home at Thanksgiving.
“There is one day that is ours. There is one day when all we Americans who are not self-made go back to the old home to eat saleratus biscuits and marvel how much nearer to the porch the old pump looks than it used to," wrote writer O. Henry.
Certainly, Covid-19 and some newly placed restrictions might make being home for traditional Thanksgiving gatherings hard for some of us to navigate this year. But we still shouldn't lose perspective of being thankful for what we have, even in these Covid times. As writer Charles Dickens wrote, “Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has plenty; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.”

So on this Thanksgiving, I plan on making a few phone calls to my parents and having a few video chats with my children to see my new granddaughters that were both born this year. Madilyn came in the spring, while KDK arrived in the fall. Both are beautiful, healthy babies making both my wife and I very proud and grateful grandparents.
And maybe after a nice dinner, I will spend some time on the river to reflect on all the things, big and small, that I'm thankful for.

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A VOTE FOR RIVERS

My favourite places on earth are the wild waterways where the forest opens its arms and a silver curve of river folds the traveller into its embrace. --- Rory MacLean

Election 2020

 "Elections are like rivers, framed by what has happened in the past and full of possibility for the future. This year’s election is no exception," wrote American Rivers' President Bob Irvin on the nonprofit organization's website this week. He was being hopeful for the country and its rivers that he pledged to protect.
We certainly see his point in comparing the 2020 election to a river. A wild river at that, fill with its share waterfalls, rapids, whirlpools, and rocks. And even now that it appears that Joe Biden is our president-elect it is still not a smooth ride. President Donald Trump is doing everything he can to obstruct and delay the transition of power. However, the voters have spoken, and their message was clear. The Trump presidency will end on Jan. 20, 2021.

Expect the Biden administration to restore scientific integrity and take action on climate change, environmental justice, biodiversity, and other pressing concerns. That's goods news, advocates say for our rivers and waterways after four years of substantial damage to rivers and clean water done by the Trump administration and their policies.
Irvin says that the election of Joe Biden presents a historic opportunity to protect and restore the nation’s rivers and ensure clean water for all.
"By uniting around healthy rivers, we can improve public health and safety, create jobs, and improve lives in communities nationwide,” wrote Irvin.

Rivers Win!

The presidential election grabbed all the headlines, however a few waterways came away as winners during this election as voters in Florida, Colorado, and California endorsed new protections for waterways or property taxes that will fund water projects.
Residents of Orange County, Florida, voted overwhelmingly in favor of changing the county charter to give legal protection to rivers. Passed with 89 percent of the vote, the amendment applies to the Wekiva and Econlockhatchee Rivers and other county waterways. It grants the waterways the right to be free from pollution and the right to exist. It allows citizens to file lawsuits on behalf of the waterways to enforce those rights.
Similar to the Lake Erie bill of rights that Toledo, Ohio, that voters approved in 2019 and a federal judge threw out for being “unconstitutionally vague.” The Orange County amendment will also face challenges after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill in July that prohibits local governments from recognizing the legal rights of the environment. 

In Colorado, residents of the state's 15-county Western Slope region approved a property tax increase proposed by the Colorado River District by nearly 73 percent of the vote. The property tax increase will provide nearly $5 million annually for protecting water supplies for farmers and ranchers, drinking water for Western Slope communities, and rivers for fish, wildlife, and recreation.
“This is a big win for the Colorado River, the two River Districts, and the future of Colorado’s water supplies," Matt Rice, American Rivers Colorado Basin Director, told American Rivers, "The overwhelming support for these measures shows that Coloradans value healthy rivers for our environment, economy, and our future. In a polarized election season, we proved that water, and rivers, connect us.”
According to American Rivers, the Colorado River drives a 3.8 billion dollar recreation economy, generates over 26,000 recreation-related jobs, and irrigates thousands of acres of farmland.
While in Santa Clara County, California, preliminary results show that voters have renewed a property tax that funds watershed projects. Measure S had 75 percent support as of Wednesday morning, needing a two-thirds majority to pass. The tax, which does not have an expiration date, provides about $45.5 million annually for Santa Clara Valley Water District’s flood protection, wildlife habitat restoration, and pollution prevention. It will also assist with repairs to Anderson Dam, which is at risk of failure in an earthquake.

Let's Howl

Along with those victories came one for wolves, too. Colorado voters narrowly approved a ballot initiative, Proposition 114, which will require the state's parks and wildlife department to develop a restoration and management plan for the reintroduction of gray wolves that were hunted to extinction by the1940s.

“Reintroducing wolves will restore Colorado's natural balance,” Jonathan Proctor, a conservationist with the group Defenders of Wildlife, which assisted the Rocky Mountain Wolf Action Fund in passing the measure, told  National Geographic.
The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Department will lead the effort to establish a sustainable population of the animals in the western part of the state beginning in 2022 or 2023. It is the first time a state has voted to reintroduce an animal to the ecosystem. It comes less than a week after the Trump administration removed federal protections from gray wolves across the country.

Do You Have The Correct Time?

California voters determined to participate in our democracy and make their voices heard showed up at the polls this year in record numbers. But as the old saying goes, the wheels of government turn slowly but grind exceedingly fine. Case in point, California voters did pass Proposition 7 in 2018 by 62% to change daylight saving time. We'd stay on the spring-forward schedule year-round and paddle later in the light of day.

But keep your headlamp handy, because even though Californians did vote to end the clock switching, the California State Senate needs to pass this by a two-thirds vote and they haven't yet. And even if it did get passed in California, the federal government then needs to approve it. This year, we switched back to standard on Nov. 1  and will once again spring forward on March 14, 2021.

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OVER THE BOW: LAKE NATOMA

 A very great vision is needed, and the man who has it must follow it as the eagle seeks the deepest blue of the sky.  ---Crazy Horse

It was an unseasonably warm fall day last month when my wife Debbie and I were paddling on Lake Natoma. On the north shore, we came along the pair of bald eagles sitting in the trees above. I reveled with exhilaration as I watched them loom over the lake, taking in the sights and sounds of everything below them. Then lifting their wings, one after another, they took to the sky, passing overhead on a low flyover to my elation.

"You certainly get excited about seeing eagles," Debbie said, "Didn't you see a lot back in Minnesota?"

I thought about that while floating along as I watched the eagles disappear from sight. During most of my life, I went without seeing bald eagles anywhere. The bald eagle population crashed in the 1950s and 1960s through the use of DDT pesticides. It was determined that DDT and its residues were poisoning bald eagles, causing eggshell thinning that resulting in many failed nesting attempts for the raptors. By the late 1960s and early 1970s, the bald eagle was listed as an endangered species. According to the American Bird Conservancy, in 1963, when the species was at its lowest ebb, there were only an estimated 417 breeding pairs of bald eagles in the lower 48 states.

But with improved environmental stewardship and federal protection, our national bird has made rebounded across the United States. This includes the growing population in California. According to the California Department of Fish & Wildlife, bald eagles can be found in 41 of the state's 58 counties, mostly at lakes, reservoirs, rivers, and some rangelands and coastal wetlands.
 

So yes, with the magnificent bird's comeback, it has allowed more people to get a glimpse of one more often so, it might not be considered unusual like before. But it still does not take away my excitement of seeing one. To Native Americans, the bald eagle serves as a messenger between humans and the Creator. While in the Judeo-Christian faith, the eagle soaring to many offers a theological perspective of restoration, reliance, and hope. The prophet Isaiah wrote, "But those who wait on the Lord will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint."

I think to see one a majestic raptor usually relates to good vibes of positivity and excitement for just about anyone. Like John Denver, sang in his hit song Rocky Mountain "I know he'd be a poorer man if he never saw an eagle fly," we all become a bit richer when we see these creatures.

A few days later, I was a leading group of paddlers across the Northern California lake when I caught a glimpse of the whitetail and the white head of one of the bald eagles. A pair of bald eagles have successfully nested along the bluffs of Lake Natoma since 2017.
Their nesting site is a popular area to viewing from a kayak where boaters can see the bird sitting high above. But that night, I had the good fortune to observe the bird near the water level. It was perch in a low hanging tree along the bank.

As I slowly tried to creep forward in the water, I witnessed a double treat of nature. A beaver swam below the fallen tree. While the eagle might not have been concerned about my presence, but the highly territorial beaver was. The beaver slapped its tail against the water with a loud smack and splash. It was a warning to other beavers, but also to the eagle about my proximity to them both.
It took the flight back to its lofty roost on the bluff, flying over my small group of thrilled paddlers.
I paddled away just a richer for the experience of having nature in my own backyard.

The Friends of Lakes Folsom and Natoma, a volunteer group that works in conjunction with State Parks to educate visitors about the eagle and their nesting site. If you would like to learn more about the eagles, check out their brochure New Friends of Lakes Folsom and Natoma Bald Eagle brochure.

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