What is better...

than paddling on the east coast in the fall?

I’m back in Asheville after about ten days on the road. I love Asheville and, like always, I am glad to be home. Seeing my family in Virginia was nice. I got some much needed wardrobe updates, thanks to my stylish sisters… got to spend some quality time with my mom and candy... and helped get Stryder acclimated to his new traveling lifestyle with his new family by taking him on his first road trip. Special thanks to my sister's psycho dog Molly for not trying to kill my dogs... this time. And, yes, Jason won the ‘name’ battle. For some reason the name Stryder wasn’t sitting well with me, but I spent the weekend on the Gauley and after riding in the shuttle with Jeff Snyder, his disbelief and enthusiasm over the first dog he had ever met named ‘strider’ made me laugh, and for the first time, a little glad that I let Jason have his way on this one.

So now I’m coming off two awesome days paddling the Gauley with Gordon, a great friend from Virginia… and I get home and start to do some work and… what do you know? The green is running 200%. Have I mentioned how much I love Asheville? I get a persuasive call from Molly early in the afternoon. It was going to be her first time down the green at 200, and I couldn’t resist. After spending a few days in my playboat, getting back into my H3 felt so good and completely perfect. We had an awesome run… and although I’m incredibly sore, I'm so happy I was able to join her.

In the only unfortunate news I have to report right now, it looks like Jason won’t make it back in time for the Gauley Festival this weekend. I should hear the official word shortly, but its not looking promising. I miss my man and I am so ready for him to be home, but the California jobs are plentiful right now and the pay is almost impossible to pass up… so I guess I just have to be patient. I’m going to start brainstorming some ways to make him proud… I’m just not sure I can referee boxing matches. Hopefully something else good will come to mind by the weekend.

Ciao.

Fall Settling In...

Since Jason is in San Diego I decided it was time to get in a little family lovin’. It has definitely been a good decision. I always feel so peaceful and calm and like my life makes so much sense when I spend some time at home. The last few days have been great. Saturday we went to a quasi Rice Family reunion at a wine tasting event in Shenandoah. It was nice to see my grandma, uncles, aunts and cousins again… the first time in a long time. The best part about family, even extended family, is that no matter how much time passes, once you see them its almost like no time past at all. I am very grateful for that.

I went running at Great Falls yesterday morning. The water was so low and seemed so friendly… much different than this time last year when near-record rainfall kept the river at sustained high levels all fall. I thought a lot about Todd. The year anniversary of his death is approaching and even though I think about him every time I go kayaking, returning to Great Falls was significant and different somehow. Not negatively different, just different. I felt like I should honor him, but couldn’t think of anything that seemed appropriate. Maybe someday soon it will be clearer.

I think I will go to the Gauley this weekend. I am ready to go kayaking and a trip there will surely confirm what I’ve been feeling the last week or so… fall is settling in. I can sense the trees know of its impending arrival and even the air is starting to smell differently. I wonder if I am going to have to wear a drytop soon? The warm water on the Green has surely spoiled me these last few weeks.

I miss Jason and I am ready for him to be home… looks like that will be just in time for the Gauley Festival the weekend of the 24th...which I’m sure is good news to all the boxing aficionados out there…

Until then.

Home Sweet Home

Where to start...Let me see…

August 25th. I managed to slip in Linville Gorge at 3.1 on the internet gauge while job searching. It was super fun but I am glad everyone kind of knew the run. I paddled with Nate Elliot, Willie Kern, Pat Keller and Scott Harky. Jessie came along but decided that “very high water” was not the best intro to Linville Gorge. Plus we put on at a smooth 3:15pm and got back to the car at about 7:45.
Since then, I have managed to run the Green River Narrows at 200% several times, which is equivalent to 18 inches on the gauge Dinver McClure slipped in for the boys. No more “I ran the Green at 336% today.” That Green River oddity is out. How many inches? Did you run all the Big ‘Uns? Actually, now that I think about it … I ran the Green at 200% 4 times, calling Little Dave every time. I only ran it once at 100% which is 9 inches, since Linville. I plan on running it twice today. Don’t forget I am job hunting, I’d really like to be running it two or three times a day. It is nice being home though, and nice having alternative living options right out my front door. I have been mountain biking at least every other day, and when sometimes combining that with kayaking it makes for a very happy Jason.
Yes, it has been an amazing Carolina Summer with all the usual goods, and one new good. I have been spending a lot more time running. I have been running ‘cause I found this dog on the way to Cold Mountain with Nate Elliott and Al G. He is a German Sheppard and Malamute(?) mix, approximately 1.5 years old. I call him Strider or Hawkeye but never Gulliver. He “has balls and will travel.” So I run to keep him close.
What else? I think I am probably going to San Diego for a month to work, if all goes well, and then be back for some Gauley Fest Racing and Russell Fork Racing. Can’t do Costa Rica. Can’t do Stakine. Can’t do anything until I get my finances and company and house in order. All good things though.
Until then I will continue to kayak, work, bike and love on my hot little lady. It keeps me prepped for some future Big Action…

way overdue.... the latest

Where the Wind Blows and the Sunshine is no Game...

I have been zipping around working, kayaking and doing the family duties of this young Alabama boy. Last time we palavered, I was headed to Asheville and Alabama. Let’s start there…

I arrived at Asheville Regional Airport(they need to hire Southwest) to be picked up by Al Gregory. He drove me home to a place that I have not seen in 5 months. How strange… It has not changed much. It is late. I go to bed knowing that I arrived at a very convenient time. High Water Toxaway River tomorrow and maybe even the day after.

I wake up early due to some time changes. Toby McDermott is on my couch. Tanya Faux is in the guest bedroom. Nikki Kelly and John Grace are in the Treehouse. Before I know it, Tommy Hilike, Daniel Delavergne, Nate Elliott and Jennifer Cribbs are at my house ready for some action. John, Nikki and Tanya are packing for Russia. We swindled John with the need for Toxaway but Nikki and Tanya stay home and pack. Little Jen Cribbs is our special shuttle bug and we say “thank you, Big Big.”

We get to the put-in of the Toxaway River to find Pat Keller, Scott Harkey and their buddy from South Africa. They are waiting on us with their boats unloaded. Toxaway River is tooo high. The best quote is… “We can all go and some of us will make it, but someone is going to have a bad day.” Next river please…Horsepasteur too low but Whitewater is just right. This is great. I fly back to my home zone and get to paddle something fresh. Virginity is mine. The Whitewater was awesome and there is always Toxaway tomorrow.

John Grace is one day out from leaving for Russia, so he is out for day two but we still have Nate, Toby, Tommy, Pat, Scott and myself. First and foremost we run the first big slide and not the one Pat Keller ran(Can you say Big BIG?) and after the slide, Tommy and I are paddling and Tommy says, “You wanna here something wild?” When have I ever not wanted to hear something wild. I nod yeah and he smiles and He says in his proudest voice, “Polly and I are having a baby.” I smile, congratulate and recognize that my young pal Tommy is a ever changing-growing-soon-to-be-daddy. Congratulations Tommy and Polly and thank you BIG BIG that it isn’t my daddyhood arising on the horizon. Not yet anyhow.

All in all the day was awesome except for the fact that I bent the nose of Al Greggory’s boat, flipped and ran one rapid backwards. I busted my nose and eye at Wintergreen Falls after Tommy is jumping up and down yelling at me ”Run that motherfucker just like that!!!” This was after Pat Keller had just ran the rapid perfffffect. Speaking of Pat Keller- I have not seen anyone paddle as well and on there “Go Game” as Pat Keller. He also ran 40/40 that day as everyone else did the walk. Tommy hurt his ribs at Wintergreen and is take-out bound. We get there and go to check out this creek/waterfall which I stop short of and begin to head back to the take-out for my 4mile trek to the car. Al G let me use his roll-carriage system since my tote system is in Reno and my ankle is still broken (see previous post) and it does not like the idea of the hike at all. I get there and Nate and the boys arrive from the waterfall. It was too low. Nate says “we can push/pull the cart if you want?” Oh yeah. I need water so I drink the Toxaway and still my bowels are fine… We start going and I realize that Nate is in much better shape than me. I am starting to get leg and side cramps. We have to stop several times and then our cart dies. We separated the boats and let the toting begin. I am bonking. I tell myself just give it 1000 steps. I make it to about 333 and toss Al’s boat in the bushes. I gut the kayak and begin wobbling toward the take-out with my paddle and gear. I get to the road and see No car/truck and choose to walk right. Wrong choice. I walk for a couple miles and then hitch a ride and the guy tells me I need to go the other way. He gives me a ride and my legs and hands are cramping. I get back and Pat’s truck is there but Pat is looking for me. I walk up the trail blowing my whistle for about 30minutes and then bail back to the truck. Pat arrives soon enough. I tell my story and he laughs. We were supposed to be back at Tommy’s by 4:30pm but it 6:45pm and the boys have left. Pat gives me a ride and then we make it to Tommy and Polly’s announcement party at about 9:45pm where the food is limited, people are heading home and my cramps are worsening. I can’t sit down for any period of time or I cramp like a kid at football camp. I can’t drink beer cause I might puke. I go back the next day, retrieve Al’s kayak and make the journey from truck to truck in 39minutes. How lame. I hate giving up like that but sometimes we all find our limits. I seem to just encounter mine more often then my pals.

After the kayak recovery, I can’t make the Green and have to head south to Bama. I get there and spend three days helping my mom/dad move from one house to a storage unit and my sister’s house(mom and dad will stay here until they buy another one). I go to my newphew Maxwell’s 5th birthday party which is lots of fun at PUMP IT UP. This is a kinda Space Bounce phenomenon but more. After this I fly back to Reno to meet Jessie and hopefully catch up on some kayaking.

My little sugar pie is off with Scott Lindgren, Jenning Steger, Rusty Sage and Lizzy English in Oakhurst and paddling some rivers. That a girl. I drive Lizzy’s car there in the daytime without a/c and I sweat balls. Later, Lizzy complains cause her seat is wet from sweat. Rule #2…It is all about the juices. I arrive and the adventures of Chiquito Creek begin. Before Chiquito begins I catch up on some loving from Jessie and give up some blood to the local mosquitoes of Oakhurst CA.

The first day sucks on Chiquito but we have traded Jenning and Lizzy for some kayaker boys, Polk Deters and Andrew Holcombe.. Chiquito turned out to be a portage mongrel and for some reason we tried to do another section the second day and Jessie decided she had already had enough from Day One and ran shuttle (smart little lady) and let me say loud and clear—“CHIQUITO HAS NO BANANAS.” The second day was 9 hours of portaging with 2 decent rapids. The river went underground TWICE. I am thinking this is some good leg work. We hiked up. We hiked down. We hiked around. We hiked up. We hiked down. We hiked around. We even hiked on the actual dry riverbed. We made the trip and had mexican food in Oakhurst. We discuss where and what to do next, for my time is short before I get back to work. We go to Tenaya Creek and she was too low and that kinda wraps up the cycle of kayaking and Jessie, Riley and I head to Hemet, CA for a little work.

I work eight days and then fly back to Birmingham for a “HALE” Family Reunion in Doyline, LA. I ride with my brother-in-law John to Louisiana and let the good times rooooolll. Saturday night my dad’s cousin Steve Hale has a outdoor party with good food and plenty of liquor. I help everyone get the buzz with lemondrops and even do a shotgun with my cousin Jason Hale. But for the climax of the evening, Steve has a band and they play but get this…. His band’s name is TIGHT MONKEY. I have never ever met anyone who does not like TIGHT MONKEY. It was also Steve’s anniversary and 50th birthday. We also celebrated the fact that everyone loves TIGHT MONKEY, and they put on quite a performance. I love the Hale family.

Enough of that for now. We make it back to Bama Sunday and then I fly back to Reno on Monday. I hopefully will get some kayaking in this go around. Jessie picks me up 1.5 hours late. That is my girlfriend. Good thing I had a book and it was only 103 degrees outside. We head to Jay Kincaid and Lisa Beckstead’s house to pick up the remainder of our belongings and we say thank ya. We drive to Little Dave Garringer’s house trying to get some kayaking organized. Benny Coleman shows up and we roll out. Two trucks, a dog, a chick and three dudes… what else are we missing? Lizzy of course. She meets us at Casa Loma for some Cherry Creek Proper kayaking. We all manage to meet for breakfast and use Jessie’s truck and Lizzy’s car for shuttle. We put in and it is an awesome run at somewhere between 2000cfs and 2300cfs. No swims and lots of fun, though Lizzy’s car gets a flat tire on the takeout road and we are forced to hike out in 124 degree heat in the sun. The next day we are hoping for North Stanislaus but it is still too high. Benny decides to spend the day scouting Upper Cherry, which leaves me and Little Dave with the ladies for Cherry Proper run number 2. The day was awesome. The lunch break was romantic. Little Dave swam right after lunch in the largest hole on the river that he sent Benny through the day before. Seems he should have saved a little something for the river instead of leaving it at the lunch stop.

The girls get the boat. I get the paddle and Little Dave smiles and laughs as always. Just so you know…Captain Cankles tried to get me to run that hole. But since the ladies have been in the SLP kayaking program, they have been leading when on the river and I was following my girl around the hole. Well that does it for this kayak session and here I sit at the Best Western in Hemet, CA getting ready to go to work for about 4 more nights and then off to Upper Cherry Creek and then who knows where the wind may blow…

I have learned the last several weeks…
That rivers come and go.
Families rock and roll.
Friends always try to make friends see..
Happiness is my goal.
And…
Everyone loves TIGHT MONKEY.

While the dog is away - the cat will play...

What can I say? I had a rough week of work and Jason is away and I was feeling depressed and couldn’t think of any better remedy than to go kayaking. So I decided to give myself a long three-day weekend and get out of town….

Saturday June 18th – I am in Reno. I wake up at 6:00 am (a shocking feat for me) and head down to Chili Bar on the South Fork of the American to meet Brian Good and Little Dave. I find the boys at the River Store early in the morning and they are being accompanied by some pretty ladies (Annie and Jordan) and Andrew Holcomb. The river was over 4,000 cfs and the play was better than any of my previous trips. After spending nearly all day on the water and paddling to the point of exhaustion at First Threat, our group decided to head to the Placerville County Fair. Jordan, Annie and I were excited to eat cotton candy and ride the ferris wheel while the boys were more interested in the plethora of 16 year-old girls and Budweiser. But the fair seemed to suit us all… and even though I wasn’t able to convince Annie to join me in a hay-bailing contest against some of the area’s finest women hay bailers (and no, I am not kidding) – I did manage to convince her to ride the fair’s main attraction … a mechanical bull. My legs are still sore and if you want more information just ask Charlie Center for the video. I’m scared to watch.

Sunday June 19th – I wake up and I am ready to paddle. I wasn’t interested in another Chili Bar run, but that seemed to be the consensus among the rest of group. Not knowing what to do – I call Lizzie. Lizzie – you are the best, thanks for coming through. She was supposed to find a job and meet some college advisors and important stuff like that… but she is a true kayaker and it only took me about five minutes to get her to agree to meet me at the put-in to the South Yuba, 49 to Bridgeport section. Even though we didn’t have anyone else to run it with, the level had dropped enough that I felt we could do it comfortably alone. But we lucked out. At the put-in I ran into some guys from Seattle that Jason and I had paddled with in the Northwest... Justin Tatosian and Ethan and company. They were in the middle of running shuttle and seemed more than happy to let Lizzie and I tag along with their crew. It was perfect timing. We had another great day on the river. After taking out, I touched base with my favorite California girl, Jenning, and she invited me over to her house for a BBQ and to watch a little Pistons/Spurs action. Since Ben Wallace is my other boyfriend – I thought it sounded like the perfect way to round out a perfect weekend. We get to their house just in time for a gourmet grill feast and one of the best basketball games I’ve seen in a long time.

Monday June 20th – Lizzie and I wake up early and I check my messages. Justin and the rest of the Seattle crew were planning to run Fordyce Creek. I call them with just barely enough time for us to load the car and meet them at the take-out. Little Dave decides to join Lizzie and I so the three of us make the trek to Lake Spaulding. I’d heard rumors of a locked gate to the put-in because the road may still be snowed in… but we had access to a key somehow and were optimistic that the road would be passable… but we were just kidding because, as it turns out, the road is definitely not passable… and it looks like it will be a few more weeks before any vehicle could make it through. But our group was pretty determined and we’d made it up the road far enough… so we decided to hike the remaining 2 to 3 miles. Our trek to the put-in turned out to be fun as we got to snow-kayak down some hills, paddle across some lakes and hike over some classic California granite. At the put-in Lizzie realizes her Dagger Nomad is missing some pieces and almost hikes out. Rescue Little Dave springs into action for the first time in what would be many times during this trip and helps her with some repairs. We put on the river and come to the first rapid in about 100 yards. Not feeling quite ready to run some big drops, I portage along with a few others and then the run really feels like it starts. No one in our group had ever been down Fordyce before and none of us realized how long of a day we had on our hands, especially given the necessity of hiking in. But we paddled through many rapids, scouting a lot, portaging a little… we had a few problems which were all solved by Rescue Little Dave. One guy broke his paddle. One guy lost his boat in the river while scouting. I lost my paddle above a huge strainer. Lizzie dropped her boat into the river on a portage. Thank you Little Dave for keeping us together – I seriously don’t know what we would have done without you! We ended up getting to the take-out just before dark settled in and just in time to be swarmed by about 35,293 mosquitoes. Lizzie and I head back to Little Dave’s house around midnight and eat frozen pizza and I fall asleep before my head even hit the pillow.

And now I am back at work for a few days and already thinking about what to run this weekend...

Transitions

Getting ready. Packing. Moving on. The last few days have been spent putting the unessentials in boxes, fixing the truck and getting ready to hit the road for a few weeks. I'm in Reno, NV and Jason is in Alabama and neither of us knows where the next leg of our journey will take us - but one thing is for sure, we are both glad to get out of the desert before summer settles in. Although with temperatures today in the 60s and rain on its way - its almost hard to imagine that will ever happen.

Today I'm busy working. The water levels in California remain high, so there is a lot of strategy involved in picking the right run. Tomorrow I'm headed to Coloma, CA with Brian Good and Little Dave for some Pyranha demos and Chili Bar play... and then...???? Jason was in NC yesterday and hit the Toxaway at high water - he said his eye is cut to pieces and he broke another boat!?! I will try to rally him for a story as it is sure to be a good one.

Until then...

South Branch of the Middle Fork of the Feather

South Branch of the Middle Fork of the Feather River….A fresh one for me…

Blogging forward past 6 days of nursing and 4 days of shoo shoo straight ahead. I get off work and head to Benny’s where Taylor is kicking it. Actually they are hanging at Shannon’s while she is doing the Vail thing. To hell with Vail. I am gonna run some good h2o. Benny sells his pull-behind trailer. Benny is waiting on a camera but no camera and I am dry docked on day one.

Taylor catches a ride with me to Chico and while we work our way to where the ladies run deep, he tells me of his Big Kimshu trip with Benny. Actually, he gives me some shit cause I sent some east coasters his way. I did tell Brad Brewer to call but instead, Brad gives Josh Bruckner and Ben Somebody Taylor’s number and they say they are my buddies and Taylor lets them right in. I like Josh and all but when you use my name, you need to…

1. Be nice to my friends.
2. Talk to my friends.
3. Be excited about getting to run Big Kimshu.
4. And most of all…
5. Keep up with my friends on the river. Especially if you have run Big Kimshu before, keep Up.

Anyway… We get ready to do a little first decent the next morning and we are driving out to our takeout when I check my voicemail to find out that Josh and his buddy checked the South Branch and “It is too low”. I call Taylor and we change plans. We drive all the way to the take-out of Milsap Bar only find out that there is plenty of water. One would think that if a east coaster says it is “too low” then it is probably super low. So, now I am 2 out of 4 days shy of kayaking. This really annoys me.

Dave Grove comes over to Taylor’s house. Benny shows up at Taylor’s house. Benny and I go checking out the ladies in Chico. Very nice. We rally the next morning and meet Ben S. and Devon at Milsap Bar. We take my Chevrolet Malibu with some make-shift racks, Grove’s truck and Devon’s ride. We have three vehicles. We leave the Malibu at the take-out in case something gets broken in to, it is a rental.

We make it to the put-in, get ready and Benny is out. Gut problems or women problems or something. Super Bummer. He takes Grove’s car out and we take to the river. Day one is filled with twenty plus footers over and over again. The weather is warm sunny California. No rattlers. No big portages(for this my broken foot is happy). We make it to camp and we have to run one more little 50 plus footer. Taylor runs the drop so he can get some photos. Grove throws his paddle away and then his hand roll disappears. I am nervous. I hold on to my paddle and have thoughts of wanting to scream like a child as I travel vertically toward the “Eye of the Dragon” and she takes my paddle away from me upon entrance. I kept ‘er upright. I paddle across to Taylor and he tells me to go do it again and to throw away my paddle this time. Ben runs the drops smoothly and Dave and I go up to get some more of the South Branch. I toss my paddle and my life is good. Camp is below this drop and somewhere in the midst of the “7 Falls”. I may not have a corporate job and I may not have a big money kayaking sponsor but nothing matters when I am on the river. I let it all go at camp. I soak my foot several times. I breathe in the fresh air. I visualize that waterfall I just dropped. South Branch of the Middle Fork of the Feather is way better than the Little North Fork of the Feather River. I believe many paddlers are intimidated by the portage around the “7 Falls”. Which brings us to day two…

I love waking up on the river. My foot hurts. My boat is way to heavy and I even cut the book I am reading so I only had to bring the section I had left to read. My boat is still too heavy. We bust the portage out in about 1.5 hours. Devon and Ben know where to go. This is always key on portages of this size and where there are no established trails. Watch out for loose falling rocks on this portage… We get down to the river, wash off the oak and have a little snack. We finish up the day with some nice rapids. Day 1 is the bomb and day 2 is ok but not near as stout as day 2 on Dinkey Creek. Now we load the Malibu up at Milsap Bar and start to head up to the put-in. My car did not get broken in and all the boats, gear and people fit. The Malibu is a compact car with a hatchback and she now only has about 4 inches of clearance. “Slow and Go. That is the temp…Beastie Boys.” We make it. We bust back to Chico and then I bust it back to Reno to see Jessie but Jessie is still in Vail. I have three days of work. The finality of ending a contract is nice and this contract started as an 8 week assignment and ended up as a 5 month assignment. I am having dreams of my grandfather’s farm in Alabama. It is time to head east and south after work. Check on my life. Get a new job in California and Get my foot ready for some high sierra hiking. As for the South Branch of the Middle Fork of the Feather…Don’t be scared of a portage when you got 20’s and 50’s that are waiting. This is no rodeo and there are no bulls but you can get “Bucked and Stomped..”

Vail, CO

If I were to describe this year’s Teva Mountain Games in a few short words, it would be… The Nikki Kelly, Tanya Faux and Jackson Kayak Story.

But, this is the Jessie story, so I’ll tell you things as I see them from my perspective…

After procrastinating my departure until the very last moment… I ended up pulling a solo-all-nighter drive and arrived at the scene of the Homestake creek race less than an hour before start time. delirious and severely sleep deprived, I signed up for the event and needless to say, the resulting performance wasn’t my best… but at least I didn’t get pinned or swim (haha, sorry jay!)… after sleeping for many, many hours I prepared myself for the rodeo. The hole at Vail leaves much to be desired, but nonetheless, this is one of the biggest events of the year and everyone has the same crappy feature to deal with. But, then I didn’t do well in the rodeo either (just missing out on making finals)… so I guess the only things I can talk about now are the parties and the people. I saw some old friends… Courtney, Matt Solomon, Shayna…some good friends that I never get to see, Robin Betz, Liz, John Grace, Daniel DeLavergne… and made some new friends… Dunbar, Jen from Durango and Zack from Canada. Thursday night I watched the ‘One World’ Premiere with Courtney and realized that I don’t really like kayaking films all that much. Friday night I celebrated my series of poor performances by drinking excessive amounts of redbull vodkas at 8150 and dancing until closing. I remember falling lots of times (must have been the shoes) and even dancing on stage (but don’t ask me what kind of music was playing). I stumbled to bed and woke up very late the next morning. Saturday was finals for the rodeo and with the temperature peaking around 34 degrees and steady snow falling, I began to feel a little better about missing out on the chance to compete in a less-than-ideal feature in freezing temperatures with no dry gear. So, I chose to spend the day indoors recovering from my debilitating hangover…. then mustered up some last minute energy to go out on Saturday night…but couldn’t even finish one drink. I did have fun laughing at all my drunk friends… witnessing hilarious and futile attempts of the boys to shack up with various girls… I felt like a freshman in college again. This is one of the first events I’d ever been to without Jason since we started dating and I must say that it isn’t nearly as much fun. I missed him terribly and even though I was having a good time, I couldn’t wait to get home. And ringing in my head the entire time, I couldn’t help but think… ‘I’m here in Vail in horrible weather, doing what can only barely be considered as kayaking and jason is either doing a first descent or an overnighter on the South Branch of the Middle Feather.’ So, I was jealous and ready to go home and go kayaking and hang out with my man and get some lovin’. I always like visiting Colorado, and Vail is a fun event… but I couldn’t be happier to be back on the west coast… calling our friends, checking levels, cleaning out my truck, doing laundry and drying my gear so I can pack up and do it all over again this weekend. But this time, no crowds, no big parties, no pressure… just me and jason, our good friends, and the water. That is really kayaking to me. I can’t wait.

Oh – and Jason was on the South Branch of the Middle Feather this weekend. He’ll be posting his story and some pictures in the next day or two, so be sure to check back. The trip looked absolutely incredible... lots of big waterfalls. Bye! Jessie

3 Days Left

Still sad about losing my gear but today will be better. I am back in Chico, CA with Taylor, Jessie and Taylor’s Fiance-Jen Bechtel (Josh’s Sister). We are heading back to Butte Creek to have a look for some of my gear. My hope is minimal and I already know my kayak is broken. We do the hour hike in and put on without incident. The river is quiet and the my belly is not filled with a pocket of pooh. I am concerned that Jesse will not have fun… but i guess its time for her to find her soul cause Kayaking does not pay without serious internal losses…

We are be-bopping along and come up on the rapid that I portaged, seal-launched into the river, swam, lost all my gear, hiked out through oak and the feeling of being a loser starts to overwhelm me… I scout with Jessie and Taylor is hanging in his boat waiting. Jessie decides to portage but there is an easier portage on the other side of the river. You have to boof a pourover at the entrance of the rapid and skoot left because there is a big jumble thing that is backed up by the undercut on the right. I bust the move and paddle over to the eddy - her portage spot - also where Tay is hanging out. Here comes Jessie. A little too far right off the pourover. A little drag and where did her boof go? Oh shit!!! Jessie is surfing. She tries a backender, Taylor yells at me he is going down in case she washes through the undercut, I am scared… I am yelling “PADDLE! ENDER!” Jessie is lock-jawed in the hole, still struggling to get free. I am still in my boat. Jessie gives me the Look… “Help Me! I am loooosing energy.” I bust a move. Adrenalin is pumping. I am scared for my favorite lady, I mean really scared. I spring out as far as I can on the rocks, keeping my eye on her and I start to pull a little rope out…. It has been well over a minute at this point.

Let me break in and say that Stephan “The Frenchman” loaned me his rope cause I lost mine. I am greatful but whomever packed it did a shisty job. Back to the story…

I am pulling a little more and then I cock the hammer and send the rope high and true… But it lands about a foot short. Jessie is still in her boat and reaches for the rope with one arm, and as she does she goes under water. Jessie is really good at softball. I have no choice but to start reeling in. I am from Alabama. “If you don’t catch it, reel it in and try again.” I am reeling and I feel it… I got a live one. I am standing on the tip of this damn rock trying to reel in my favorite catch and I've got zero purchase but something kicks in and I just start hand over hand-ing her to me. She is out of her boat and I got her. I get her to the bank and she is done-sky. I ask her is she if fine and after collapsing in the eddy she finally says yes. I tell her to stuff the rope and I am gonna go help Taylor with her boat if it is still together… Jessie managed to even hold on to her paddle. What a girl.

I paddle out to run this rapid and realize that I did not see where Taylor went and although I did scout the rapid, I was going to rely on following Taylor cause I couldn’t tell where to go… I puss out and portage. My adrenalin is cranking just fine without losing Scott Lindgren’s kayak, who is in Turkey with Little Dave who just missed the Car and Big money by 8tenths of a second. I am sorry Little Dave. I wanted you to win. Anyway, I get down to Taylor and he has found Jessie’s kayak and even, miraculously, my paddle from the other day in the exact same spot… We wait for Jessie and then I go looking for her, tromping through some oak and then I hear a whistle and she is already with Taylor…. Shall we move on? We paddle a ways and find my Broken Pyranha H3 that is only replaceable with money(I am heavily in debt). I gut the kayak and realize that the only gear I have lost besides my kayak is a throw rope that I just purchased. Lovely. I have been through at least 10 throw ropes in the last 3 years. We paddle out and drink beers at the take out.

2 Days Left

Taylor and I are meeting Benny at the take-out of Big Kimshu Creek and Benny is a NO SHOW. Too much partying or something. NO answer. We roll back into Chico, pick up Jessie and more booze and head to Little Chico Creek. A nice swimming hole and lots of skin to see. Well Mr. Angry Ass is awake and He gets into a heated conversation with Jessica and then bad karma kicks into high gear. We are hanging out at the river on the rocks and Tay and I jump in, only it is too shallow and I break my foot and this is nice. Big Kimshu to this…It is easy to consistently be a dumbass.

1 Day Left

Drive to Reno with a hurt foot and prepare to hobble for the next six days in a row at work. Taylor and Benny run Big Kimshu while I hobble. Ahobbaluyah…