Rambling Ruminations of a Whitewater Kayaker

Paddling the Green River Gorge

2011-05-01T17:57:00.001-07:00

Paddled the Lower Green River Gorge at about 1350cfs.

This is a remarkably wonderful Class III run (at these flows) with the takeout exactly 55 minutes from Belltown.

Reaffirms my belief that climbing out after only running the Upper Green River Gorge was a mistake.

Most of the "good rapids" are in the top half of the run but there are Class II+ / Class III- rapids till after 20 minutes paddle from the takeout which is at the upstream end of the Flaming Geyser State Park. Certainly a bit easier than the Upper Green River Gorge but, I though that this section had more rapids that the "middle middle". However, on the middle middle "House Rock" rapid is a significantly harder rapid that any other either on the middle middle or on the Lower Green River Gorge.

The guys I paddled with (Bill & Ryan) say it's too all the way down to 400 cfs and quite sweet at 600 - 700 cfs and doable till about 3000cfs although that is quite a rare occurrence

Paddling the SF Snoqualmie

2011-04-02T14:57:00.000-07:00

I have "discovered" a new gem, an absolutely delightful backyard paddle. I am talking about the South Fork of the Snoqualmie from Twin Falls State Park to the bridge at 436th Avenue SE.

It is rated in the Bennet book as a Class II+. HUH?

Luckily, since it has been over 9 months since I paddled anything more substantial than Class II I decided to take my "safety boat", the Dagger CFS.

The run starts of quick but calms down after the first rapid.

However, the "Canyon section", at ~ 1000cfs is a full-on continuous Class III for about 1.5 miles. I guess one would call each individual rapid / drop / wave train a Class II+ but it's all back-to-back-to-back and non-stop.

Reminds me a bit of the middle section of the McCloud, after the creeky section....

As I was entering the "Canyon Section", I realized this was no Class II+ run, tripped over a approaching hole and flipped. Luckily I rolled up, albeit on my second attempt.

This makes it only my third successful combat roll in 2 years. On 3 other flips, I have swum :-(

I will be back again and again and again to run this section.

I am told that it is runnable from 300cfs to 2500cfs

2011 Paddling Days

2011-03-11T23:04:00.000-08:00

Pool Days

Friday, March 11th: 50 rolls
Saturday, July 21st: 70+ rolls at RiverStore Pool
Thursday, Sept. 29th: Barely 10 rolls
Friday, Nov 4th: 90 rolls
Thursday, Dec 2nd: 90 rolls
Friday, Dec. 2nd: 60+ rolls

River Days

Saturday, March 12th: Lower Middle Snoqualmie - Club Run @ 1100cfs (Class II)
Saturday, April 2nd: SF Snoqualmie - Twin Falls to 436th Ave bridge @1000cfs(Class III)
Sunday, April 10th: Middle-Middle Snoqualmie @1000cfs (Class III+)
Sunday, May 1st: Lower Green River Gorge @1350cfs (Class III) - 6.5 miles
Thursday, May 5th: SFA C-to-G (Class II+) @5500cfs
Friday, May 6th: SFA C-to-G (Class II+) @6000cfs
Saturday, May 7th: SFA C-to-G (Class II+) @4000cfs
Saturday, May 28th: SF Snoqualmie - Twin Falls to 436th Ave bridge @460cfs (Class II+ / III-)
Monday, May 30th: Lower Green River Gorge @1250 cfs (Class III) - 6.5 miles
Saturday, June 4th: SF Snoqualmie - Twins Falls to 436th Ave bridge @650cfs (Class II+)
Saturday, June 25th: SF Snoqualmie - Twin Falls to 436th @530cfs (Class II+)
Thursday, July 21st: SFA C-to-G (Class II+) @3600cfs+
Friday, July 22nd: SFA Chili Bar (Class III+) @2800cfs+. Walked TroubleMaker
Saturday, July 23rd: NFA Chamberlain's (Class IV) @450cfs. Walked Bogus Thunder. Combat roll at Staircase, Practice combat rolls at Nosestand
Sunday, July 24th: NFA Chamberlain's (Class IV) @450cfs.
Tuesday, July 26th: SFA Kyburz (Class IV+) @550cfs
Wednesday, July 27th: SFA Gorge (Class III) @2000cfs+ Combat roll at Satan's & Scissors
Thursday, July 28th: SFA Chili Bar (Class III+) @1750cfs. Walked TroubleMaker
Saturday, Sept. 3rd: SFA Gorge (Class III) @1750cfs
Sunday, Sept. 4th: SFA Chili Bar (Class III+) @1750cfs. Ran TroubleMaker
Saturday, Sept 24th: Sky Split Rock to Big Eddy (Class II+) @940cfs
Friday, October 7th: SFA C-to-G (Class II+) @1500cfs
Saturday, October 8th: SFA Gorge (Class III+) @1500cfs
Sunday, October 9th: SFA Chili Bar (Class III+) @1500cfs
Saturday, October 15th: Sky Split Rock to Big Eddy (Class II+) @2700cfs
Sunday, Dec. 18th: Quijos River Lodge Run (Class III+ / IV-) @ ~ 5000cfs+
Monday, Dec 19th: Jatanyacu (Rios Ecuador putin to Puerto Napo: 18+miles) (Class III+) @8.5ft on the gauge. Felt like ~ 6000cfs
Tuesday, Dec 20th: Jatanyacu (Rios Ecuador putin to 2nd bridge: 12 miles( (Class III+ / IV-) @ 11.5ft on the gauge. Felt like ~8000cfs. Upper Tena (Class III creeking). ROLLED
Wednesday, Dec 21st: Upper Misuahalli (2 laps), Class III+ / IV- creeking. Very continuous, PERFECT level, seemed like 800cfs and dropping. TWO ROLLS on Lap #2
Thursday, Dec 22nd: Upper Misuahalli (1 lap), Seemed like 650-700cfs
Friday, Dec 23rd: Upper Cosanga (3 miles), Cold water, Class III. Not feel too good. ROLLED
Saturday, Dec 24th: Upper Cosanga (3 miles)

Glories of bygone times

2010-09-12T08:35:00.000-07:00

The actual saying in kannada (derived from Sanskrit) is "Gatha Kaala Vaibhava".

This past couple of days (Friday Sept. 10th & Sat Sept. 11th) I paddled the Class III sections of South Fork of the American river. This was my first Class III paddle since returning from Ecuador on Jan 2nd 2010.

The absence of paddling and the loss of mental confidence since 2006 has resulted in my becoming a Class III paddler who once upon a time used to run Class V's.

I never would have thought that possible.

Once upon a time, I could run the SFA at flows upto 10000cfs with gay abandon. At summer flows of less than 2500 cfs, I could catch every eddy in every rapid, I could surf across the hole at Satan's cesspool, I could boof Bouncing Rock, jump the hole right into the upper most river right eddy. I could jump into the Hospital Bar hole laughing.

Once upon a time, I had a 1000% confidence in my river roll. I have rolled up 12 times inside HellHole and in the far river left room of doom eddy on the Trinity at 2500cfs. I have surfed my way out of plenty of Class IV holes in SF-Yuba and NF-American

And I did all this in a playboat... well... at least MY playboat, the Dagger Medieval.

I have run Burnt Ranch Gorge at 1300cfs with perfect lines all day long. The next weekend, I have had to roll 18 times in gnarly Class IV+ / Class V whitewater. While I was having a bad day on the river, there was no question about my confidence in always rolling up.

I have lead down Class IV+ rivers that I have never seen before..

BUT... all this has been in the days gone by.... Glories of bygone times....

The last couple of days I was GRIPPED paddling the SFA; more mentally focused and stressed than when I ran Burnt Ranch Gorge or the Giant Gap or the NF Stan....all Class V runs....

I was petrified about flipping due to a lack of confidence in my ability to come right back up. My paddling was all defensive and I relied on a decade of paddling experience to stay on line. I was not paddling "whitewater" but "greenwater". I ran Hospital Bar without getting my face wet by sneaking it on river left. My paddling was DEFINED by my unwillingness to risk being flipped which needless to say made it far more likely that I would flip.

The one time I did flip (in spite of myself), I did roll up. This makes for 5 "combat flips" over the past 3 years and only the second "combat roll", the last one being on the White Salmon back in July 2009.

On the positive side, I did paddle the Chili Bar section solo, got out and scouted Troublemaker (have not seen that rapid in 4 years) and did run it, albeit with poor form after almost talking myself into walking the bugger...

How do I get back my paddling mojo? Is it just time on the water? Is it gone forever? Or am I only 3 consecutive combat rolls from being my old self on the river?

Only time will tell....

2010 Paddling Days

2010-01-02T15:02:00.001-08:00

Pool / Lake Days

Monday, April 19th
Monday, May 3rd
Saturday, June 19th
Saturday, August 14th (SAC)
Friday, Dec. 3rd (Kirkland)

River Days

Friday, Jan 1: Upper Misahualli (Ecuador) at low water (Class III+/IV-)
Sarturday, Jan 2: Lower El Chaco Canyon run on the Quijos (Ecuador) at about 1800cfs (low water) (Class III+)
Saturday, May 8th: Main Snoqualamie - Powerhouse run at ~3000cfs (Class II)
Sunday, June 27th: MF Snoqualamie - Club run at 1400cfs (Multiple SWIMS) (Class II)
Saturday, July 3rd: Elwha below the dam ~1800cfs - Class II+ / Class III-
Friday, August 13th: Coloma to Greenwood ~1400cfs Class II / Class II+
Saturday, August 14th: Coloma to Greenwood ~1000cfs Class II / Class II+
Friday, Sept. 10th: SFA - Gorge Run at ~ 1300cfs (One combat roll) (Class III+)
Saturday, Sept. 11th, SFA - Chili Bar at ~ 1200cfs (Class III+)
Sunday, October 31st, SFA - Coloma to Greenwood at ~ 1800cfs (Class II+)
Friday, Dec. 13th, SFA - Coloma to Greenwood at ~ 2800cfs (Class II+)

Paddling in Ecuador

2009-12-30T14:42:00.000-08:00

Day 1 (Sunday, Dec 27th) : Paddled the "Lodge Run" on the Quijos. 2+ hours on the water, Class III run with biggish water.

Day 2 (Monday, Dec. 28th): Sat the day out! Too tired and sick, it´s all that getting soaked in the rain in Mindo ...

Day 3 (Tuesday, Dec. 29th): Paddled the Upper Misahualli. 2+ hours on the water, Class III, maybe Class III+ creeking. An easier version of E2P on the SF-Yuba. Fun, but a little low

Day4 (Wednesday, Dec. 30th): Paddled the lower Jondachi. 5+ hours on the water. Class III, maybe Class III+ with a couple of Class IV wanna-be´s. The first half was creeking and the second half, after the confluence with the Hollins was biggish water. Beautiful rain forest paddle. Tedious amount of flat water and Class II wanna-be whitewater. A painful slippery 30 minute hike in. Luckily we had local porters to carry the kayaks. The humiliation is that I swam in the creeking section when I was doing a second run on a rapid with a nice boof. Got flipped and missed my first roll and washed up on the rocks and punched! UGH! UGH! UGH! Will not recommend this run....

Day 5 (Thursday, Dec. 31st): Paddled the best whitewater ever. The Piatua! 6.5 miles of wonderful very very very busy Class IV whitewater. The best comparison is that it is a longer, more continuous, steeper (110ft /mile as opposed to 65ft/mile) version of E2P on the SF-Yuba. Another way of looking at it is that this is a 6.5 mile version of the Upper Kyburz run on the SF-American.

And oh, by the way, after acing all the hard rapids and doing really really well and being happy with myself and my lines all day long, I fucked up on Class III boogie water I was leading on and swam!

Day 6 (Friday, Jan 1st): Paddled the Upper Misahualli again. To make it more interesting, we put in about a mile upstream. However what made it REALLY interesting was that I am badly badly badly hung over! YUCKS! I swear never to drink even a beer near a river again! This time we started about 1-2 miles further upstream. Even thought the water was lower it was still a fantastic Class III+ creeking run....

Day 7 (Saturday, Jan 2nd): Last day of paddling in Ecuador. Paddled the Lower El Chaco canyon on the Quijos down to the confluence with the Oayachi. Class III biggish water. Nice easy finish. I am quite ready to head home and back to the "real world"

Some pictures

Wandering about the cloud forests of Mindo

2009-12-26T09:27:00.000-08:00

First off, it is confirmed! It is not that I am a old, balding, fat, out-of-shape geezer (well..... maybe old and bald but not the others!) it is that the altitude can take the wind out of anyone!

Yesterday (Friday, Dec. 25th) I took a 7 hour hike thru the cloud forests around Mindo up and over a ridge and down into another river canyon to a bunch of cool water falls (pictures to follow!). I probably covered about 12+ miles and traversed up at least a 1000meters elevation gain, about the same as the killer "hike" along the flanks of Volcan Ruminahui

Unlike then, this time around I was barely tired. The only difference was that Friday´s hike was at less than 1500 meter altitude (unlike the 3800 meter base on the Ruminahui hike!)

Arrived in Mindo day before yesterday (Thursday, Dec. 23rd) by bus. Super convenient! $2.50 for the 2.5 hour bus ride from Quito to Mindo.

Stayed the last couple of nights at the Mindo Garden Lodge about 4 kms outside of Mindo, along the Rio Mindo. Nice place, but I am not likely to stay there again. For $50+ per night I would expect at least running hot water 24 x 7 in the sink and shower not spotty hot water in the shower and none in the sink. The $20 hostal in Quito was "nicer"! Nice and very very helpful manager called Rodrigues and a nice restaurant

Spent the afternoon wandering around the one street that constitutes Mindo and took a zipline tour, a.k.a "Canopy Tour" of the cloud forest. 10 traverses including one that was 700 meters long. Fun!

And oh, it rains all the time in the cloud forest. The last 1/3rd of the hike was in pouring rain and I returned to the lodge sopping wet! The good news was that it was nice, warm, tropical rain!

Day 5: Only a moderate whopping on the Cotopaxi

2009-12-23T17:37:00.001-08:00

After the last two days of self inflicted pain and agony, any sane person who have opted for the quick cab ride back to civilization and a 5 hour hot tub soak and tequila.

But, as has been ample established, smart, I am not.

Today (Wednesday, Dec 23rd) I opt to punish myself by hauling my sorry ass up to the edge of the glacier atop "the world's highest active volcano" - Volcan Cotopaxi. At ~5800mts this is Ecuador's 6th highest peak.

Compared to yesterday, today was only painful (as compared to agonizing!)

The parking lot is at ~4300 mts and the Glacier's edge is at ~5000 mts. At least I was smart enough not to attempt a climb to the summit.

Yeah, I know, why am I whining about a mere 700 meters (2300 feet). Beats me, but do try it, not at sea level but starting at 14000 feet! I am humbled and horrible unfit!

The guide said he blitzes to the top of Cotopaxi from the parking lot (4300 mts to 5850mts) in about 2 hours. The typical experience is to spend the night at the refuge (4800mts) and take 4 - 8 hours to summit, starting at midnight to 3AM and reaching the summit as the sun rises. I hate him!

By the way, 5000 meters is SIXTEEN THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED feet!!!!!! That is over 3000 feet higher than Mt Whitney, the highest point in the continental US

And I was on snow at the equator! AMAZING!!!

By the way, any idiot who doubts global warming has only to check out Cotopaxi. In the last 30 years, the glacier has receded 200 meters and snow fall (many feet each winter) once common at the overnight refuge (at 4800 meters) is now unheard of.

Pictures will speak louder than words

Well... I am done with climbing! Two days of chilling at a resort in Mindo; west of Quito, lower and warmer than Quito and apparently an equitorial splendor of colors

Day 4: Triple dose of spankings on the Rumiñahui

2009-12-23T17:25:00.000-08:00

Some people take heed when ma nature kicks your butt, others are too stoopid to pay attention. It turns out that I belong to the latter category of sorry people!

Today (Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2009) I decided to take a "hike" in the Cotopaxi National Reserve. Not a simple loop hike, not something where safety and sanity is, at best, just a few short miles away.

Noooo.... such smart decisions are for people with a higher sense of self preservation. Either my mom dropped me on my head (repeatedly) when I was a baby or I was taking a leak when the big guy upstairs was handing out "smarts"

I venture on what turns out to a 7 hour, 20 km cross country hike up and over multiple ridges, along the flank of Volcan Rumiñahui ending at the Hostel Tambopaxi within the Cotopaxi National Reserve. The total altitude climb was about 1100 meters (3630 feet) and I was so so so dead tired at the end of it that I lay down in the dorm bed at 8PM but could not get to sleep till past midnight!

Seeing the carcass of a dead animal about 4 hours into the hike and just before I crested the last ridge and saw my destination (two more ridges away) did not help my morale.

I mean, this is absolutely the first time I have been too tired to sleep!!! Never ever been this tired!

Pictures of the area that humbled me and then some!

Day 3: Serious whopping on the Rucu Pichincha

2009-12-23T17:08:00.000-08:00

Today (Monday, Dec 21st, 2009) was the day I was going to quickly "jog" up Rucu Pichincha, the dormant volcano that is in Quito's backyard. After all it's a "simple" hike from ~4100 mts (~13500ft) to ~4700 mts (15510ft). I mean a "mere" 2000ft!!! How hard could THAT be???

At this point, a saner person would have pointed out to himself that 13500 ft is higher than the highest point in the continental US and the top of Half Dome at ~8500ft is 5000 feet below the base of Rucu Pichincha. But then, I am dumb ass who, as a Swede I know says, has a "lowered sense of self-preservation"

One can take the Teleferico, a very slow tram that takes you from Quito up the lower flank of Rucu Pichincha to a height of 4100 meters

Simple put, I got my ass kicked!! I did not make it all the way to the top, passing on the last 150 meter "rock scramble" that makes the Mt. Si haystack scramble look like walk in the park!

I started too late (noon!), took only a camel pack (2 liters) of water and was under dressed with only a light fleece jacket (and no gloves) and I HAD NO FOOD!

Had an headache that lasted 5 hours, thought that my heart was going to explode in a red mess right up there on the flank of this volcano.

Pictures of my ass whopping on Rucu Pichincha

Note to self: Bring netbook next time to work on pictures while on travels

Day 2 - Colonial Quito and the Equator

2009-12-20T17:11:00.000-08:00

Took in the "old town", i.e "Colonial Quito". Pretty place, but doable in 1/2 a day. Cobblestone streets and 15th / 16th century Spanish architecture with Moorish influences.

After about 3 churches with gory, masochistic imagery of the crucifixtion, I was pretty much done and my appetite destroyed.

The climb up the steps to Parque Itchimbia brought that appetite back. Huffed and puffed up the 1000 ft climb but I think I am getting used to the altitude.

In the afternoon I did a 3 hour trip to La Mitad Del Mundo, the monument at the Equator. Quite the touristy place but well worth doing.

I am south of the equator now and the water still drains just as in North America since they have the same plumbing!

Proud of the fact that I did not do the touristy thing but traveled like a local using public transportation all along. Total transportation cost, including the taxi ride (got lazy) from the bus station was $5.90 of which the cab ride was $5.00. The 22km ride from Del Mundo was only 40 cents.

Tomorrow, I plan on hiking the Pichincha (4680 mts) If I can handle that without keeling over, I can take on the Illinizas (5126 mts) on Tuesday. I really really really want to climb the Cotopaxi (at 5897 mts is the world's highest active volcano) but the 2 day ascent and additional day of acclimatization means that my entire week is blown and I will have to give Mindo a miss which I am not quite willing to do.

Looks like I will likely climb the Illinizas and hike within 900 meters of the Cotopaxi peak. So close and yet so far ....c'est la vie...

Note to self: The Lonely Planet (published 2006) is dated and information accuracy is, IMHO about 60%. Also, The Traveller's Inn aint all that cool a place to be and the guy is either unhelpful or not knowledgable. I think the place to be in the "new town" would be "The Magic Bean", great food, middle of the party and pretty co-eds from all over the world! :-) :-)

Quito Old Town pictures are here

La Mitad del Mundo

Day 1: Getting to Quito

2009-12-19T17:55:00.000-08:00

Just getting to Quito has been an adventure! Door to Door from my downtown condo in Seattle to the Traveller's Inn has been a 38 hour soujourn. Seattle to DFW to Miami and then to Quito. Alas, after a 6+ hour layover in Miami (lousy airport!!) the flight to Quito could not land and was diverted to Guayaquil on the coast.

We were within 1500 feet of touching down when the pilot pulled up and away.....

I got lucky and was put up at a nice 4 point Sheraton but it was 3AM when I hit the sack. Others on the fligh were less lucky. Some got put up in a "OK" Hampton's Inn and it was past 4AM when they turned in.

The good news is that since I had nowhere to be and nothing to do, this too was an enjoyable adventure. Made for GREAT people watching

There was the stereotypical loud brash American family with the aging, bald (but with a pony tail) southern CA man who ran around complaining about the diversion and lack of attention from all of American Airlines 3 people in Guayaquil. The captain and co-pilot could not have been nicer!

Then there was the middle aged fit single woman was complained incessantly about everything and complained loudly.

Let's not forget the cute, flirty college junior on a trip to the Galapagos with her family who did not even know she was being flirty. In the immortal words of one Smokey Pittman, "Baby serpants, as yet unaware of their potency"

The absolutely gorgeous tall woman clearly of russian / slavic roots with this shorter bald guy ...

The couple with the most adorable 2 year old, so much like my own niece Deeksha and the other couple with a hyper 3 year old boy who too was a great sport in the midst of super long delays. In fact these two provided great entertainment while struck on the ground at Guayaquil for over 2 hours.

It was all good....

Lunch was at this place that served "hindu food" :-) I had a naan stuffed with vegetables and a Saag Paneer that did not have Paneer and was not made from Saag, but hey! it was better than Indian food in Seattle! Just had to do it!

Mariscal is the "New Town" and the center of the Quito nightlife. I am going to hit the sack and take in the "old town" tomorrow and straddle the center of the earth.

By the way, now that I have been to Guayaquil, I have officially been to the southern hemisphere! Woooo hooooo.....

Kayaking and Fear

2009-08-24T21:35:00.000-07:00

I have been reading and re-reading Doug Ammon's Whitewater Philosophy and have been particularly enjoying his three part essay on Fear in Kayaking.

I only wish I had read that essay back in 1998 when I first started kayaking. This could have helped me avoid having to understand and learn to control fear all from first principles.

I particularly enjoyed his sections on the physiology and psychology of fear and finally about controlling fear. The section about how one goes about controlling fear seems like an elaboration of philosophy of a warrior athlete which I first heard articulated by my buddy Smokey Pittman.

The very first time I got into a hard shell kayak was back in 1997 in a 2 days class with Smokey. Within 3 minutes of getting in to the kayak, before I had even learned about a wet exit, I managed to go upside down in about 2 feet of water in the pool at Camp Lotus. It took me, what seemed like an eternity to get that darned spray skirt off and tumble out clucking like a wet chicken.

I could not make that darned kayak go in a straight line if my life depended on it. This whole business of left stroke turns the boat right was bizarre. On the second day of the class I gave up and got into an inflatable and could at least paddle down a Class II- section and kinda sorta "enjoy" it.

By the next year, I had spend time in a sit-on-top kayak in a lake learning to make it go in a straight line and finally got into a Dancer-XT.

My first time down the river (Friday, July 24th 1998) was on the South Fork of the American from Coloma to Camp Lotus. I was miserable! I swam five times in the first 1.5 miles. What this meant is that I flipped at each eddy line and at every wave and out of the boat I came. I was all ready to get off the river, burn my kayak right then and there and call it good. An older woman, whose name I don't remember, who was getting back into kayaking after a 10 year hiatus, "talked me down" the rest of the river; about 1.5 miles.

I was exhausted and disgusted. I did not have fun and I felt humiliated that I sucked so bad.

As a matter of principle, I decided that I could not be that bad at anything and that I needed to get good enough to paddle the Class II Coloma to Lotus section of the south fork of the american river before quitting. I called Smokey Pittman and signed up for a couple of weekends of private one-on-one instructions.

Over those two weekends, I suddenly "got it" and was making my way down the river and lo and behold! I was "kinda sorta" enjoying it

I decided that I needed to know how to roll, just 'cause. Again this was an amazing pain in the butt. Took me 8 sessions in the pool to get my roll and I eventually taught myself (the first and only failure for Pat, the guy who is now my paddling partner and tried unsuccessfully to teach me how to roll) to roll using a paddle float.

Over the rest of the summer of 1998, I paddled a lot on the Coloma to Greenwood section of the South Fork of the American river and got very comfortable. Heck, I was even pulling off combat rolls consistently. As such, I was at that point when per plan, I should have quit. But I was having sooooo much fun.

Smokey agreed to take me down the Class III SF American "GORGE" (Brrrrr...) on Sunday, September 6th 1998. The night before I was so psyched that I hardly slept. I was mentally so frayed thinking about "running the gorge" that I swam twice in the Class II section. The day ended at 7:30PM when Smokey and I were the last to get off the river. I had swam 7 times in the gorge (not counting the two Class II swims); pretty much every single rapid (apart from the ones I walked)

I wanted to have nothing to do with this stupid sport. It sucked! But I could not quit while I was sooooooo down. I decided that I just had to get good enough to confidently paddle the gorge and then I'd quit. Hmmm... was I not down this path before.

In the spring of 1999 (Saturday April 3rd, 1999), I paddled the gorge again with Smokey. This time, I swam only twice. The river was still a mysterious beast and my only goal was to survive. Eddies were a foreign concept.

Then on Saturday, June 19th 1990, Pat, my soon to be paddling buddy & partner took me down the gorge for my first no swim, no flip run. We eddy hopped our way down and I was hooked.

Luckily for me, as I transitioned from occasionally kayaking while mostly swimming alongside my kayak to occasionally swimming while mostly kayaking, I did not have a repeat of my seven swim adventure on Class IV or Class V whitewater. I had many more "mis-adventures" on rivers but none have been as terrifying as that first day on the gorge back on September 6th 1998. Never since have I felt so lost and scared on a river. The fear I felt that day was intense and debilitating.

Along this painful path, I realized the path to progressing up the difficulty ladder, why I wanted to do and what I was not willing to do.

In the beginning, it was purely a matter of ego. *I* could not be that bad at anything and *I* could not quit when I was "down". Over the next couple of years, the reason I kayaked became more personal. It was the only activity that allowed me to focus on purely on the present. It was where I had to face my mental demons and learn to control and manage my fear. It was a metaphor for life itself.

The break through was on Saturday, April 3rd 1999 when Pat took me down the gorge and broke it down for me. I was very very scared when I entered the gorge (given that I had a total of 10 swims in that 4 mile section over 2 runs) but I was whopping and hollering with joy and relief by the time I got to Hospital Bar, the last Class III rapid. I had not even flipped and it was not because I was lucky but because I had attained a semblance of control in that chaos.

One of these days, I intend to write that book title, "Everything I needed to learn in life, I learned kayaking", till then these random rambling ruminations will have to do.

Another magical day on the "T"

2009-08-23T07:35:00.000-07:00

The main tuolumne has to be my absolute favorite run. In my opinion it is the perfect Class IV training ground at summer flows of ~1300cfs. Many many Class IV rapids, a couple of Class IV+ rapids (Sunderland's chute and Clavey Falls) and no shortage of Class V moves, should one feel up to it. And all of this in a wilderness setting.

18 miles on heaven on earth....

I have also run it (commercial raft trip) as high as 14000cfs in July 1998. At these flows, the river is a big water Class V monster where the consequences of a swim is likely death by flush drowning. I was on the river exactly a week after an OARS guide died after his raft flipped at the monster hole at the top of Greys. That was the last commercila rafting trip I ever did...

What I love about this river is that the whitewater comes to you. There are no blind corners, no places where the river "disappears". As you enter the rapid, it all unfolds beautifully

Excellent for learning to read and run. The river is long enough and the rapids numerous enough that unless you run it a lot, you cant possible remember the lines.

My first time down (back in August 2000), it was just Pat and I (just like yesterday - Saturday, August 22) and he had no clue what the rapids were or what the lines were. Needless to say, I was "gripped" following him down. I walked Clavey but the most memorable moment was when in the middle of some Class IV rapid (probably Steamboat) in the lower section, we eddyed out in the middle on river left. Turns out we were right above, what at that time, seemed like a hole from hell. He looks at me and says, "Uhmmmm .... we are on the wrong side of the river. You need to make this ferry out to the right. Follow me" and then he takes off. To poor ole me, that looked like a death ferry but watchya gonna do? I took a deep breathe pulled out with my heart going at about 200mph and made the move....

From my first time, I seem to recall that the section from the putin to below Clavey Falls was a blur of whitewater. At that time it sure was since this was the most continuous stretch of whitewater I had run.

Esp. yesterday it was obvious that the top five miles, while they have some great rapids are nowhere near continous. But back in 2000, I would have been LOST in that stuff.

Yesterday was a good day, I'd rate it a "B". Why a "B"? First off, my physical fitness has reduced in the last 6 weeks and I was tired by the end of the day. Not good. Second, I did not make my "Plan A" line on three rapids: Sunderland's chute, Clavey Falls and Grey's grindstone. That's the three hardest rapid. The only saving grace was that I made my "Plan B" lines and did not get taken down (aka flipped) all day long.

Gotta say again, that shuttle is killer and I am happy to pay the $160 to get someone else to drive the vehicle from the put-in to the takeout...

An Ode to San Francisco

2009-08-18T20:54:00.000-07:00

Siiiiiggghhhhh.... After spending last weekend in San Francisco, I was reminded again as to how much I miss the SF Bay area and how San Francisco is one of the top 5 cities in the entire world.

The other four, in my books would be New York City, London, Hong Kong and Bombay.

Of all these, San Francisco is without any doubt the First Amongst Equals.

Recently Outdoor Magazine came out with their Top Ten Cities. San Francisco did not make the cut due to it being way too expensive and Seattle was #2 with Cincinnati being #9.

I stepped out of my Union Square hotel on Saturday morning at 10AM. It was glorious. Bright blue skies, clear ocean breeze, not too warm and not too cold, just perfect!

Walking 10 blocks to my cousin's place in SOMA, I overheard 8 languages (English, Hindi, Japanese, Mandarin, German, French, Russian, Spanish and Mexican :-) ) I encountered 5 different races / ethnicities; Cauasians, South East Asian, Far East Asian, Hispanic and African (as opposed to African American). Yes, most of these are tourists, but where else in the US (except NYC) do people visit from all over the world???

As I walked past Powell Station at Powell & Market, I was saw two amazingly athletic, lean and muscular clean shaven sweating black men (Africans, not African Americans) performing on the street. It was captivating, energetic and almost erotic. What really created cognitive dissonance in me was that 10 feet away, an evangelist preached the coming end of the world. Both, a world apart in ideology and yet in relative harmony.....

Sure, California is right now pretty close to "bankrupt", but then if the US could not print money, the nation would also be officially "bankrupt"

Sure, California has a 9%+ sales tax on top of a 9% state income tax, but it is still the center of the universe :-) :-)

Later on Saturday evening I did dinner at this "funky" place on Fillmore called Dosa. What can I say.... it was a Californian place. Crazy south indian inspired fusion cooking that incorporated meat and sea food. The place had a fantastic full bar with the most exotic cocktails...

Oh... for a place like this in Seattle....... Hmmmm.... Maybe there's a business idea...

What used to be true of only NYC & London, the adage that "Even the ugly people are beautiful" now applies to San Francisco...

And the women.... ahhhh... the pretty smiling and friendly women....

I sure do miss the place......C'est La vie...

An exciting Friday

2009-08-09T18:43:00.000-07:00

Sometime on Friday (it was a rare slow day at work!) I landed up on Doug Ammon's website and signed up to be notified when his new book on the Grand Canyon of the Stikine is released.

I spent the rest of the day exchanging emails with a living legend. It was SO COOL that I felt like a gushing giggling school girl...

Very down-to-earth. I am tickled and it made my day, nay, week.....

And then on Sunday I went out paddling on the Sky. I was supposed to paddle with a few others. When I got to the Big Eddy take, there were a couple of guys (don't even know if they were paddling with us but they seemed to know the one person I knew in the group I was supposed to be paddling with). A random comment from one to the other was enough to turn me off and saw me quit that group and choose to paddle solo.

I put in above Boulder Drop, did a few laps on Boulder Drop, paddled down to Split Rock and ran back to my truck. The run back was the scariest!

I paddle to leave an "alpha attitude" behind and even an hint of that attitude in the group I am considering paddling with, makes me quit then and there. Being on the river is about as spiritual as I get and anything that messes with that is, to me, like pissing in a temple or church

This is not the first time and it will not be the last time either. The last time, I drove away from the Sierra City (NF Yuba) put-in after not liking the group I was supposed to paddle with and instead soloed the Goodyear Bar section further downstream.

Pat now knows that there are certain people, who if included results in my mysteriously need to walk my non-existent cat!

Paddling the Sky solo was still a lot of fun. Boulder Drop, even at 800cfs remains a significant Class IV rapid, it's now about 5 back-to-back Class III technical drops that will scare the hell out of a Class III paddler but allow a Class IV paddler to work various lines. It is beautiful

Yet another day on the Sky

2009-07-25T22:04:00.000-07:00

I paddled the Sky again (at about 1900cfs) last Sunday (July 19th). This was the first time I actually joined in on a trip posted on professorpaddle.

Met a couple of cool paddlers, esp. a east coaster; Jon who's a pretty darned good paddler.

Maybe I can paddle the Bend section of the NF Nooksack and if that goes well, I might have me a paddling partner for the Tumwater canyon.

I then paddled the Sky yet again on Saturday, July 25th at 1500cfs all the way down to Big Eddy

Irene was pretty excited abut her first no flip, no swim run of Boulder Drop. We scouted the bottom section from the airplane turn eddy

Jon was there on his second run of the day in a creeker with hand paddles

Entertainment was a Ohio boy (Stephen) who has a self-taught roll that is bizzare and has him dropping his paddle while he hand rolls. H I L A R I O U S! He's a good sport too

Plan on paddling this again tomorrow

Paddled the sky again on Sunday. The entertainment today was a commercial raft that shed people upstream of the picket fence, including their guide. One guy swam thru the Needle and the guide swam to shore. The raft with three very very scared passengers surfed the hole for 2 minutes, came free and they almost made Airplane turn but got hung up on the rocks downstream of the airplane turn eddy.

Myself and another paddler (JP) paddled over to the airplane turn eddy and pulled their raft off the rocks and into the eddy as another guide came up to help them finish the run

First time since 2005 (Antelope Creek) that I have had to actually use my rope. Woo Hoo!

Nice entertainment!

Looks like Boulder Drop is entertainment central. Two days of LMAO on the run ...

Good times....

Day 8 - Sky

2009-07-25T22:00:00.001-07:00

Wrapped up the paddling vacation on Saturday, July 11th with a quick run on the Sky from Cable Crossing all the way down to Big Eddy.

The gauge said we had 2500cfs. It's either been a really long time since I was on 2500cfs (and it has!) or the gauge is still reading too low.

Walked Boulder Drop and let Pat sole it.

That's the conclusion of 9 days paddling vacation of which we actually paddled 6 days.

Day 7 - Sauk

2009-07-12T21:24:00.000-07:00

River Section: Sauk
Guide Book: Jeff & Tonya Bennet, Page 161
Flow: ~ 3600cfs at Sauk (~50% of this on the river)
Rating: Class III - IV
Gradient: 42 fpm
Put-in: Whitechuck River
Take-out: Darrington Bridge
Date: July 10th, 2009

We wanted to run Suiattle River (a tributary of the Sauk) but were thwarted by the fact the road to the put-in has been washed out for over 3 years. This looks like a spectacularly beautiful river that must be run at some point in time, once the road is repaired and restored.

The fall back option was to run the Sauk from whitechuck river to Darrington. The gauge at Sauk read about 3600cfs and per the guide book this meant we had about 1800cfs on our run.

The section from Whitechuck river confluence to Clear Creek is Class III - Class IV. Even at these "low flows" this section had 3 good Class III+ rapids that would be more significant at higher flows.

Below Clear Creek, the river peters out to become a slow Class II float.

In the future, I'd take out at the Clear Creek bridge on the mountain loop hwy. This results in a easy bikable 6 mile shuttle and about 4-5 miles on the river.

Day 6 - NF Nooksack

2009-07-12T21:21:00.000-07:00

River Section: NF Nookisack
Guide Book: Jeff & Tonya Bennet, Page 146
Flow: ~ 750 cfs
Rating: Class III - IV
Gradient: 53 fpm
Put-in: Douglas Fir Campground
Take-out: Just past Mile 29 marker
Date: July 9th, 2009

First off, this is a long long way from civilization (aka Seattle). The take out's described in the guide book work but we took out just downstream of mile marker 29 where there is a dull yellow gate that blocks a side road. One of the braids of the river is about 150 yards down the road

The put-in is at the Douglas Fir Campground and the shuttle is a 6+ mile easy bike shuttle

The section from the put-in to Glacier Creek is the so called Canyon section and is straight Class III. Beyond Glacier creek the river is Class II.

This is a continuous gradient river and the Class II section is still a lot of fun, even at ~750cfs.

The quicker takeout is at Glacier Creek

After the run we carefully scouted the Class IV+ section above Douglas Fir campground.

Apart from SAT, the rest are runnable. SAT seems like a Class IV+ to V- rapid, even at ~750cfs

We got lucky and watched a few Bellingham locals (including a body board surfer) run this section and got home at 1:30AM after a waffles dinner at the local Denny's.

Day 5 - Stopped by traffic

2009-07-12T08:18:00.000-07:00

We were supposed to go back and paddle the White Salmon again.

Alas, traffic and the Oregon Highway Patrol though otherwise.

For some bizzare reason I-84 was closed for over 30 miles and as a result, the road on the WA side of the columbia river was jammed

We bailed, scouted the Toutle (again, worth a once a year paddle, probably enroute to the White Salmon) and got back into Seattle

Day 4 - The White Salmon

2009-07-12T08:04:00.000-07:00

River Section: White Salmon
Guide Book: Jeff & Tonya Bennet, Page 29
Flow: ~ 870 cfs at Northwestern Lake gauge (90% of this on the river)
Rating: Class III - IV
Gradient: 45 fpm
Put-in: Anywhere below BZ Falls
Take-out: Northwestern Lake
Date: July 7th, 2009

This run ROCKS! The section from below BZ Falls to Husum Falls is a fantastic transitional Class III to Class IV run. Once can put it anywhere below BZ Falls (depending on how long a carry one is inclined to do) including a 12 foot seal launch right below the BZ Falls. Another option is to take the upper putin to the top of Maytag, the Class IV starter rapid. We put in at the base of Maytag and at the start of Tophole, a Class III rapid

Husum intimidated Pat and I enough for us to pass on it this time around. Koushik ran it in his playboat and proved that one needs neither skill nor the ability to hold a line to survive this rapid.

The real hidden gem and pleasure find was the section below Husum Falls to the Northwestern Lake. This is the best Class II+ - Class III- transitional run I have ever paddled, bar none. It's got everything one would want. If one can make all the moves on this run, one is a solid Class III paddler. It's better than the Colomo-to-Greenwood section of the SF-American, it's even better than the Moke. Amazing stuff!

The absolute highlight was, after the day's paddling when we were checking out BZ Falls and saw a TN paddler run it.

Day 3 - Scouting the Cispus

2009-07-12T07:55:00.000-07:00

The idea was to get my bike repaired and boat the Cispus River (FR 23 to FR 28 bridge - Page 81 in Jeff & Tonya Bennet's guide book)

What I did not figure was the Randle is a long ways away. By the time we got to the takeout it was past 3PM. Faced with a 10 mile paddle followed up a harder than I like 12 mile uphill bike shuttle, we bailed.

The river looks invitingly beautiful. Given the distance from Seattle, this is, at best a once a year run.

Instead we chose to scout the upper run's (Adam's Fork campground to FR 23 bridge) waterfalls.

Wicked cool and a total Class V / V+ undertaking

Day 2 - The middle middle

2009-07-05T22:59:00.001-07:00

Paddled the middle section of the middle fork of the snoqualmie again

A bit less water than yesterday. The gauge read about 900 cfs and that left about right

Still a lot of fun. I think that this run is a sweet run between 900 cfs and 1800 cfs

Spent the afternoon checking out Deception Creek Falls, Alpine Falls and Eagle Falls along the South Fork of the Skykomish and it's tributaries.

We've decided that guide books be dammed, Boulder Drop on the main Sky at 4000cfs is a full on Class V rapid. Either that or drops like Jaws and Number 2 on the Burnt Ranch Gorge run of the Trinity, Locomotive Falls and Nutcracker and Dominator on the Giant Gap section of the NF of the American are not Class V. Having run all these drops, they sure dont feel like Class IV or even Class IV+

Day 1 - A low flow paddle on the "middle middle"

2009-07-04T21:29:00.000-07:00

Started off out 9 day paddling soiree with a "warm up" run on the 'middle middle", a.k.a the Middle section of the Middle Fork of the Snoqualamie.

Per all indications it was low side of low at 950cfs. In practice it was GREAT.

Rocky and a bit bony in spots but a lot of fun play water. The Class IV drop - House Rock was still Class IV, technical and interesting with multiple lines but not intimidatingly scary

Plan on doing it again tomorrow

Staying in Yosemite

2009-06-14T08:40:00.001-07:00

Spend Memorial Day weekend taking my friends Bala & Rashmi and their kids Kedar and Ishwar hiking in Yosemite. Raghu was also with us. The kids impressed the hell out of me by hiking to the top of Nevada Falls.

The absolute best place to stay in Yosemite is at the Yosemite View Lodge(209-379-2681). You'd want the rooms by the river 1018 - 1028 / 2018 - 2028 / 3018 - 3028. The first is the best

SF Stilly ("The Middle")

2009-05-31T20:20:00.000-07:00

River Section: SF Stilly ("The Middle")
Guide Book: Jeff & Tonya Bennet, Page 152
Flow: ~ 6.2ft - 6.0 ft (medium, felt like ~1800 cfs, lower would be bony, higher would be exciting)
Rating: Class III - III+
Gradient: 42 fpm
Put-in: 1 mile upstream of Wiley CReek campground
Take-out: Verlot Campground
Date: May 31st, 2009

After spending all day yesterday scouting the SF Snoqualmie, the Upper Middle Snoqualmie and the take-out / put-in to the NF Snoqualmie (could not find the take-out and there is a Class V+ run - Ernie's Canyon below the section I am interested in!!) I needed to get on the water.

By the way, these are not easy bike shuttles. The SF Snoqualmie is only a 3 mile shuttle but you have to get on I-90. The upper middle snoqualmie has a dusty gravelly road that would be a painfully slow bike shuttle.

I considered running the Class II+ section of the SF Stilly below Granite Falls till the Jordan river bridge (Jeff & Tonya Bennet, Page 154) but that's a 2.5 mile with a 3 mile up and down shuttle along a road (Mountain Loop Hwy) without a bike lane or shoulder

I scouted the section of the SF Stilly from Riverbar to Verlot and while it was rated Class III I was not certain what the fuss was about. Anyways, I was paddling sole but was in a creek boat

The section is nice. I put in a mile upstream of the Wiley Creek campground which provided a nice warm-uy before the action began.

Wiley Creek rapid is a long (1/3 mile+) stretch of whitewater that is road scoutable. Looked a lot easier from the road than it was. I can see this section being a stomper at higher flows.

Half mile downstream, is a mini version of the above

Just when you think it's all over, at a right bend with houses on the left bank and a mud cliff on the downstream right bank is another longish Class III that would get much more exciting at higher flows.

Within 1/4 of mile I passed under the bridge and took out another 2/3 mile downstream at the Verlot campground on river right.

The highlight was this sweet couple who I talked with below Wiley Creek and who offered to drive up to Verlot and give me a ride saving me a 5 mile run. The very milk of human kindness!!

Then I walked down the Old Robe Trail and checked out the first mile of the Robe Canyon run. SCARY, not for me, not even with low flows and Peter as my lead angel....

Ran this a second time on Saturday June 13th at 5.4 on the gauge. This is clearly a Class III - Class III+ technical river. There are atleast 4-5 rapids that qualify as Class III due to their length and the need for rock dodging. At lower flows the run gets bony and I am certain that when the gauge is reading above 7, this would be a solid Class IV run with mean holes lying in wait for the unsuspecting paddler.

2009 Paddling days

2009-05-17T21:29:00.000-07:00

Pool / Lake Days

Monday, April 27th (Pool)
Monday, May 4th (Pool)
Sunday, Dec. 12th(Condo Pool)

River Days

Sunday May 3rd (Club Run on MF Snoqualmie + Powerhouse run on the main Snoqualmie)
Saturday May 16th (Club Run)
Sunday May 17th (Beckler River)
Sunday May 31st ( SF Stilly)
Saturday June 6th (Gorge Run on the SFA, 1400cfs, Swam Fowler's for the first time)
Saturday, June 13th (SF Stilly, "Middle" at 5.4 on the gauge)
Saturday, July 4th ("middle middle" of the MFS at 970cfs - A LOT of fun!)
Sunday, July 5th("middle middle" of the MFS at about 900cfs - Still a LOT of fun)
Tuesday, July 7th(White Salmon below BZ Falls at ~860cfs at the gauge)
Thursday, July 9th(NF Nooksack below horseshoe bend at ~750cfs)
Friday, July 10th (Sauk below Whitechuck at ~3800cfs at Sauk)
Saturday, July 11th (Sky at ~2500cfs)
Sunday, July 19th (Sky at ~1900cfs)
Saturday, July 25th (Sky at ~1500cfs)
Sunday, July 26th (Sky at ~ 1500cfs)
Saturday, August 1st (Sky at ~1250cfs)
Sunday, August 2nd (Sky at ~1160cfs)
Sunday, August 9th (Sky at ~ 800cfs, two laps of Boulder drop)
Saturday, August 22nd (main Tuolumne at ~1300cfs)
Sunday, Sept. 6th (Sky at ~ 900cfs, two laps of Boulder Drop)
Sunday, Sept. 27th(Powerhouse run ~600cfs, took Ryan Farris on his first trip ever)
Satuday, October 17th(SFA-Gorge ~ 1600cfs)
Sunday, October 18th(SFA - Chili Bar ~ 1600cfs)
Sunday, December 27th (Lower Quijos at about 2000cfs)
Tuesday, December 29th (Upper Misahualli at about 500cfs)
Wednesday, Dec. 30th (Lower Jondachi into Lower Hollins, Class III swim on the lower Jondachi)
Thursday, Dec. 31st (Piatua, swim in Class III playwater)

Paddling the Beckler River

2009-05-17T21:13:00.000-07:00

River Section: Beckler River
Guide Book: Jeff & Tonya Bennet, Page 136
Flow: ~ 1200cfs (8800cfs at Index on the Skykomish)
Rating: Class II+ - III
Gradient: 64 fpm
Put-in: Confluence of Rapid River and Beckler
Take-out: SF Skykomish confluence bridge at Hwy 2
Date: May 17th, 2009

This is only my third day paddling in 6 months. Sole paddled the Beckler River in the Skykomish drainage.

It's a 7 mile run with a easy bike shuttle along the Beckler River Road.

While the gradient is non-trivial, this is a continuous gradient river and no drop is individually more than a Class III at most.

The first 1.5 miles below the put-in is where all the action is. This is continuous Class II+ adding up to Class III.

Then the river peters out to Class II - Class I+ swift water thru braided channels with plenty of wood to avoid.

The river picks up again at the Beckler River Campground with the 1/3 mile long Class III called "Last Hurray" just below another bridge across the river.

The take-out is another 1/3 of mile downstream. I found it best to take out river left upstream of the Hwy 2 bridge over the SF Skykomish

This is C R A Z Y

2009-05-17T08:03:00.001-07:00

The new world record is a young gun who thinks himself immortal running the 180 ft Palouse Falls

Check the video

Getting back into paddling

2009-05-17T07:23:00.000-07:00

I have to confess that this is L A M E! One of the main reasons I moved to Seattle was that easy access to all that whitewater and skiing.

Lemme see.... as of May 1st 2009, ten and a half months since moving to Seattle, I have had:

Two half days of skiing at Snoqualamie Pass
One day of great skiing at Crystal Mountain
Three days on the rivers in WA (not counting the 7 day slow move up from CA); One sole run on the "Middle Middle" (MF Snoqualmie) and two runs on Skykomish

In fact, since my move to Seattle, I have had as many days of paddling in CA as I have had in WA.

Have not been in my boat at all since sometime in late October when I paddled the gorge with Pat and company. That makes this 6 months without boating the longest dry spell since I started paddling. Hmmm... and no SO to blame for it either!

Well... all that has changed in May. Since May 1st, I have had

2 days in the pool (April 27th and May 4th)
Paddled sole a 4 mile Class 2 section of the Lower Middle Snoqualmie (Club Run) and the 1 mile long "Powerhouse run" below Snoqualmie on May 3rd
Paddled sole the Club Run again on Saturday May 16th

What is clear is that while I am in "good shape" (thanks to starting to work out with a trainer at the Xgym) I am in lousy paddling shape. Certainly not confident enough in my mind to sole paddle even Class III stuff that I don't know, let along unknown Class IV's....

The good news is that my roll till works fine, but I still do have a mental lack of trust ...

Here's hoping to paddle again today....

Scouting in the Skykomish drainage

2008-11-16T19:32:00.001-08:00

It's been almost 5 months since I moved to Seattle. Unfortunately, I have to confess that I after the 7 days of paddling enroute to Seattle, I have been on the river around these parts only 3 times. While a new job with a fair bit of travel is partly to blame, the fact that I have not plugged myself into the local paddling community has not helped.

After a few days of the Pacific Northwest rains, all the rivers in various drainages were high but no longer at flood stage.

I decided to drive around in the Skykomish drainage and scout a few runs. Vicarious thrills to replace actually paddling!

Check out the video of Boulder Drop on the main Skykomish at about 10,000cfs. It's always a Class IV, even at low flows and at these monster flows, it is an intimidating big water Class V. There are only two lines: A far river right line that is still consequential, esp. towards the bottom or a very safe and dry line along far far river left.

I also checked out the Foss River, ran shuttle for a couple boaters and made potential paddling buddies. This starts off as Class IV, accelerates to Class IV+ as it drops 200ft in one miles and eases off to Class IV - Class III+. With the shuttle road alongside it is possible to pick ones section. A very continuous creeky run. The section below a old railroad bridge down to the confluence with the Tye River is something I would be comfortable paddling, even sole.

Check out this picture of Alpine Falls on the SF of the Skykomish. Some crazies have actually run this monster

Next up was a drive alongside the Beckler river. This is another tributary of the SF Skykomish and a nice Class II+ / Class III creeky run. The putin I scouted would be at the confluence of the Beckler and Rapid rivers. The Rapid river is a more serious undertaking. The last 2.5 miles of the Rapid river (starting just upstream of the second bridge) would be doable with good company. The top part of the Rapid river is a mess with one short but very very tight and sheer walled Class V canyon with wood. Even without the wood, that 1/8 mile section is beyond my ability.

Also checked out the NF Skykomish. The shuttle road is washed out at Trout Creek making the shuttle for this run long (nothing compared to the "T"). However the section below Troute Creek is still a nice Class II+ / Class III+ run. I am lead to believe that the "good stuff" is below Galena and upstream of Trout Creeek.

Finally, I checked out Eagle Falls (see below) on the SF Skykomish. Again runnable by crazies. I can see the line on this frieght train but am light years away from having the skill to hold the line.

More pictures

Skykomish at 1300cfs

2008-08-23T07:38:00.000-07:00

Paddled the Skykomish from "cable crossing" to the "Big Eddy" takeout on Saturday, August 16th at about 1300 cfs.

It was low and scrappy and the last few miles from below Split Rock to the big eddy take out was, for the most part, very slow and Class I+ II-

However the famous "Boulder Drop" rapid, even at these low flows was still a long, technical four part Class IV. It was a lot of fun.

MF Snoqualamie at 1400cfs

2008-07-18T06:33:00.000-07:00

Paddled the "middle middle' on Sunday (July 13th) at about 1400 cfs. This was 1/2 the flow we had the last time I paddled it.

This was a early Sunday morning sole run.

Luckily I did not have to bike the shuttle since I ran into some local paddlers who gave me a ride up to the to top.

At 1400cfs, this is a rocky Class III with the big rapid being a longish Class III+ - IV-.

All in all a great way to spend a Sunday morning. Back home by 3:00PM.... How wonderful.....

Day 7: July 6th, Paddling on the Snoqualamie

2008-07-07T22:02:00.000-07:00

River Section: MF Snoqualamie
Guide Book: Jeff & Tonya Bennet, Page 122
Flow: ~ 2800cfs
Rating: Class III - IV
Gradient: 43 fpm
Put-in: 1/3 mile Below Concrete Bridge
Take-out: Tanner
Date: July 6th, 2008
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/bayareawwk/Snoqualamie

Summary Description

Yet another great Class III - IV "play run" within 30 miles of downtown Seattle. So... this is what whitewater heaven is like.

Easy put-in and take-out and a 7 mile one way shuttle that is eminently bikable.

At ~ 2600 cfs this is a big water Class III+ with one solid big water Class IV that is quite long. Even at these flows there are some monster holes that one would not want to mess with

Looks like this will be my bread and butter run.

After running this section we went another 30 miles east to the upper reaches of the SF-Snoqualamie, above the impressive Franklin Falls and checked out the local easier version of South Silver Creek.

We had the pleasure of watching some local studs do laps on this puppy.

It's a 2/3 mile run that can be completed in 5-6 minutes. Lots of boofs, slides and drops.

The entrance drop is the intimidating Falls-in-the-Wall which is a Class V+ that is not frequently run. The run ends with the river going over the unrunnable Franklin Falls which is preceded by a 40 foot slide / ramp that is apparently occasionally run. Missing that last eddy would not be a good idea.

By the way, the local studs were taking out 2 drops before the 40 foot slide / ramp. Smart dudes...

Day 6: July 6th, Green River Gorge

2008-07-07T21:50:00.000-07:00

River Section: Green River Gorge
Guide Book: Jeff & Tonya Bennet, Page 115
Flow: ~ 1100cfs
Rating: Class IV
Gradient: 42 fpm
Put-in: Kanasket-Palmer State Park
Take-out: Downstream of Franklin Bridge (take-out from hell!)
Date: July 5th, 2008
Pictures:

Summary Description

In short, this is a gorgeous Class IV run thru a dense rain forest canyon about 30 miles outside of Seattle.

Straightforward "read and run" Class IV. It's really a Class III run with 3 easy Class IV rapids (Pipeline, Mercury and Nozzle)

The takeout is one from hell requiring secret knowledge of secret combinations to private gates and a 1/3 mile hike out from hell on a trail littered with nettles.

Alternatively, apparently one can paddle on down another 6 miles thru the easier Class III+ lower green river gorge. The last 2 miles flat water float apparently is enough to make the locals prefer to carry out.

Call me stupid but I prefer a 2 mile float thru a beautiful rain forest covered canyon to that hike out from hell.... The lower take-out makes for a 16 mile one way shuttle which kinda sorta rules out a bike shuttle + sole run.

Seems like this would be a favorite playboat run expect for the logistical complexity.

Day 5: July 4th, Upper Wind

2008-07-06T21:32:00.001-07:00

River Section: Upper Wind
Guide Book: Jeff & Tonya Bennet, Page 34
Flow: Low side of good, 4.6 ft on the gauge at Stabler, felt like about 800 cfs
Rating: Class IV+
Gradient: 87 fpm, 110 fpm for the two miles below Trout Creek confluence
Put-in: Stabler
Take-out: Upstream of High Bridge
Date: July 4th, 2008
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/bayareawwk/UpperWind

Summary Description

WOW! Holy Shit!!

No shit and there I was at the put-in of this great "Class III+ / IV technical low water" run. Or so said the local hotshot young gun at the rafting outfitter on the White Salmon. Of course the guide book (Jeff & Tonya Bennett's "A Guide to Whitewater Rivers of Washington") calls it a Class IV+ / V and the proving ground & stepping stone for southwest Washington boaters.

Who do you think was right ??? No points for guessing correct!

The Upper Wind is a serious undertaking but well within the reach of a solid Class IV paddler. It terms of difficulty it is comparable to the Upper Kyburz section but much more consequential due to the remote canyon that the river flows thru with limited road access.

Given that it was just Pat and I and neither of us had run this section before, we took a bit over 4 hours to run the ~7 miles of the river. We got out of our boats to scout three times and portaged once.

There is no internet accesible gauge but the visual gauge at the Stabler put-in (see guide book!) read 4.6 ft. The kayaker's gauge at the take out indicated "low side of good". If this distinctive rock is covered, the Wind's pumping and is a solid Class V run. The flow's perfect if the water is flowing inbetween the "horns".

The put-in and take-out's are deceptively calm.

The first two miles are enjoyable Class III+ technical boulder gardens.

The action starts for serious as the river enters a gorge. There is a house with a blue roof high on river left and Trout creek adds volume on river right.

The next 2 miles is a gauntlet of whitewater chaos and even at "low side of good" flows was non-stop solid Class IV+ action. At higher flows this is Class V action.

The good news is that if one is having a bad day (please DONT!!!) the entire gorge is portagable albeit with some 'death ferries' and tiring carries. The road is, for the most part high up and out on river left and can be reached relatively easily if you abandon gear.

The first rapid is Initiation that I snuck on far river right while Pat ran a right of center line. Next comes Ram's Horn that Pat ran the gut of while I snuck it on far river left.

We walked about 200 feet stretch that included a Class V- (even at low flows) rapid called Climax.

The action eases a bit about 1/2 mile past Climax after a long narrow river right chute rapid but you still have to deal with numerous Class III+ technical boulder gardens.

The action really slows down only after you pass a gorgeous waterfall on river right.

Dont miss the take out or one is forced to run the even harder Lower Wind that includes atleast one Class V+, one normally unrunnable waterfall and a bunch of manky Class IV+ / V shit.

The absolute highlight of the day was after we stopped at the waterfalls. Somehow Pat managed to get into his boat and float away leaving his paddle behind in the eddy. Go figure! He had to run the next Class III drop without a paddle and scamper into an eddy while I struggled (since I was laughing so hard!) to get him his paddle. Please dont ask him about this since he was sensitive about it 3 days later. Be kind to the old man! :-)

The shuttle was 1/3 mile uphill walk and a 8 mile bike ride and took me exactly 1 hour and 3 minutes.

Would I do it again? You bet!!!!

Day 4: July 3rd, Scouting ....

2008-07-06T07:33:00.000-07:00

The plan for the day was to actually paddle a section of the Clackamas below the Three Lynx Power house down to Bob's Hole (apparently the site of the "world famous" Bob's Hole Rodeo).

According to Soggy Sneakers (Page 178) this is rated a 8.5 mile long Class III - IV run with an average gradient of 43 fpm. We got the feeling that this might be the "SF American gorge" run of the Oregon area except it has a road alongside it, just like the Merced.

One quick drive along the river and we were quite disappointed!! While the one Class IV rapid (Carter's) was interesting with many different lines thru it, it was still a short drop and the only one that seemed "interesting".

Bob's Hole is a wave and the much feared Hole-in-the-Wall rapid that has drowned numerous people is a straightforward rapid. Toilet Bowl which supposedly flips all kayakers is a ho-hum...

We quickly decided that the pain of a 10 mile bike shuttle exceeded the gain of a splashy 8 mile Class III run esp. when we had done one just like this yesterday (NF Umpqua)

Some rumination and further research (that involved talking to a cute 20 something commercial raft guide) led us to believe that the upstream Killer Fangs run (Soggy Sneakers Page 177) would also not be worth our while.

This led to the long drive over to the White Salmon drainage in southern WA. The White Salmon was running high for this time of the year (as was all of Oregon, Washingtion rivers while CA sweltered in a drought and was being burned to a crisp with over 1200 wildfires) at about 1200 cfs (4 ft on the gague). We had no aspirations of taking on the infamous "Green Truss" section at these monster flows and neither did we feel like challenging the Class IV "Farmlands" section (now Class V ???) but were excited about taking on the BZ Corner run (Jeff & Tonya Bennet, Page 29) and paddling off Husum Falls.

The sight of Husum Falls was quite intimidating and at these flows was no longer a cheap thrills ride. So... scratch that one off the list, we would have to be portaging this drop. Bummer!

We walked down to the put-in and hiked the 1/2 mile upstream to take a look at the awesome sight that was BZ Falls, the class V+ drop that marks the end of the "Green Truss" run. What a sight!!

Then we stared hard at the rather intimidating Class IV+ (at these flows) drop right out of the gate (Maytag and Topdrop) and watched a couple of locals in playboats run it. I knew I was putting in below Maytag and maybe even below Topdrop....

Talking to a local (White Salmon) raft guide (more on the folly of talking to locals later! :-) ) and kayaker resulted in the recommendation that we consider the West Fork of the Hood or the Upper Wind river, both "technical Class III+ / IV runs" (Yeaaahhhhh riiiiggghhhhttttt) that were running on the low side of good ("We have just stopped running rafts down them", he said)

This resulted in our driving over to the Wind River takeout (did not want to drive back to Oregon for the WF-Hood) to take a look at the horn rock that provides the visual gauge for the run.

All in all, Miles driven: 240+, River miles run: 0 and yet it was all good and fun...

Tomorrow we need to decide if we are going to run the White Salmon or take on the Upper Wind.

Day 3: July 2nd 2008, NF Umpqua

2008-07-05T20:46:00.000-07:00

River Section: North Fork of the Umpqua
Guide Book: Soggy Sneakers, P 79
Flow: ~ 2000cfs
Rating: Class III - IV
Gradient: 29fpm
Put-in: Horseshoe Bend campground
Take-out: Gravel Pit campground near Steamboat
Date: July 2nd, 2008
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/bayareawwk/NFUmpqua

Summary Description

A picturesque 9 mile Class III run with one rapid, Pinball rated as Class IV. If Pinball is a Class IV, it's an easy Class IV. This is a continuous gradient run similar in feel to the Merced below Indian Flats campground.

We lucked out and ran in to a couple of folks at the take-out who were kind enough to take me to the put-in.

Nice run to do if you are in the area or passing thru (like we were) but not something I would return to.

Day 2: NF Rogue

2008-07-05T20:19:00.000-07:00

River Section: River bridge campground to NF Reservoir
Guide Book: Soggy Sneakers, Page 97
Flows: ~ 1200 cfs
Rating: Class III - IV
Gradient: 40fpm
Put-in: River bridge campground
Take-out: NF Reservoir
Date: July 1st 2008
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/bayareawwk/NFRogue

Summary Description

On the slow road from Fremont-CA to Seattle-WA, the first stop was just an hour's drive north of Medford on Oregon Hwy 62 to paddle this wonderful stretch on the NF Rogue. This section is just below the much more difficult Takilma Gorge section and ends with a 2/3 mile paddle on the NF Reservoir.

The run is a gorgeous 5-6 mile Class III run with one Class IV read-and-run rapid. All in all a beautiful day and wonderful start to the road trip. Needless to say, we boat scouted everything and loved it!

The 6 mile bike shuttle is straightforward. About a mile is on dirt roads and the rest on Hwy 62. Took me about 30 minutes to bike back to the put-in, load up and return for the boats.

Nice run to do if you are in the area or passing thru (like we were) but not something I would return to.

The highlight of the day was the amusement I provided Pat with when I insisted on stopping and talking to a guy at a local raft rental place about 30 miles before the take-out.

Me (Indian accent): Hi... how's it going?
Toothless Old Timer (TOT): Pretty good! Going to do some raaaffftting, eh?
Me: (Cringing) err... we are going to be kayaking in 'em hardshell kayaks
TOT: Good, Good....
Me: What can you tell us about the NF Rogue
TOT: Well, it's pretty easy and we rent rafts for folks all the time. But you've gotta be careful with them kayaks, they turn over y'know....
Me: (Disappointed) Oh... the NF of the Rogue is easy, huh? We heard it was a Class III - IV run.
TOT: Class what ?
Me: (Confused!) Class III - IV run on the NF Rogue
TOT: Dunno what you are talking about... there's no such river
Me: (Incredulous) Really??? No such river, huh?
TOT: Oh... you must mean above the dam. We dont go nowhere near such stuff... That's for them crazy people.
Me: (Giving up) Thanks....

Needless to stay, Pat could not stopping horse laughing at me the rest of the day and that was the last time we stopped to talk to locals about rivers.....

Day 1: June 30th 2008, Coloma - Greenwood with old friends

2008-07-05T20:14:00.000-07:00

My actual last day of paddling in CA as a CA resident was actually on Monday, June 30th when I got to paddle the Coloma to Greenwood section with some old friends.

Fredrik Tillman was on the river, as athletic as ever and as much of a sandbagger as ever. Says he's not been paddling much but still seems to have a bomb proof roll and can do a nose stand and a flat water stern squirt on demand. LIAR!

And then Kaps was in town all the way from India and her elephants and for a person who has not been on the river or in a kayak for over five years was styling... Found her roll and was ferry like a champ.

We put her cousin Deepa who does not even know how to swim in an IK and pretty much towed her down. I think she's going to be hurting all over the next day....

Having convinced Pat (and more importantly his wife, Patty) to "help me move" to Seattle (my two kayaks and ice chest, but I was going to need help in moving from river basin to river basin....) we left the Sacramento at about 8PM and made it as far as Redding...

Last day of paddling as a CA resident

2008-06-09T14:27:00.000-07:00

It was with mixed feelings that on Sunday June 8th I found myself on the SF-American, possible for the last time as a CA resident

I have been a resident of CA for almost 17 years.

While I have travelled far and wide and lived in many places, I have always considered the SF Bay area as "home". I have visited all of the lower 48 states and Hawaii, most of Europe and large swathes of Asia. I have more than sampled NYC, HongKong, London, Frankfurt, Singapore, Bangalore and Delhi but have always come home to Northern California

I discovered CA whitewaters in 1994 and then started swimming alongside my first kayak (a 13' long Dancer XT) in 1998.

I spend all of 1998 and a good part of 1999 being pretrified of Meatgrinder, TroubleMaker, Satan's Cesspool and Hospital Bar.

It was not untill 2001 that I could catch those turbulent eddies along the right wall on Racehorse Bend.

With the exception of one trip to Costa Rica and another to Idaho all my paddling has been in California.

I have run the SF-American all the way from 250cfs to 10000cfs and loved it at all levels. I have swum every single rapid on this river as I made the painful to transition from occasionally kayaking to occasionally swimming.

I watched many teens & tweens start paddling on the C-G section as tentative Class II paddlers looking to their elders for assurance that this crazy sport will not kill them and I watched in wonder while these same teens and tweens soon sailed past the capabilities of their elders.

It was great to run into one such face on my last day paddling as a CA resident

By the month's end I will have moved to Seattle with nothing other than great memories of California and it's great cohort of friendly kayakers.

Should anyone happen to wander into the Pacific Northwest, drop me a line and maybe we can paddle something up there.

I hear that there's good whitewater up there! :-) Must have something to do with all that rain...

Tiger Creek Run on the NF of the Moke

2008-06-09T14:11:00.000-07:00

River Section: The Tiger Creek run of the NF of the Moke
Guide Book: H & S, page 186
Flows: The park ranger said it was about 700cfs
Rating: Class III - IV
Gradient:
Date: June 7th 2008
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/bayareawwk/TigerCreekRun

Ran the 3 mile Class III - IV section below Tiger Creek Dam on the NF of the Moke. This run has enough water in it only when the PG&E gods so decide or during the spring melt in a big water year when Tiger Creek Dam overflows.

American Whitewater has a nice writeup here

This is a nice Class III-IV section that is certainly a solid step up from the Chili Bar run

While all the drops are boat scoutable, our group of three (Pat, Andrew and I) got out of our boats a total of three times.

The run starts off with no warm up with a Class III drop right out of the chute although it is possible to put in downstream of this drop.

The hardest and longest rapid is the one which is about a 100 yards above the takeout. While the bottom drop looks intimidating, it's the initial part of this rapid that is more significant.

About the only adventure of the day was when my back band broke right above this last rapid and I landed up running it without a backband. Not recommended!

Superb kayaking article & video

2008-05-26T18:29:00.000-07:00

Just ran across a superb kayaking article by Thayer Walker in the April 2008 edition of Men's Fitness magazine. Thayer Walker was a weekend Class IV paddler on a quest to step it up a notch to Class V kayaking with the help of pro paddlers Jesse Coombs and Ben Stooksberry.

This is accompanied by an incredible 10 part video series - Crash course in Class V Whitewater Kayaking. The first four episodes, each of them about 5 minutes long have been released and available on Oregon Kayaking's website ( I cant link to those videos directly)

I understand that this ten part series will only be available online OregonKayaking.net and Jacksonkayak.com

The article and the short videos are SUPERB. Early on, in the episode, you can see that Thayer has no boof stroke as he just falls off the lip of drops. Per the article, at the end of those 15 days with the gurus, he was sailing down Cherry Creek and the infamouse NF-Payette.

How do I get to join this class?

Cant wait for episodes 5 thru 10!!!!

On a site note, the second time I paddled Burnt Ranch Gorge, Ben Stookesberry and his buds were there yawning their way down the run in playboats while I was in survival mode.

Sharing my passion

2008-05-26T14:45:00.001-07:00

It's now been 10 years since I started kayaking and 14 years since I first discovered whitewaters during a commercial raft trip with All Outdoors on the Middle Fork of the American river.

While I have talked (some would say talked incessantly) to my family about this welcome addiction of mine to whitewater, I have only occasionally attempted to introduce them to the sport.

The exception is my brother who I subjected to two days of commercial rafting on the Class V Cal Salmon at 4500cfs (that's BIG WATER). He did not call me for 6 months after this "adventure"

Just as he was getting ready to talk to me, I convinced him to join me in an inflatable kayak down the Class III+ - IV- run on the Merced at 2000cfs starting at the Indian Flat campground after warming up the previous day on the easier Class II+ Suspension bridge to Briceburg run. He flipped at the very top entrance to the Class III Motel Hole rapid and according to him "almost died". He says that it was only the pleasant thought of how he was going to kill me that gave him the strenght to survive the ordeal.

Another 3 years would pass before he made another visit to California!

Now I had talked my cousins Jyo and Kala and their husbands Sri and Shesh to allow me to row them down the SF-American gorge. Neither of the women even swim and their two guys had each rafted once before on the SFA with a commercial outfitter.

Unlike my brother who I think is fair game to torment and torture, I was keen to ensure that these folks have a great day and on helping them create a life-long memory.

As luck would have it, Saturday, May 24th was a wet, gloomy and cold day, quite unseasonably so for Memorial day weekend. My cousin Jyo was feeling unwell and decided to sit this one out and keep my 31 month niece company but the rest of us were good to go!

It was a 14' Hyside raft rented from Sierra Outdoor Center with a lightweight aluminium oar frame that was going to take us down.

Now, while I kayak often, I have not commercially rafted since 1998 (long story for another day!) and I row a raft down Class III - IV rivers once every other year usually with family and/or friends.

My buddy, Pat agreed to kayak with us and play videographer. Mickey and Deb joined us as "safety kayakers".

Deb watched nervously as I zigzagged my way across Turtle Pond below the Greenwood creek put-in and breathed a sigh of relief as I settled down and "seemed" to be in control after running Slick Lisa.

After a clean smooth run past Satan's Cesspool, we took the hero line thru Bouncing Rock and took on the meat of the hole at Hospital Bar spilling the bow paddlers into the drink.

Methinks that they all have lifelong memories.

I for one had as much fun on rowing down the gorge as I did on Friday while paddling on the Kyburz section

Photos of our run thru Satan's Cesspool and Hospital Bar. Many thanks to Whitewater Photos for these great photos.

Below is the video diary of our day on the river.

South Fork American - Kyburz Run

2008-05-26T14:17:00.000-07:00

River Section: Upper South Fork of the American River, below Kyburz
Guide Book: H & S, page 169, California Creeking
Flows: Estimated by Dreamflows to be 525cfs. Felt about right, it was certainly lower than I have run it before
Rating: Class IV+
Gradient: 140ft/mile for the first two miles
Date: May 23rd 2008

This time around, we (Pat, Mickey, Beth and I ) ran the upper two miles. This section is certainly a full step up from the lower 8 miles.

The section starting just below the Class V+ portage (downstream of the town of Kyburz) till below the Class IV rapid at the sharp right bend of the river is certainly the busiest two miles of river I have run. The Burnt Ranch Gorge section of the Trinity river is harder and Coffee Creek is more continuous but these 2 miles are the busiest I have paddled.

The only other section I have run that is comparable are the two miles on the North Fork of the Stanislaus just above McKay's point

This section is possible Class V above 1000 - 1200 cfs.

I was running sweep and got pinned between a rock and a tree log on river right about half way down the second Class IV rapid within the first 1/2 mile. While I was not in real danger, I was scared out of my wits since no one knew I was pinned and I had no idea what lay downstream. I spent about a minute trying to work myself free before baling out of boat and jumping on a mid-stream boulder while my kayak got swamped, freed and floated downstream.

I eventually jumped back in the river and swam into the next eddy while Pat and Mickey got my boat.

I had a nice little hissy fit temper tantrum and after a while continued on down.

No rapid-by-rapid description is possible except that if it were not for Pat's read-and-run ability we would have taken twice as long to run these 2 miles and would have had to scout 5 times as much. As it is, I got out of my boat to scout on two occasions and we took about 2 hours to run the two miles.

In comparison the lower section seemed positively blase.

By the time we got to the Riverton bridge it was already 4:45PM (started at 12:15PM) and we were beat and decided to skip out on the final 3 miles where the gradient increases again to 80 feet / mile and we have atleast 10 distinct Class IV - III+ rapids.

I need to run this section a lot more.

South Fork American - Kyburz Run

2008-05-05T22:17:00.000-07:00

River Section: Upper South Fork of the American River, below Kyburz
Guide Book: H & S, page 169, California Creeking
Flows: Estimated by Dreamflows to be 550cfs on Day 1 and 750cfs on Day 2. I believe the gauge reporting is broken. Seems like we had about 650cfs on Day 1 and maybe 750cfs on Day 2
Rating: Class IV - IV+ (Depending on where one starts)
Date: May 4th / 5th 2008
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/bayareawwk/SFAmericanKyburzRun

Summary Description

While many GCP paddlers flocked to the Merced, Pat and I paddled the South Fork of the American River, below Kyburz on two consecutive days

I have paddled two different sections of this run exactly once each; in 2002 and then in 2006 and hence this is not a run that I have any familiarity with. Having run it twice in two days, it's my new favorite.

This is a full-on Class IV - IV+ run that becomes a Class IV+ - Class V- as the water level rises aout 1200cfs

Mile-by-Mile detailed Desciption

Mile 0: The "standard" put-in is about a couple miles below the town of Kyburz and just below the visible Class V+ mess. Putting in further upstream is possible but that's for the big dawgs, not mere mortals.

The first two miles are absolutely continuous Class IV+ whitewater. It's a single 2 mile long rapid with plenty of eddies but no pools. Seems similar to the section below the Chevron Gas station on the Merced and the last two miles of the North Fork of the Stanislaw ending at Mckay's Point.

Given that I am just getting back my boating hips and confidence, I did not even consider paddling the top two miles on the first day. On the second day, while I was open to it, I decided that the consequence of carnage would be my fragile confidence which I am averse to risking. I feel like I need a few more good days on harder runs to get my game face back on.

Mile 2: Alternate put-in just below a visible Class IV rapid where the river at a right bend drops over a river left chute. There is a tree at the entrance that, at ~650cfs was barely visible and was underwater at 750cfs.

The next 1/2 mile is Class II+ riffles.

Mile 2.5: As the river goes under the Hwy 50 bridge twice in 100 yards, there is a sweet read-and-run Class IV- that consists of 5 distinct drops. It's either 5 Class III drops back-to-back, or a nice long Class IV-. Plenty of eddies to catch and numerous lines are possible

The next drop of consequence is a bony affair that is visible from the road and right of center channel is the cleanest. The far right is bony (at 750cfs) and the center channel is manky

Mile 3.8: Photo Opportunity! (Click here for photos) After a short pool, the river seems to disappear into a boulder garden. This is a long Class IV rapid with a really sweet QBM (Quality Boof Move) in the middle. Scout right or left, although river right shore offers the best location for pictures

Immediately following the above Class IV rapid is another slighty easier Class IV boulder garden rapid.

Mile 4.2: Another Alternate Put-in. Might have to pay the store that's located on the river for access.

Mile 5: After a 1/2 mile of Class II+ / Class III riffles and drops, we get to the WhiteHall rapid. This is visible from the road at the road marker that says Whitehall. A straightforward Class IV rapid consisting of a steep chute followed by a couple of holes.

The next 1.2 miles consists of numerous Class III - III+ drops. One of note is just before the Hwy 50 bridge and consists of logs and pin rocks on the far left channel. Center and Center channel is fine

Mile 7: Possible take-out at the sandy beach on river left past the Hwy 50 bridge.

The next three miles consists of significant Class IV - Class IV+ whitewater. If you choose to not run the top 2 miles, these three miles would be the hardest (and funnest) whitewater on this run.

Mile 7.5: After 1/2 mile of Class II+ riffles the river seems to enter a willow gardern. Stay alert and find a route down the center left channel as this is a Class IV drop that leads into the most significant and consequential rapid on the run (below the upper 2 miles!). Eddy out river right.

Mile 7.55: This Class IV+ /V- rapid can be scouted either on river right or river left. The "easy" line is down the right side and is still a Class IV+. The danger in this rapid is along the left channel where the river pours over a ledge into a hole that is backed by a pin rock. If you run the left line, you must boof the ledge hole going right

I am told that more than one paddler of greater skill that I has conducted deep, philosophical conversations with Elvis while pinned here.

On my first run down this section, back in 2003, as the other stopped to scout, I boat scouted my way down the left side, boofed the ledge hole (going right!!), flipped and rolled up and made my way down the hero line without even knowing where I was. Ignorance is bliss and sometimes Fortune favors the stupid! I shiver when I think about it!

The next mile contains continous Class II+ boogie water with 3 distinct Class III drops.

Mile 8.5: Next follows the longest and funnest rapid on the run. It's easily 1/2 mile long and starts as Class III progressing to Class III+ to Class IV- and finishing with a Class IV river left line or a Class IV+ river right line.

Mile 9: Alternate take-out at the park on river left. The road is a steep 1/3 mile up a marked trail. It makes no sense to take out here as will soon be apparent

The river now gorges up and takes on a distinctly ominous feel with the rapids changing from boulder bars and boulder gardens to granite bedrock affairs.

On a previous trip, I am told that one rather mean paddler scared the living hell out of another already nervous and tired paddler (who has featured in multiple carnarge epics on various rivers) by insisting that Pat had missed the takeout and that they were now in the infamous Golden Gate section. To make matters worse, this meanie, the paddled off and left the poor guy shitting bricks amidst these meanacing looking (but really benign) drops.

The next 1/2 mile consists of exactly 6 Class III+ / Class IV drops. The action starts immediately after the park takeout with a rapid whose left side is choked off by a large visible log. This is Number 1

Each of these 6 drops are short steep affairs followed by a short pool. From upstream, each looks quite significant but once you pull up to it's edge the clean lines are apparent.

The seventh drop looks just the other six but is a significantly harder Class IV+ drop that is the warm-up rapid on the Golden Gate run. If you run this, you have gone too far and must undertake a Class V+ takeout ......or continue on downstream :-)

Mile 9.5: Class V take on river left or proceed downstream to the Class V+ Golden Gate run.

Kayaking is mostly mental

2008-04-19T07:03:00.001-07:00

I paddled the gorge run on the SFAmerican yesterday (Friday, April 18th) and have not felt this good in a boat on the water in atleast 2 years.

I am feeling a bit more confident in my eskimo rolls, both on-side and off-side and in general, feeling a lot more relaxed.

What can I attribute this to, I mean apart from the fact that I have been getting out on the water a bit more and I am still paddling my big boat, the Dagger CFS even on a Class III run...

It is finally getting to be a bit warmer, thus fewer layers of clothing and hence greater flexibility
I have been working out quite regularly over the past couple of months of so and am a lot fitter than I have been in the last two years.

There is this virtuous cycle of positive reinforcement that mentally makes for a better paddling day...

It's always bigger on the river...

2008-04-12T12:24:00.001-07:00

I am struck by how much bigger stuff is on the river from your kayak as compared to what you see from the shore while scouting or worse still from a road high above.

I was re-reading the tales of big dawg boaters paddling manky gnar gnar shit like the Box Canyon section of the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone and was struck and amused by how the author hastens to add the stuff is a lot bigger and steeper than it looks like in the awesome pictures.

I guess some stuff does'nt change...It's always bigger and steeper than it seems...

East branch of the North Fork of the Feather - Part II

2008-04-07T08:32:00.000-07:00

After running the gorge on Saturday (4/5/2008), Pat, Andrew and I drove up to run the East Branch of the North Fork of the Feather again.

I have updated the mile-by-mile river description.

A few thoughts...

This is really a full on Class IV run. While Irrigated Rubble Pile and Five-in-a-hole can be safely portaged, the crux of the run is Dont Gooseneck. This would be a hard and tedious portage on river left. A swim in this rapid would be bruising.
This time around, since I did not gooseneck my way downstream, I had time to appreciate this fine stretch of complex whitewater
The correct entrance is the key to a clean run. River left is guarded by two back-to-back punchable but substantial holes (even at ~ 1000cfs) and the river right entrance feeds onto a rooster tail. The trick is to enter left of center, head right and thread the three holes cutting the right corners of the two back-to-back river left holes and the left shoulder of the hole formed behind the rooster tail. Then it's bear towards the center to punch three more holes and arrive with enough speed to ride up the right side of the bottom fang rock foampile and punch the last hole. An eddy on river left will allow you to either roll up or recover your breath before we take on the Class III run-out.
I had the pleasure of seeing some local in a play boat take the hero line on this. Punching all the holes with enough control to make a tight river left boof upstream of the fang rock and swing around it. I have been there, not intentionally and it's big and turbulent. This dude was an artist on the water....
On our second run down, Andrew swam out of the bottom hole of the rapid and it was 1/3 mile downstream that we finally got his boat to shore. He aggressively swam into the first eddy and avoided swimming the run-out.
After only a brief respite of moving water, you get to the really really long Class III+ rapid I call Breathless (for obvious reasons!). It's fun for the class IV paddler who is comfortable reading and running long stretches but a Class III paddler will think that the river just dropped off the face of the earth.
At higher flows, this section would be a foaming malestorm of whitewater for about 2/3 mile.
Five-in-a-hole is substantial. Not something you want to drop over the edge of, like we did last time around. The "sneak route" on far river right is manky which starts with a three foot drop. We all opted for the far left line, ie on dry land.
The section below Five-in-a-hole while only Class III is still a lot of fun and would keep the Class III paddler on their toes...

I think, along with the Middle Fork of the Consumnes, this has become one of my favorite early spring runs that's a must do atleast once a year

On my way back I scouted 1/2 mile of the Tobin section below Tobin bridge which was running at about 350 cfs. Even at low flows this is manky, sieved out scary section that I want no part of....

East branch of the North Fork of the Feather

2008-04-02T13:10:00.000-07:00

River Section: East branch of the North Fork of the Feather
Guide Book: H & S, page 110
Flow: Estimated by Dreamflows to be about 950cfs
Rating: Class IV, with 1 portage
Put-in: About 9 miles upstream of the take-out at prominent "No trespassing" signs :-)
Take-out: Belden town rest stop on Hwy 70 about 120miles east of Oroville
Date: April 1st, 2008
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/bayareawwk/EastBranchOfTheNFFeather

Summary Description

This section of the river does not seem to be frequently run. Lars Holbeck says that he's "never gotten my backside wet" and California Creeking does not have a write-up for this section. So, I get to name some of these rapids ...whooo hoooo!!!!

Pat, who's been hankering to do this run invited me along and the two of us boogied down the 9 mile personal first descent in about 3 hours(including one portage and one swim)

This is a superb Class IV section amidst beautiful Feather River country with one portage and couple of Class IV+ rapids.

The section is mostly road scoutable and is read-and-run Class IV (for the Class IV+ paddler).

At higher flows, I'd guess 2000cfs and above, this run could get significantly harder and more consequential.

The lower 4 miles is a great run for the Class III paddler who can join in on the fun

Between the two of us, we had two combat roles and one swim. We portaged one rapid and boat scouted the rest.

Mile-by-Mile detailed Description
(The numbers in parenthesis are mile markers starting with 0 at the take-out while driving up to the put-in)

Mile 0 (9): Put-In Rapid - Class III+. A 6+ foot slide / falls along the river left bank. You can either run this falls, take a river right sneak 'in-boat' portage or put-in below the falls.

Mile 0.1(8.9): Initiation - Class III. A straightforward river left chute.

Mile 0.4(8.6): ZigZag - Class IV-. The view of this rapid from the road is a bit hidden by trees. You need to zigzag down this read-and-run rapid avoiding a rather large hole about half way down the rapid in the middle of the river. The line is enter center, work your way to the right. The left and right sides were bony

Mile 1.6 (7.4): GoRight - Class IV- / IV+. When you see the first of the cement retaining walls high on the river left bank. This is Class IV- on river right, Class IV along the left and a solid Class IV+ hole down the middle. You better be on your A game if you want to charge down the middle

Mile 2.5(6.5): Dont Gooseneck - Class IV+. When we scouted this from the road it looked like a nice long Class III+. It's a lot bigger at water level that it is from 200ft above. This is a really long rapid, I'd say harder than Sunterland's chute on the main Tuolumne.

Pat was leading and after running the entrance drop scrambled to catch a micro-eddy along the left bank. I remembered this from the road scout and goosenecked my way down. All hell broke loose almost immediately. The hole along the left of center line are quite big. I made through them all but was now substantially slowed and heading river left into a fang rock with a ugly cushion at about 20 mph. Rode up the pillow and down the left side, got flipped and rolled up in the eddy as Pat bobbed down the right of center line and said, "That'll teach you to gooseneck at the mouth of a Class IV+"

The Class III run-out continuous for about 1/8 of a mile

Mile 4.2(4.8): Breathless - A very long 1/3 mile Class III+ rapid. Read and run hole and boulder dodging. At the lower flows we had, river left is the way to go but a higher flows the right would be easier

My guess is that above 2000cfs Dont Gooseneck and Breathless would merge to form a very long and consequential Class IV+ rapid, a'la Grey's Grindstone on the main Tuolumne

Mile 4.1 (4.9): IRB (Irrigated Rock Pile) - A Class V rapid that we portaged. This is runnable by the big dawgs but we aint them big dawgs. The line is thin and on river left and requires the ability to run a long turbulent chute with large back-to-back holes and stay upright for the crux move of a left-hand high brace from hell on a monster cushion and then stay balanced on your way down the 6+ ft drop, fight past the boil line and thru one final hole. Not my cup of tea.

Mile 4.5(4.5): Five-in-a-Hole - Class IV+. Stay alert. Immediately below the portage nestled past a couple of innoucuous drops lies in wait this really large and turbulent hole. At higher flows this would become a killer river wide reversal.

The line is far left through the left edge of the hole. There is a safe river right sneak route which is a lot harder from the river level than it looks from the road.

The best bet would be to portage the hole on river left

Pat led and ran the hole. He was almost flipped, dug his way past the boil line and then was taken down but rolled up. I was a bit further right (ie towards the meat of the hole) and stood no chance in hell. I took my punishment like a trooper and eventually punched out for a relatively safe and short swim.

Mile 5 - 9: Easy and pleasant Class II - III run-out. Time to enjoy the scenery. There are numerous fun Class III rapids lurking in this section which will keep an intermediate paddler on their toes.

Confluence Run

2008-04-02T11:04:00.000-07:00

River Section: Confluence Run on the American River
Guide Book: none
Flow: Approximately 1000cfs
Rating: Class III-
Put-in: At the confluence of the North and Middle Forks of the American River
Take-out: Rattlesnake Bar boat ramp on Folsom reservoir
Date: Sunday March 30th, 2008
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/bayareawwk/ConfluenceRun

Summary Description

There were 6 of us on this maiden voyage and none of us had done this run before. Let me assure you that none of us are likely to do it again.

The run is about 7 - 8 miles long of which over 5 miles are flat water.

The scenery is beautiful and the hillside was alive with wildflowers in bloom.

The first 2-3 miles is mostly flat water with a few odd Class II- rapids thrown in.

At about mile 3 (or so..) we get to the site of the old Auburn dam with the new whitewater park.

This is a fun rapid that you might want to milk for all it's worth. The following is the last play wave in the park.

The next 2 miles has a bunch of Class III- rapids with one that I would rate Class III+ on the river right channel and Class III- on the left channel.

And then you have a flat water paddle from hell, even when the reservoir is low.

I'd hate to even think of this paddle out if the reservoir were high.

If I could drive down to the Park'nPlay rapid, I would play there and drive out.

I would not run this section again

Finally, we had with us a paddler who uhmmm... misrepresented her paddling skills (she had none!). I landed up paddling her boat down all the rapids while she walked and Pat towed her out on the lake. It was 8:00PM when we got to our cars and dinner was only at Denny's at 9:30PM.

Comment from Christine who was with us

Mickey and I did a little research and found a better take-out (just below the optional class IV-) that will be available in May (possibly sooner). I wouldn't mind giving it another try if the new take-out spot is available.

Google Earth Link to Put-In(s) and Take-out(s)

Kayaking after a long break

2008-03-23T18:58:00.001-07:00

After a break of more than a month (my last paddle was on Monday, Feb. 11th on the gorge run of the South fork of the American river) I went out paddling the first weekend I was back from India.

First off, I am in poor paddling form. Still recovering from a crisis of confidence in 2006 / 2007 brought about by the deadly trifecta of (1) emotional turmoil over my divorce (2) Trying multiple unsuitable boats and (3) Very little Class II / Class III paddling in the previous years resulting in poor form.

To top this off, I am in poor physical shape with three weeks of no work outs and eating grand-ma's home cooked meals. The persistent asthama & sinus infection brought about due to the extended stay in Bangalore's polluted air is not helping either.

Finally, the last time I was on the river, I swam out of my Dagger CFS at Scissors (a Class III- rapid on the South Fork of the American river, gorge run) . This was my first swim out of my Dagger in anything other than Class V whitewater and my first swim at Scissors. Luckily, only Pat was around to witness my shame!

On Saturday (March 15th), we paddled the gorge at about 1500cfs. I have to confess to being a wuss and taking the sneak route on Satan's Cesspool (a Class III+ rapid on the SFA gorge run)

It was with quite a bit of trepedation that I put-on on the Chamberlains run of the North Fork of the American river at about 780cfs (and dropping). While my lines on all the rapids were shitty, I had only one flip at the entrance of Slaughter's Sluice.

I need to get rid of this sinus infection and get out there and paddle a lot more, and I need to paddle regularly. This business of paddling a week at a time once in three months does not cut it....

India Today - An outsider's perspective

2008-03-19T09:13:00.000-07:00

I just spend almost 3 weeks in India, mostly around Bangalore. This was the longest time I have spent in India since 1994 when I visited for 3 weeks. While I have made frequent trips to India since 2005, they have been on business and usually no more than 4- 5 days in Delhi with a long weekend in Bangalore thrown in prior to my flying back to California

First off, the infrastructure is getting better, slowly but surely. While traffic remains horrendous, it seemed to me better and more organized (‘less disorganized’ would be more descriptive) than it was back in 2005. The various flyover constructions are more or less complete and have helped relieve congestion (while making the place completely unrecognizable to an old timer like myself). The various high speed road links (Bangalore – Mysore, Bangalore-Mangalore, Bangalore - Madras) make commuting between these cities while not yet a pleasure, less onerous.

Second, India is still cricket crazy. Makes March Madness and Superbowl craze seem mild.

Third, Indians seem to work longer and harder than even the work obsessed Americans. Their vacations are unused and cashed out as they change jobs, they spend 2 – 4 hours a day commuting thru traffic and work into the night to ensure some synchronization with business partners in Europe and the US.

Fourth, the place is awash with sloshing cash. The economy has not even had a slow down in 10+ years and the concept of a business cycle is unheard of. Recession and slow down is not what happens to them. Reminds me, more than ever, of an impetuous youth. New constructions in both the residential and commercial sector continue at a runaway pace. The presence of 4 Indians in the latest Forbes list of top 10 richest persons in the world with a total of 53 Indian billionaires (more than even China and second only to the US) is seen as proof of an ascending power.

I worry when the inevitable slowdown comes. A senior person in a very large Software Services company claimed that in 2006 the IT sector absorbed over 500,000 new graduates and the expected absorption capacity in 2008 is 75,000.

Fifth, Abdul Kalam, former President and father of the India missile program is amazingly popular and revered.

Fifth, India is not an inexpensive place to do business. Residential real estate prices in Bangalore range from Rs.3000 to Rs.15000 (~ $75.00 to $375.00) per square foot. Commercial real estate lease rates in desirable areas are in the range of $1 - $5 per sq ft per month making it comparable with San Francisco, NYC and London. High end salaries are thru the roof and are fast approaching parity with the west.

Sixth, the booming economy while seeming to increasing the gap between the haves and the have-nots is providing opportunity to people in a socio-economic class that was unthinkable 15 years ago. India is proof positive that a rising tide does indeed raise all ships.

Some interesting factoids gathered from anecdotes. In 1949, my grandfather, certainly amongst the best and brightest in his cohort started as a Probationer Office in civil service for a princely salary of Rs.180.00 per month. In 1989, as the class topper in EE, I was one of four persons in the entire University to have a campus job offer for a fantastic Rs.1800.00 per month. The starting salary for a engineering graduate in 2007 was Rs.25000.00 per month. Thus, in 40 years (1949 – 1989) starting salary increased 10 fold while in the subsequent 18 years (1989 – 2007) they rose 14 fold. My grandfather says that in 1949, the Deccan Herald paper was Rs. 2.00 per month while it is now Rs.100 / month. So… while starting salaries for the best and brightest has increased almost 140 fold, the cost of newspaper (as a proxy for cost of living?) has increased only 100 fold. That’s a 40 fold increase in standard of living ? What’s wrong with my argument.

Whitewater kayaking in Karnataka, India

2008-03-09T16:09:00.000-07:00

I am told that the Kali river downstream of the Supa reservoir has a 10 km stretch of Class III – IV- whitewater that is commercially rafted. Santosh at http://www.getoffurass.com/ can co-ordinate logistics. The thought of traveling 500+kms from Bangalore for this 10Km run did not appeal to me and not even the thought of paddling in my native land could compensate for the logistical pain.

While driving from Mangalore to Bangalore thru the Shiradi ghat section, we paralleled the Netravati River for quite a while. The section of the Netravati downstream of Kempuholae seemed like a quality Class IV – Class IV+ technical run. Of course we were driving in the dry season and with monsoon floods it might just be a raging monster. Seemed to me that at moderate flows this would like akin to the Merced El Portal section. Just a bit more pool-and-drop and less continous but looked steeper.

The logistical challenges are non-trivial. In the Shiradi ghat section, we traversed about 10 – 20 kms per hour. Think the road on the South Fork Yuba shuttle for 80 kms. All I can say is pack Dramamine.

Traveling in India

2008-03-08T17:45:00.000-08:00

Given that I had not traveled much in India, I harbored a desire to take a road trip in India. Various schedules eventually lined up and I took that much anticipated trip to India and went on a 7 day road trip. There were 8 of us, including my 85 year old grandfather and 78 year old grandmother in two vehicles.

The idea was to drive around the south Karnataka region; a sort of walk down memory lane, re-visiting places my grandparents had lived and my mother, uncle, aunts, myself and my siblings had spent as toddlers. An ulterior motive was that given the geography of the south canara region with the relatively steep western ghats (peaking at 6000 feet) just a short 60 – 100 kms from the western shoreline of India, I had fantasies of being able to “road scout” various river drainages for a future kayaking first descent of sorts.

First off, traveling in India even in luxury is HARD! In the seven full days, we covered about 1100 kms ( ~ 700miles) a distance I have covered many times in a single day with time and energy to spare.

Second, logistical support such as gas stations, motels and restaurants are spotty at best. It was an eye opener as to how much those of us in the west, (be it the US or Europe) take our excellent infrastructure for granted.

Third, from a traveler’s point of view, the bigger cities (Bangalore, Mysore, Mangalore) are comparable to many western city. The rather nice rooms at the three / four star resort (Paradise Isle Resort) at Malpe Beach (just north of Mangalore) ran us about Rs. 3000 / night ($75.00 per night) and an excellent dinner for 8 cost about Rs. 1500.00 (~ $40.00), a real bargain, I’ll admit. While cheaper than a resort in San Diego, it’s not cheap by any stretch.

At various other places like Kemmangundi ( a hill resort) and Agumbe ( a place famous for it’s sunsets) our stay cost us about Rs. 300.00 (~ $7.50)a night for a room but the place was comparable in quality to the backpacker’s hostel common I stayed in for a night at San Jose (Costa Rica). The difference was that while San Jose, Costa Rica offered me the choice of the best place, at Kemmangundi and Agumbe, what we had was all that there was.

The highlights of the trip was meeting extended family in the “old country”; places like Shimoga, Narasimharajapura and Tarikere. We were subjected to some charming old world hospitality and my brother’s wife, Lindsay, a mid-western gal to boot had them all going ga-ga with here “Saaku” (enough!), “Chennagidhae” (this is good), “solpa” (just a bit more) and “baeda” (No, thanks). Have to say that she was a great sport putting up with all the crazy alien experiences we subjected her to in a short seven days. In her place, I would have hitch-hiked to the nearest shoreline and started swimming.

We took in the 125+ year old house in Tarikere where my grandfather was born and were awed by an even older 250+ year old home that housed some relatives of my grandmother and my aunt. (Don’t ask….)

The Somnathpura temple (circa 1200AD) as well as the gigantic Gomateswara monolith at Shravenabelagola (circa 1500AD) atop a 600+ step climb are wonderful examples of ancient Indian architecture.

Places to avoid: Talakaadu, Shivanasamudra, Kemmangundi, Agumbe

Places to visit: Somnathpura temple, Shavanabelagola, Malpe Beach

Addition, per my brother's request, of the actual itenary:

Friday, Feb. 22nd: Departed Bangalore, visited paternal grandfather at Srirangapatna and maternal grand-uncle at his farm house outside Mysore and stayed overnight at Mysore

Saturday, Feb. 23rd: Visited Somnathpura temple, Talakadu and Shivanasamudra, stayed at Mysore.

Sunday, Feb 24th: Left Mysore and stayed the night at Kemmangundi. Enroute, we took in Kadur & Tarikere

Monday, Feb 25th: Left Kemmangundi and stayed the night at Shimoga in another grand-uncle's place. Also visited Bhadravati. In Shimoga visited my paternal aunt and cousin

Tuesday, Feb 26th: Left Shimoga, took in Narasimharajapura and stayed overnight at Agumbe

Wednesday, Feb 27th: Left Agumbe, drove towards the coast and took in Murudeswara before halting for the night at Malpe Beach

Thursday, Feb. 28th: Left Malpe Beach and drove the Mangalore-Bangalore highway via Shiradi Ghat and Hassan. Stopped at Shravanabelagola and arrived back in Bangalore late Thursday night

Skiing at Heavenly

2008-02-04T22:33:00.000-08:00

Have not skied since April 2006 and that last time was with my ex, after we were separated but before the divorce. In fact, after that I almost thought we'd get back together.....

Skiing was something we did together and I had decided that this was an activity that I was going to leave behind in my past. I was so certain that I was not going to ski again that I had given away all my ski gear......

And thus it was with a lot of misgivings that I went out skiing with a buddy.

Glad I did! Skiing in Heavenly was... well ... heavenly!

Over 26 inches of fresh powder on Saturday night (Feb 2nd).

I like the Nevada side of the ski resort better.

Great deal on ski equipment at Outback Adventures with stores both in Larkspur and Cupertino

Plus the friend I went skiing with is a mondo skier and I landed up with free instructions to boot!

I enjoyed myself so much that I think I am going to continue skiing and probably get a seasons pass next year!

I hope to squeeze in a cross country skiing trip after I get back into townin early March.

On the Lake Trail from La Fortuna to Monteverde with Mt Arenal and Lake Arenal in the background

2008-01-20T13:47:00.000-08:00

I had a picture here but it seems to have disappeared...

Crossing Lake Arenal

2008-01-20T13:45:00.000-08:00

The ideal Costa Rica kayaking trip

2008-01-12T06:30:00.001-08:00

Now that I have checked the place out, this is what I think would be a great trip for the Class III - Class IV+ paddler that can be run privately at significantly lower cost.

I would not paddle Costa Rica again with a commercial outfitter but put together my own trip.

Day 1: Arrive in San Jose and get to La Virgen

Day 2: Warm up on the middle sarapiqui and stay over in La Virgen. There a numerous outfitters on the Sarapiqui who can help with logistics.

Day 3: Class IV paddlers can take on the upper sarapiqui (San Miguel Section) while Class III paddler can paddle the middle sarapiqui again. Drive out to Turriabla

Day 4: Take it easy and visit the Turriabla volcano. Towards the end of the day start setting up logistics and shuttle for the 15 mile Upper Upper Pacuare run. This would be the 6 mile "headwaters sections" + the "top pacuare" section + "upper upper pacuare section". You can do this as a overnighter or blitz it in one day. I recommend the latter.

Day 5: Get an early start, be on the river by 8:30AM and run the run I describe above.

Day 6: Take it easy and paddle the Florida section of the Reventazon. This would be the 4 mile section below the much harder Pascua section and would give one a good feel for the big water.

Day 7, Day 8: Paddle the over night trip on the Lower Pacuare. Plan on staying at one of the jungle camps. Many outfitters have them.

Day 9: Drive out to San Jose and fly out.

9 days including travel and 6 days of paddling.

At $50 per day for lodging, $25 per day for food, $50 per day for logistical support, this would cost $1000 for one person, $1700 for two persons( that's $850 pp) , $2300 for three persons (that's less than $800 pp) and $2900 for four person (that's less than $750 pp).

Of course if one of the persons is fluent in Spanish, take a 10 - 15% discount

Kayaking the lower Pacuare

2008-01-11T15:07:00.001-08:00

This is it! The Lower Pacuare is the reason to come to kayak in Costa Rica.

I just got back from a two day, 17+ mile kayak run on the lower Pacuare that included spending the night at Costa Rica Rios's jungle camp on the river and it was the best two days of the paddling trip.

Of course given that 3 of the 6 day paddling trip was shot, that's not saying much!

We started yesterday (Thursday, Jan 10th) a few miles above the "normal put-in" (as described in the guide book - Chasing Jaguars) and paddled down to camp. This run was a straight Class II - III, completely read-and-run for even the Class III paddler.

The camp is very nice with running cold water and no electricity save for a bunch of solar powered path lights and some low lights (powered by a battery charged by a solar panel) in the kitchen / dining gazebo.

Today (Friday, Jan 12th) we paddled the remaining 12+ miles of the Lower Pacuare. This was about the most interesting whitewater of the week. While the Reventazon was "survival boating" and I missed the San Miguel section (which was interesting but intimating) of the Sarapiqui, this was interesting but not intimidating.

Most of the rapids are Class III / III+ with 2 distinct Class IV drops (Upper and Lower Huacas Falls). As such this section is quite within the reach of the competent and fit Class III paddler. The continuous nature of the run as well as the fact that you are in a canyon makes this a bit challenging for the Class III paddler. However, I hold that with a good lead boater (these guides were not the best lead boaters), a strong roll and a clear head this section should pose no problems at medium flows.

Various streams add water to the Pacuare and what you start with is not what you end with. We started with what seemed like 1200 - 1500 cfs and finished with something that felt like 2500cfs.

Most of the rapids are formed when the Pacuare has cut thru clay sediment and finds it's path blocked by harder volcanic rock. The river bounces off these sheer rock walls and changes direction by 90degrees resulting in wall shot rapids

We scouted three rapids. The first was Upper Huacas falls a long Class III+ lead-in with a Class IV run out where the river divides into two channels around a nutcracker rock in the center. This one is, IMHO, a read-and-run Class IV but we scouted and carried the first part which had a tree in it. (This was nothing compared to the wood in the South Silver Creek Run) The entire group ran a start center and head right line with your's truly selecting a start center head left line which was a bit more technical. I blew my line and had to ride up the nutcracker rock and was flipped in the wave-hole below. No excuses, just poor execution!

Now on the right drops in Huacas Falls which is a 75foot falls dropping into the Pacuare.

Immediately below is the hardest rapid on the run: Lower Huacas falls. This, IMHO, is the only must scout rapid. The danger is a severe undercut on far river left with an initial hole guarding the entrance to the drop and feeding the undercut. This is a place you do not want to be! Would also be hard to set safety for.

The line is to enter the left channel in the center driving river right HARD. All but two of the guests walked this rapid. One of the crazy doctors styled the main line in a playboat. This dude was a seriously good boater and had paddled a lot in California (Middle Fork Feather, the Gap, etc.) I chose a creekier river right series of drops. Did not pose any problems to me in my Mamba, it's all the boat not the paddler!

The final drop we scouted was a straightforward Class III+, maybe Class IV- with a hole in the center right to avoid esp. since it fed the next hole immediately downstream. I think this is called Upper Cimarron.

After this the river eases up to the take out at the bridge, but there are still some chunky drops and wall-shots.

All in all, a great day on the river....

A thing to keep in mind is that the rivers in Costa Rica change a lot with rapids changing season to season. A part of the reason is that the river bed is less bedrock and more boulders and move around a lot. Also keep in mind that Search and Rescue is an alien concept and emergency care is iffy. Finally hiking out of canyons is probably twice as dangerous (it's a jungle and them snakes come out at night) and running those rapids.

Day 4: Kayaking the Upper Upper Pacuare

2008-01-09T16:01:00.000-08:00

Now we are talking! Today was the first decent day of paddling.

The Upper Upper Pacuare is a 6 mile section of the Pacuare that is between two tiny wanna be villages called Bajo Pacuare (yes, both the places on the upper upper pacuare are called "lower pacuare")

The shuttle to the put-in and take-out is a shuttle from hell. The drive from the put-in to the take out apparently takes as much time as a fast river run (ie ~ 3 hours) Thank god we did not have to run shuttle!!

The river and the drainage is a lot like the middle fork of the idaho salmon. We put on with about 800 - 1000 cfs flows (if that!) and the run is a straight Class III run with one solid Class IV rapid and one Class III - IV- rapid and maybe one Class III+

The three bigger rapids are scoutable and portagable at river level and hence this is very suitable for the tentative Class III paddler.

The rapids are all (with the exception of the 3 big ones) long shallow gravel bar affairs ending in a steeper drop.

Although we scouted all these three bigger rapids, they are all boat scoutable by the competent Class IV paddler.

The first big rapid is about 2 miles after the put-in and is the Class III+ rapid with a straightforward center-right line of a far left line that has a decent 3 foot boof as it's end.

The second big rapid (Donde Dias) is about a mile further down and is obvious since the river seems to disappear into a boulder jumble. This is a good one and while it is boat scoutable, I would recommend scouting this. It is a solid Class IV rapid; tight and technical with many many lines. The far right was a easier Class III+ line and the far right was a solid technical Class IV line. There were multiple Class IV+ lines down the center. This rapid reminded me of some of the drops on the North Fork of the American.

Below this drop on river left is a nice sandy beach that's a great lunch spot.

The last big rapid is about 1/2 mile further downstream and is a Class III+ which is totally read and run.

In general, today was a better day but still nothing to write home about and sing praises about.

We had 13 people on the river; 8 guests, 3 guides and 2 guides-in-training. This took away from any chance of a wilderness feel. I have paddled the SFA in winter and seen fewer people on the river.

Furthermore, the guides hovered about and sheparded you. I understand that they were being safe and all that, but it was still irritating and annoying esp. since most of them could not provide any decent beta on the harder runs(Pascua section of the Reventzon and the San Miguel section of the Sarapiqui) . They (with the exception of the lead guide, Danny) were good Class III lead paddlers, not so good for more difficult waters. I guess this is an endemic problem with these commercial trips... The two guides-in-training were upside down more than all but the weakest guest paddlers....

We had about 3-4 swims today, including a surprising swim by one of the crazy doctors. :-)

So far, I have stayed in my boat and have not been even flipped after that first monster on the Pascua section of the Reventazon

Dont miss the take-out which is within 1/2 - 3/4 mile after passing the first suspension bridge. If you pass the second suspension bridge you are in deep doo-doo since now you are in the much much more difficult Class V (V+) Upper Pacuare run.

Will I recommend: Yes, this would be a great warm up run for a Class IV paddler
Will I repeat: Yes, but only as part of a bigger padding exercise where-in I get to take on another 9 miles of river upstream which is all Class III - IV and requires a 4x4 drive, hike + horse carry to get to the headwaters of the Pacuare. A great two day expedition run with logistical support that I can now set up.

Day 3 - Gently kayaking down the middle Sarapiqui

2008-01-08T16:08:00.000-08:00

Today we again split into two groups. One did the middle Sarapiqui, a 8 mile stretch from the town of La Virgen and the other did the upper section of the Sarapiqui, a 7 mile section down from the town of San Miguel.

Tuns out that the Sarapiqui is also dam controlled.

The billing by Danny, the lead-guide was that the upper Sarapiqui is as hard as the Pascua section on the Reventazon. The claim was that it was as much of a big water run as the Pascua.

Discretion being the better part of valor and given my lack of confidence in our lead paddlers, I chose to run the middle Sarapiqui that was advertised as a Class III+ run.

As the Brits would say, Bollocks! The middle Sarapiqui is a gentle Class II - III run with only one rapid that can qualify as a Class III (that's a stretch too!). The San Miguel section, on the other hand, apparently turned out to be a Class IV boulder garden festival.

Another pretty day in Costa Rica but it burns me up to think I have paid $200 today to paddle the Coloma - Greenwood section on the South Fork of the American with a Bouncing Rock thrown in-between.

The group running the upstream San Miguel section did have some carnage, 3 swims and one pin and another lost paddle (?). Looking at the videos this was more my style; a medium volume steep boulder garden (~ 90 feet per mile) run. Rather than the "water as big as on the Reventazon" what the Sarapiqui offered was about 1000 - 1200 cfs flows in a mid-smaller sized stream bed, kinda like the North Fork of the American river.

The same dude, one of the crazy doctors has had 4 swims to date. He sure can swim difficult water well. :-)

Tomorrow we run the Upper Upper Pacuare. I am not getting my hopes up...

Another thing is that the gradient is very misleading here. The middle Sarapiqui was billed as a 58 feet per mile section. This is significant gradient from a western US pool-and-drop kayaking point of view, but it's not a big deal here since the gradient is rather continuous with gentle gravel bar rapids and occasional steeper drops.

The San Miguel section is supposed to be 92 feet per mile which is comparable to the crux of the Burnt Ranch Gorge run on the Trinity but, from what I understand the run was no more than straight Class IV

Will I repeat: Yes, as a first day warm-up paddle.
Will I recommend: As above for the Class III and above paddler. For the less experienced paddler, this section would be a bit more challenging, primarily due to the numerous "wall shot" rapids.

Kayaking in Costa Rica - The Bible

2008-01-08T16:05:00.000-08:00

The bible of Costa Rican whitewater is Chasing Jaguars by a dude named Lee Eddy

Dont leav home without it. Wish I had found it before I left home. Did not find it when I googled for it, should have searched for it on amazon.com

Day 2 - Carnage while kayaking on the Revantazon

2008-01-07T16:36:00.000-08:00

The Pascua section of the Reventazon is described as a 7 mile section below the much harder Peralta section (now dewatered due to the upstream dam completed in 2000). This section is dam release controlled and billed as "continuous big water Class IV+" with a gradient of 65 feet per mile.

The plan was to run the Pascua section and the subsequent 4 miles of the Florida section pretty much into the town of Puerto Viejo.

So we put in on what felt like 6000+ cfs of water. The river bed is wide, not as wide as the Eel but wider than the Tuolumne. However, in most rapids the river constricts down to about a 75 feet main channel thru which most of the water flows.

Right out of the gate is a long long big bouncy Class III+ rapid. Think Meatgrinder on the Chili Bar run at about 6000 - 7000 cfs. I find myself up front of the pack on this rapid. Normally, I love being up front and ahead, but not on an unknown river billed as continuous big water Class IV+. Finally an eddy (or a semblance of one!!) and we reassemble.

The next rapid is a monster and we land up in a large swirling river right eddy above what seems like a monster drop. Cant see much from this eddy and our fearless lead guide, Marco, peels out with a "follow me". GREAT! No scouting, no "beta" above the first big Class IV+ in really big water. Just fantastic, I think.

The river right channel drops thru two large monster holes, forms a cushion aganist a house sized rock, behind which is a even larger hole. I pull out of the eddy, miss the two holes and am yet forced to ride the pillow and flip. The first roll simple gets me some air, the second roll gets me up just in time to drop into another hole and it´s only the third roll that gets me up.

I am too busy in my private audience with Elvis to notice that we have already had one swimmer and his boat is below the next Class IV rapid which has as it´s crux a gigantic hole across most of the center.

At this point in time, I am getting dubious about this whole exercise. Do I really want to rip my shoulder out in the middle of a tropical rainforest? Or worse still, swim big water Class IV+ Do I really want to be following anyone (well.... maybe other than Peter Gerodette....) down this shit? If I cant read and run, should I be here? So many questions in so little time...

We scout the next rapid and I decide to walk out, the second time I have walked off a river.

65 feet per mile is the same gradient as the E2P run on the SF-Yuba, it´s steeper than Chamerlains or even the top 6 miles of the Tuolumne. While the river bed is wider than either, the flows were large; 6000+ cfs and rising fast!

I am also suffering a crisis of confidence is our "guides". Follow me, on a blind Class IV+ in big water??????

Looking upstream from the first big Class IV+ the far left channel was a nice rocky chute. Would have been a great warm up to the river. He tells me that we took the hardest line on the hardest rapid on the river and that it´s all easier now onwards. He says that we took the hardest line (on the hardest rapid) so that they could see how we dealt with big water and now onwards we ´d take more conservative lines.

Now, I am even more suspicious and have even less confidence in the guides. Why does it make sense to take the hardest line on the hardest rapid, pretty much within 750 meters of the put-in. In contrast, we dink around yesterday on super easy stuff that these guys are all nervous about. They seem to be overestimating the easy stuff and underestimating the hard stuff..... Not inspiring

I am basically at the point where the only way I would proceed down this section is if I felt confident that I could totally take care of myself and would not need even a line from the guides. This is bigger water than I have run since 18 months and it´s steeper than any big water river I have ever run. The closest I have come to feeling this power is rafting the Tuolumne at above 8000cfs.

The guide-in-training who Marco insists needs to walk with me insists on walking through the banana plantations and cow shit filled fields to get to a road. Not smart. Unless there is an obvious road or you are in a canyon, the first rule of hiking out is to follow the river towards the put-in or take-out, whichever is closer. We were only 0.75 miles from the fucking put-in, but this nightmare hike out took 2+ hours.

Turns out that there were 3 more swims, a torn shoulder and a lost paddle as the crazy doctors paddled on down. The crazy doctors said that the river did not let up till the end.

Not a good day, I am happy I walked but pissed with the poor judgement of the outfitters. We paddle C-G on day-1 and then run the "T" at 8000cfs the next day ?????????? WTF......

Not an happy camper.

The other two had a nice day on the lower Sarapiqui, Class II+. How about some sane Class III - IV that I signed up for??????

In hindsight, I should have articulated what ran thru my head when this silly ass plan for paddling th Reventazon came up yesterday. The right thing to have done would have been to run the Florida section as a warm up before taking on the Pascua section. This lower 4 miles is only 40 ft per mile gradient. This is comparable to running the gorge since the gradient below Fowler´s Rock is about 32 feet per mile.

Will I repeat: Not with this outfitter. The way to run this section would be to warm up on the Florida and then take on the Pascua. With a private group of paddlers that is willing to scout I would take this on again.

Will I recommend: Only if you are well tuned up, think the grand is ho-hum (This is way more continuous and way steeper than the grand) Otherwise, start with the Florida section

Day 1: Warming up kayaking on Rio Pejibaye

2008-01-06T15:19:00.000-08:00

Today was the warm-up run of the week.

In the morning, we ran a short section (about 3 miles?) of the Pejibaye from the little village (cant be called a town...) of Pejibaye to ...well.... about 3 miles downstream.

This was really a Class II- section with one rapid that we "scouted" that would at best rate a Class III-.

This session was for the guides to see which amongst their guests are out of their depth and uhmmm.... have exaggerated their paddling resume.

In the afternoon, most of the group ran the upper Pejibaye, called the Taus section which was a bit more continuous but still Class III. This was a 3 mile section from the Taus schoolhouse to just above the town of Pejibaye

Am paddling an "Wavesport X" and LOVING IT. It's very much like the Medieval, in fact better since I have room for my feet without needing to take a blow torch to the bow of the boat.
Also paddled the Mamba 8.1 for a bit, another great boat. Just like the Dagger CFS, only better.

We are staying in the town of Turrialba with the Turriabla river flowing right in front of the place. It's pretty sweet continuous Class III+ as far as the eye can see, both upstream and downstream, but the color's dubious and it stinks. The water quality (on Rios Turrialba) , leaves a lot to be desired.

Tomorrow a part of the group will paddle a "big water continuous Class IV section" (Pascua Section) of the Reventazon. The flow, difficulty and gradient are all very subjective. How steep is the river? "Not very", How big is the flow? "BIG"..... I mean is "big water continuous Class IV" like running the South Fork of the American at 6000cfs (FUN, FUN, FUN!) or is it like running the the Chamberlain Fall's run on the North Fork of the American at 3000+ cfs (HELP! HELP HELP!)

Will take the Mamba this section.

The saner part of the group's heading over to do a section of the Sarapiqui.

Speaking of the group, there's this bunch of 5 doctors from around in Colorado / New Mexico who know each other and seem to be on their annual "boys week out". Pretty decent paddlers,.

Then, there's this kid from Texas (WHERE on earth did he learn to paddle in Texas?? He does not know it either) and finally a woman from the east coast.

Will I repeat: Yes, the Taus section of the Upper Pejibaye is a good warm up. The lower section is really equivalent to Coloma - Lotus (with the pre-flood Old Scary) that I would skip

Will I recommend: Yes

Santa Elena to San Jose

2008-01-05T13:20:00.001-08:00

The bus ride from Santa Elena to San Jose is a killer. It´s only 160 kms and took more than 4 hours. Of this more than 90 minutes was on windy, rough roads.

Made the main Tuolumne put-in shuttle seem like a breeze. Granted the roads were not as bad as the wanna-be path to the Tuolumne, but it was a lot longer.

I am waiting for the Costa Rica Rios people to pick me up from Hotel Don Carlos. It´s Costa Rica time....

Horse back ride from La Fortuna to Santa Elena

2008-01-04T18:47:00.000-08:00

This morning (Friday, Jan 4th) I took the second fastest route from La Fortuna to Santa Elena.

These two towns are only about 25kms as the crow flies but the most direct route takes a experienced rider 5-6 hours on a strong horse and requires crossing frequently flooded rivers.

The long route around Lake Arenal takes 6 hours of 4x4 driving.

The typical mode of transportation is to take a jeep to the shores of Lake Arenal, then a boat to the other side to get on another jeep for the final 90 minutes 4x4 drive to Santa Eleana.

I took the slightly more scenic route. The jeep to Lake Arenal, a boat across the shortest route and then a 4 hour horse back ride to a waiting jeep for the final 100 minute 4x4 drive to Santa Elena.

The horse ride was "interesting". While they pretend to teach you how to ride the horses, in reality they are on auto-pilot, pretty much following the leader. The only time they actually trotted at a brisk pace was when the leader trotted.

The highlight of the horse ride was Bruno, the 2 year old mutt that followed us the entire way. This pint sized bugger had an attitude inversly proportional to his size assertively demonstrating his dominance over single hogs and water buffalos while steering clear of any herds.

We crossed three streams and watching Bruno confidently plunge into the river on the far side as upstream as possible and ferrying better than most kayakers across the river was hilarious. I have photos I will later post.

Will I repeat: No
Do I recommend: Maybe once, but not strongly!

Santa Elena and Monteverde are two tourist towns in the middle of nowhere with only 4x4 rough road access. Am not spending much time here as I have to leave tomorrow morning for San Jose to begin the kayaking leg of the trip. Must return here.

It´s beautiful, high altitude wet cloud forests.

Took a 2 hour long guided primary forest twilight tour.

It´s really really really windy, all that pacific low pressure (We are actually only 30 miles, as a crow flies, from the Pacific coast but it´s a 3 hour drive) and hence the only "wildlife" I saw were insects and birds that was nesting for the night.

Will I repeat: Absolutely YES
Do I recommend: Hell YES

A walk in the rain forest

2008-01-03T20:32:00.000-08:00

It rains a LOT in the rain forest! DUH! You´d think that was obvious, but listening to a bunch of whining western tourists, you cant help but come to the conclusion that common sense is not that common.

While I expect the stereotypical loud american tourist, I was surprised to see our northern cousins take on our bad habits. I had not yet seen Canadians, or the Brits for that matter, whine in the "American way". Maybe it´s the strengthening Loonie and the pound that carries as a side effect this disease...... The reasonable number of Europeans I saw around still seem to be innoculated from this bad habit, atleast just as yet... Give them some time ???

Through Desafio, I took a guided walk through the rain forest around the base of the Arenal volcano. It was windy, raining and cold and the volcano itself was not visible but the walk through the primary rain forest was FANTASTIC.

About the volcano, I have heard rumours about it and it´s reputed to exist but I was not fortunate enough to be granted an audience.

Will I repeat: YES
Do I recommend: YES

Canyoneering in Costa Rica

2008-01-03T20:22:00.000-08:00

I spent this morning canyoneering down a rain forest canyon in the La Fortuna area.

What´s canyoneering? This is what wikipedia says http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canyoning

The best way to describe it is descending down a canyon too narrow and steep to kayak (too little water and too many rock landings) using ropes and rappel gear.

I figured that in comparison to canopy zip line tours and riding around in a ATV, this is about as environmentally friendly as it´s going to get.

It was quite fun, esp. the 150 foot vertical rappel in front of a waterfall that could have been straight out of the Jurassic Park movie. However, it started raining just after we started and in that narrow canyon with the rain forest´s saturated soil, the water comes up FAST and we had to abandon the descent and climb out of the canyon.

I really appreciated the outfitter´s (www.desafiocostarica.com) sense of safety. Looking at the rising water level with a kayaker´s eye, I was starting to get nervous when they announced that we need to hike out. Good Call!

While hiking out of the canyon, we heard a large tree fall. It was LOUD!

Will I repeat: YES
Do I recommend: Yes, but this is an active and physically demanding activity

From La Fortuna, Costa Rica

2008-01-03T07:16:00.000-08:00

Arrived in Costa Rica on Jan 1st at 11:00PM after a flight cancellation in SF resulting in a last minute change to a flight departing from San Jose, CA.

The Kabata Hostel (www.kabatahostel.com) was everything a hostel is supposed to me. The guy who owns this place, Mauricio was very very helpful and the next morning I got on a local bus to La Fortuna. It departed on time at 8:40AM but was struck over a pass for 4+ hours resulting in our arriving in La Fortuna at 4:30PM, about 4 hours late.

Hooked up with Suresh and Christine, the couple that owns the well known adventure travel company (http://www.desafio.com/) on Mauricio´s recommendation.

We Indians seem to be everywhere. With Suresh, the number of Indian kayakers I know now need 2 hands to count. Suresh is apparently a SoCal military boy (originally from Kerala) who kayaked on the Kern and in the ocean and relocated to Costa Rica about 15 years ago to open up adventure sports in Costa Rica including a bunch of first raft descents around here.

Quite an interesting character. Talk about unusual! Not yet an Indian, but a ex US military dude from SoCal who gets his kicks kayak surfing in the ocean (Huntington beach was his home turf and that´s a place where the surfers are territorial!!!) and now settled in Costa Rica!

Need to come back just to paddle with him and get more of his and Christine´s story.

Plan on canyoneering with them today, a trip to the Arenal volcano later this evening and then a horse back ride tomorrow to Monteverde.

More later....

Preparing for Costa Rica

2007-12-29T11:26:00.000-08:00

I am quite excited about flying out to Costa Rica on Jan 1st. Given that the woman (I had been dating for the last six months) and I just broke up, the Costa Rica trip was a last minute substitute to a New Year's party at her place.

Now I get to spend New Year's eve with close family and friends, expect it to be a casual, non-party affair(phew!) and fly out by AA at about 9AM from SFO. Will be arriving in San Jose, Costa Rica at about 10:15PM after a 4 hour layover at DFW (UGH!)

I decided to "rough it" and hang out in hostels rather than checking into a "real hotel". I think it's a desire to atleast taste what I wanted to do, backpack the world, but never did get around to in my twenties. Not quite certain as to exactly how the "roughing it" program's going to turn out. The illusion / fantasy will probably be way better than the actual experience.

I will be checking and staying at http://www.kabatahostel.com/ for the first two nights. Let's see if I survive it or rush off to http://www.doncarloshotel.com/ to recover.

I am also winging it, no specific plans except for a organized week of kayaking with Costa Rica Rios (http://www.costaricarios.com/costa_rica_kayaking.asp). I am really looking forward to paddling in tropical waters; it' going to be 70F+ from what I understand and we are supposed to paddle a rarely run Class IV section of the upper upper pacuare thru some of the densest rainforests. COOL....

Also travelling super light, a small bag with minimal kayaking gear and a day pack, that's all...

I am certainly looking forward to it!

South Fork of the Yuba: Washington to Edwards

2007-12-01T19:12:00.000-08:00

I thought a wrote up a trip report of paddling the Washington to Edwards section (http://cacreeks.com/yuba-sf.htm) in Spring of 2006, but I dont seem to find it.

However, the section of video footage that I filmed with Omid's camera is on youtube.

Paddling Idaho Rivers

2007-12-01T19:03:00.000-08:00

This post on the GCP mailing list resulted in a firestorm of controversy. I made this one post and it generated a lot of traffic on the listserv. The point of contention was my description of our outfitter and lead guide. I had assiduously avoided anything other than a statement of fact and a expression of personal opinion about how I would not paddle with the Middle Fork Expeditions again.

There were a lot of public flaming and support for my post and just as much private support for "outing" this outfitter. Re-reading this report 4 months later, I find myself standing by it.

The Rivers

Middle Fork Salmon

We had 2.85 feet at put-in. At this flow, no rapid on the entire run was even as difficult or consequential as Meatgrinder or Troublemaker.

The entire river is read and run.

The first 20 miles was easy Class III runnable by a confident Class II+ paddler following a strong lead boater. The much talked about Velvet Falls is Class IV hole in the middle with Class II+ lines on the left and right. The only rapid that a class II+ paddler will be challenged by would be the Lakeside Creek Rapid due to the trees and logs midstream

The next 40 miles (Day 2 and Day 3) are tedious Class II and a lots of paddling. Time to ride the raft!!

The Tappan’s Canyon section (mile 58 – Day 4 second half) is enjoyable Class III as are Redside and Weber rapids (mile 82 – Day 5 second half).

The final day (mile 86 onwards) is big water Class III. Think the SFA gorge run at about 4000 cfs.

While the river does flow thru the largest roadless wilderness preserve in the lower 48 states, it is far from uninhabited. There are ranches all along the way and enough airstrips to take away from the wilderness feeling.

The scenery, for the most part is high desert. Think the east fork of the Carson, complete with the hot springs.

Would I do it again? Maybe at twice the flow, but not likely as I think there is better paddling (in every way!) to be had closer to home. In Idaho, the Selway, forks of the Payette, the Lochsa probably offer better paddling.

Main Payette (Banks to Beehive Bend)

At about 3400 cfs, this is a read and run Class III run with some fun wave trains. The water is warm and deep. A very very good place for the tentative Class III paddler to hone their skills

North Fork Payette (Caburton – Smith Ferry)

At about 1800 cfs, this is a 8 mile wilderness run that is very very pretty with about 4 miles of flatwater and 4 miles of really nice Class III wave train rapids. The final Class III+ Howards’ Plunge right at the take out is much like the Hell-Hole rapid on the trinity pigeon point run.

The Outfitters (http://www.middleforkexpeditions.com/)

Given that the outfitters, Brad Frei’s Adventure Sun Valley came highly recommended by GCP members, I was looking forward to a great and enjoyable trip.

The trip at about $1100.00 per head was certainly less expensive than other trips and then there was the added attraction of the fact that the trip was to be guided by the grand children of the famous Walk Blackadar.

The guides themselves were very, very helpful, polite and wonderful and I would be delighted to paddle with them again.

They are not very well set up to deal with vegetarians and while I give the guide a A+ for effort, I was quite hungry on the trip.

Now, Brad Frei is an entirely different matter! To be fair he is a superficially pleasant and friendly man who likes to be the center of attention with a flair for reciting ‘cowboy poetry’ by Baxter Black (http://www.baxterblack.com/). If he had simple restricted himself to such neutral topics as cowboy poetry, the wilderness and whitewater, I would have no bones to pick, but he insisted on rather loudly and obnoxiously imposing his religion and politics that I found more than distasteful. A few of the words of wisdom that spilled forth (I took notes in my diary!) from him:

“Global Warming? I say, bring it on! If the sea levels rise 3 feet all the pink cities of New York, Boston, LA, San Francisco and Seattle would be underwater and the country would be just as it once was” – Brad Frei, June 17th 2007, Jones Camp MFS

“You know what the problem today is? It’s that people believe that they came from a ball of gas. If that’s what you believe, you can have no purpose in life and that what the root of all our problems are” – Brad Frei, June 17th 2007, Jones Camp MFS

The man is welcome to his opinion however idiotic they might be, but I can tell you that I did not appreciate having to listen to them on my dime in the middle of the Idaho wilderness where I felt pretty much trapped.

If the river was shorter and I had the option of simple paddling off the next morning, I would have.

Needless to say I will not be paddling with this outfit ever again nor will I be recommending them to anyone I care about.

The Idaho Area

The Bend area (north of Boise, along Hwy 55) where the south and north fork of the Payette meet is boating central. There’s over a 100 runnable river miles ranging from Class II to Class V++ gnar all along roads within a 30 mile radius of Banks. Think Auburn – Coloma – Kyburz all crammed into a smaller geographical area.

As such, this area is boater central and hence very pleasant and friendly. I got to chat with a random raft group (guides from the Payette River Company) running the ‘lower five’ on the NF-Payette and their leader struck up a conversation and shared that his raft had done three first descents on tributaries of the Beas and Thule Bheri in India and Nepal. I felt like I was in California

The Stanley area (about 90 miles east of Banks) is a bit more provincial with snide comments about ‘them californians’ by locals Not a place I would voluntarily visit again! The only fun people there were a young couple who were transients and operated a bagel and coffee place out of a mobile shack. People aggregating here were fun and friendly, but then they werent locals!

Other places and rivers to paddle in Idaho ? The Selway and the Lochsa!

Kayaking on the South Fork of the Silver Creek

2007-12-01T18:53:00.000-08:00

Having decided to aggregate all my random mailings and postings on the subject of whitewater kayaking, a topic I possess more passion than skill, I thought a good start would be to post all the various trip reports I have written in the past few years

The first is an edited version of the post I send out to the Gold Country Paddlers (GCP) mailing list after running the south fork of the silver creek (http://www.awetstate.com/SSilverIH.html) on Sunday, October 21th 2007.

Disclaimer: As with any trip report, the contents of this report are highly subjective and represents in general the perceptions of a particular group of paddlers and in particular that of the author. Descriptions of rapids and ratings of river is subjective art and should be taken as such.

With the above disclaimer out of the way, Sunday morning saw four of us (myself, Pat, Ricky McDaniels and Suzanne) on the south silver creek below Ice House reservoir. In our group only Ricky had run it once last year.

Unsurprisingly there were probably 50 kayakers on the run that day. However, we timed our departure such that we pretty much had the river to ourselves.

First off, let's clear the air. Various hearsay reports and general rumors led to the impression (asleast insofar as myself and our little group was concerned) that this was a Class III - IV run. As the Brits would say, bollocks! This is a full-on Class IV-IV+ run with the overall run rating, IMHO a Class IV+ due to (a) The very continuous nature of the run (b) Copious amounts of wood and strainers on the run (c) Length and remoteness of the run.

Of our group, I skipped the first mile and put-in at the lower put-in. In the upper section, the crux is the long rapid visible from the road to the putin. I personally would rate this a Class V-. While I did not run it, it seemed to be more complex and consequential than Dominator (at summer flows below 800cfs) on the Giant Gap run of the NF American. It was a longer, more complex rapid and more pushy.

Below the alternate put-in is about a mile of flat / Class II- water before the "fun" begins again. The so called Triple Drop rapid is another very significant and consequential rapid that is long and contains a very significant ledge hole in the middle. The pictures floating around do not do this one justice. The ledge hole is very significant. Set safety for those running the middle it. We saw some good paddlers (including our our Ricky) spend some quality time in the ledge hole fighting their way out.

One can run the lead-in rapid, portage the ledge drop and run the final drop. The final drop has a rock landing and gave Ricky boat a bent nose.

The run is pretty continuous and consequential till the take and does not let up. For a while below a Class III+ drop , immediately after which you have to flip to over below a log, the run seems to let up for about a couple of miles. It then picks up with more logs and tight rapids till the take out

A few subjective thoughts

This is a full on consequential Class IV+ run. I personally felt it harder than Chamberlains(below 1500cfs), E2P (below 1500cfs) and the Tuolumne (below 2000cfs) at flows that these runs are typically run. In fact, I felt that this run was harder than Lavenzolla creek (at 250cfs). The rapids were longer and pushier than on Lavenzolla creek.
It is very very continous and not pool and drop.
Eddies are few, small and far apart. Large eddies to hold a group larger than 4 are very few
This is no place for a swim. The water on both banks is mostly in the brush and getting a swimmer and their gear to shore is difficult.
Logs and wood are a constant fact of life on this run. We portaged atleast 3-4 times due to logs and ran sketchy lines on Class II rapids with Class V consequences due to wood another 4-6 times.
Due to (5) above, let me re-emphasis the fact that this is a unhealthy place for swims
This is one of the few runs that I would not be comfortable taking / leading someone else down it. It's everyone for themselves
It is pretty a run and the whitewater is top quality. Now, if we can get a volunteer squad to take a chainsaw down the gorge when there is no water .......
I hate wood in the rivers and creeks and thus have no intention of doing much paddling in the pacific northwest. I am happy wussy California paddler.
Having a lead paddler is not necessarily very helpful. Ability to read and run Class IV water and catch small eddies is key.
Smaller groups are better than larger groups.
There are many many runs I will do sole or with just one other paddler, this run, IMHO needs a minimal group size of 3 to be safe. We had 4 good paddlers and no problems along the way.

We were subject to the very impressive sight of two R2 rafts each with two people run the creek. One had a pair of women and the other a guy and gal. Some very very impressive boat control in a narrow creek bed and congested run. They were guides for AllOutdoors and said they ran the South Fork of the Feather last weekend. They are my new heroes! :-)

Would I run this again? Probably, but not very often.

Please be careful on the river and be aware of the strenght of your paddling.