Thanks C-Boats Net for introducing me to a great group!
Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 4:31 pm
Hey gang!
We had a fantastic trip to the Arkansas (CO) this weekend. The temps were awesome, sunny and wonderful, not too crowded, and of course the C-Boats group was excellent. I'm so glad I hooked up with this group!
I'd like to thank Al J, Rob, John, Bonnie, and everyone else on the trip to the Ark this weekend for allowing a couple of new guys to join you.
Ryan and I had a GREAT time. The Numbers really was all it was cracked up to be; I was pushed beyond my previous limits, and although I didn't have any rolls or swims, I'd have to say that I'll need to go back and run it a few more times before I can really claim to have it under my belt. Oh, and next time, if I've paddled 1-4 as well as I want, I won't portage #5. I was surprised and impressed by how intense the section was: I'm used to South Eastern whitewater that is more drop-pool style, with long periods of calm between danger. The Ark is really ON from start to finish. Even the simple class II stuff really requires attention due to the large numbers of rocks just under the surface and the speed of the water, so the Numbers run really was five hours of intense attention-grabbing FUN.
Sunday's trip down Brown's canyon was excellent, although I could distinctly feel most of my energy and cockiness sapped out of my by Saturday's Numbers run. So even though it was not as hard as the numbers, I could tell I wasn't totally on my game like I had been the day before, so I paddled much more conservatively. Rapids like Pinball, for example, while not extremely hazardous or too difficult, introduced me to a kind of intense hairpin turn type of paddling that was a bit hair raising for me, since I was already a bit tired. But man, was it fun. That particular section reminded me VERY much of Chatooga 3, with the same kind of tight canyon walls, swift current and incredibly squirrely, swirling waters that try to push, pull and suck the paddler into solid rock walls. Having read that a raft guide had died in that same rapid earlier in the season sharpened my desire to remain focused...I had a couple of close scrapes, getting literally scraped against a couple of rocks I had failed to navigate around.
Fortunately, even though I had not paddled my kayak in whitewater for two years, I guess my boating instincts were still good, and I managed to stay upright and get through the obstacles.
I was really impressed with the boatmanship of Larry, Bruce, Rob, Justin, Al, John...really the whole gang was excellent. And how fun was it to see that Bonnie, who exemplifies humility and kindness, and who cautiously warned us that she thought the Numbers would be beyond her abilities, ran the river nearly flawlessly...or so it appeared to me. And even when she was complimented on her skills, she humbly insisted that, inspite of getting through without swims, she "had not hit all the lines perfectly" and still needs work. I don't know about the rest of you, but I always feel inspired by boaters who run difficult water and make it look easy, but don't make us lesser paddlers feel like we're holding them back.
I managed to take some decent photographs and a few nice videos on the trip, and I've posted them at the following link:
http://s210.photobucket.com/albums/bb24 ... ng%20trip/
I have a few more videos I'll try to upload as I have time. I'll post additional vids of Justin & Larry dropping into #5, and Bruce and his wife running Zume flume in their inflatable, and Al entering one of the numbers (I don't know which one it is...maybe #2).
Thanks again to everyone. Maybe by next year I'll be able to run Browns in my Atom.
Curtis Reed
We had a fantastic trip to the Arkansas (CO) this weekend. The temps were awesome, sunny and wonderful, not too crowded, and of course the C-Boats group was excellent. I'm so glad I hooked up with this group!
I'd like to thank Al J, Rob, John, Bonnie, and everyone else on the trip to the Ark this weekend for allowing a couple of new guys to join you.
Ryan and I had a GREAT time. The Numbers really was all it was cracked up to be; I was pushed beyond my previous limits, and although I didn't have any rolls or swims, I'd have to say that I'll need to go back and run it a few more times before I can really claim to have it under my belt. Oh, and next time, if I've paddled 1-4 as well as I want, I won't portage #5. I was surprised and impressed by how intense the section was: I'm used to South Eastern whitewater that is more drop-pool style, with long periods of calm between danger. The Ark is really ON from start to finish. Even the simple class II stuff really requires attention due to the large numbers of rocks just under the surface and the speed of the water, so the Numbers run really was five hours of intense attention-grabbing FUN.
Sunday's trip down Brown's canyon was excellent, although I could distinctly feel most of my energy and cockiness sapped out of my by Saturday's Numbers run. So even though it was not as hard as the numbers, I could tell I wasn't totally on my game like I had been the day before, so I paddled much more conservatively. Rapids like Pinball, for example, while not extremely hazardous or too difficult, introduced me to a kind of intense hairpin turn type of paddling that was a bit hair raising for me, since I was already a bit tired. But man, was it fun. That particular section reminded me VERY much of Chatooga 3, with the same kind of tight canyon walls, swift current and incredibly squirrely, swirling waters that try to push, pull and suck the paddler into solid rock walls. Having read that a raft guide had died in that same rapid earlier in the season sharpened my desire to remain focused...I had a couple of close scrapes, getting literally scraped against a couple of rocks I had failed to navigate around.
Fortunately, even though I had not paddled my kayak in whitewater for two years, I guess my boating instincts were still good, and I managed to stay upright and get through the obstacles.
I was really impressed with the boatmanship of Larry, Bruce, Rob, Justin, Al, John...really the whole gang was excellent. And how fun was it to see that Bonnie, who exemplifies humility and kindness, and who cautiously warned us that she thought the Numbers would be beyond her abilities, ran the river nearly flawlessly...or so it appeared to me. And even when she was complimented on her skills, she humbly insisted that, inspite of getting through without swims, she "had not hit all the lines perfectly" and still needs work. I don't know about the rest of you, but I always feel inspired by boaters who run difficult water and make it look easy, but don't make us lesser paddlers feel like we're holding them back.
I managed to take some decent photographs and a few nice videos on the trip, and I've posted them at the following link:
http://s210.photobucket.com/albums/bb24 ... ng%20trip/
I have a few more videos I'll try to upload as I have time. I'll post additional vids of Justin & Larry dropping into #5, and Bruce and his wife running Zume flume in their inflatable, and Al entering one of the numbers (I don't know which one it is...maybe #2).
Thanks again to everyone. Maybe by next year I'll be able to run Browns in my Atom.
Curtis Reed