Made it to the Ottawa!

49 hours after leaving Boulder, CO, I arrived at the Wilderness Tours resort on the Ottawa River. So far, the plans that I laid out in my New Year’s Resolutions have proceeding beautifully. I love the concept of combining separate goals into an intertwined super-goal so that each portion becomes dependent on the other and is therefore, that much more likely to be accomplished. Tying the EJ kayaking clinic to have a fully working new engine in my van is the example that I am currently fond of. The van performed beautifully with the new Zetec engine as well as the recently added air conditioning and ARB fridge. The very thought of driving close to 2000 miles across the country and into another country during the heat of summer is not something I would have entertained last year. But with the new engine and improvements that I managed to somehow sneak in during the past few weeks among my 50 days of kayaking this year, I was able to make it here in relative expediency and at relatively low cost. And because of the lower cost, attending the clinic was that much more attractive financially than if I had flown and stayed in a cabin all week. Intertwining the goals forced both to happen, rather than allowing either or both to slip away into becoming “almosts”. (I almost spent a week getting better at kayaking with personal instruction from EJ, or I almost fixed up my Westfalia into a road trip worthy vehicle.)

Anyhoo, I’m all set up in my van with the top popped, the chairs swiveled, tables deployed, and tarp hanging off the side in case of rain. And as I feared/wondered, dogs aren’t actually allowed at the resort, so River will be spending a bunch of time inside the van instead of following me around everywhere off leash.

I met with EJ and the other kayakers at 8pm tonight to oriented for the week. The great news is that our class is extremely small- only 4 of us! I know that it is going to be wonderful instruction and that our group is going develop a strong sense of camaraderie and wind up teaching each other almost as much as Eric can. Off to bed for a big week that I’ve been looking forward to for a long time!

The Numbers!

I finally kayaked the Numbers section on the Arkansas River after 7 seasons of fearing the class IV run! Here I am celebrating after rapid number 1 went extremely smoothly.

It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day in the Arkansas River valley which was in stark contrast to the cool, rainy months that characterized Colorado kayaking for most of 2009. The river was flowing at 1160 cfs, which was a nice, manageable level for the first time down this classic stretch of water. Our solid group of kayakers chugged through rapids 1 through 6 and all of the intermediate “boogy water” with no issues to speak of. The combination of 42 days of kayaking this year, my commitment to my roll during the late winter months, and the Colorado Whitewater boating class I took late in the spring led to a wonderful first experience and the satisfaction of fulfilling one of my New Year’s Resolutions! It was so much fun that I plan to do it again this weekend!

Check out the photo album from rapid Number 6.

 

 

 

 

And how can I not mention the run down the Taylor River that we did on Saturday? I think the Taylor River is my favorite river in Colorado! It is a quintessential mountain river with large boulders strewn throughout and shores that rise steeply into cliffs, pines, and aspen. The water is fun class III+ at the 400 cfs level that we experienced and I think it would be even more fun with some extra water. There is no doubt in my mind that I will be returning to the Taylor in the future!

The Numbers Photo Album