The month of April has passed 2011 by, and I’m glad to say that I made it out kayaking quite often despite the low flows. But don’t be fooled, according to the experts (see map at right) we are in for a banner year of river flows. I’ve even heard that the snowpack for the Poudre River hasn’t been this high since 1983! So with all that water soon to be on its way rushing down the mountains, it’s even more important to be comfortable in my boat and ready to go!
If you’ve been reading this blog, then of course you know that I started out the month with a great weekend down to the Arkansas River. That was followed by a very low water (60cfs) session in the Golden play park prior to the CW Spring Dinner that featured Ben Stookesbury. After that, another warm evening at Confluence in Denver let me continue to get used to my new Villain ‘S’.
Two days later, I was working my way down Waterton Canyon for the second time this year, but in my new Villain instead of my typical SuperStar playboat. We all had a really great day, and I managed to capture some nice photos with my new Panasonic TS3 waterproof camera, so I created a quick slideshow video and posted it on Youtube.
The following weekend, a crew of 25 people was destined for an overnight trip down Westwater Canyon, but as the weather turned sour and the flow increased to a little over 10,000cfs, the team dwindled all the way down to 9 hearty souls. As it turned out, the weather was never too bad for our day trip and the higher flow was still just good ole’ fun on the water. But for me, the thing that made the trip really memorable was that Robert and I took a two-person kayak, the Jackson Dynamic Duo, down the river despite the fact that we had never paddled one before. Both of us were confident before we set out, and after a few practice rolls, we crossed our fingers and headed into the rapids that turned out to be much more punishing for the person who got stuck sitting in the front- not me! After our quick jaunt through the canyon, we met up with the rest of our crew and a hotel (well, Super 8 actually) party ensued that was a throw back to all of our younger years. On Sunday, Scott, Bart, Robert, and I paddled from the No Name exit down to the South Canyon exit and even managed to get in some Duo surfing at the Glenwood Wave! Check out all the photos in this slideshow video .
Finally, the month concluded with Flatwater/Movingwater Weekend (FWMWW) which is the practical, outside portion of Colorado Whitewater’s Beginner Kayaking Class that Robert and I taught this year. We had a fantastic group of new boaters and not so fantastic weather for being on the water the first time, but they all did incredibly well and the weather even managed to do better than the forecast had predicted. By now, I think you know what to expect- that’s right, another slideshow video, so have fun watching!
