Behind the Line in NZ by Jordy

From Behind the Line - Upper Upper Perth
Due to its wide flow range, open river character allowing complete scouting and portaging options and the plethora of fantastic whitewater it possess', the Perth River has always been known as a classic New Zealand helirun. Two years ago, admittedly before I/ most our group was worthy, I paddled the Upper section of the Perth River with a disastrous outcome... but two years on this would be a very different story. With a plan forged in the bar the night before and a late start due to the lasting effects of a very good night, Barny, Joe Keck, Brian Urmson, Ari Walker and Myself found ourselves at the Whataroa Heli area trying to sort a helicopter. 

Barny and I trying to explain B-Rain and Ari's relationship (J. Keck)

Our shuttle vehicle (B. Young)

After getting a cradle brought over from Fox Glacier township, educating the pilot to our shuttle plan and exchanging some cold hard cash, we dropped B-Rain and Ari at Scone Hut and Barny and I were dropped 'well' up the Perth River. This would turn out to be a much longer day than we'd thought. During the first couple of hours I was amazed at how much the river had changed since my last time down... little did I know we had put on about 4km higher than last time. Putting on at 2pm usually isnt much of an issue but this 'higher' put in took us 6 hours to break down and seen us rolling into the hut around 8pm tired, beaten and grinning ear to ear. Here are the photos from day one.Landing well the the Perth Branch above Scone Hut (J. Keck) Barny ready for business (J. Keck)Barny lacing the first notable drop (J. Keck)Me running the lead out (B. Young)Barny bringing out the Fish eye... (B. Young)Boofing another amazing drop (B. Young)Joe Keck blending into the background (B. Young)Joe didnt like the look but Barny and I loved the taste... stout (B. Young)I wanted it on video so had to go first... through the lead-in (B. Young)and boofing through the hole (B. Young)Barny hucking into the hole (J. Keck)Barny running a sick boof... this photo is taken from the middle of the river!!! (J. Keck)Joe experiencing NZ at its best (B. Young)Me getting ready to launch (J. Keck)This photo does not, in any way, reflect how continuous the upper section is. (B. Young)
The funny thing is that all of these drops and many more not shown here are all above the section that I ran two years ago which took us 4 hours back then. This time round Barny, Joe and I flew through this section in about 2 hours with the help of pieces of Barny and my memory and some brave eddy hoping. Photos would of taken time and we were well past 6pm at this stage.. Sorry. Anyway, arriving at Scone Hut where B-Rain and Ari had the fire going and water on the boil for some much anticipatd Ravioli. After catching the last little bit of sunlight while eating dinner, some lethargic goon drinking (or lack there of), we drifted off to sleep in the fire warmed accommodation provided by the Department of Conservation.
Day two started, and as you will see finished, like a dream. Blue-bird sky, bacon and egg breakfast and pretty much dry paddling gear... this was going to be a good day. Here are some of the photos from the second day.Scone Hut up the Perth Valley (J. Keck)The first thing we scouted out properly (B. Young)Joe smiling on Day 2 ... well we think he is smiling (B. Young)Bliss-Stick Mystic (B. Young)B-Rain boofing the hole (B. Young)The alternate line to Pinballs (B. Young)Ari... Boofing? (B. Young)Joe coming through the hole... (B. Young)NZ Pure... Straight from the river

Boofing a sweet drop towards the end of the first steep section on day 2. (B. Young)

This river trip really had it all... steep technical white-water, good friends to share it with, perfect weather and most importantly no serious incident. With three options for get-in's, the lower at Five Finger Stream(IV-IV+), Scone Hut (IV+ - V) and the Upper (V), this river has plenty of options for trips and is definitely a must do for anyone paddling on the West Coast... Check it out.

Forkin Fun

So Colorado just received their first foot of snow!  Cheers to a good season in the Rockies this winter and next spring.  But meanwhile, I plan to continue taunting y'all with a little Southern comfort - whitewater style.  I am always hungry for new personal first descents, so it has been awesome to live in a different neighborhood where they come aplenty.

Last weekend, in-between 16 hour operating room shifts, I was able to squeeze in a trip to the legendary Russell Fork Gorge.  On the way there, my beta was relatively limited.  I knew there was a release happening and I knew the river had bad sieves.  I didn't have a guide or anyone in mind to meet.  The only important piece of information, however, is that there was a water release happening - I was on my way with a cooler full of PBRs looking to make friends.

Some texting paid off and I was able to link up with a true legendary whitewater paddler as a guide down the Fork!

The Man, the Myth, the River Gypsy - Leland Davis

 If you have not paddled with the River Gypsies, then you haven't been around the proverbial whitewater block.  After all, they wrote the book on the classics of your whitewater neighborhood.

Speaking of classic - peering down into the Russell Fork Gorge with full Kentucky fall colors in effect

Yayaya, so it is purdy.  But how about the boofing you ask?  The Fork is down right boofalicious.

Rolling into Triple Drop (courtesy of www.RiverGypsies.com) 

I should mention that the Russell Fork at 8-900cfs has relatively easy IV+ with a spice of V- rapids.  However, it is not a place for those looking to progress to IV+.  Any of the rapids could prove disastrous again as they have in the past.  The sieves live up to their reputation.  You're playing for all the marbles in this gorge.   

Jeff Matonis laying into the Horrendous white fluffy pillow of joy

People always talk about this infamous rapid El Horrendo - spanish for 'The Horrendo'.  The name brought sweat to my palms as we rolled up to the huge horizon line and witnessed the whitewater spray distorting our view of the large group of gathered spectators.  Leland and I spun circles in an eddy while he described the line to me.  As Andria and Leland disappeared off the lip, a little light of joy flickered in my mind.  The thought brought a huge smile across my face while I remembered the legendary Daniel DeLavergne quote, "You only get one chance to run it blind!"   

Some of the best Glory Boofing east of the South Fork of the Stillaguamish! (courtesy www.RiverGypsies.com) 

The River Gypsies missing their faithful hound Hudson - possibly one of the most famous river dogs?

Leland proving with his Golden Stroke that he's been in the game longer than you know.

Thanks for making all these pretty pictures!

So check it out.  The Fork is holding heavy with intense fall colors, glory boofs, one of the deepest gorges in the Eastern US, a sweet play wave at the takeout (bring the playboat!), and great camping.  But one of the most important things in my criteria is good eats near the takeout.  Again the Russell Fork comes through with an unbelievable Southern BBQ joint smack in the middle of the shuttle!  Five star paddling trip, represent!

Baby back ribs, pulled pork sandwich, smoked sausage, spicy baked beans and homemade potato chips covered in a spicy vinegar based Southern BBQ sauce.  Legit.

Andria, Leland, Jeff, Sean and I got into a conversation over a 30 rack of PBRs about how guidebooks are dead.  People are not willing to pay for what they perceive they can find for free on the internet.  These are sad times my friends.  I surf the world kayaking web as much as anyone, but it has limitations.

I love guidebooks because you get tons of information from people who actually know what they are talking about unlike the internet.  All the information for lots of runs is in one place (putin, takeout, nearest watering hole, kayak shops, camping, etc)  The authors perceptions and stories enhance my enjoyment of the river.  For a prime example, read the description of the Clark's Fork Box in Whitewater of the Southern Rockies.  

Most importantly, as one author stated, "I love buying guidebooks to all regions of the Earth because the act of buying one significantly increases my chances of finding myself on an adventure."

In that thought, I bring you a list in no particular order of some of my favorite whitewater books:

...Colorado Rivers and Creeks II - Out of print.  Mine is double laminated to help me keep my first guidebook forever.  The book to which all others will be measured.  Still has the best directions/maps for kayaking Colorado classics.

...The River Gypsies Guide to North America - Spectacular book that will get you on the classic runs all over the Continent.  It'll steer you toward the nearest watering hole as well!

...Whitewater of the Southern Rockies - Probably the most complete compilation of kayaking runs ever created.  Legendary stories, epic commitment.  Easily the new standard that is likely to never be met again.

...North Carolina Rivers and Creeks - Continued the stellar tradition of CRCII for the Southeast.  Introduced me to a whole new world.

...Canyonland River Guide - This book welcomed me to the idea of 7 days, incommunicado.  Beautiful.  Probably one of the best covers!

...Montana Surf - also out of print and I can't get my hands on one.  Bummed.  One quote for you: "Poach that Shit!" - YLA forever.  

...New Zealand Whitewater 4th edition - A classic book that will help you get it done Kiwi style.  Excellent illustrations and Kiwi speak.  The West Coast is truly one of the best kayaking destinations in the world.

...The Kayaker's Guide to Ecuador - The best travel destination for Class II-V- boaters on the planet!  This book was written by the people that made it the destination.

...Whitewater Classics - I love kayaking culture and this book brings all of the personalities into the rivers that made them.

...The Lower Canyons of the Rio Grande - My only companion and advice for 7 days on the Mexican boarder.

So go buy yourself a whitewater guidebook and have one hellva adventure!  I can't wait to hear about it.

Every river should end in a huge Climax:

courtesy www.RiverGypsies.com

So I recently ran into a long lost love of mine. She's truly a beauty. Possibly the one that got away too soon. As all boaters fail in attempts to verbally describe their love of the river, so it is that the words escape my tongue for the love we shared. She had her kinks to be sure. Every day I would have to touch her just right to get her to open and sometimes I had to pet her to turn her on, but she always came around. And crucial to winning the heart of any boater, she was extremely low maintenance. She reveled in being ridden hard all day then being put away wet and dirty.  We shared epic sunsets on the Baja coast and found rivers from Wyoming to Arizona and across the country to North Carolina and West Virginia.  Once, during a Gore lap, she was even stolen from me by another man, but found her way back even if a little worse for wear.  Her name was El Toro Rojo - The Red Bull.

Not one of her finest moments....  Notice that we had to unload everything and then find rocks to pave the road Roman style for the truck to get out.  Thanks E-town!

Here's an old school photo of C.Mo loading an inner tube so we could impress some ladies on the Filter Plant!

As many of you may know, I have a colorful driving record.  So after rolling a Tacoma loaded to the hilt full of beer to bribe some Alta ski patrollers in the Utah desert during a blizzard, I found myself in need of a new rig.  Sure enough, like lots of my very best friends in life, I found her on Mountainbuzz.  A rafter was selling her with just under 100,000K.  1996 manual Xtra cab 4-cylinder Toyota Tacoma.  Or a 'Yota Taco in the parlance of our times.  She came fully tricked out with an Alpine stereo, 4" lift and monster BF Goodrich tires!  Even had the topper, roof rack and a custom made padded bed/shelf on the inside.  I became the second generation boater to own her.   

She only ever got stuck twice and a Southeastern boy was driving here.  Sure was a beautiful day to be buried at the South Mineral Creek road.

We had loads of fun together.  She made it to the North Fork of the Crystal - no small feet.  Clarks Fork Box, Embudo, Crystal Gorge, and countless other putins were no match.

Real men rock pink boats on their monster rig!

After all of the years of fun we had together, her broken AC finally forced me to shed her from my life as I moved to Texas.  But like all good kayaking ladies, there was another bro waiting eagerly to pick her up.  And so it was that after selling the ole Truckster to my buddy Paulie we parted ways.  

Loading boats or discussing "Good touch/Bad touch" scenarios at the North Fork of the Payette takeout?

However, she has been surprisingly easy to keep up with and met me for a Labor Day weekend at the North Fork of the Payette last year.  She even brought me a boat all the way to Idaho from Colorado!  

Upper Gauley get-in with full fall colors in effect.

Over the last year, Paulie moved to New Zealand for some graduate level kayaking work.  He passed El Toro Rojo onto a true whitewater connoisseur, Tango.  I have received random text photo reports of the Truckster being at kayaking hot spots from Bailey to Stone Bridge and all places Colorado between with even some Minnesota hucking.  

Pretty amazing when the fall foliage can out color a group of rafters...

Tango even rallied the truck out for Gauley season!  It was hella good to see the both of them.  And even though Tango's never been there, El Toro Rojo knows the way to the Green putin, so fire 'er up!  So good to spend time with close kayaking friends on a beautiful river....

Represent for CO and the CKS Squad!

So always remember to show your rig some loving.  Oh, the places you'll go.  Tango's got El Toro up to 230,000 hard earned shuttle miles with no signs of stopping any time soon!

Lower Canyons of the Rio Grande

THE JOURNEY EXPLORES THE LOWER CANYONS OF THE RIO GRANDE
Posted by Joe Keck, 05/02/2011


I am currently an avid whitewater paddler and adventurer who is living in Texas for a year while attending school. Now, Texas is not exactly known for its whitewater paddling, but while I’m here I absolutely plan to get the best of what’s around! In Texas, that seems to be the Lower Canyons of the Rio Grande. Located in Far West Texas, these canyon walls rise up 1,700 feet out of the river, which serves as the border between the United States and Mexico.

The logistics for the trip provided a stressful challenge. First, during the summer, daytime temperatures soar to 120 degrees and only cool to around 100 at night. This is the Chihuahuan Desert after all! Hence, the best time to run the canyons is during the winter, conveniently timed with my Christmas break. Tragically, epic snowfall hit Colorado this season, so I failed in my attempt to recruit fellow boaters to make the journey. I have run much harder runs solo – Gore, Bailey, Clear Creek – but I had never spent anywhere near a week solo. The trip is 84 miles and I figured if I pushed the pace, six days would suffice.Second on my list of concerns was personal security. As everyone is aware, Juarez, 200 miles to the northeast has become somewhat of a war zone between drug cartels. I tried to get as much information as possible. The shuttle driver said the Lower Canyons were safe, the locals I met in the bar said I was likely to get abducted and ransomed for $300, and the Boarder Patrol declared it illegal for river trips to camp in Mexico. However, the voice I chose to hear was that of the park ranger, Jim, at the Big Bend National Park ranger station where I obtained my permit. He said that this was possibly the most remote area south of Canada. There are no roads into the canyons for a hundred miles. Jim thought there was zero chance of me seeing anyone, much less someone that would want to tango. I did consider bringing a handgun because everyone in Texas seems to have a spare or two, but changed my mind after finding out that possession of a gun in Mexico is a felony. As scary as cartels are, Mexican prisons sound worse!My trip randomly started at the Famous Burro bar in Marathon, Texas. If you head to the area, I highly recommend a stop at this joint. After locking the bar doors and extinguishing the ‘Open’ fluorescence at 2am, we proceeded to keep the bar rockin’ until after 4am. I picked up my shuttle driver at 8am and proceeded to the Rio!There is something glorious about setting off into the river at the beginning of an adventure. The first floating strokes are freedom in its finest. Gliding into the unknown. For me, I get a bit of relief. All of the planning is done, the trip is actually happening. Nothing to do now but breathe.By the end of that first day, I knew what it was to exist in Far West Texas. Not being a cowboy, I made the mistake of bringing nice Patagonia fleece as my only pants. The enormous thistles protruding from every branch, brush and ground cover attacked. Hailing from Colorado, I had never known why cowboys insisted on wearing boots and jeans year-round. Leaving the jeans at home is a mistake I’ll never make twice in the vast emptiness of longhorn country.Through the ensuing week, I figured out a lot about the southern desert. One aspect that I completely lucked out on was my choice boat, the Jackson Kayak Journey. I had originally planned to paddle my creekboat, which would have been completely out of its element. At the last minute, Duane from T G Canoes and Kayaks in San Marcos, TX, came through with a 14 foot Journey! I was especially thrilled because my comfort level and gear storage had just doubled or tripled! The Journey is really well considered. With two dry hatches, I was able to bring all of my creature comforts and extra food. I didn’t travel light and the boat easily contained food for 9 days, a Crazy Creek chair, a backpacking stove with 3 extra fuel containers, a large 0 degree sleeping bag, extra hiking shoes, three 24-ounce six packs of Budweiser American Ale, an aluminum fire pan and four gallons of water in addition to lots of extra emergency winter clothes! Countless class II-III rapids with the occasional class IV only minimally infiltrated the dry hatches with some moisture. In fact the dry storage was so good, I only put my sleeping bag and emergency clothes into a dry bag. Everything else including food, stove and sleeping pad remained plenty dry under the hatches without the protection of a dry bag. The mesh on top kept my necessities at hand, which allowed me to make long distances without breaking. The insulated beverage holder was the perfect size to keep my Nalgene with hot cocoa warm and a quick snack accessible.Having never been in a touring boat, I couldn’t believe how fast the Journey ate flat water. The Journey I had didn’t include the optional Smart Track Rudder, but the hull design had no problems staying straight and speedy. I was also impressed with the ability of the Journey to navigate whitewater. The boat amazingly boofed tight class IV slots and sailed smooth through mandatory low-water, mid-rapid ferries. After paddling a creek boat for hundreds of days in the last few years, the edge turning naturally felt slow, but was good enough to comfortably run technical class III whitewater. The Journey has exceptional primary stability and I never once had to brace in the whitewater. After paddling for a week, it was clear that the plastic would live up to Jackson’s high expectations for durability. Every evening, I would pull the loaded boat up onto my usually rocky campsite and after six days the plastic still looked new. I even challenged the Journey with low water boulder gardens, but I have no doubt that that Jackson Kayak will find it easy to stand behind the lifetime warranty because it will be near impossible to break a Journey. After all, it has the same plastic as the whitewater kayak lineup!Even though I measure in at 6‘2” with size 11 feet, the Journey kept me comfortable enough to paddle 6-8 hours per day for nearly a week! I added two shims to both hip pads to keep me in solid contact with the boat. One recommendation that I would have for future Journey’ers is to add a Jackson Kayak Sweet Cheeks seat pad. The included seat is plenty comfortable for a couple days, but after a week I was definitely regretting that I forgot my Sweet Cheeks at home. The cockpit fits a standard XL whitewater spray skirt rand, yet provided plenty of room to stretch my legs while keeping a dry bag with a camera, hat, sunglasses, map and GPS between my legs. I was even able to store hiking shoes and two water bottles in front of the foot pegs. Paddling my creeker would have been a complete suffer-fest, but the Journey kept me smiling for 84 solid miles!My main reason for desert expeditions is to explore all of the little slot canyons that meet the main flow. From the great Deer Creek, the minute Matkatamiba, or the dangerous uranium mines of Hey Joe, slot canyons always have amazingly different personalities. The lower canyons of the Rio Grande have some standouts. The mouth of Many Tinaja Canyon shocked me because of how many cougar prints littered the soft sand as the drainage spread into the Rio. I could clearly see a set of rabbit prints cross half-way across the sand and then disappear as a set of cougar prints over-took the rabbit prints from behind. Hopefully, the lion wouldn’t be hungry as I pushed up the drainage yelling, “Here Cougar!” Not far up, the slot looked to end in an enormous tinaja, which most kayakers would refer to as a pot-hole or hollowed out area at the base of a sandstone waterfall. Luckily, nature provided an enormous tree climbing adventure to access the upper canyon…Later in the day I found myself in Big Thicket Voyagers slot. The highlight was a gargantuan double entrance cave that had been inhabited by arrowhead chipping Native Americans. There remains ancient evidence from their work with stone blades on animal hides.After hot muggy hikes, the Rio Grande offered up a beautiful hot springs teeming with minnows. At the springs campsite, I had my closest animal encounter when a skunk ambled right up to me while I was star gazing. After a tense few minutes, I managed to convince the white stripe to leave without me needing a tomato soup bath. However, the best company I had on the trip were the turtles. They were everywhere, around every bend, in every rocky piece of sunshine. I named them Yurtle.Solo kayaking is not for everyone. It significantly increases the consequences of the slightest mistake. But there is a certain awareness, a heightened acuity of the senses that comes with a solo experience. A bit of clarity that emerges out of the chaos of life.


Special thanks to Jackson Kayaks, Marty, Duane and especially T G Canoe and Kayak!


Joe