Alright, a couple more things...

First, Gauley a few weeks back was amazing. I had the opportunity to paddle with a couple boaters whose legacys I can only dream to imitate. Gnary Edgeworth has quite the reputation to uphold, but I'll let you all in on a little secret - he's one of the kindest people I've ever met. I bet you re-read that sentence twice! But more importantly, the pic of him on Zoot Chute in WSR (Whitewater of the Southern Rockies for you non-locals) is the definition of stomp in a thousand words or less.

Leland Davis has a well deserved reputation as one of the most respected people in whitewater. What more is there to say, except he stuffed the Initiation hole in a squirt boat?

That there was quite the party on an enchanting East Coast river. A huge thanks goes out to Booth and Marty for motivating the monster Colorado Contingent.

Second, Robe canyon motherbitches! Shortly following the Gauley chapter, I had an extended weekend so I flew up to Seattle to meet up with TG, Schertl and the PacNW crew. They introduced me to their fall classic. People compare Robe to Gore in CO. Not a terrible comparison, but Robe is more like Tunnel and Gore rapid repeated 10-20 times in a gorge that would be much more difficult to escape without the easy in-between class IV. It definitely gave me a couple slaps to the face. Thanks to Ryan for the lodging and my first ever Widespread Panic show. Twisted.

Finally, back at home Lower South Boulder came in, kinda. Melrose motivated me while I was on the graveyard via the Buzz to hit it sans sleep in the am. We had a great fall day and I got personal first Ds of Moist Slot and the Bridge rapid, which is a hoot. We managed to complete the hike out before noon to get Melrose on his way - that's my boy, way to motivate.

Just as importantly, Evan Stafford called to get an LSB trip report and mentioned a little Ecuador trip he was embarking on. He says that he's being accompanied by an all-star cast including Dr. Brad, Pete, and Randy (how's the moustache coming along) Ramirez. Asks if I would like to come along? So I sez to myself, "There's no way I want to go on the trip of a lifetime with a bunch of rockstars." And then I informed the hospital that I would be out of the country from the 6th-20th of December. I bought a ticket and now I'll figure out the details as they roll in. I hate shots, so I wasn't excited when Pete called today and casually mentioned that I'd need to get three ASAP (yellow fever, typhoid, hepatitis A) plus a personal stock of malaria pills. And I was thinking this would be similar to Costa Rica. Psyched - stay tuned for more.
Duck