Howdy folks!  So I know it's been since April that I updated the blog, but this computer jazz is hard work along with my rigorous kayaking schedule.  Well, here's a brief glimpse at my summer.  It's going to be a little rough with unedited pics and shaky verbiage, but just roll with me.  I had a bit of a rough spring in my personal life, but things started to clear up when I went to Durango for the 2nd of my four trips down there yet this summer.  Two of my three bestest friends in the whole world made the trip with me.  Eric flew out from North Carolina to return for his first Colorado goods in some time.  We didn't disappoint.  

Joel busted out some prehistoric campfire chalk drawings.  My favorite is the one on the bottom right.  It depicts the mountains, moon and Upper Animas around Siverton... Funny because this campsite was right on South Mineral Creek.

We rolled into the Durango Zone and fired off a few high water descents of 1st Gorge Lime Creek and South Mineral.

Joel falling off the big'um with style.

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Me and Pinky avoiding the skewer on Shish-kabob 

Ok, so I must apologize to the Forest Service, mountain gods and all other forest lovers.  I did a bad thing with my 4x4 family truckster.  To access S. Minie we drove across a snow field.  After I ran down in my boat past the snow field, Eric (again from North Carolina, land of no snow) thought he'd be helpful by bringing down the truck.  As he approached the snow field, I thought I'd come up and drive.  He did look pretty confident, so I didn't run as fast as I could have.  As he gunned it into the snow field on the wrong line, Joel and I both screamed "NO!"  The combined scream echoed through the high alpine mountain valley longer than it took for the truck to be completely stuck.  And then there were employed kayakers digging snow with paddles - for three hours.  It was all good though because it allowed Lime Creek to rage past the "high side of good" and right into the "low side of flood".  As Frontrange Fred said, "2008 is not a year to scrape."  Damn was he right.  We ran everything high this year and it was awesome.  I'm keeping the Mank Crew, but maybe I'll start referring to myself in the third person as High Flow Joe from the Mank Crew.....

Never ever let a good ole Southern Boy drive a 4x4.

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A couple of my bestest friends - Bakken Bowl and Donkey

So we roll down to Lime Creek.  Things are going well.  Water is pouring into the already raging creek from all directions.  We make it through the nerve wracking, unportagable, unscoutable S-turn gorge.  We go up and take a look at Dragon's Back falls.  This falls has a good lead-in to a 14' falls with a mean hole at the bottom.  Right down the middle is a safe Dragon's Back of rock.  This sloping dome is about a boat width wide and falling away to doom on all sides except right off the middle.  Eric takes a look for exactly 2.8 seconds before volunteering to go first....  My guts tell me immediately what's going to happen here, so I go get into my boat to follow Eric for safety.  Sure enough, I watch Eric casually roll into the drop and then Joel, who was standing at the lip, starts waving me off frantically.  Eric flushes quickly to safety sans boat and after about five minutes of creek boat blast wheels, Joel waves me through after Eric's boat kicks from the hole.  

Enter the Dragon....Eric about to learn hubris the hard way.

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It wouldn't be a fulfilling kayak season without a shot of Fuzzy Bunny on Vallecito.  Good to see Gordon Dalton out there...

So after kayaking slows down a little bit, I always try to get in one pro-bono rafting trip to show the uninitiated the beauty of the river.  Generally I take family members, but this year I was excited to take members of the VA's MICU and Cath Lab.    

Here's the group shot.  I managed to get Tim to swim several times leaving me as the only male on the boat, but Lori kept retrieving him.

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In true raft guide form, we practiced hucking into the Arkansas.  This pic looks sic, but you don't get to see me over-rotate and land on my left eyeball.  

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People always get all fired up to go kayaking in May and June.  They refer to this as the prime season.  I always refer to it as the warm up.  As the waters recede, the true hardcore creeking gems come into play.  July and early August is the time to let your hair down and get scared in Colorado.  Here's the Crystal Gorge at the high side of good flow in early August.

Frank Pickell styled the Entrance Exam.  What you don't see is that the entire river sieves out under a rock or log if you miss the eddy on river left.

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I know this pic is ridiculously small, but it's the landing of Zoot Chute in the Inner Gorge.  You can just barely make out the river wide log...Bummer

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After the Crystal, Vallecito and epic Big South season, we went further and deeper.  Ben, Alex Clayton and I met Montucky boys Barry and Orion for a little Box action - Clark's Fork of the Yellowstone Box that is.  This bad boy on the Wyoming/Montana boarder is the third deepest in the States.  It contains big must run drops above sieves and mandatory one boat eddies.  Safety is generally in the moral form.  That being said, it is the most peaceful place that I have ever been.....for the minutes that you're not white-knuckling your paddle.  There's not a better place to clear your head that I've found.  It mixes the intensity of V+ gorge paddling with the solitude of Wyoming wilderness.  I found myself enjoying the portages and hike out almost as much as the epic paddling.  That being said, buyer beware......

This shot is taken of a close friend's boat.  The boat had been exploring the underworlds of the Box for a week before we happened upon it.  $1500 camera - gone, $300 breakdown paddle - gone, camping gear - gone.  Twisted carabiner - check, mangled shell - check, tattered drybag - check.  Be careful out there.

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I'm pretty psyched about this over the shoulder shot of Alex.  He's boofing Deliberation Corner in fine form.  Note the boats on the horizion - they mark the one boat eddy required for scouting the last part of the V+ Deliberation Corner.  The pictured drop is a must run '8 falls with a burly hole and minimal safety.  Boof or Die (small exaggeration)!

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This is where our campsite was located and we were greeted by this scene upon taking off the river.  The most peaceful place I've ever been.

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One more gratuitous rainbow shot...ok maybe not so gratuitous.

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Upon returning to CO, C.Mo and I rallied for the Gnarrows race.  This is a head-to-head boat race between four guys down V/V+ rapids.  It was the best race of the season - flat out.  The Upper Narrows at 1.9 feet at race pace, chasing another boater is about as much fun as I've had in a kayak.  Kyle McCutchen of the 303 posse (represent!) took home the coveted Gnarrows belt buckle in the coolest finals I've ever seen.  It was his first day running the Narrows and he simply refused to let the Poudre posse beat him on their home turf.  I saw it in his eyes before the Semi-Finals.  There was a spooky glare coming from his face with a mischievous smile as I congratulated him on his Heat 1 Victory.  Right then, I knew it was over.  Anyway, the rest is history:  Kyle passed two Poudre posse members in the Lower Narrows for the slick win, Leif's second place 40oz got broken by a meth addict bouncer at the Mishawka Inn, Rookie broke Tina's window, and both past Poudre posse Gnarrows winners swam in the race, but yet it seems that Chris and I may have acquired the real spoils....

At the takeout, I was passing out beers to my fellow boaters when I happened across these two trying to pry open a wine bottle.  However, as any true connoisseur knows, PBR is the drink of the river.  Both ladies jumped at the opportunity for a frosty cold one instead of the vino.  We got to know each other during a Filter plant tubing session.  Jen organizes huge drunken parties in Denver (you may have heard of one - Taste of Colorado?) and Carrie is a professional race car driver hot off the tracks in Germany.

P.S.  All you FTC boys are the shit - I love you man.

P.P.S.  Here's to the best kayaking season that I have been involved with.  I got eight huge personal first Ds and a ton of favorites with huge flow:  Upper Cherry Creek, Clark's Fork Box, Hells Gate on the Tonto, Tuolome Cherry Creek Run, Pandora's, Homestake, Eldo and South Mineral.  I'm now having serious problems figuring out my "Must Run Every Year List".  It's like 30 sections of river.  Thanks to you guys for making the experience as fellow paddlers or as family members and land loving friends.