It's hard to believe that it has come and gone already. Back in March and April it seemed so far away. Then the next thing I know I'm dropping my gear at Pat's house on Wed. night for a Fri. departure. A few of us camped at Pat's Thur. night and come Fri. morning we were off. I was dreading that drive sooo much. The thought of thirty hours in the car with five other people just didn't seem all that enticing. But I knew that it would be worth it in the end. Man, I couldn't have been righter (I know, I know). Even though, about halfway through Kansas, I was beginning to wonder.
Lots of this in Kansas. BORING!!!
(photo by Robbie Siegle - i think)
I think Pat said it best, "In Kansas, you can see tomorrow's weather today."
Colorado - Day 1
Well we finally started seeing some elevation change which meant Denver wasn't too much further. When we got to the Mile High City, we headed straight to Dan's (Pat's brother) house. It sure was nice to get out of that truck for a while, and have a little couch time. But we didn't chill for too long as we all headed to the local paddling shop, Confluence Kayaks, to get some beta and check out the deals. And by local I mean it was a ten minute walk from the house. Sweet!!! We got some info on the Clear Creek Whitewater Park in Golden, CO, loaded back up in the truck and headed out. Twenty minutes and we were there.
(photo by Jenni Miehle)
After playing for a few hours, we headed back to Dan's to meet up with Angie and Mary Jo. Once they arrived, we went for some grub then back to the house to chill and plan the next day's events.
Day 2 - Buena Vista Town Run
After a nice drive up into the hills, we arrived at camp. Once we got everything set up, and met up with the rest of the crew, some of us headed to the put-in. We played around at the wave at the put-in for a while to warm up then headed down.
The town section is a fun run with IIs and IIIs (mostly IIIs) with a runnable low head dam a few miles in. This had a few of us quite nervous considering there was no scout and no portage, due to private land. Except for someone getting separated from their boat for a while, then a rather nervous search for that person ( who was found safe a little while later) it was a great way to start the Ark experience!
Day 3 - The Numbers
I'll start here by saying thanks to Ken (Winslow - I think) for showing us down this section. He knew and described the lines very well, and was instrumental in me keeping my wits about me. And this was crucial considering that as soon as we put on, I quickly realized that I might just be in over my head. The level that day was around 1600-1700cfs and the water was as pushy as any I had ever seen (except maybe for the day Angela S., Scott B. and I ran the Upper Green at around 600-700%.). The first rapid right after the stealth put-in was pretty challenging and I flipped right at the entrance, and took a pretty good shot to the head. After switching into survival mode I rolled up and assessed the situation. Still conscious, not too dazed, no time to rest. Let's keep going! At Number One Ken said that the rapid was kinda like a golf course. It has around 18 holes. I'm thinking to myself, "Great! What have I gotten myself into?" It's been quite a while since I felt that out of control in my boat. I made it through and was able to recompose myself. I don't remember much of Numbers 2 and 3, but I do remember Number 4. I was following Andy and trying to catch every eddy he caught. So I eddied out on RR and suddenly realized that I was sitting at the entrance to the diversion channel. Not where I wanted to be! Josh P. and Angela S. eddied out there too. So I got to watch Josh ferry out into the main channel, only to get hung up on a rock about eight feet out. Luckily after a little persuasion he cleared it and moved on. Then Angela peeled out, executed a perfect ferry and headed down. "THAT"S my line!", I thought. Peeled out into the ferry, blew my angle and stalled about halfway to where I wanted to be. So I'm paddling like a mofo, regain my ferry angle and head downstream. Whew! Starting to feel a little better after that. Let's go. Next is Number 5 and what would turn out to be my near demise. After coming under the bridge, I'm a little too far left and have to make a rather long ferry back to RR, to catch the eddy on far RR right after the first drop. Clean the drop but I'm a little too close to center to catch the eddy at the top, so I try to sneak in at the bottom. Well that didn't work so good and I flushed out the bottom of the eddy and flipped on the eddy line heading backwards. Through the next hole on RR and over the pourover on RR upsidedown and backwards. I'm thinkning no biggie since I'm not really hitting anything underwater. Well, I guess the waves really start to pick up through here (I'm not real sure because I was upside down, remember) because I'm having a real hard time rolling up. After around 6-7 roll attempts and inhaling a few gallons of that cold Colorado water I knew it was time to come out. I couldn't get to the surface fast enough. Once I finally came up, I was gasping for air and took in some more water. Now I'm REALLY getting scared. Can't breathe, head is barely staying above water, the water is very cold, and I'm tired as hell. The current is so pushy through there, I was having a real hard time just getting to shore. That's when I remembered something they taught me in guide school. If you can't break the eddy line by swimming through it, then ROLL across it. Foreward stroke, backstroke, forward stroke, backstroke. It was that bit of knowledge that got me to the river bank. Thanks USNWC guide school. After my boat and I were collected, I took a few minutes to rest then got back in my boat. Big mistake. I was so stiff and tense, it only took about 200 more yard to realize that my day was done. So now I'm hiking down the road. I walked for about 2 1/2 miles with my boat before Ken came around the bend to pick me up. He got out at the take-out and everyone else in our group continued on down through Fractions/Frog Rock. I've never been as scared kayaking as I was below Number 5. I seriously considered having a few cold ones back at camp just to calm my nerves. But I made it through relatively unscathed and no worse for wear. What are we doing tomorrow?!?!?!?
Well it's late, I'm tired and have to work tomorrow, so Numbers pics, Brown's Canyon, Royal Gorge, and Fractions/Frog Rock will have to wait til later....
Peace Out
Brentley
