Up A Creek With A Paddle

I'd just made it home and Trina threw me into her boat for a float down a local canyon creek with her brother and some friends. Yes, a creek. Most of the year there's not enough water in this creek to float down it. But with the high country snow melting quickly, the water level was up.

I've spent a small bit of time in a boat in rivers. Just enough to know enough to not consider myself any kind of expert. And we'd been told that we'd be paddling through Class II whitewater.

For those of you who know nothing about river boating or whitewater classifications, you should know that Class II is a terrifying level of water turbulence, including waves, obstructing rocks, and other splashy watery things that could totally get a person wet. For you knowledgeable paddlers, please do not tell the other readers that Class II is actually one step above "Requires no skill".

From 2010 Summer

So we set off in Trina's bright yellow inflatable kayak. With her brother Derrell and friend Ryan in another two-man inflatable. And Paul and B each in their own blue inflatables. And sure enough, within moments, we were already slightly moist from splashing.

From 2010 Summer

From 2010 Summer

It was a beautiful bite-sized little creek run. Nice flow of water. Dramatic canyon walls. And lots of splashy waves. Rocks that were pretty easy to dodge. Green grass and shrubs and summer trees and melodic birds along the way. We laughed and had fun as the weather turned from a little sunny to cloudy and cool. At the end, we were wet, a bit chilly and ready to be out of the boats, but still smiling.

From 2010 Summer

From 2010 Summer

From 2010 Summer

I will admit that this level of river danger is about all I require for my thrill. I like the scenery and being in a boat. A few splashy waves are fine. But when the water gets big and scary, I'll think twice or maybe even three or four times about getting in it. For contrast, here are a couple shots of Trina and brother Derrell in some bigger water last summer.

From dirt & dogs

From dirt & dogs

Our whole shuttle/float/shuttle mini-adventure fit into one afternoon. Handy. And fun.

That was yesterday. Today, we'd expected to get away from civilization to ride our bikes and camp. But it rained most of the night and it's been raining most of the day, and we're sissies and are instead having Adventures in Gardening and Adventures in Cooking at Trina's house instead of being out in the weather... (... hunkered down under a tarp or in a tent or shivering in our rain gear.) Oh darn.

--Greg