Launching from the rather unusual and difficult access along the creek
We had a great day on Saturday at the Alpine Shop's Great Canoe and Kayak Event. We set up a booth to raise awareness for River Relief and Team MoDak, and met alot of great people! We hope to see many of you on the river, or perhaps a small urban creek?
We snagged the few hours of nice weather we had on Sunday by paddling Bear Creek, a small creek that slices through northern Columbia. The creek only holds enough water to paddle on during high water, which can be dangerous from the current and debris. We decided this was a perfect level for an attempt. Sarah and I paddled kayaks to better navigate the tight turns, but Jodi Pfefferkorn paddled her canoe (the same canoe she paddled in the MR 340) and maybe suprised herself as she eased over the potentially class III rapids. We had one flaw during the trip, where a log crossed the creek. It appeared as if there was room to fit under, but with close inspection it appeared otherwise! The current in the river did not allow for a second guess, so we smashed into the log , bending back as far as I could possibly bend before being thrushed under and through. As I spun around to make sure Jodi and Sarah were squeezing through, I noticed sarah had turned sideways in an effort to prevent slamming into the other boat. Once sideways, the current was too overwhelming and flipped the small kayak under the log. Falling out of the kayak, with one foot stuck inside, sarah struggled and was able to stand up, (without ever completely submerging). Fortunately the water was only a few feet deep in this section. Jodi and I were able to navigate the sunken ship to shore, fighting the downstream current, until sarah could walk back and meet up with us. We had an audience of a residential labrador and some curious people, probably never seeing anyone attempting this near their backyard. A couple other drops, a few rapids, and a couple portages around deadfall limbs, brought us to our destination off of creasy springs road. An interesting trip for all of us, and a successful one, granted some missing items and the hope of waking up tomorrow without any rashes or deformities from the questionable quality of the water!!
We snagged the few hours of nice weather we had on Sunday by paddling Bear Creek, a small creek that slices through northern Columbia. The creek only holds enough water to paddle on during high water, which can be dangerous from the current and debris. We decided this was a perfect level for an attempt. Sarah and I paddled kayaks to better navigate the tight turns, but Jodi Pfefferkorn paddled her canoe (the same canoe she paddled in the MR 340) and maybe suprised herself as she eased over the potentially class III rapids. We had one flaw during the trip, where a log crossed the creek. It appeared as if there was room to fit under, but with close inspection it appeared otherwise! The current in the river did not allow for a second guess, so we smashed into the log , bending back as far as I could possibly bend before being thrushed under and through. As I spun around to make sure Jodi and Sarah were squeezing through, I noticed sarah had turned sideways in an effort to prevent slamming into the other boat. Once sideways, the current was too overwhelming and flipped the small kayak under the log. Falling out of the kayak, with one foot stuck inside, sarah struggled and was able to stand up, (without ever completely submerging). Fortunately the water was only a few feet deep in this section. Jodi and I were able to navigate the sunken ship to shore, fighting the downstream current, until sarah could walk back and meet up with us. We had an audience of a residential labrador and some curious people, probably never seeing anyone attempting this near their backyard. A couple other drops, a few rapids, and a couple portages around deadfall limbs, brought us to our destination off of creasy springs road. An interesting trip for all of us, and a successful one, granted some missing items and the hope of waking up tomorrow without any rashes or deformities from the questionable quality of the water!!
This is your new blog post. Click here and start typing, or drag in elements from the top bar.