Home for the big water

I have been putting off writing this post because I wanted to make sure and have enough time to include all the whitewater experiences in the same post. My trip home started April 16th. I drove with a friend from Crested Butte CO to Burlington VT in about 37 hours. We went non stop it was kinda crazy but not bad. After I dropped him off in Burlington I went home to old forge NY where I had just missed the weekend of whitewater there.

Next Sunday however, I entered my 2009 whitewater season with a 4.6 Moose river trip. I wasn't planning on guiding as this was the weekend for my annual alumni Rugby tournament in castleton VT. I was very happy however to get the call into work Saturday night. I drove back to old forge by about 1 am and went to totes tea house for some Foosball with my brother max till 2 the went home and rested up. The day started off nicely with a fine line through iron bridge. I had a 14 foot raft with a crew of four from Michigan. One guy was now living in Aspen CO. I told him that CB was way more rad. We ran tannery with a little bit of difficulty. If the river was any bigger we would have been in a tight spot. No big deal though everyone had clean lines. The following rapids called Rooster Tail is a pretty long rapids and probably my favorite on the river. This rapids has two holes very close to one another at different angles which can be technical then some huge crashing waves for the last 100 yards or so. We ran perfectly until i hit one wave off square and that forced my boat onto a nice pinning rap rock. I shouted for a Hyside Left to prevent the boat form folding around the rock and flipping over. We maneuvered off the rock and then watched john eddy and crew do the same damn thing. Froth Hole was the first rapids to have some carnage in it. I remember seeing my guest tumble over the edge of my b oat into the hole. he must have been under for a good 15 seconds as my boat stopped paddling and drifted into the guides prison. our safety boater Marty picked up the swimmer as I worked the raft out of the violently swirling eddy. Mix master was rad Larry and I flipped over although Larry's flip was more extreme because he got it in the room of doom and swam mix master itself whereas i flipped in mix master. John Eddy had a perfect run dumping his crew and staying in himself. Millers Falls was our last rapids to speak of and since it was such a nice day we decided to stay and play. we surfed and dumped people into the river for over an hour. I had never been able to play here for so long because it is usually much too cold by then in the trip. We ate and drank after the trip for quite some time enjoying the late afternoon sun. After that i went to slickers with Steve B and Marty for some party pitchers.

Locals day on the Hudson Tuesday the 28th of April. The gauge read 5.5 feet providing the perfect river. At this level one can go into every feature on the river which at any higher water level is far too dangerous. I was paddling a crew of 5 in a 14 foot boat. Also at this level the waves are still aggressive and relatively large. I had a crew of young people from Old Forge some I know like Sarah Moore and some I didn't know new to town since I moved away. We had a spectacular day then we flipped in Bus Stop. It was very cold but well worth it. Everyone in my boat had the best time and promised to come back next year they really enjoyed the trip i provided for them. I felt good after the trip it was nice to be back home and on the water with my friends.

Friday we had a trip on the Hudson again. We had a high school group from south of Rochester. the river was a bit lower but still above 5 feet. I had a crew of 9 in a 16foot boat these kids were fun. they come every year and have a rockin time. there wasn't any carnage on the river. Critter dean and I guided this trip. Saturdays trip we took Sienna College outing club down the river. I hit Jim Swedburgs Photo wave sideways to spice up the hit and a girl caught her paddle blade in the current and the 'T' grip hit her nose and she bled all over the place. She was fine though she told me she was a Rugby chick so I figured she had been hit harder! We had a nice day however with a 10 load in my boat it can be hard to hit everything because there isn't any room for me to go sometimes except out.

Whitewater Derby was sweet even though I didn't stay the night. Cathy came with her famous cookies. It was great to see her. Don Curry came as well but he didn't bring any cookies. we drank a bunch of beers at the shop then went to Laura's for more then went to the train tracks to listen to a band where Gary found a free keg of IPA I drank alot of it! Gary drove us back to old forge around 9 we got home about 10 then I raced over to H2O town breaking the land speed record over the Moose River Road. I got there just in time to drink more beers hang with John Steve and Marty. Alex made a bunch of rum infused cherries and they were great I ate a handful before bed and it turned my gentle buzz into a drunken spin. it was great to sleep on a raft. No other aspect defines one as a river guide more than sleeping on a raft between trips.

Sunday i had another college outing club the river was running 5500cfs or so and we had great lines all day. Ran the high water skate at Knifes Edge and had about 1700 cfs in the gorge. I had to run 3 rocks backwards cause my crew want listening but we were fine except on girl dropped her paddle. almost hit panic rock in zag which was sweet cause i hit the big waves in front of it which are kind of off limits as the generally lead int a bad situation with panic rock. I don't know how I avoided it but I got around it and then went to cruncher. I had the biggest hit of the day in the cruncher it was sweet except for the fact I was not aiming to hit the deepest part of the hole. The rapids changed since my last visit and I wasn't expecting such a powerful wave at the bottom of the first drop. the same girl who dropped her paddle in 3 rocks got launched pretty hard into the person in front of her and was shocked a little bit. After the rocket ride we waited for the tsunami and hit up square rock and shave and a haircut. We didn't have any beer on this trip because it was a college trip so I had a grape soda. it was a good soda. Just have to thank Larry for the brownies after the trip! they were very good.

It was great to be home for a couple weeks. It was awesome seeing everyone. thanks to Gary and Steve at ARO for putting me to work on the rivers. Thanks to Marty for keeping it safe. John it is always a pleasure to raft with my brother in Whitewater. Alex, Erica, Mike, Larry, Brenden and Mary black river crew great to see you. Tosha thanks for takin pics and vid...email me with a couple I will upload them to the blog. Mark Critter Dean Dick and the my ducky sister Lynn it was a pleasure paddling with ya! Have a great summer and stay tuned for new stories from a new river.

Last weekend 5/2-5/3 on the Black

Sorry for the delay in posting this week but I've been busy with work and my new blog

Last weekend I was in Watertown for two days on the river. Saturday was a nice day, a bit chilly but it was good water, the river was running around 5,000 CFS. We ran right, right, right (the high water route) in Knife Edge and everyone had clean lines all day. We had a college group (LeMoyne)so our goal was to not hurt anybody or make anybody bleed so the college would keep the kids coming. I had one swimmer in the upper diagonal wave in Cruncher. I swear that that wave has changed and the other guides seem to think so as well. After the trip (and after the college kids went home) we had a little party. Erika cooked some badass pork tenderloin and Alex brought these cherries that have been soaking in spiced rum for 13 months. Man those things were good. We had a good old time drinking beer, eating pork and cherries and sipping some of Stevie's Irish whiskey. Chaz arrived at about 11:30 (he was on the Hudson) and we continued the party until bedtime when Chaz and I shared an overturned raft.

Sunday was another good river trip with another group of college kids from Oswego State. It was another beautiful day and the river was again running at about 5,000. We all had smooth lines and no body got f#cked up. I had to skiddadle back to Albany quickly after the trip.

A side note, a few of the other guides were complaining about the smell of my river gear last weekend so I made sure to wash it this week. I used to have this yellow shorty splash top that I got my first year in whitewater and that thing used to smell so bad so now I try to wash my gear a little more frequently to prevent it from getting to that vomit-inducing level. Anyway Black River again this weekend but I heard that Chaz has already left for the West again. bummer, but good times while he was around.

Weekend plans

This weekend I'll be up on the Black for both days... Chaz will be on the Hudson River on Saturday then drive out to party in Watertown Sat night hopefully. It should be epic, I'm looking forward to the first trip down the black this year and looking forward to partying it up a little. Also, this weekend is Hudson River Derby Weekend up on the Hudson so there'll be parties going on up in North Creek that I will miss but I guess we are going to do our own little Hudson Derby weekend party,it'll just be in H2O town...

River trips that make you who you are (part 2)

It's been a long time since I shared one of these stories. As I said like a year ago, there are river trips that definitely make a person who they are. Last time I wrote about one of these stories was to share the story of my first real whitewater trip and my start in the whitewater business (you can read about that here). Today, I'd like to share a story from a few years ago. I believe it was the 2005 rafting season. That was the summer before I got this real job and we were on the water everyday, working 7 days a week from the Moose to the Hudson or the Black or Sacandaga. It wasn't uncommon that summer for Chaz and I to run three or four different rivers in a three or four day stretch. We were driving around the state raftin' and partyin' and just having great times.

It was during this summer that we also had use of a 12 foot Puma raft from Aire (a demo boat) and we had some great times in that thing. One particular day me and Chaz were working up on the Black River (we had run a Hudson River trip the day before and I believe we may have even ran the first three drops on the lower Moose on the previous evening). I'd be lying if I told you I remembered anything really from the trip on the Black that day (I couldn't even tell you what day of the week it what the water level was). All I know is that after the trip about 6 or 7 of us piled into a few cars and made our way south to Pulaski to catch one of the releases on the Salmon River, bringing the little purple Puma along with us. I rode with Larry and I believe Chaz was riding with Erika but can't really remember. Also along for the ride was Bernie (a great guy and our safety boater at the time) and Toshia (our photog). There may have been a couple more people but it escapes me now. What I can tell you is that myself, Chaz and Erika took the Puma down the river and had a great time. The Salmon River is not known for any really crazy whitewater sections (basically all class II) but it was a beautiful evening trip with the sun about to set and the weather was just perfect. We surfed at this one little poorover for quite a while (I can't remember the name of it now, something like the terminator or something like that...can anyone help me out with that?). I actually fell out just goofing around low siding and having a great time. We also drank a couple bottles of red wine on the river that I brought with me. I even brought a few wine glasses to enjoy it properly. That was definitely a trip that has made me who I am and it goes to show that it's not always the trips with the biggest and best whitewater or the craziest carnage that you remember forever (although plenty of those days stand out also) but that good times with good friends will always be forefront on the best trips of a boaters life... That was a river trip that I will remember and cherish forever. Thanks to everyone that made it happen

Moose River 4/25 and 4/26. Two good days on the river

We wrapped up our Moose season this past weekend. We had great weather on both days but somewhat low water (water levels did come up a bit for Sunday, however, which was nice and made life a lot easier).

On Saturday it was about 75 degrees out and sunny but the river was running at about 3.8 feet when we got on the water and had dropped down to about 3.6 by the time we got off (really low, in other words). The rapids were still good in my opinion, despite the low level, it was just getting to each of the sets and through the flats that was the difficult part. I had a group of young kids from Oswego State College (although I don't think the trip was actually affiliated with the college). They were a lot of fun and down to be little crazy. I had one swimmer in Rooster Tail just above the ledge on river left at the upper section of the drop. I kind of think he was almost trying to fall out, we hit a little wave and he went head over heels (kind of like you see the Navy Seals do in the movies). Anyway, we got him back in real quick before we actually went over the ledges which made me happy but my run through the rest of the drop was pretty iffy after that. We got down to Mix Master without any other major issues and we scrubbed down all the crews pretty good there. Miller's Falls was also pretty good surfing and people were flying out of boats left and right there. Erika and Larry had 14 foot boats and Miller's Falls was just destroying them with people swimming all over the place.

After the trip I went and picked up Heather and my sister Cae and we chilled out at the rafting base for a little longer drinking nice cold Blue Lights. From there we went to the Tow Bar for the annual Spring Fling where Roy Cooper was cooking up some food and they had some music going. After a few drinks there, we mosied on down to Slickers and had a few more drinks and we made it home by about 1:30 or so...all in all a good day and good times had by all.

Sunday was another good day, Chaz arrived back in town later on Saturday night to raft guide for Sunday's trip. I got to the raft base and I was thinking "oh man, 3.5 foot river, jeez" but as it turned out the rain finally started to bring the river up a bit and it was at about 4.5 feet by the time we got on the water. It was good seeing Chaz back in NY and he popped his cheery guiding customers on the moose and he did a pretty awesome job I think. I had a small 14 foot boat with 4 guys in it, which was awesome considering that the river was coming up and with the light boat the rocks wouldn't really be much of an issue. There were no major issues on the river at all, a few swimmers here and there above Mix Master but the vast majority of them happening at Mix Master and Miller's Falls. (When we can keep people in the boat until Mix Master, it's always a good thing). Chaz and Larry flipped their boats in Mix Master. Larry actually flipped in the first of the two holes, he was pretty close to the room of doom (that's what we call a whole bunch of nasty rocks just to the left of the tongue dropping down into Mix Master) and he hit the meatiest part of the first hole in Mix Master without actually being in the room of doom. Chaz had a more traditional Mix Master flip, by hitting a bit of the meat in the first hole and being slowed down by that hole before dropping into the bigger, stickier second hole. Pretty sweet stuff. I did not flip in Mix Master but I did have what we refer to as the 'perfect run' where all customers fall out and the guide stays in the raft. At Millers Falls, Big old Mike was the only person to swim on the hit going over the falls. No one from his crew fell out but Mikey found a way to slip out of the boat. It was pretty hysterical and we all got a good laugh out of it. I flipped my boat on the surf paddling back up into Elevator Shaft (another name for Millers) and calling a low side towards the hole. I was getting frustrated by having no swimmers surfing when everyone else was dumping people left and right so I said "screw it" and low sided them. It was well worth it. After the trip I had a long drive back to Albany where I got a hot shower (first in a few days) and slept like a baby. Next week- two days on the Black River, stay tuned...

Hudson River 4/18. Pretty good water, really good times

I'm in the office enjoying a lunch of a chicken sandwich made with leftover chicken from the rafting company (which is really good and I think I might make this a habit; It gives me a little taste of whitewater I guess you could say, in the middle of the week). This past weekend I was up on the Hudson for the Saturday trip. ARO had 12 boats on the river and we got a rather early start and beat most of the other companies on to the river to ensure that we were not in the middle of the mass of other rafts out there. It was good to see all of our Hudson River guides again, like Lynn, Mark and Critter, but there were also a few newer faces that I didn't really recognize (again, too much time away from the water I guess). Stevie U, Alex Erika, Larry and Mike also made it up which was nice. It was just nice seeing everyone and having some good times out there.

The Hudson was running at just below 5.4 feet with the dam release. I had a smaller 14 foot raft with six college girls from Mansfield College (it's in Pennsylvania, but near Elmira, NY I'm told). They seemed to be nice girls and I was on my best behavior careful not to curse too much or tell any really dirty jokes or talk too much about crazy partying. They seemed to have fun and I had a blast. We went a bout as big as we can at these levels without anyone falling out of the raft. In fact, the only swimmer I saw all day came from Erika's boat of goofballs (She and Alex had one big group and one of the boats was dressed as Indians, like Native American Indians, and the other was dressed like Cowboys, like with guns, not the Dallas Cowboys). Anyway, she had a swimmer at the top of Big Nasty but the guy got back in the boat pretty quickly.

So anyway, I'm being really nice and respectful to these girls and not crazy or too loud or cursing, basically, not really being my normal self at all. And at the end of the trip they gave me a $40 tip. Now $40 is not great or anything but I was thinking the whole time that since they were college kids I wasn't going to get a tip at all. So I was thinking "wow, I guess I was right to be a little more mellow out there for this group." But then, after we put the boats away and hung up the wet suits and did all the other work around the shop, Larry comes over and tells me how he got an $80 tip from his cllege group (part of the larger group from Mansfielf College). And I'm like "Damn! Larry's being his usual crazy self out there and he gets double my tip!" Hahahaha! I guess the moral of the story for me is that I always have to be just be myself to get the best tips. After the work was done I drove home to Albany and enjoyed a couple of scotch on the rocks's. I actually turned down work with another rafting company for the next day because I had a few things to do around the house with Heather, namely plant our recession garden out on the deck. We planted tomatoes, zucchinis, green beans, egg plant, bell peppers, cilantro and chives and Heather planted some wildflowers. I'll post pictures of our container garden as things progress.

For next weekend I'm hopeful that we'll be back on the Moose as we're supposed to get some good rain all this week. I guess I'll keep my fingers crossed. Also, I'm working on getting out with Chaz one day maybe run the Hudson or something rad, I guess we'll see.

We're Back!!! 4/11/09 Moose River, first trip of the year

Well, we are officially back in the whitewater game and I'm back on the water for the first time since last July (jeez, can't believe it's been that long, this "real job" really pulls me away from the river more than I'd ike...). We're all still anxiously awaiting Chaz's return from Colorado, where's he's been since last fall. Hopefully he will be back soon for a little while to experience our (albeit diminishing) spring water. Water levels are extremely low across upstate NY for April and it is a huge bummer. This past weekend we ran our first (and hopefully not last) trip on the Moose of the year. The level was just above four and a half feet. Spring and big water seem to be coming earlier every year and I think we ought to consider booking our first trips of the year on the last weekend of March instead of in April, but I digress.

Anyway, we had a pretty good trip on Saturday, even thought he water was a little low for April. The whitewater was still narly and we all had a pretty good time. The weather was good and sunny and not cold. We had three boats of guests (Alex, Steve B. and myself) and then a 'geek boat' of guide trainees led by Erika. All in all, it was a good trip, no one swam anywhere besides MixMaster (which is always good). I had a group of young guys that all went to college together, they were pretty good paddlers and they were there for a good time so that was fun. They told me they wanted to go big so I took them into the meat at MixMaster and the raft flipepd pretty quickly and violently. Good times! One thing that kind of sucked about the trip was our safety boater Marty's boat cracked at Froth Hole and he was taking on water for the rest of the trip (but better t happen below Froth Hole than further up river like in Tannery or something). The geek boat also provided some entertainment at Miller's Falls with a couple of them swimming. Erika had pretty sweet lines all day and hopefully sh'll be guidng guests down next week (assuming the trip happens).

We had a tasty dinner and afterward I went and got Heather and we headed down to Slicker's to enjoy a coupe of drinks. We met up with my sister Cae and ended up chillin with her and going to Tote's for a little while. All in all, pretty good day... See yo next time!