Endless Spring...Life as a traveling kayaker

2007-07-17T11:27:00.000-07:00

A photo journal of the people i've seen and the places i've been this summer...

Many of you may have read a few of my posts on my previous blog at runtheshit.blogspot.com. Since i started blogging there, i noticed a fairly close correlation to how many times i posted and how much i got injured. Well, its been a long time since i put up a post again, but still here i am, on the injured list once again after a big crash on my motocross bike which partially dislocated my right shoulder. Changed the name and the look, so here goes nothin...

Hope you enjoy.

Brazil, on the way to our Mambucaba first descent epic

the Brazil crew

self portrait somewhere during the 9 mile hike in

Mac filming the freight train coming out of the fog

creek crossing

big breakfast at the put in of the Mambucaba. level looked great so we dropped on in

...and quickly found ourselves scared. huge rapids, bigger sieves and extremely difficult portages.

portaging the first 150+ footer

in stark contrast to the hot, muggy intensity of the jungle, is the winter wonderland. beautiful view of Mt. Sopris at dawn from the top of Williams Peak with Tommy, Jules, and Nan...my first experience teli skiing in the backcountry!

Williams Peak Summit prayer flags

Toby and Zudnik as we were getting ready to drop into Farlow Gap, Pisgah Natl Forest

love that sign...at the top of the Kitsuma Ridge ride and suggesting an amazing river in Cali...

if you cant paddle...hike!

Ravens Fork River schuttle in Cherokee, NC...gotta get it!

floor it!

the big boy at high water

the crew at the top of the steepest section on the Ravens

Elk on the way home

any kayaker knows that if the water level is up in the trail...your bound to get a little scared. Little Stony Creek, VA

the big one on the Little Stony

author on Bennett Gap, Pisgah Natl Forest

a buddy of mine, Joshe Clark talked me into getting a pit bike...thing is soo much fun

finished up the spring semester at UNCA, turned in my last paper and took my last test...the next day we were in travel mode. Off to Europe!

this is my kayak, there are many like it but this is my own...without my kayak i am nothing, without me my kayak is nothing

looking back up at the big one on the Vercazka

aah, italy

the race course on the Gronda

looking up the Sorba watershed

Arnd, Timo and Grace on the Upper Gronda

beautiful sunset while enjoying a 'far beer'...ie beer for dinner. gotta love augustiner

transport

theres something special about the alps

LVM in action

ditto. Austin Rathmann "takin er deep" on the Egua

Grace on one of the best rapids on the lower Sermensa

The Shaun Baker Drop. aka the Devils Slide. Rafael Theibut and Irish Dave ran this thing the day the Teva Games was over, and we decided to drop in the next day. awesome 15 footer above then hang onto your butts...

Shaun Baker drop from the lip...was ready to get it over with but reminded myself to snap a pic or two before i left that spot.

Grace exiting the Crux of the Devils Slide. found this sweet little spire carved out of the back wall by the turbulence at the bottom during mind boggling flows. was able to pull my boat up just in time to snap this photo. awesome end to a trip

Grace and Jacobus Stenglein. uah boys

bigun sticking out of the clouds on the flight home

view from the Milan airport the morning we left. on to colorado and the Teva Mtn Games

the rig

figured out how to play with the shudder speed on my camera. this ones right across from mt. Elbert, overlooking Lake Creek and its feared rapid, the cauldron

looking up the North Fork of the Slate drainage from Oh-Be-Joyful campground

After our jaunt in colorado, i flew home for my sisters high school graduation (congrats, Rhea) then made a mad dash for California. traveling with Cooper Lambla, we went directly to the Upper Cherry and had a great two days playing in the Yosemite/Emmigrant wilderness. Sorry about the lack of photos, but i was primarily utilizing my new video camera. we hooked up with Chris Graghtmans and Dylan Bruce, two other NC boys, and we started planning our Middle Kings attempt. only the four of us, and the extent of our knowledge of the run was through videos we'd seen, stories we'd heard, and this piddle-dee-dink Kings Canyon Park map we had. what a way to experience one of the hardest and most trying undertakings one can do with a kayak. here we were prepping for our long haul up and over the eastern slope of the Sierra, to kayak 31 miles of non-stop class V to the takeout at Yucca Point, where the South Kings and the Middle Kings converge.

we finished packing six days worth of food and gear into our kayaks (which were effectively turtle like-massive backpacks) late in the afternoon, and decided to try and get a few miles knocked off so that the push up and over the 11,972 foot Bishop Pass. the beggining of the hike is around 9000 ft, and the final hiking destination, the put in of the Middle Kings, was 12 miles away at about 8,300 ft. big hill. the alpenglow of these places is absolutely incredible

headin in...if you havent read much John Muir, highly recommend it

self portrait at dusk, about a mile and a half in

Dylan Bruce

what a view! Dylan enjoying the moonlight on the ruggedness of the Sierra at the first rest spot

the bare bones of the pack system i used for the hike. a noodle, two straps, a few caribeaners, your life jacket, sleeping bag and IR thick skin padding out your back

we decided to throw down the boats and camp in this sweet little meadow at the bottom of Long Lake, and when i awoke to this view i thought of one of my favorite John Muir quotes...
"...rises the mighty Sierra, miles in height, reposing like a smooth, cumulous cloud in the sunny sky, and so gloriously colored, and so luminous, it seems not to be clothed with light, but wholly composed of it, like the wall of some celestial city...Along the top, and extedning a good way down, you see a pale, pearl-grey belt of snow; and below it a belt of blue and dark purple, marking the extension of the forests; and along the base of the range a broad belt of rose purple and yellow...All these colored belts blending smoothly make a wall of light ineffably fine, and as beautiful as a rainbow, yet firm as adamant."

first view of Bishop Pass with the kayaks and our camp 1 in the foreground. theres no place quite like the Sierra.

Cooper making his way around Long Lake, the pass looming in the background a constant reminder that the hard will only get harder.

author at the end of Long Lake. loved the water right at the edge of the well maintained trail...beautiful

Dylan in his own battle with the heat, his legs and back, and the big ass kayak on his shoulders.

Cooper, same

the Inconsoleable range looked down us from our left, challenging us to try and climb, but just looking at them gave you the shivers when even thinking about doing so

just began 'tripod' session

...and after about a minute and a half...we're ready to go!

Dylan and Cooper in the last flat stretch before the switchbacks

self portrait cruisin round Bishop Lake

Graghtmans in warp drive with the pass and Mt. Agassiz in the background

Cooper grunting his way up the first set of switchbacks with the pass summit at his 6

quick refuel of some fruit and energy bars for the push to the summit

Dylan, way up there in the rockpile

first glimpse of the summit...ok awesome, now your a little more than 1/3 of the way!

Bishop and Long Lakes from the top of the big hill

Graghtmans snaggin some lunch at the top

the 'spaceships' at the top, er only about 40 vertical feet from it

the trail winding and switchbacking its way down into Dusy Basin

amazing first glimpse of our destination of LeConte Canyon. that wall is the river right (looking downstream) of the Middle Fork of the Kings River. the big peak on the left is the Black Giant and on the right, Caryptus

looking left, you get a great view of North Palisade, the local 14er. i believe its the big one right of center.

the trail making its way from the summit through Dusy Basin

a huge erratic chillin next to the trail

Dusy Basin and Dusy Lake

here the trail really got beautiful...and buggy

the 'brink,' where the trail plummets from 10,600 feet to 8,300 feet. Brutal

during a rest/refuel break i kept hearing an interesting call. i repeated it, leading up to a brief conversation as a mother ptarmigan? and about five of her chick cruised by me within 10 feet! they were on a long journey from the Middle Kings up to Dusy Lake, i moving the other direction. its amazing who and what you'll see when immersed in nature.

amazing spot

what a sight!

Dylan looking as ready to get to the river as i felt at that point.

LeConte Canyon, looking downstream

Looking up towards the Black Giant at some classic Cali ruggedness

trip camp 3, river camp 1. know as sick camp for good reason, we stumbled upon this amazing and crucial spot by sheer luck...downstream lay a maelstrom of sickness that we were very relieved to paddle the next day!

lunch break on river day 3 (filled up memory card on still camera so i reverted to primarily video)

camp under Tehipite Dome. this was trip camp 5 and hoo boy, if you could see the massive scorpion-looking spiders that were all around us...

broken kayak nine miles from the bottom...and the final nine are known as one of the most grueling kayaking days in the Sierra, let alone the entire US...patched it up thanks to the other crew and all was good!

Chris and Dylan with Tehipite in all its glory in the background. absolutely incredible.

...and the final look up the Middle Kings River, about midway up the Yucca Point trail. i could ramble on and on about how incredible the trip and that place is, but all i have to say right now is that i cant wait to be sitting at the Bishop Pass trailhead next year...

Thats all for tonight. Stay tuned for more updates later on in the fall.

Good lines and safe travels.
Pat Keller

Granite Canyons and Running Water

Endless Spring...Life as a traveling kayaker