No Alarm Clock Needed - 4/3/16

114 days since my last paddle. Lots of hours at the office in between. Sunday was a no alarm clock morning.

Pulled out of 5505 at 5:30 am and was east bound to the Iowa side of the Big Sioux River. Head lights of the Kia proved to be just enough light to portage my kayak down to the river bank at Gitchie Manitou State Park.  

Kayak and beer stashed I made way south to the Grandview bridge to wait for Tyler.

Sunrise from Grandview

Tyler arrived right on time at 6:30 am we promptly started our 6 mile run back to Gitchie Manitou State Park. Morning temp was brisk and a nice northern breeze pushed us back towards our point of origin. 

Making it back to our stashed vessels we took a minute to catch our breaths and bundle up for the paddle. Tyler's trusted co-captain, Nicole, met up with us for this leg of the journey. We shoved off and my first paddle of 2016 was underway.

Glide

Below the cliffs at Good Earth

Changes on the river are always subtle but the first of spring they seem to jump out. The cliff banks at Good Earth were steeper. Old dead tree tress showed the wear and tear of another winter.

River brew

Workin' hard

We covered the 5 miles of river back to the Grandview bridge in about 1:35 minutes. Back home by 9:45. No better way to kick off a Sunday.

Plenty of day left to enjoy. Kelsey, Sylvie, and I loaded up and headed back out Good Earth state park. Time for a bub lug!

Bub lug

We looped our way down to the river bank that I had kayaked by earlier that morning. Sylvie made it clear that she wanted to cut free from the baby carrier to do a little exploring.

River bank 

Smiles abound

Happy bub

Nothing quite like sitting on the bank of a river on a warm sunny day like we had. After enjoying our time in the sun we set off to complete our loop through Good Earth state park. We finished the loop but I think one of our party might have missed the last few miles.

Zzz...

My "Red and Green Show" moment 04/06/2014

The day started off normal enough.  My buddy Jacob was finally going to get a chance to get to try the kayak he bought last fall and I was excited to introduce him to one of my favorite activities.  To cut down on the commute we were going to do the Grandview Road to Klondike Dam route (7.8 miles).  

It didn't take long however for Jacob to realize that trips down the Big Sioux are not without incident. The recent patch job on my kayak lasted all of 15 seconds.  With water coming in quick I pulled off at the nearest sandbar.  What a great first trip for Jacob I thought.  We had barely made it 50 yards down the river and my spotty patch job was going to cause us to turn back and go home.  But we were both not ready to throw in the towel quite yet.  

After examining the leak we were both doubtful that we had something that could keep water out of my kayak for the next 7.8 miles.  But after after discussing we managed to come up with 3 items that could save Jacobs maiden voyage down the Big Sioux; duct tape, a used sandwhich bag, and a pack of gum.

Jacob went to work on chewing the pack of gum right away and passed me the wad which I molded to the crack in the kayak. Over top of that went my sandwhich bag which was then secured by wrapping duck tape around the kayak. 

To both of our surprise that did the trick!  The kayak might as well have been brand new.  It was something straight out of the Red and Green show.

After the rocky start the trip went great.  A major highlight of the was seeing a herd of deer (probably 10-11) all come running down a hill together jump a fence and sprint back up a gully.  I had never seen that many deer traveling together before.

Unfortunately the bubble gum patch job was not the only major incident of the trip.  We reached the end of the route and proceed to get out of the river on the South Dakota side right before the Klondike Dam.  

As I watched Jacob attempt to dock and his kayak rocking back and forth it was not a surprise when he dumped into the cold water right by the exit.  I chuckled to myself and went over to help him out.  The banks of the river were full of spectators out fishing and after Jacobs spill I wanted to get the two of us on shore and docked as soon as possible.  

As Jacob slogged through the mud to shore I incorrectly determined that I could get out and drag out kayaks onto shore.  My idea was quickly proven a mistake when I found myself chest deep in freezing cold water.  

I had always wondered what 38 degree water would feel like and now that I knew I wanted out right away.  The cold took my breath away and my left calf cramped immediately.  I grabbed my kayak then Jacobs and struggled towards the shore fully aware of how commical the whole situation must have been to the fishers on the shore.  

The cherry on top of the whole situation was who I saw as I finished dragging the kayaks onto shore.  A friend from college had been out enjoying the day on his motorcycle and just happened to be stopping by the dam and whitnessed the whole ordeal.  So much for putting this embarrassing incident in the vault!  Nonetheless it was a great day and memorable day on the Sioux! 

Solo Yak - 03/30/2014

First truly nice day of spring appeared in the forecast and found me unprepared.  With my kayak still not water worthy on the 29th I scambled after work to try and finish the patch work that I had started.  To my dismay the drying time recommended was 24 hours.  Plans canceled.  There will be other nice Sundays.

Fast forward to Sunday early morning sitting on the roof of the apartment reading a book, sipping some coffee, and nursing a small hangover from the night before.  Sun shining on me I thought to myself "what the hell are you doing; don't waste a great day like this - load up your kayak and get on the river!".  So that is exactly what I did.

Too late to organize anything with my fellow woodsmen my wonderful wife agreed to pick me up at the end of my route.  A quick text picture of where she could find me after my call and I was off. 

I picked a section of the river that I had never been on before - Gitchie Manitou State Preserve to the Grandview County Road - 4.2 river miles. 

The canoe landing area at the state preserve was awesome.  After parking in a small lot right off the highway you needed to hike about 150 yards to the river.  Have to say that it felt pretty cool to lug my kayak down to the edge to the river.  Luck was on myside becuase the kayak did indeed float - my patch work was a success. 

The river was full of activity.  I could see the tail end of 4 kayakers rounding the bend of the river as a put in and every 20-30 min I would come across people out walking enjoying the first great day of early spring.

The "chesty" mount for the GoPro worked great for kayaking.  I was able to take some pretty cool videos and even started playing around with mounting the camera on different spots of the kayak.  I plan on making some videos once I have some more free time this spring.

Two highlights of the trip were the highwalled bluffs that I passed by and the remaining pillars of a bridge long out of commission. 

 

I reached the end of the route in about 1:45.  Overall a great Sunday afternoon paddle and Kelsey managed to find me with no problems! 

 

The Big Slush River - 3/23/2014

Spring fever must have hit because a high of 33 degrees is not an ideal temperature for the first canoe trip of the year but that did not deter Tyler and I from our first trip of 2014.

We set out late morning after meeting up at Tyler's apartment.  The plan was our classic route; Klondike Dam to the Highway 18 Bridge a total distance of 8 river miles. 

It was a beautiful morning and it felt great to be back outdoors again but it was COLD.  Chunks of slush littered the river that had formed from the freeze the previous night. It felt like we were paddling through a slushy.  With only one pair of gloves Tyler and I took turns with either a right or left handed glove to keep some feeling in our hands. 

This was the earliest that I had ever been out on the Big Sioux River and it was really cool see the river in such an early stage of spring.  Tell tale signs of springs approach littered the river but the amount of birds that we saw was a dead give away.  Unknown to us until after the trip but we were traveling the river in the height of the bald eagles migration period.  We were lucky enough to see 3 (THREE) bald eagles during our trip. 

For our trip we had with us a New Belgium variety pack, supplies for fresh coffee, and two cigars from Europe that Tyler had been saving.  When we stopped at our first sand bar to give the cigars a shot we decided that a fire was needed.  It did not take long to get one going and it felt awesome to warm up and thaw out our hands while enjoying the cigars.

Highlight of the trip was our next stop where we built another fire and brewed up some fresh coffee.  I don't know if the coffee was really that good or just the environment but it tasted amazing. 

 

We wrapped up the tail end of the trip without incident.  It was great to get a chance to use the GoPro for the first time.  An awesome trip and can't wait to get out again...when its at least 50. 

Prologue...

So how did did this idea come about to scale a 14,000 foot mountain?

My friend Tyler Fluth (referred to as Fluth from here on out) scaled Capitol Peak last summer. When he came back and shared the experience I told him (5 beers deep) that I was in. This was all the way back in September but I was convinced that I would tag along next summer.

However as a began to look into what this trip would require I quickly realized that this was not going to be small endeavor.

Real backpacking gear was required. Peak physical shape was recommended. And nerves of steel were required to cross what was known as "the knifes edge".

After finding out all of this I asked Fluth "do you really think that an first time climber can do this?". He replied in his normal calm demeanor "oh yeah you can do this".

So I was in.

Journey to 14,000 feet

June 12th 2013 we start towards Colorado but the journey to Capitol Peak begins today.

Blue Sky River

On Friday June 15th myself and 3 others (Boe, Berg, and Deal) set out to go visit our friend Sean who now lives and works in lake crystal Minnesota. He along with Deal and Berg decided to buy kayaks this summer also.  Sean had sent us pictures of the Big Sky river the week before trying to convince us to come see him and check it out and needless to say he convinced us.  So we loaded up Bergs trailer with 4 kayaks and headed for Lake Crystal.

The trip down was a great time.  We listened to Daumau5 CD that Boe had made and arrived in Lake Crystal with enough time to check out "duck days" which is the towns yearly get together. Next morning came around (it was a late night) and Boe, Sean, and I went to go get some bread and lunch meat so we could have some sandwiches on the river.  Once we got back we all loaded up and headed for the starting point on the river.

 Right when we got down to where you first get in I knew this was going to be a lot different then going on the Big Sioux.  The river is much wider and the location is much more remote. There was also a small degree of skill needed in order to navigate some areas because of the stretches of rapids where of you were not carefully you could easily have hit a rock and found yourself floating down the river.

Beyond the rapids there were 3 places that we stopped at along the way that made the trip very memorable. The first was path that the river had carved into the rock. Peoples names were carved all over the rocks and walls along this path. The path went back about 300 yards until you eventually ran into a dead end but you could tell how this path had been carved out by the waterfall dropping from the end. When the water is higher I am sure you would be able to take your kayak through the opening rather than walk.

The second stop was a triple waterfall. Only really way to do this spot justice is with pictures and video. It was such a cool sight and being able to climb up to the top was pretty cool as well (though not necessarily safe). Getting a shower underneath the waterfall was a highlight. 

The third and final stop on the trip came right after then most difficult water area to navigate. The water was moving much faster than other spots and there were quite a few rocks to dodge but the reward was well worth it. On the right bank as we exited the rapids there was a swing! We had a great time launching ourselves into the river. Another good time to check out the videos.

Overall this was the best kayaking trip I have been on yet. The combination with the scenery, friends, and new experiences made it one that I can't wait to do again.  The rest of the weekend was a blast also.  We ate at a great bar, participated in a bed relay (don't ask), and managed to get quite a few free beers from the beer garden.  We even made it back to Sioux Falls in time for our soccer game at 11. After that i was off to Chicago the next subject of my"summer catch up" posts.