It was an interesting but disappointing spring here in New England. Some late season snowfall brought us up to average or better snowpacks in the mountains, but spring never really arrived and so the entire snowpack dwindled away over the course of a dry month of 55 degree temps. Rivers held at a teasing "almost... Continue Reading →
Grand Canyon 2013
So what do you do when your friend gets a Grand permit 10 days before the launch date? Well, naturally, you call all your friends and you start driving. What if she only has an eleven day window to do the trip? Easy, just self-support it. What if she doesn't know how to kayak? Um...Well,... Continue Reading →
In Which Nick Eats Nothing But French Fries and ‘Tequila’ While Kayaking Beautiful Class IV Every Day for Pennies
If you ever want to save money by going on a paddling vacation, Ecuador is the place to go. Fly to Quito, take a $3.25 bus to Baeza, get off the bus, walk 50 feet up a hill and check in at either Rodrigo's or Gina's (neighboring kayaker-friendly hostels) for $6-10/night, and then call a... Continue Reading →
Chile Part 3: New Years, Hot Springs, and the Pucon Siphon
Back in the Pucon siphon, my back started to improve and I began kayaking again on some of the easier runs. In the meantime, Daphnee, Ari, Greg, et al ran the Carhuello and returned with reports of one of the worst rivers they'd ever run and, unfortunately, a broken back. Greg ended up going up... Continue Reading →
Chile Part 2: Bariloche, Break-ins, and the Futa
After a brief stint at the Pucon hospital -- which looks like it's from World War I -- I confirmed that I probably didn't have a broken back. Unfortunately, it was feeling worse than it had been, so I resolved to not kayak until it at the very least showed signs of improvement. After two... Continue Reading →
Chile Part 1: Low Water
After a sweet late-October run of the Dryway and a high water lap on the East Branch of the Pemi, I packed my kayak in a bag, batted my eyelashes at the American Airlines check-in counter lady, and checked a (full and very overweight) ski bag and kayak free of charge all the way to... Continue Reading →
Putnam Creek, NY
This past weekend was a Raquette off-week, so I figured there'd be nothing to do but Deerfield Fest. Then, lo and behold, it dumped rain on Friday. I refreshed the radar every ~5 or so minutes through the whole work day and it was looking really promising right up until 6pm or so. Then the... Continue Reading →
Raquette Livin’
Well, summer time is here in New England...which means 13 days of Hartlands in a row interspersed with the bi-weekly Raquette releases. I went up to the Raquette this weekend and it was everything I remembered from last year...What a fun river. Good times were had by all. Colton Falls has changed a little bit,... Continue Reading →
Welcome to Wydaho
After Fibark, I rallied back to Boulder and spent another couple nights in the Front Range. Scotty, Dodge, and I ran Blackrock into Lower Clear Creek, and the next day we met up with team Ledyard to run the marathon stretch of the Poudre, after which I drove the seven hours to Salt Lake. Ben... Continue Reading →
Vermont, the Waterfall State
I spent a few days this spring tracking down waterfalls in Vermont with the help of http://northeastwaterfalls.com/ and some beta from Ryan McCall and ended up with some awesome drops, some of which we ran and some of which I need to go back for. I scouted Dewey Mills on the Ottaquechee at high water... Continue Reading →