Little Bit of This...A Little Bit of That

So down here in the south it is dam release season now as most of the runs we get to enjoy during the rainy seasons are no longer coming in. However we did get a little bit of rain the other day and were able to bag a nice low level run on Yellow Creek. Also we recently headed to the second part of the Home Town Throw Down series in the area which turned out well for Ty Caldwell as he was able to snag first place and a double brown claw loop at the close of his run. I however got stomped out in pro class coming in last place. After the whooping we headed towards asheville where we were graced with browning with a bachelor party and then headed back to NOC which will be hosting the next HTTD on July 2nd under the lights. Below are some pictures from all the fun times and a short video from the trip to Yellow Creek with some videos from the HTTD soon to follow. Have a good one Paul

D'z Kidz from Paul Butler on Vimeo.

Dewatering Ernie's Canyon, WA???

Chris Totten, Joe Howard, and Fish contemplate Ernie's without water

Ernie's Canyon is a premiere class V run less than an hour from Seattle. Ernie's runs over 200 days a year. It would be a major loss to the class V community to lose this run.

"Dewatering Ernie's Canyon would be a TRAGEDY!!" were the first words I read on a message board regarding the prospects of a dam on the North Fork Snoqualmie, just outside Seattle. This project could feasibly take enough water from this run to make Ernie's runnable only a few days a year. 

Read this short article from American Whitewater and take 3 minutes to fill out the FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) online public comment form. Let your voice be heard!!!

Read the article.

Speak your peace. Then...

Take the video tour. 

Ernie's Canyon is still free-flowing. There is still time. Spread the word.

The Cascade

Long John

The Cascade is one of my favorite runs of the North Shore, there is a wild variety of drops from long technical slides to a very steep stacked set of waterfalls. I managed to get a ton of laps on this jem, with flows ranging from negative 1/2 to negative 6 inches, I am a firm believer that more is better, and after getting comfortable with this run, I could imagine running it at stomping high flows.

Tango checking out the bottom drops

Entering the banking turn of Long John

beware the icicles

Into The Great Wide Open

How many miles of this would YOU drag a kayak through to get to "the best whitewater" in WA?

Creek Sides gets 'er done so you don't have to!!

No shortage of adventure in there.

how longgg...

How many miles? How much adventure? How many bears will we meet along the way? How much...  Guess you'll just have to stay tuned and find out. 

          - Brett Barton

                                                                                                                         photos:Miguel Vieira

Spring Flows

It's amazing how powerful the water in the Spring can be with both temperature and volume playing a factor. It's a very good time to be on your game, despite having dusted off your paddle after several months of skiing/boarding. The Ottawa River was such a blast to paddle this past weekend. The water was COLD, it had come down some from the previous week but there was still a "mere" 42,000 cfs (14,000 cms) of chilly H2O pumping through the dam. It's a completely different river than the one that I bid a Winter's farewell to back in November. It feels so good to be home! I very much look forward to every aspect and personality of the river in its quest t0 shift gears to adjust to summer time flows.

Katie Quinn

Summer's Coming!

Just back from an amazing Spring Creeking trip to Tennessee. Awesome water levels, amazing weather, and a whole lot of Canadian and American boaters converged in TN.

We managed to squeeze 8 rivers into 6 paddle days, What a treat it is to chase rain and snow melt in the Smoky Mountains. The character of the local rivers is cold, clear, fresh water, narrow, continuously flowing rivers that keep you in suspense as they twist and turn revealing their secrets just as you approach the edge of the drop.

It feels so good to be back on the rivers and outside seeking new adventures with old friends and new.

Now onto gearing up for the Canadian white water season, many spring kickoff events leading into summer.

Katie

In Between Finals

As school is wrapping up for my sophomore year at Appalachian State University the rivers began to rise! In between finals I was able to snag a few runs on the Watagua, Elk River, and Green. Good lines and great times with my friends up here in Boone town. I was also able to compete in Jerry's Baddle enduring the bike leg up those grueling switchbacks. Starting next week I will go straight into work at the Nantahala Outdoor Center's retail shop. So come by and visit, also you will be able to check out the new Tridents! Enjoy the photos of the various rivers and check out Mark Taylor's quick edit of theElk River: http://vimeo.com/23077476