LAST STOP ON THE TOUR--MOOSE RIVER

LAST DAY OF THE TOUR--DAY NUMBER 38 OF BEING ON THE ROAD!

MOOSE RIVER, UPSTATE NEW YORK--38 DEGREES AT PUT IN TIME, AND WOULDN'T YOU KNOW IT, OUR DRYSUITS ARE IN STORAGE IN SEATTLE.


Don Beveridge scouting the right line--great clouds behind him.


Don running the right entrance to middle line.

Darcy running the left line shrouded in mist.

We don't know the names of any of the rapids so forgive us. This is Darcy running the next rapid after the big put in slide.

Darcy running a rapid midway between the put in and the dam.

Don taking an alternative line on the same rapid. Nice leaves!

Don--I don't know why I always have to be a dork--Beveridge doing a radical rock wheel on the last rapid above the dam.

Darcy on the falls below the dam. Same rapid from further downstream.

Don, same falls--lots of spectators at this one.

We didn't take any photos of Crystal. No one else was there and we figured, we'd just run the rapid blue angel style. But we are kicking ourselves now--its a very visually pleasing rapid. Oh well, I guess we'll have to go back next year.

This series of Don on the last falls ain't so bad, and makes up for not having any photos of Crystal.

When Don landed this boof, we officially ended the kayaking portion of our tour.

We did spend the night in Old Forge drinking beer at our booth and chatting about Ecuador with folks, then headed back to Boston early the next day to fly home.

Now, we are back in Colorado getting packed for Ecuador. We leave Monday and can't wait!

Larry is already there getting ready for our first trip which starts November 3rd.

The next time you hear from us, it will be updates from Ecuador.

YEP, from now on only Ecuador kayaking photos on this "Kayak Ecuador" blog spot!

Thanks for reading, and hopefully we'll see you in Ecuador, where you never have to paddle in 38 degree weather!

BLACK RIVER--UPSTATE NEW YORK

ON THE 2ND TO LAST DAY OF OUR TOUR, WE HIT A RELEASE ON THE BLACK RIVER IN WATERTOWN, NY.

Don is practicing his bow stall skills in front of a lovely waterfall.

Dams were a regular sight for us on this tour. While they aren't overly aesthetically pleasing, we did depend on them (especially in this drought year) to keep us kayaking while on our tour.

Darcy running the falls below the dam.Ah, the take-out.

So purdy!

After the Black, we headed up to Old Forge for the Moose River Fest. Due to a serious tactical error involving forgetting our van seats, we did not make it there in time to participate in the pub crawl. Judging from some of the hangovers we saw the next day, that might not have been such a bad thing!

MIGHTY RUSSELL FORK!

Week 4 of the East Coast Tour:

October 6th and 7th we spent at the Russell Fork river on the border of Virginia and Kentucky.
Darcy on "El Horrendo."

Most of the time, we were too scared of undercuts to stop and get our cameras out--that's why most of the photos are from El Horrendo:)

Stritty practicing his race lines in El Horrendo--he is looking fast! And, here is Don in El Horrendo.

Ok, and finally a rapid that is NOT el Horrendo! This is my college buddy Lisa that we ran into on our tour. She is running the middle slot of "Climax." The white Jefe blends in with all that whitewater.

Thanks to Matt D. for showing us some cool lines while we were there!

GREEN RIVER--NORTH CAROLINA

Week 3.5 of the Tour. We are more than half way done now, but still have lots of releases to hit...we'll be busy in our last week and half!

Oh, we love the van, such a good shuttle vehicle--8 kayaks, no problem! (there is another Nomad hiding behind Don).

After riding the Charlotte conveyor belt a few more times, we headed up to the Green River.

We had some odd luck with flows, and ended up with only 60% on the first day. The 2nd day was 100% and was much fluffier, although I understand that is still a low flow. Nonetheless, we liked it!

Darcy on one of the first rapids--can't remember the name.
Don Beveridge on the approach to Gorilla.
Don in Gorilla.

That little bastard makes everything look so easy!

The slides below Gorilla.

The middle line on the Grove Tube.

And there you have it, our 2 days on the Green.

If this was my backyard run, I'd be all over one of those full face helmets!

CHARLOTTE WHITEWATER PARK--SEPTEMBER 26TH

What is there to say...?
You go kayaking, then ride a conveyor-belt back to the top.
We'll never need our leg muscles again!

But I must say, I do look pretty sharp in that jersey riding back to the top.
Don found out pretty quickly that it was a wee bit too shallow for his conveyor-belt exit loop. But it was a valiant effort.

And yes, the Charlotte Whitewater park is fun for everyone--kayakers, rafters, canoeists. We didn't see any inner tubers, but I'm sure they'd love it!

If you go to the park, check out http://www.usnwc.org/

Sarah, is great there, and they have a full fleet of new demo boats that you can rent if you want to try out the latest models.

We paddled Agents while we were there and they were sweet!

http://www.dagger.com/agent-6-0

BACK TO YOUGH AND GAULEY BEFORE HEADING FURTHER SOUTH

Days number 19, 20, 21, and 22 of the tour--

After getting ourselves some culture in Washington D.C., we decided to head back to the Upper Yough and Gauley for a different kind of culture...

I decided to hand paddle the Upper Yough. It worked out well, but I think I need to work on my boofing technique! I swear I'm not just waiving at the camera, but I can't really say what I AM doing. Oh well.

Then we went back to the Gauley to say goodbye to all our good friends.

Hey, are those people stranded?

After this, we made a trek to our southern-most point of the trip--Greenville South Carolina. We were visiting a friend there and preparing for the Charlotte Whitewater Park and the Green River.

OUR NATION'S CAPITAL

Well, it just wouldn't be a good American vacation without a stop off at Washington D.C.


We visited the Smithsonian--which was wonderful except for the fact that we just happened to be there during elementary school field trip rush hour. But, even I am taller than most first graders, so I could look over their heads to see the dinosaurs.


Then we saw some good missiles in the Air and Space museum.

Even got a walk through one of the first space stations. We thought we were cramped in the minivan...

Then we endured much honking and bird flipping in order to get this lovely shot of our van in front of the Washington Monument--but it was worth it!










After a day of sightseeing in the city, we headed to the Great Falls of the Potomac River. As you can see, they were slightly less great on this day due to the UBER LOW water, and the drought that the east is experiencing right now.









The route finding was much easier without all that water. We pretty much had one choice--so we went with it.

Yeah for the Maryland Line.










It's still a darn pretty place.