Soul'O Mission in the Wind's

So, I'm getting ready to go back to college....In Texas! What this means is that I'll be getting a great education, as well as being very very far away from the mountains and rivers of Wyoming which are so near and dear to my heart. I'm thoroughly excited about this new adventure in my life but am going to have a hard time adjusting to the lack of mountains and amazing rivers. So, this morning I decided to drive over to the North Fork of the Little Wind and spend a day by myself paddling one of my favorite rivers in my favorite mountain range, the Wind River Range.

The Tetons on my drive out of town!

I left my house at 5:30 A.M. and went into town to get some gas and food. I ended up leaving Jackson arond 6 A.M. and was lucky enough to drive through Grand Teton National Park at Sunrise. What an AMAZING start to my day. A layer of fog was covering the valley, and I was able to get an amazing view of the Tetons, as well as several incredible views of the Sun rising over the mountains to the east-side of the valley.

Driving over Togwotee Pass my mind began to play tricks on me. Paddling by yourself is a special thing and paddling hard Class V by yourself, comes with some heavy mental baggage. To successfully run Class V solo you've got to confront your fears and face them head on and going into the Wind River mountains alone, to run this river, I had alot of fears. Luckily, I had a 3 hour drive to go through them all and by the time I got to the put-in and began hiking down, I'd come to peace with most all of them.

My Reservation Permit...Don't paddle on the Res without one!

One of the things that excited me about paddling by myself was getting to go at my own speed. I'm a paddler who likes to move swiftly both hiking and on the river and although I treasure the comraderie I get with fellow boaters I was excited to just do my own thing and see how quickly I could complete the hike-in, paddle, and hike-out. The hike-in took me about 35 minutes and I found myself eating a granola bar and sipping some water at 9:45 A.M. on the banks of the river.

I shoved off at about 10 A.M. and paddled through the mile-long California-section without getting out of my boat or catching an eddy,letting my Nomad stay at speed and cruise over the smoothe granite slides and glide through the pools. After about 10 minutes I reached the first "big" drop, "Double Deuces." I was fortunate enough to first D and name this rapid last summer during the rivers first descent and it's become one of my favorites. The drop consists of two 15-20 foot waterfalls with a 5 foot pool connecting them. This made for a fun boof/stomp into meltdown off the second-half. I was nervous at the top but after running it and having a good line, I felt more confident and ready for the next drop.

Double Deuces from the top!

Immediately after Double Deuces is a nasty boof/slide drop with a heinous pocket on the river left towards the bottom. Last year this drop was unrunnable due to a log in the bottom slide portion but thanks to high water floods this year, the log is now gone. I wasn't sure if anyone had run the drop yet or not but saw a great boof onto the slide and the water was low enough a guardian rock was keeping most of the flow out of the death-pocket. Feeling good, paddling well and knowing I needed to take advantage of this day as much as possible I decided to give it a go and ended up having a great line. The boof onto the slide was smoother than I anticipated and I cruised right past the pocket. Cha-Ching! My smile was ear to ear as I cruised downstream through some classic Wyoming/Rocky Mountain Mank!

After a brief amount of Mank I came to the second double drop, Boofington Heights. Here I didn't even get out of my boat. I knew the line, hey diddle diddle off the first slide and drive right to super boof off the second. It worked out just like that and I didn't skip a beat and kept cruising downstream through more quality boulder infested mank.

Alot of people don't like the Rocky Mountain Mank, and I used to be one of them. But the more time I spend paddling in it, the more I love it. This run would be a Slalom kayakers wet-dream. Tons of back and forth moves, doufek's used repeatedly, boof's galore and a million micro-eddies if you feel like going that route. (being in a Nomad I prefer to let my boat plane and keep it's speed, as it can get going really fast if u let it do it's thing!)

Myself, above some of the steeper mank sections

Soon I'd cruised through the Clark's Fork Rapid and found myself at the portage gorge. I portaged, sat down on the cliff above the nasty slot-drop and pulled out my cell phone/camera to take a picture and check the time. 10:45, I was cruising. I have a GZ one Boulder cell phone and it worked great as a camera for the day. (although I didn't trust the waterproofing enough to not put it in a drybag) After a 15 minute snack I kept moving downstream.

Below the portage gorge, the mank get's pretty steep. I got out to scout the steepest section to make sure my low flow still had enough water to make it through all the rapids, it did. I had a few bumps here and there but over-all good smoothe lines and quickly found myself staring at the infamous 3 amigos waterfall gorge. Gulp.

Above the first 40

Now I got nervous. Two 35-40'sh foot waterfalls followed by a 20 footer, all gorged in, and I was all alone. I spent a few minutes scouting and building some courage. (this included a full 5 minute conversation, out loud, to myself) Finally I was ready and I got in my boat. I took a quick look around, realized how privileged I was to be in that place at that time with the ability to do what I was about to do and found a moment of total peace. I pushed off, paddled the entrance and BOOFED THE CRAP out of that first 40 footer. I landed with my bow down a bit after a nice stomp move and it really didn't hurt too bad, not that I would have noticed as I was now ecstatic! Fist pumps and yelling ensued, I'm sure scaring all the animals within a 100 mile radius. I took a quick picture and caught the river right eddy to scout waterfall 2 and 3 from the lip.

Below the first 40

Waterfall two looked great at low water with a very defined ramp/lip and number 3 is always straight forward. I paddled off and all went incredibly well. I took a minute sitting in the eddy between waterfall 2 and 3 and just took it all in. I was boxed in between two waterfalls in a pool about 30 feet long and 20 feet wide. I was in the middle of nowhere, all alone and I couldn't have been happier!

The final 2

I paddled the rest of the boogie/mank down to the take-out and had a quick snack before starting the hike-out. The Little Wind hike-out isn't very long but it's super steep up-hill and can take anywhere from 1 to 2 hours. Determined to get a good work-out out of my day I put my head down and grinded it out in 45 minutes, not bad seeing as I had a 5 minute delay after almost stepping on a Ratllesnake and almost peeing my pants.

After the hike-out I was treated to a lovely 2.5 mile jog back to my car and found myself on the road heading home at 1:15 P.M. exactly 4 hours and 15 minutes after starting the run. Not bad.

A quick note to anyone wanting to say anything about soloing. First, don't knock it til you tried it. Nothing is more meditative and spiritual than kayaking alone, by yourself, just you and the water. Second, just because I choose to push myself while soloing doesn't mean you have to, just go out to your local back-yard run or playspot and paddle alone sometime, I think you'll like it. And third, if you're not comfortable soloing or paddling alone, then don't do it, but don't judge others for making the decision to try and obtain a deeper relationship with the river.

Cheers everybody!
Austin R.

Henrys Fork / Mesa Falls High-water July 2010

Teagues Spring Video

Hey guys, just made this video. Some fun footage of Playboating at Big Kahuna and Kings Wave's along with some big water action on the Greys and North Fork Payette at over 8,000 CFS!!!!
ENJOY!!!!




Teague

Trip report: White Nile, Uganda

Africa, I've been dreaming of sufing monster waves in Africa for more than a decade ever since the days of "Wicked Liquid" movies which still continue to blow me away. Finally came the time to make it happen, but then there was the tough decision to head for either the Zam or the White Nile.  It wasn't an easy decision since I had always wanted to surf the Zam but after researching the logistics of both and the fact that the Nile is currently being dammed it turned out to be a no brainer, so we bought tickets to Kampala, Uganda and packed our bags.

Upon arrival in the town of Jinja one of the first people that I even saw was Steve Fisher, I was pretty stoked to talk to him and catch up about the good ol' days of rodeo and within a day or two we were hanging in the bar doing just that.  Just a short Boda ride (motorcyle) from Jinja is the village of Bujagali where all the action happens.  We rolled up to Nile River Explorers campsite and I looked down at the frothy goodness for the first time.  The deck from camp overlooks Bujagali falls which is a series of different rapids that contain no less than 5 different back channels all containing epic class 4-5 drops.  So needless to say I was stoked from the get go, now I just had to find some folks who knew lines to hook up with.  Well, that didn't take to long as I hung out with a group of Brits that were all great paddlers and super fun just hangin with at camp.  A few days later an American named Andrew showed up who had been guiding on the Zam all winter and he was in the same boat needing a paddling partner.  Andrew was a true Godsent for me, he and I ran so much good shit together including the infamous Dead Dutchman, Kalagala, Itanda, and many many more. 

After a few full day trips on the upper with raft groups I started to learn the river a bit but its just so mind blowing the sheer volume involved when any one of 4 or 5 channels still has 10 times the flow of the Snake even when peaking...we're talking hundreds of thousands of CFS here now so it really changes everything that I'd spent 13 years of kayaking learning.  But  damn is it fun, the rapids are so big and yet forgiving and the variety of lines are endless. 

Those days on the upper section made me jonze hard to see the lower stretch that famously cullimnates at the world famous Nile Special and Club waves, the waves so good that they named beers after them. When I finally got down there I wasn't dissappointed.  The lower run was even more fun than the upper for me, the play is just better plain and simple.  At Hair of the Dog, I had to stop throwing airscrews because I was afraid I may had broken my ankle simply from landing so hard, at Special I had a blast just front surfing and throwing side kicks because its just so fast and bouncy that you dont need to do anything else to enjoy the ride, and at Club directly below Nile Special, you could throw any trick you wanted because the huge pile wasn't about to let you flush.  Once down there we stayed several days on an island at the Hairy Lemmon, and this place has absolutly nothing to do but relax and surf, it's just a 5 minute paddle from Special so you just bring a book and surf your ass off. 

The number of international rippers on the scene was impressive to say the least, national team members from all around the world training there, so its fun to just kick back and watch the action when you get tired. 

After a few weeks of the best paddling of my life it was time to head for the beach and some safari for a couple of weeks.  But when it nearly time to go home the river was just to good to leave just yet, so we rented a car and headed to the river for a few more days of epic whitewater and surf.

For anybody considering a trip to Uganda...all I can say is go, and go soon becuase there will be some very good suff lost for good when this damm finally gets finished.
Till next time  remember, we don't tame the white dragon, we're just along for the ride. 

                                                                                                   Snug

ERIC PARKER RUNS SPIRIT/NO PORTAGE L-DUB

For any kayaker who has ever run the Little White Salmon or L-Dub as we like to call it, you know that it is one of the most monumental stepping stones in your whitewater class V career...for one Jackson Hole local, 17 year old badass and Greater Yellowstone Guerrilla, that stepping stone has been crossed. I'd like to send a huge shoutout to ERIC PARKER for his first no portage little white. A no portage involves running spirit falls, which after nearly 100 plus descents still scares the stink out of me. If you've ever coached any young kayakers you understand the pride I feel for this youngster...here's a photo of one of the most memorable moments in this young mans life!

PROUD of you Eric....

Austin R.

Winter / Spring 2010

Winter having never fully shown up, I spent an excessive amount of time dreaming about kayaking this winter. Although a few really good days of skiing did occur this winter, in comparison to a typical Jackson Hole winter, this one stunk.  

 

 One of the few, really good days on Cody Peak this winter

Finally in late February the winter flows of the Snake rose enough to bring in a low-water surf spot that only sees action from the most water-hungry of paddlers. Typically the "winter wave" as it's called, is surfed by die-hard kayakers in the late fall and early spring. Fed-up with the marginal skiing, Matt Domeland, Elliot Bucholz, Sam Lowenthal and myself (Austin Rathmann) all began making multiple trips a week down to winter wave. We were rewarded with "marginal" kayaking  at best, but as any die-hard kayaker knows, "marginal" kayaking, beats just about any other pastime on it's best day.

                      Austin R. surfin it up early season

Matt Domeland, practicing some freestyle

Elliot Bucholz,  Mcnasty anyone?

After a few weeks of mediocre surfing and one miserable road trip to the Casper, WY, playpark for more mediocre surfing, our brains started to seek out other whitewater thrills. The idea soon developed to find a way to get in to run the Henry's Fork River, and Mesa Falls. Our first attempt resulted in an hour and a half hike in through the snow to Lower Mesa Falls. A Huck-Fest ensued and we all felt slightly satiated but were hungry for more. We returned home and the plan to find a friend with a snowmobile began. Sam had a friend with a snowmobile who was more than excited to tow three kayakers several miles up the Henry's Fork so that we could get a little more action, and of course the always classic huck at Lower Mesa one more time. 

After driving to Ashton early in the morning, Elliot, Sam and myself tied three throw ropes to the snowmobile and tossed around a few jokes as to how this was going to work. Despite all the skepticism, the snowmobile towed the three of us perfectly and speeds on the straightaways, ultimately reached 45 miles/hour. With several feet of snow still blanketing the area and all roads under snow, I had some difficulty finding the put-in and ultimately had us put on about 2 miles below the good whitewater. Despite my failures as a guide, we had a fun paddle down to Upper Mesa falls and a fairly painless portage around the unrunnable upper falls.

We continued downstream to Lower Mesa and enjoyed our second huck-fest in as many weeks. Seeing as it wasn't even March 15, yet we were stoked to have had such a fruitful pre-season.

Austin R. on Lower Mesa's first drop

All tied in one line for the "tight" spots, snowmobile kayaking is SUPER FUN!

An odd site if I might say so myself

Hiking through the snow, Mesa trip 1

Austin R. Sailing off the Diving board, February 2010

The Weather in Jackson never came around to let boating season truly begin, so two weekend trips occured in April. Trip one, to the Black Canyon of the Bear in Southeast Idaho, Trip two, The North Fork of the Payette, Banks, Idaho. The Bear was releasing on a Sunday only, so we made the trip down and had an incredibly fun time running our first class IV/V of the year with about 100 other boaters from Utah Idaho and Wyoming. 

A week later, Matt, Elliot and I all decided to escape the J-Hole weather again and drive to the North Fork of the Payette. Matt and Elliot were North Fork newbies and I was super stoked to take them down. We arrived at the Payette late one thursday afternoon and immediately put-on. Mat and Elliot were super fired up on the upper 5 and both had incredible lines through Nutcracker. We met up with my friend Micah Kneidl on the Middle 5 and good lines continued all the way through Bouncer down the Middle, but at Pec fate stepped in. Fatigued from the drive and 7 miles of non-stop whitewater Matt, flipped in Pec and got beat up by some rocks on the river-bottom. after several roll attempts Matt swam and felt first hand why people say you don't want to flip, much less swim on the North Fork.

We scooped matt from the river quickly(quickly in North Fork Standards) but his boat and paddle were moving downstream. Matt was feeling beat up but no worse-for-the-ware and Micah and I continued downstream after the boat/paddle. I quickly found/recovered matt's paddle and as I went downstream, saw Micah had retreived the kayak. both were in perfect shape miraculously, so we continued down to Jake's to take out and regroup with the crew.

All tired from driving/paddling we opted to take off for the day and tackle a top-to-bottom the next day.

After a relaxing night of Hot-Springs, Elliot and I put on the next morning for a full top to bottom. Matt's shoulder was feeling off so he opted to take photos/drive shuttle. The next 3  hours were a sweet sweet welcome back to one of my favorite rivers on the planet and an incredible introduction for Elliot. We paddled all 15 miles with Elliot walking Jake's and myself choosing to give 'er a go. At the bottom  my soul was refreshed and Elliot looked like a kid who'd just been to his first amusement park. It was a perfect day, and we would return home the next morning all smiles and excitedly anticipating the whitewater waiting around the corner.

Austin R. returns to the Maw that is Jacobs Ladder after 2 long years away

Austin R. Rock Drop, Jacobs Ladder, NF Payette

Elliot and Austin, buried in the business, NF Payette

 

Elliot and Austin workin their way down the North Fork

On a side-note, the following photo popped up on the GYGK Facebook page the other day, definately some Guerrilla Goodness...

WCKA Chile 2010

       Junior year is the worst year of high school. This is what I had been repeatedly been told by older and wiser students who had attended Jackson Hole High School in years prior. With the combined pressure of impressing colleges and dealing with high caliber classes, students often dread the third year of their highschool career. This was not my case. This winter I had the extreme privilege to leave the snowy dregs of Jackson to go paddle in Chile with World Class Kayak Academy.

       Flying Out of Salt Lake

   January 15th, Eric Parker and I arrived at the SLC international airport with nothing more than our bills bags and boarding passes, after passing through security and customs we were on our way to Santiago where our Chilean tour would begin. We met with the eight other students and four teachers and were off to our first destination, the Rio Maipo.

The Yaso, a tributary to the Maipo 

WCKA Cabaneros.

 Photo: Ben Kinsella

      The Maipo's dark muddy waters, big water, and scatterd play made it a perfect way to start our semester in Chile. We lodged in a small mountain town called Banos Morales, nestled need in the heat of the Ande's and paddled scattered sections of the Maipo every evening for nearly two weeks. After those long weeks in the hot Chilean sun we were all ready for a change in scenery. Packing up the van once again we were headed south to the Rio Claro. 

        

Eric Parker lining it up.
 photo: Ben Kinsella

        The Claro is home to the world renown Siete Taza's section (RIP) and the Veintedos Tazas sections of whitewater. Although Veintedos was too low to be run, our crew was eager to fire up the classic waterfalls. The Seite Taza's section contains three real drops all of which are between 15 and 20 feet. The low water made for some green landings that had peoples backs aching, but the run was everything it was made up to be. 

Eric After The Run

                              

  Eric Sending the First Drop. 

photo: Ben Kinsella

          

           Moving further south from the Claro we headed to one of the most anticipated destinations of the trip, Pucon. The quaint ski town feel of Pucon combined with the world class kayaking, beautiful women and the breathtaking landscapes make it a must visit destination. We roosted at a campsite just outside of town for two weeks; happily enjoying our time. Our bread and butter section in Pucon was undoubtedly the Upper Palguin. The upper section is a classic pool drop style waterfall run that never gets old. Along with the upper we also ventured to the Lower Palguin (a more creek style run), the Rio Trancura, and the Rio Maichin. Low flows prevented us from running other nearby classics like the Turbio, Ojos de Cubergo, and many other of the close options but, with the Palguin flowing strong we were satisfied beyond belief. 

Myself sending the second drop on the upper.  

photo: Eric Parker

Volcan Villarica 

Olin Wimburg Boofing Huge

Seal launching into the Upper Palguin

      After two of the most enjoyable weeks of our trip so far, the group was sad to leave Pucon. We cleaned up camp and headed out to the Fuy.  I had heard allot about the Fuy before i had come to Chile, and now it was finally my time to get on the waters i had been told so much about. On the Upper Fuy for the first time i was hestiant on what to expect. The run started off with fun class IV- creeking with some larger drops and plenty of boofs. Two thirds of the way down you come upon Salto De La Leona this is where the run really starts to pick up.

Ben at the bottom of the Falls

Myself spotting my landing

photo: Conner Jackson

          Salto De La Leona is a clean 20-25 foot drop with multiple lines that can beat you down if you hit it wrong. After the falls lies what I can easily say is the most fun stretch of white water i have run to this day. The next 3 rapids are all signifigantly larger. The first is a must hit boof turn off a 5 foot ledge, then you move to a very steep slide rapid that leads into a riverwide pourover that would send you to china if you were unlucky enough to get caught in the center of it. The final drop is a small chunky rapid leading straight into a 15 foot boof. All combined these drops make the Fuy a run to come back to. 

Seth Stoenner boofing the corner of the pourover. 

photo: Evan Garcia

       Once we got our fill on the Fuy, we boarded a ferry and left the rainy town of Puerto Fuy to continue our pilgrimage south to the Futaleufu. After 36 hours of travel and two boarder crossings we arrived at Cara del Indio, the classic kayakers campground on the banks of the Futa.

Our van boarding the ferry

Every student got their own ewok cabin.

The Cara Del Indo (Face of the Indian)

       Since the start of my kayaking career I have known the name of the Futaleufu. Countless paddlers recite their personal memories of the crystalline blue water and the behemoth waves that compose the Futa. The puente a puente section (bridge to bridge) is the most run section of the Futa, a fun and forgiving class III-IV big water run with world class play spots scattered throughout. 

Seth throwing down on Pistola

 photo: Conner Jackson

        Along with the bridge to bridge section the A-Team got to run the todo futa. From Inferno Canyon to Casa De Piedra the 50 kilometer trek has contains everything the Futa has to offer. Inferno Canyon was the stretch of white water I had looked forward to most coming into the trip. The steep canyon walls and high gradient create a daunting and rewarding section of textbook class V big water. 

The water at the put in for Inferno Canyon

Entrada, the first rapid of inferno

Taking a break before the stouts

          Coming out of Inferno only a few kilometers of flatwater takes you to Zeta and Throne Room, the two most anticipated rapids on the river. As we arrive to Zeta we quickly saw why it is generally a portage. The swiss cheese rock, large boils, undercut ledges, and pushy eddylines make the consequence of Zeta overwhelming. Although the line through the rapid is not much harder than class IV the risk of being caught in an undercut and drowning make it a V+ and clear portage to nearly everyone. 

Todd, Olin and Myself Scouting Zeta.

photo: Ben Kinsella

        Five minuets away from Zeta lies Throne Room, a huge class V that will intimidate even the most seasoned paddlers. Starting river right of the monster rapid you must push left while punching two pushy lateral holes, assuming you stay upright you then must catch the pillow and surf it river left, ferrying around the end hole. If you mess up on any of these moves you run the risk of being shot into the toaster, a pour over seam hole on the river right of the throne that will send you 20,000 leagues under the sea. 

Jorge Taking the Lead

Seth working to keep it together on the pillow.

      After Throne room yet spirits were high as we paddled the Wild Mile, a class "fun" series of rapids and wave trains that take you to the Terminator section. Terminator, if run in the center, is the hardest rapid on the Futa, the sheer length and magnitude of the rapid will disorientate you, while the scattered pourovers, ledge holes, and waveholes, make missing your line a mistake that you don't want to make. We decided to take the far left line in which you run a small slot on the river bank then thread two large pourovers to make it into the bottom eddy river left. 

 The whole group compition at the bottom of Terminator

photo: Eric Parker

     After our Todo Futa day, the group was riled up and ready for Futa Fest, the annual kayak festival on the Futaleufu. In the boater cross WCKA dominated with two students (myself and Todd Wells) making it into the final. Todd Wells took gold in the final heat bringing in a win for World Class. Day two of Futa Fest was the Downriver race on the bridge to bridge section. In the play boat division our very own Eric Parker took home third place in a photo finish fighting for second. 

Futafest 2010

photo: Eric Parker

       Rather than staying for the Rodeo in Futafest the group took a vote and decided to travel north to Picculamu to help with earthquake and tsunami relief. Unfortunately on our drive up we were notified that the entire Chilean coast was being evacuated due to tsunami warnings and we could no longer go to help. Instead we headed back to the Maipo and relaxed poolside for the last two days of the trip, dreaming of the West Coast adventures we are sure to have.

                                                                                               - RISTO

The crew snaggin some rays.

A Pucon Segment edited by yours truly and a Futa Segment edited by Conner Jackson and Josh Larson