Lar at Leisure

Game Changer

2009-03-02T05:48:00.000-08:00

I remember the very first original 128k Macintosh I ever saw. At that time, even though I had been using an Apple Lisa at work for a little while, I had this internal reaction that before my eyes, the future was unfolding. Looking back, the internet itself was such a gradual blur that I can't really put my finger on many more epiphanic moments where such a great "Ah Ha!" occurred. I do remember discussing the concept of email with my former boss who was a bit more of a geek than I at the time and who was familiar with the DARPAnet and its meanderings into the public realm. The World Wide Web at the time seemed like a diffuse concept little related to my day-to-day business.

Times have changed. I now think I'm at the precipice of another one of those defining moments that I will look backwards to and recognize as pivotal.

iPhone

After only a week with this new marvel, I can begin to see the difference this (and probably more than many smartphones) will make on the way I go about my day. Micro-blog from my kayak during a break? Did it. Google a telephone number en route. Been there. Look up the current gauge reading for the Little River streamside. OMG!. Rather than looking at my watch when I wake up. I tap a couple of buttons and have checked my email, Facebook and the day's weather before I'm out of bed.

I have to admit that the newness hasn't yet worn off. I've been anticipating this arrival long before the day arrived (the day AFTER my Verizon contract expired, which was unfortunately a Sunday). I had already downloaded over 60 free iPhone apps to my iTunes before the phone was even in my hot little hands (Is that sick?). Since, I've put about $30 more into paid apps, like Riverguide for Kayakers.

I'll probably be returning to this topic in future posts, but I figured this had to be one of those moments that warranted a full blog post. Those seem to be rare this winter. Winter= a peep (or more likely a Tweet) out of the cave and into the sunshine.

Into the depths of Winter

2009-01-13T16:27:00.000-08:00

Wilson 1_11_09

We had a cold and dreary day here today with highs (probably for the week) in the 40's. It looks like there is a real humdinger of a cold front heading this way. Though it's been hard to get motivated on a few days so far this winter, it really hasn't totally blotted out the will or the ability to get out and paddle pretty often. The amount of rain we've had has really kept the options open. I had two days on the Haw last week and last Saturday at Wilson Creek. Falls Dam started releasing over the weekend and I sucked it up and went out there today, despite the bleak. It actually was very enjoyable, if not little too warm (note to self- take plenty of water to drink.)

Better be sure the kerosene supply is topped off for the weekend. Maybe I'll make it through another winter.

French Broad and Wilson

2008-12-22T17:39:00.000-08:00

I know I can be a broken record about how great the CCC and paddlers in general are to be around, so it should come as no surprise that I'm here again saying blah...blah...blah. So shoot me.

I had a fantastic weekend. Chris Grindstaff (a brand new friend from CCC), Casey Carr (a CCC friend for a while) and I all took off for a French Broad, Barnard-Stackhouse run on Saturday. Neither Chris or Casey had run it before. We met a large group from the Foothills Paddling Club, including co-CCCers David Blumberg, Merridee Harper, Kirk Weir, Clayton Burton and others there for a great afternoon on the river. At 1600-1700cfs, the flow was nothing to write home about, but it was great to see old friends and get out and get a little exercise enjoying the river. We all took off and headed to Grand Asiana in Asheville for a buffet. The rains set in for the evening while Chris, Casey and I holed up in some welcomed shelter (Thank you Don!).

Sunday morning, though a little sloppy aground, showed us a sunny sky and temperate weather for our day on Wilson Creek. Jeff Dennie and Randy Welch met us a Wilson for a fine day of paddling the creek at -6".

Gear Review: Astral Green Jacket

2008-12-06T19:39:00.000-08:00

The Astral Green Jacket (http://tinyurl.com/6l9yoq). I've been waiting months to receive my new Astral Green Jacket. This summer, Astral ran into a glitch with Coast Guard approval of the (then) side-entry model of the Green Jacket as originally designed. Apparently, one of the test subjects couldn't satisfactorily don the jacket, causing it to be denied approval. Back to the drawing board, Astral redesigned their new flagship rescue vest along the lines of the pullover 300R we're already familiar with.

The new vest has a much more effective cinch system than the old 300R allowing you to get a really comfortable fit. The new vest provides good rib protection by lowering some front flotation in a band around the ribcage and also provides a little better shoulder and back protection than did the 300R. A new left-hand zippered pocket is added similar to the one on the 300R's right side for Astral's "Webtoe" (that's how they spell it) System. A knife patch has been added to the left side of the front pocket as well as a breakaway buckle/strap on the right side for a cow-tail/caribiner. The Green Jacket retains the capability to stow either an astral throw-rope pouch or hydration pouch behind the front pocket, now with a snap-retainer strap on the left side.

Changes I'm not too keen on include a front pocket closed now by Velcro® rather than the old zipper. I find this a more difficult entry to the pocket that I rely on for camera, snacks, lip balm, sunscreen....all stuff I'm after all day. Similarly, the lined handwarmer pouch behind the main pocket is a goner, apparently victim to the new suspension system which separates the pocket and body layers of flotation. The Webtoe pockets, already difficult to reach on the 300R are now farther to the back of the vest. While the pocket is still within reach for deployment of the Webtoe, re-stowing the webbing and caribiner in the pocket when you're finished will be a serious act of contortion.

I've now had my new vest out on a long flatwater paddle and a long whitewater paddle. It wears very comfortably and as I mentioned, solves some of the adjustment difficulties of the 300R. While it still takes me a little longer to get into and out of the new vest due to a few more adjustments, I think I'll be happy with the new model once I can work out good systems for use of the front pocket and tucking in the Webtoe. If you're interested in seeing one, drop by Paddle Creek in Raleigh

ACA meeting

2008-11-06T15:57:00.000-08:00

I had been working for a while preparing for last week's ACA annual meeting/First Instructors' Conference/Semiannual SEIC meeting/Quarterly Board of Directors' Meeting. Prior to the meetings, I had to prepare the Recreation Committee Report and also prepare a presentation for the Club Instructors' Roundtable Discussion.

It was a cold several days to decide to camp out for the weekend at the KOA campground south of Fredericksburg. It was also the first time I'd ever tried to dress out in a suit while camping. Quite a challenge.

The meetings went pretty well and the Instructors' Conference was well attended and energized. I prepared notes from the Instructors' Roundtable Discussion and posted it and my presentation here and here, respectively.

I'm looking forward to the coming year and planning the 2009 Instructors' conference and the addition of what they're calling the ACA Clubs Rendezvous. Attendees at this year's conference were jazzed about the possibilities of what is to come.

All that said and done though, and after sitting and watching politics for a day and a half, the old bones are getting creaky. It's time to get outside and get the paddle swinging.

Long Overdue Beach Trip

2008-10-22T16:15:00.000-07:00

Nan and I took off for a long overdue beach trip to do a little furniture shuffling and yard work. My sister has recently moved back to Raleigh and had an extra sofa so we decided to update the furniture at the beach a little. There was still some debris from Hurricane Hannah that needed to be cleaned up as well as a whole summer's growth to be pruned and dealt with. I got in a good day of paddling the surf with a good north wind holding up some nice 3' spilling breakers. The water is still warm and a drytop with a light layer underneath was plenty to stay warm. The weather had a nip in the air in the mornings but days were nice and beautiful blue. Watching some surf fishers, it appeared the small blues were in on the schools of fingerling mullet and there were spanish mackerel jumping everywhere.

Transition

2008-10-17T16:15:00.000-07:00

The water and air are cooling down enough that it's time to wind down the flatwater and beginner kayak instruction for the year and start looking for some water of my own in earnest. Last week's trip to the Russell Fork, New River Gorge and Yough was a good start toward that goal. It's still quite dry around here. The transition in seasons also leads me to start looking homeward to chores that need to get done. Between sessions of chainsawing up some downfall in the yard, I'm finishing up some paperwork for the ACA recreation committee and preparing for the upcoming long weekend of the ACA Instructor's conference, SEIC meeting and ACA Board meeting. I'm looking forward to chairing the Club Instructors' roundtable discussion and hope we can get some good feedback and ideas from instructors to take forward.

I've been kept pretty busy lately with a gung-ho group of sea kayakers in the Triangle who are organizing a local flatwater/sea kayak paddling club. Stay tuned to see what happens with this group. They are on fire right now and I expect to see big things come from their efforts.

I finally broke down and bought a used copy of "Deliverance" today, figuring it was a de rigeur addition to any paddler's library.

It's paddle season, apparently

2008-10-02T10:40:00.000-07:00

Saturday 9/27 was spent on the Eno River in Durham teaching a man and his 13-YO son the fine art of River Kayaking. Flow was up to about 2.9 feet at Hillsborough so we had fairly easy time making it down the river. The father took a few dips but the son was a hoot. After some initial instability, the young-un started bombing down the river.

Monday-Wed. I took off down the Waccamaw from Longs, SC to Conway SC, about 45 river miles, with Paul and Pete.We had a relaxing time down this beautiful blackwater coastal river. Good campsites were few and far between due to either the very low cypress swamp or heavily shrubbed higher ground. Skeeters were still bad with daytimes in the upper 70s and nights in the low 60s, but with enough DEET, it was bearable. You have to love paddling with canoeists (I was in kayak). We had a great steak, roasted garlic, baked potato and peas dinner the first night thanks to immense coolers that canoes will handle (unlike the dehydrated fare I stuffed in my yak). Thanks to Paul for inviting me to join them.

Snoozing in the Smokies

2008-09-22T18:28:00.000-07:00

We had a nice, relaxing weekend on the Nantahala. Fall temperatures are starting to arrive with mid-40s at night in camp. As luck would have it, we crossed paths with the Georgia Canoe Association's "Fall Fling" trip for the second year in a row and saw some old friends. Robert and Gretchen were there and we got to spend some time with them. A lot of folks spent the weekend at the Ocoee but we decided just to push the Nanty to its (our) limits. We had several folks from GCA join us on sat and Barbara only on Sunday.

Nancy, just for being Nancy, received a new purple Strutter to complete her vision of loveliness.

Runnin' on empty

2008-09-18T20:06:00.000-07:00

Week before last saw me on the Youghiogheny River in PA. I returned and did a Quickstart Your Kayak class Saturday and a whitewater kayak class Monday and Tuesday. The Haw ran Wednesday so I HAD to catch that, of course. I went back over to Falls dam today and did a short section with Chuck, my student from earlier in the week. Today's tally: Dry gear from yesterday, go to the dump, paddle, grocery shop, dry today's gear, cook dinner, surf web, blog post.

Sea Kayaking in Maine

2008-08-25T05:38:00.000-07:00

Nan, Rich Ruhlen and I took off on an epic road trip to try out the sea kayaking on the Maine coast and get a feel for Acadia National Park. Though we started out with big plans to take either the Forester or Rich's Element, by the time we saw the pile of stuff we had, the extra hundred bucks of calculated gas for the Tundra didn't sound too bad. Rich had brought his Klepper Aerius tandem collapsible which took up the lion's share or room and Nan and I had decided just to rent boats up there.
Following a grueling 22 hour drive through the absolute worst traffic I've ever seen (never even think of driving north of DC on I-95 without a EZPass) we made it to Stonington, Maine and Old Quarry Ocean Adventures, our campsite and outfitter for the week.

We enjoyed one full day and two-half days of paddling while we were there, making the rounds of a lot of the local islands including Green, Hell's Half-Acre, Sheep Island, Whitmore Neck and Crotch Island. The number of lobster pots in the area are simply innumerable. It's hard to imagine that that fishery is sustainable. Nancy and I were renting Necky Eskia kayaks an, except for a half-day tandem, Rich used his Klepper set us for solo. In the protected waters between the islands conditions ranged from glassy-smooth to 1-2' seas in 15kn winds. It was pretty easy to route to leeward of islands and make the windy passages of 1/2 to 3/4 miles (or less) between islands pretty easily and make some good distance in those conditions.

On Thursday, we took the ferry from Stonington over to Isle au Haut's Duck Harbor and spent about 4 hours hiking trails on that island; one of the southern edges of Acadia National Park.

The area has some really tremendous scenery and still appears pretty steeped in its seafaring history. There are numerous large wooden sailing vessels moored around the islands and passing through. There is also a lot of development of really spendy housing going on. Even the smaller islands offshore are pretty ell populated, though you can find some uninhabited ones as well that would provide some excellent camping opportunities. Several large quarries and landmarks in the area point to the historical significance of Deer Isle granite to the local economy. We tried to sample a number of the local restaurants while we were there to get a feel for the fare. My observation was that, while the are seems to have a local food (i.e. lobster), there does not seem to be much in the way of a local cuisine. I think someone could do well by the area by coming in and adding a little fusion and spice to the selection of seafood available. While I did try the de rigeur lobster roll during the trip (not impressed), I opted to wait and get my whole lobster at home in the grocery store for much less dinero.

All in all (now that I'm recuperated from the drive) it was a good week while we were there and now has piqued a small interest in continuing to do some sea kayaking (after, of course I am able to get in some more whitewater boating following all the rains we just had).

Lessons learned? Beautiful place that's really hard to get to. Go kayak camping next time. Drive at night if possible and take I-81 rather than I-95. Get an EZPass. Take your own boats when you go: the extra gas is nothing compared to the rental cost. It's a good time of year- few bugs, temperature's right, water temp's right on the edge of bearable, though still cold. If the weather is right, Isle au Haut would be well within paddling distance if you could get a campsite over there, but some of the other smaller islands might provide just as good camping.

Monthly(?) update

2008-07-31T16:22:00.000-07:00

How do REAL bloggers do it? Particularly those with REAL jobs? It seems like the rare occasion when I can really sit down and find a couple of minutes to write up a blog entry. This one is pretty much going to be a shopping list of the last 40 or so days since my last post. Since June 19, I've taught seven "Quickstart your Kayak" classes, 2 rolling sessions, one River course, and also did a demo-day for Paddle Creek.

July 4 week, of course the biggest week of my year, was Week-of-Rivers. We once again only had dam release stuff and very little natural flow, but I had an enormously large time, as always. I got to paddle the Pigeon (twice), Ocoee (first time Super Watauga move!!WOOHOO!), Nantahala, Tuckaseegee, and as an amazingly fun new run, (5)- count 'em, (5) low-water runs down the Cheoah from above Bear Creek Falls to the lake. The latter will surely become a WOR staple. A few pix are up and there'll be a video sampler of the week sometime in the future.

July 18-20 was an ACA Board meeting in Fredericksburg, VA including a hot-hot-hot day paddling the Rappahannock. Taking advantage of already being 4.5 hours north of Raleigh, I headed northeast to join several other friends for an "Old Farts on the Yough" trip in Ohiopyle, VA. I was able to get two runs on "the Loop" on Monday before most arrived Monday evening and then we had a full run of the lower Yough on Tues. Torrential rains EVERY night swelled local rivers to the point that the remainder of the group was uncomfortable paddling the LY on Wed. that was still rising past 3.1'(It eventually climbed to about 4.2') So, we drove a little way and did a first-run on the Casselman River near Confluence, PA. It was a really fun II-III run at about 1,000 CFS (~2.9'). I also managed to drown yet another digital camera on this trip, so it looks like it's back to shopping for me.

Once again, using my geographic potential energy, I sadly bid adieu to the Old Farts (including Joe G., who hadn't been in a boat in three years (and it was GREAT to see him on the water again)) and headed to Lewisburg, WV to see Virginia and Ginny. I hadn't been there in...damn...a long time. I had promised them and myself that once I got a vehicle I could stand the gas mileage in, I'd be there...so I went. (The Old Farts subsequently informed me, gleefully, that I had missed a rare run on Little Sandy to Big Sandy and it was schweet.)

So much to do, so little time. More fun planned. Stay tuned.

Blazing hot spring

2008-06-19T16:42:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy couple of weeks (not even counting yesterday's excitement of bringing home a new vehicle). Three weekends ago was the Adaptive Paddling clinic in Wintergreen, VA to add that endorsement to my Instructor's certification. Two weekends ago I taught a 3-hour course on Falls Lake that was so hot I postponed a class scheduled for the following Sunday. Took a quick day-trip mid-week to Hammock's Beach to check out a kayaking venue there.

Last weekend saw Nancy and me teaching our first (together) whitewater kayaking course on the Cape Fear, followed the next day by a 6-hour course on Lake Jordan (in more temperate weather). Starting to get a lot of calls for roll clinics so I added some info on that on the website today and almost immediately booked a roll session.

We'll probably head to VA this weekend to help out with an adaptive paddling river run and it'll be a good chance to test out the new Subie's chops with a couple of boats on top.

Hope it doesn't get too much hotter and certainly NO drier as summer's first day rolls around tomorrow. We'll have Week-of-Rivers starting at the end of next week and then the paddling REALLY begins.

Big Day

2008-06-18T16:16:00.000-07:00

I've been talking about it, researching it, and working on it for a long time, but today is the big day. I finally took possession of a 2009 Subaru Forester after a long wait and a lot of looking around for one. It was overall bad timing on my part: wanting to get the newest of the new model year for this major rebuild of the Forester model and at the same time catching the purchase right at the (hopefully) peak of the latest gas-price escalations to $4 a gallon.

I had to do something to to supplement my auto choices. I simply haven't felt like I could take off by myself in my pickup to the mountains to paddle when it was taking $200 in gas up there and back. Don't get me wrong...the Tundra is still parked outside ready to go when we need to haul a load or have a good carpool of 4 or more.

It was a fairly painful process even though I used the ACA benefit of their VIP Partners program to get dealer invoice minus 2% pricing. That's a long story I might carp about in another post sometime, but I do want to give a lot of credit to Strider Subaru in Asheboro, NC for giving me what I believe to be a good bargain and up-front and friendly service. Thanks to Ricky McNeill there for helping me with this purchase, which finally entailed ordering the car from the factory to get exactly what I wanted. I got a LOT worse treatment and supposed bargains elsewhere in the shopping process and Strider and Ricky shone bright in that field.

The mileage computer was saying 29.7 MPG average for the trip from Asheboro home, so the drive was instant gratification. I'm looking forward to taking advantage of that this weekend and if the planets align properly, I might head to Virginia to help out with an adaptive paddling trip on the James with the Wintergreen folks.

I have some more activities of late to document, but I might just hold off another day and break up the posts.

Mañana.

Adaptive Paddling

2008-06-04T18:41:00.000-07:00

I spent a four-day weekend in Virginia last weekend attending and completing an ACA Adaptive Paddling instruction clinic for an ACA endorsement to my teaching credentials. It was a demanding course and taught me a lot about working with people with disabilities. It was very rewarding to be able to assist and work with these folks in developing outfitting and procedures that allow them to participate in kayaking. We had several CCC members or instructors in the clinic as well as instructors from around the country at this event, hosted by the neonatal Wintergreen Adaptive Paddling program.

Among all the other reasons I'm anxiously awaiting delivery of my recently-ordered Subaru Forester, getting back to Virginia and working with the Wintergreen program is certainly high in the list.

Training Season

2008-05-28T06:16:00.000-07:00

The weekend before last saw us off to the mountains to teach in the CCC's annual novice/intermediate whitewater kayaking clinics. This was Nancy's first chance to teach whitewater since her instructor certification.

Last weekend, we enjoyed a day-trip to the James-Balcony Falls section with several students from the N/I clinics.

This week and weekend, I'm heading to Wintergreen, VA to obtain my ACA endorsement for Adaptive Paddling instruction via the Wintergreen Adaptive Paddling Program.

Voyeur Prognosticators

2008-05-11T13:31:00.000-07:00

I just opened a fortune cookie that can evidently look in on my life. Though not really telling me what my future is, it told me "You look pretty". I just wanted to document that in case I ever needed some type of proof.

Married to a Pro

2008-05-04T18:00:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to my beautiful spouse for completing her Level IV Whitewater Kayak Instructor Certification with the American Canoe Association. I SO look forward to teaching with her.

I knew all along she could do it.

Safety Boating

2008-05-04T05:10:00.000-07:00

After having a 3-hour course canceled yesterday I took up an offer to safety-boat for two, hour-and-a-half rental kayak trips down the Neuse for Paddle Creek. It was a beautiful day and not a lot of work except for loading and unloading boats for the shuttle for over 30 people. I ran into Kurt and Cindy on the river and had a chat with them along the way.

Talking with Nancy last night, she had a great day on the Ocoee with her instructor class. I'm so glad that came off well for her.

Guilt post

2008-04-22T05:35:00.000-07:00

I'm making this post as remorse for not keeping up this blog. I'm frantically running around packing my boat and gear this AM preparing for a run on te lower Haw at 4.5', simply to help out a newbie I've befriended. Have to cultivate this relationship because he can paddle weekdays!

Life has been a blur of activity. I've had (2) 8-hour kayaking courses in the last week and have another 6-hour course tomorrow. Had to rewire a loaner trailer to pull all that off. I've been asked to commit to leading a Neuse River tour for some decent $$$/Hr and won't be able to pass that up. I need to finish a writeup of a conference call for the ACA recreation committee and then sneak in a grocery shopping trip too.

No time.... Gotta go. TTFN.

April Showers

2008-04-07T19:11:00.000-07:00

March ended and April started off with a bang. Though we'd originally planned to take a week off to go paddle the Suwannee in Florida, lack of ny takers for that trip altered our plans to two and a half days on the Edisto River in SC. Nan and I took off for two nights on the river for about 36 miles. It was a pretty, although unexpectedly rather developed sectiono of the river with only the rare section of 2 or more bends without some form of house. A rainy spell set in that weekend and we had light showers to mist for most of the trip.

Returining to the triangle, it was nice to see that the rain fairies had visited here too, giving us 2 days in the next week on the Haw: one of which bringing 18 CCC-ers oout for a post-work paddle. Kayaking is alive and well.

This past weekend found us on Harker's Island for a weekend trip out to Shackleford Banks. Horrendous rain and thunderstorms almost stopped our passage for the 3-mile trek across Core Sound, but we poersisted for some nice scenery for a couple of hours before the rain, wind and lightning started up again and lasted all Saturday night. We topped the weekend (and the last day of Nancy's vacation) off with a stop at El's in Morehead City for a large shrimpburger. What a treat!

Back to work now. Finished our txes today and now have to start in preparing for this weekend's Falls Lake Festival (Lake's now full and started 470 cfs discharge TODAY after months at 25-30 cfs) as well as a kayak class on Sunday, an ACA conference call Sat. night, and another class the following Sun.

Annual Haw River Cleanup

2008-03-17T06:56:00.000-07:00

This Saturday we did the annual Haw River Cleanup with CCC and the Haw River Assembly. We had a pretty good turnout considering rain was forecast. We picked up over 40 bags of trash plus odds and ends and then relaxed with a hot dog cookout afterward.

Spring Rains

2008-03-13T14:07:00.000-07:00

Spring rains have brought us an exceptional several weeks f paddling. Starting the month off, we had a great weekend on the French Broad with some CCC and TRR folks.

Last week, the skies opened up and there was water, water everywhere. I was able to paddle the Haw 5 days in the last seven, with flows as high as 8' USGS (even had to wait one day out as flows reached 9' +). Even as of today, I was able to squeak down the lower Haw at 4' with hand-paddles, just so I had an excuse to go out there and pick up some trash and clean the access. It was a beautiful day in the 70's.

I've been working a bit on ACA stuff this week, catching up with some correspondence for the Recreation Committee and also trying to get my head around the rewite of the ACA strategic plan. There are some good ideas for Recreation coming in from universities and clubs.

This Saturday is the annual Haw River cleanup and I've been asked to coordinate CCC activities for it. Might as well....trash is my 'bag'.

Flat water: It's what's for breakfast

2008-02-13T16:12:00.000-08:00

No rain...no rain...no rain. Might as well make the best of it. We had a good Friday last week with Paul and a couple of folks from the Lumber River paddling club on Little Contentnea Creek. It was about 15 miles and had some pretty streches. There were a couple of exposed banks with fossilized shells and many a beaver dam. With the water about 3" too low, we ended up bumping over quite a bit of lumber.

On Sunday, I had posted a flat water cruise for the CCC to Rhodes Pond to get back down there and do a little exploring. A group of 9 (with as many that backed out at the last moment) faced a windy day that turned out very pleasantly up among the cypress. It's a beautiful place that I still want to go back to to see if we can get a little further up the watershed.

An Open Letter to the North Carolina Legislature

2008-02-06T21:02:00.000-08:00

Every month, the Carolina Canoe Club cleans the litter from each of the Haw River canoe access points that the Club uses often for paddling (Chicken Bridge Road, US 15/501, Bynum, US 64, Robeson Creek). Volunteers sign up annually for cleaning one or more acceses each month. I have been a frequent contributor to these cleanups as I deem the Haw my "Home River" and paddle it often when it flows (The Haw is among the most popular whitewater paddling destinations in the piedmont of the State).

This was my month to clean the Bynum and Hwy 64 accesses and it was a free day so I decided to follow up with an additional cleanup of the river section between Hwy 64 and Robeson Creek Accesses from my canoe. After collecting a full bag of litter from the accesses, I proceeded downriver. Three hours later, I had to stop picking up litter along the 2.4 mile section because the total weight of the litter accumulated was making the canoe unsafe to paddle in the cold February water (This is frequently the case on cleanups...there's not enough canoe space to hold it all). I proceeded to the Robeson Creek Access and bagged up two more full trash bags, two tires, a tire casing, a 55 gallon steel drum (emptied of who-knows-what) and a large piece of plastic. This was a pretty typical day of cleanup. I had only attempted to pick up the litter that was accessible from the canoe and had not wandered ashore to try to clean the trails along that 2.4 mile stretch (all of which are now in the Haw River State Park).

To add some context, this river corridor, along this small section, is blessed with an annual cleanup sponsored by the Haw River Assembly and the Carolina Canoe Club. I made several monthly trips to the accesses as well last year with similar results except for the US 15/501 access where 6-8 bags of trash (Lawn-sized bags) is the norm: that's 6-8 bags per month.

What constitutes this huge pile of trash? Disposable, single-serving beverage containers far outnumber any other category. Soda, bottled water, sports drinks all are part, but the vast majority are containers obviously left by those euphemistically termed "subsistence anglers". This is a coy term for those who spend endless hours at streamside consuming incredible quantities of alcoholic beverages, littering the stream banks with beer bottles and cans, liquor bottles, cardboard 12-pack boxes, plastic chicken liver and worm tubs, used baby diapers (parents setting a great example for the next generation), and unbelievably often; socks! It's almost guaranteed there will be socks mixed in with the other litter. I'll never understand that. More often than not, there will be grocery and/or trash bags lying right next to the piles of litter: Bags that could have easily been used to transport out everything that was brought in.

Is environmental degradation, eyesore, and growing public burden not enough to cause a change? How about if we throw in the fact that many, many of these "subsistence anglers" have now taken up the habit of creating 'fishing tackle" by wrapping yards and yards of monfilament line around these disposible bottles and cans, fishing (a.k.a. drinking) for hours and then disposing of these balls of heavy line on the spot. What happen to these nests of plastic when they are flushed (or thrown) into streams? They unravel and unroll and now leave yards and yards of veritable garrotes laying in wait for the first swimmer, kayaker, boater, or even fish to come along and become hopelessly and possibly fatally entangled. This is a public safety hazard and is an immense one for my segment of the population (whitewater kayakers) and for another sector that seems to receive a lot of lip service... children that also frequent these areas to swim. Finding these 'spools' is not an uncommon event. They are left as carelessly and as often as beer bottles and cans becuase they have no value other than that recognized on-site. Need a spool next time you're there? Drink a beer, open your new spool of line (cast away its wrapping), open a new package of hooks (cast away its wrapping), open a new package of sinkers (cast away its wrappinng), open a tub of chicken livers (cast away its tub), sit down and finish off that 12-pack, finish "fishing", leave it all there along with your styrofoam luch tray, Doritos bag and the grocery sack you bought it all to the river in and stumble away. I'm not kidding. This is how it happens.

This is not an isolated occurrence and may well represent a best case as a waterbody that is receiving specific TLC to maintain even a modicum of of temporary reprieve from burial in trash. I have begun frequent paddles on Lake Jordan and its shoreline is heavily littered: obvious and obtuse. The Lake itself does not yet enjoy the efforts that the Haw receive just a few miles upstream and down to the Lake's upper reaches. Litter plagues our mountain and coastal plain stream as well. It is a extremely rare condition any more to stumble upon a 'pristine' mountain stream untouched by human flotsam. The French Broad River, Nolichucky River, Nantahala River, the Mayo, Dan, Neuse, Lumber, New....an endless list where piles and pile of trash accumulate at any bend, any beaverdam. I spent 28 and a half years as a water quality biologist in service to the citizens of NC and I have seen a dramatic increase in this problem in the last decade all over our great state. It is now getting worst by the year.

How does a society allow this to happen? Why do blind eyes gaze away from this problem? How does social conscious sink to the depths that considers this acceptable behavior? While the 1,100 + members of the Carolina Canoe Club supported Senators Berger, Cowell, Goss, Graham, and Kinnaird in their effort to pass the Litter Reduction Act of 2007, this was apparently a flash-in-the-pan passing fancy for the remainder of the legislature. Do these other individuals not look out their windows when they are traveling North Carolina's highways and byways? Do they not set foot on, in, or near our precious water bodies and see this problem? Were they not themselves the generation at the heart of social memes including "Every Litter Bit Hurts", "Keep America Beautiful" and "People start pollution...People can stop it"? Have we all forgotten that famous tear running down the cheek of Iron Eyes Cody as he looked out on streams and highways being littered? Some of us have not forgotten. Groups like the Stewards of the White Oak River dedicate their paddling to cleanups. The CCC itself started cleanrivers.org simply to highlight the problem and thank those who try to be the solution. I paddle with the mantra "Trash Every Trip".

I urge, plead and beg the North Carolina legislature to acknowledge this problem and take action to reverse its course. It is obvious that there is a segment of the public that requires additional motivation to change their habits. Whether governmental intervention comes in the form of a carrot or a stick, that intervention must happen. We are seeing an irreversible degradation in a public resource and a related concurrent rise in a public safety hazard. The problem is even now becoming a perception that our land, once called a "Variety Vacationland", is becoming a landfill. We cannot let this happen on our watch. This constitutes my family's values and I would like to ask for my share of representation.

Larry Ausley, CPM
Water Quality Biologist, retired
Past President- Carolina Canoe Club
Whitewater Kayak Instructor
Board of Directors- American Canoe Assocation
North Carolina Order of the Long Leaf Pine

Nose to the grindstone

2008-01-21T17:47:00.000-08:00

You know something is amiss when your 'honey-do' list is topped with a browbeating to get you blog up to date. I guess me excuse is a combination of a busy couple of weeks followed by bone-numbing cold that just has us holed up in a wintery daze. Here's whassup.

January 6 we made a first run on the Smith River in Martinsville, VA with the Triad River Runners. It was a tame little river with class I=/II- but it was fun to see some olds friends and shake out the cobwebs.

Later the following week we closely watched some rain traipse across the northern mountains and wound up heading to Damascus and Abingdon, VA for our first run down the lower Whitetop Laurel: a creek been wanting to do for a long time. The run only whet my appetite for doing the upper section of the creek. On Sunday a smaller group of 4 of us did a class II+ section of the Clinch River. Slightly cooler and cloudier but we drove home well sated by a weekend of paddling.

The weekend of the 19th was the annual CCC officers meeting that we sat in for most of the day Saturday followed by Raleigh's annual "Rollapoolooza". Nan and I set up an exhibit table for CCC and ACA. The event was well attended despite snowy conditions that never really amounted to much accumulation.

Ahh, the small things in life!

2008-01-03T18:35:00.000-08:00

Sometimes you just can't tell where the great pleasures in life may come from. Today I had one of those moments of epiphany. I found a copy-cat recipe for White Castle cheeseburgers (AKA 'sliders') and had to try to replicate the gustatory nirvana I so frequently enjoy only via a box of frozen treats from the Food Lion. A pound of hamburger and a jar of dried onion flakes later, I had before me the platter of the gods: 15 gut bombs so tasty I could barely eat them for grinning. If it HAS to be winter, you may as well find a way to enjoy it.

The year begins with a BANG!

2008-01-03T18:22:00.000-08:00

Dec 31 and Jan 1 saw two great days of flow in the Haw River and it was like homecoming day for the CCC. I'd estimate there were close to 50 paddlers there for the day and we had two beautiful days of paddling. I was absolutely giddy about it. We had 7' on New Year's eve and 5.5' on New Year's day. Let's hope the trend continues.

Getting down to business

2007-12-28T06:38:00.000-08:00

Lots of doing...not much posting. It's been a busy month and not for the obvious reasons. I got in a lot of flat-water paddling this month going to Rhodes Pond, Jordan a few times and Contentnea Creek. All this has been helped out by the fact that Nan finally got a flat-water boat and can go along.

The weekend before last Nancy, Cat and I headed east and paddled the Weldon Wave on a day trip; my first there. It was fun, albeit snowy.

I've also started the process of organizing my moonlighting a little by putting together a website (www.trianglekayak.com) to tout kayak instruction and to provide a link between me and my partners Paddle Creek and Triangle Aquatic Center. I'd forgotten the effort it takes to put that much copy together, particularly when you're developing from scratch.

We had a really fun trip this Tuesday to the French Broad for some much needed whitewater. We crammed 5 people in to my truck and met two more from Tennessee there. Raining like crazy when we left the triangle, it was beautiful, blue and almost warm in the mountains.

Rhodes Pond

2007-12-14T07:31:00.000-08:00

We had a great treat yesterday. Nan asked me to go with her to look at a property that CWMTF was working with near Rhodes Pond in Cumberland County. We were pleasantly surprised that it turned out to be a real gem: very similar to paddling Merchant's Millpond. I look forward to going back down there and doing a little exploring to see if I can connect the pond with the next upstream road crossing of the (Little) Black River to turn it into a destination for CCC flatwater trips. Picasa album of the trip here.

Beachy time of year

2007-12-03T14:18:00.000-08:00

We had a great time with several CCC'ers (8 total) going down to the beach for a surfing trip in our boats in late November. The seas didn't look like much when we arrived Friday but by mid-day Saturday it had built up enough to let everyone, even the first-timers get in a good day. Sunday, with a late start, provide the same. We all shared and took on preparing a meal for the group and we ended up with some fantastic food.

Balcony Falls

2007-11-11T17:37:00.000-08:00

I had a great trip to the Balcony Falls section of the James River in Virginia yesterday. Eight of us from the triangle area drove up for the day-trip and met 3 folks from Bristol, TN to run the river. With flow about 525cfs/2.2' there wasn't much of a woohoo factor to the run but we had several first-timers with us and had a great time anyway. We had a pretty stiff tail wind all day with 50 deg. temps and cloudy skies broken every so often with rays of sunshine painting the fall colors of the gorge in a dramatic fashion. I could shoot myself for having forgotten to bring a camera. There were some real Kodak moments. Got back home at about 10:30 after a hearty dinner.

Southbound

2007-11-08T03:57:00.000-08:00

The ACA's annual meeting was held in Panama City, FL last weekend and Nan and I took off down there for my first ACA Board of Directors meeting. I really didn't know what to expect. I sat through the SEIC meeting on Friday listening to the state of training activities. It was compelling. Saturday and Sunday saw the full Board meeting where we went over ACA's business and interviewed candidates for the new Executive Director. It was a nice weekend at a really nice resort: the Marriott Bay Point(except for the absence of free WiFi that you can get at ANY fleabag motel these days). We went down through Atlanta and back up on I-95 along the east coast. It was nice to go by some of my old cave diving haunts. Twenty three hours of driving later, we're back and looking for new adventure.

Canoe day

2007-10-30T15:54:00.000-07:00

Though we were hoping that the recent rains would've given us some more persistent good flow, the Cape Fear dropped more quickly than we anticipated. To make the best of it, Nan and I hopped into the canoe and took it down Lillington to Erwin to see if we still had the right stuff to paddle some easy (~Class II) in the canoe. It was a really pretty day but you could start to feel a nip in the air and the water. We took on a little water over a couple of the large drops but did pretty well for a flat-water canoe. There were a couple of spots we could bow surf, side surf, and even practice a 'jet ferry' or two.

Fun day. It was nice to have Nan out with me on Monday, the rare weekday paddle.

Houston....We've had rainfall

2007-10-28T16:56:00.001-07:00

What a year it's been for rain....or actually the lack thereof. After almost forgetting where the Haw River was, we finally had a day-and-a-half long drenching rain that brought the rivers up. Other commitments kept us from hitting the absolute prime part of the bubble, but we did get in a great day on the 27th and ran the middle Haw. It was like the good old days (when we had more normal global weather patterns). I hope the winter shows similar promise.

I had committed to teaching a land-based portion of a river-kayak course the morning of prime flows but at least we got in this little respite.

Another commitment I had made; one that took the whole day Sunday, was to man a CCC and ACA table at the grand opening of the new Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary (I turned down 3 other trips on the Haw that morning to do it...what a martyr). We're hoping that TAC sees the light and interest of the paddling community in having another indoor facility for roll practice and training and will open the facility to these types of events for the public. Our presence at the opening was well recieved and I had a lot of folks there ask if we would have rolling sessions there. I guess that all depends on the public's expressed demand for such. We'll see. It is a nice looking facility.

Downtime

2007-10-21T12:26:00.000-07:00

OK, so it wasn't the busiest or most productive weekend I've ever had, but I did get some stuff done around the house. I began the process of burning the DVDs of thePaddler for the CCC and got about 25 of them done. I made the yard look a little crazy by starting to till in some of the accumulated shredded paper (mostly old CCC bank records) I'd been storing in the garage for that very purpose. This afternoon I got tired of staring at that bag of semolina flour from the mill in Virgina we visited and decided to make some pasta. Though it ain't pretty, I bet it will be good with some sauce for dinner tonight.

Russell Fork

2007-10-17T06:13:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed a long weekend on our annual trip to the Russell Fork of the Big Sandy. This run is formed by the drawdown release of Flannagan Reservoir to the Pound River and ultimately the Russell Fork on October weekends. This stretch is within Breaks Interstate Park between Breaks, VA and Elkhorn City, KY. We had a group of about 16 on Saturday and about 10 on Sunday. Nancy and I stayed over until Tuesday and hiked much of the perimeter of the park on Monday. The leaves weren't quite at peak as yet and probably won't get as spectacular as last year due to the drought. It was still pretty though. Day-time temps were quite comfortable for paddling in drytops with night temps in the high 30's. The Russell Fork only had about 25 CFS of natural flow. The Pound releases were just over 800 CFS.

ACA Instructor Update

2007-10-09T15:22:00.000-07:00

Though it's only required every four years and I was certified this year, I decided to participate in the ACA Dixie Division's Kayak Instructor Update last weekend at NOC. I wanted to get more exposure to teaching methods including those of other instructor-participants. It was a good weekend with 5 hours on the Nantahala on Saturday (from Surfers down through the falls) and half a day on the lake at Tsali on Sunday.

New job

2007-10-03T10:23:00.000-07:00

I had previously decided not to run for CCC president for 2008 (though I look forward to continuing service as Past President) and take a while off from the job to work on my own kayaking skills as well as my kayaking instruction, but I was approached by a friend who is a current member of the board of directors of the American Canoe Association (ACA) about joining that national board as an appointee to fill a recent vacancy as well as running for that vacancy when its normal term ends this year. After talking with ACA president Kirk Havens, I decided it was an honor and privilege to be given the chance to participate and decided to say yes. A vote by the ACA board on Sept. 25 confirmed that appointment. I'm looking forward to utilizing my water quality background to participate in ACA conservation and stewardship efforts and my CCC background to help ACA work with paddling clubs to the benefit of both.

Family Weekend

2007-10-02T04:34:00.000-07:00

We went north to Virginia for the weekend to see Nancy's folks. Saturday was spent with a side-trip to Buffalo Springs Herb Farm and Wade's Mill in Raphine Va. We took a hike after retail therapy along a small nature trail at the site. Fall is definitely in the air up there.

I'm sitting here this morning enjoying a bowl of water mill-ground yellow grits from Wade's Mill.

Fall is upon us

2007-09-24T17:44:00.000-07:00

We had a good weekend in the mountains for what I'm calling the "President's Farewell Cruise". Six of us hit the Ocoee on Saturday and another 4 or 5 went to the Nantahala. We had one first-timer on the Ocoee but no real carnage. I shot a little helmet cam footage of the day. This was my first day on the Ocoee with the new creek boat. It did well, but I'm still going to have to work on holding my line on ferries.The weather was warm and sunny during the day but you could feel fall creeping in at night along with really heavy dews. This will likely be the last trip of the year with short sleeves and without drytop.

Finally!

2007-09-13T10:38:00.000-07:00

As odd as it sounds, one of the most persistent 'dreams' I had for retirement was lighting off during the week, setting up camp at Smoky Mountain Meadows and paddling (or not) as the mood struck me for several days. After more than 5 months of retirement, I finally got around to it this week. While I didn't really have a plan for paddling, I was pleasantly surprised to find a couple of CCCers already planning to be there for the weekend so I hooked up with them. I met them at Ferebee on Sat and paddled my G-force. My plans SUnday were also to paddle with them, but also demo a Habitat 74, the creek boat I've been looking at. I got a demo from Endless Rivers and ran the river in it. As fate would have it, ERA also had the identical model and color (yellow, just like I was seeking) for sale on their deck. It didn't take too much thinking to make the leap and buy it when I got off the river that afternoon. That night, after the first round of CCCers left, a sceond round pulled into SMM from a day on the Ocoee and I got to join them on the Nanty for a 3rd day. On Tuesday, I decided to run laps on the falls and practice my Micro-Macro in the new boat and take some photos to kill off the rest of the day.

It was a really relaxing five days that lived up to the anticipation. I found myself relaxing but satisfied sitting in camp at night, reading a good book.

What's this 'leisure" business?

2007-08-29T10:22:00.000-07:00

Sunday, Nan and I joined handful of CCC'ers in the Cape Fear River Cleanup. Erwin saw its record high temperature for the date at 100F and boy, were we feeling it by the end of the day. Nan and I each drank a cold quart of Gatorade after we got off the river and came home and just passed out on the sofa. It was a productive day though. I think we got 32 bags of trash plus several tires and big pieces.

Whew, where to start?

2007-08-21T18:17:00.000-07:00

This retirement business is just that.....busy. We paddled the Nolichucky and French Broad near the end of July, catching an unheard of RAIN event. I'd forgotten what the stuff looked like. We had about 1300cfs on each river for that Sat. and Sun. That's the highest I'd run the Noli and was perfectly comfortable...a welcomed sign of improving skills and a comfort level with paddling within those skills.
On into August and the annual trip to the Yough.....Southern Invasion of Ohiopyle IX. We had about 30 members show up as a really small group compared to years-past. I hope it was just folks fearing dismal flow due to the drought. Guess what? It rained cats and dogs up there. The flow of the Yough was 3.2' on Fri; a full foot higher than I'd ever been on it. Once again, I was leery of the flow, having been challenged by 2' two years ago. Once again, no sweat. Gained abilities to catch dynamic eddies, to slow down and read water and react have all come together for a calm on the river I didn't know 2 years ago. Practice making perfect, I reckon. I had 3 great days on the Yough though it dropped quickly to 2' and then 1.7' on subsequent days, back to pre-rain levels. It was good seeing some folks I hadn't seen for a while.

The next weekend it was off to the beach with Nan for six days. Been a long time since I've done that, and the first time with more than a quick weekend this year. We took the opportunity to both relax and catch up on some much-needed yard work down there. Nan was pretty conscientious about working for several of the days, giving us the chance to be down there. I got out and did some kayak surfing and got to try out my new toy....a self-contained digital video helmet cam. The video, though not Cannes material, shows some promise for this new little addition to the photo/video arsenal.

Six million sandspurs later we and the cats (they went too) are back home.

I spent a little time this evening working on some material for what I hope will be an exciting new announcement in the next couple of weeks. A new endeavor and quite an honor if it pans out. We'll see.

Day on Jordan

2007-07-15T15:46:00.000-07:00

Nan and I took off for a day on Lake Jordan today with plans to fish, read and have a picnic lunch in the canoe. Not a half-hour in, the trash bug bit me and I had to start picking up garbage out of the lake. After filling up the canoe, wer returned to shore, cleanup up the Robeson Creek parking lot and then went to Hwy 64 access and cleaned it up too. We finally got to enjoy the picnic in the rocks at LunchStop.

WOR 07

2007-07-15T15:24:00.001-07:00

Only the day after returning from the Middle Fork, I headed out to Bryson City on Wed. July 4. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of folks still there mid-week in the midst of the terrible drought we're having. I got on the Ocoee on Thursday, Helped Robert Weddell run a group of novices down the Nanty on Friday (it was first time down Patton's run for several--they had big smiles) and then coordinated a trip on the Pigeon gorge on Saturday. Three days worth following 6 days of paddling in Idaho cured my paddling jones, but it wouldn't have been the same had I not been able to make it to WOR, always the high point of my year. WOR 07 photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/lausley/WOR07 .

Middle Fork Salmon

2007-07-15T15:18:00.000-07:00

We had a great time on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho on a six-day, 97 mile kayak down the river. With commercial raft support, 19 CCC-ers plus a few others paddled from 15-24 miles per day, camping each night by the side of the river, descenbding from about 5800' to 3500'. Canyons, Inc. provided great commercial support, guides and meals. Nancy and I flew out to Boise and then took a bush plane to within 30 minutes of the put-in. a 30 minute bus ride put us at the Boundary Creek putin. Photos from the trip here: http://picasaweb.google.com/lausley/MiddleForkSalmon7_07 .

hot and dry

2007-06-23T09:51:00.001-07:00

I've had to water the plants and new grass pretty much every day for the last month. It has been HOT and DRY, with only about two rain events during that period; neither of which kept the ground wet for more than a day. I have however, been watching my plump little roma tomatoes steadily growing and I'm dying to pick the first little sucker than ripens. It'll be the first time in 20 years here that I've been able to get fruit (probably because I've never gone to the trouble of container-growing them where they can get sunlight.) One of the advantages of having time, I guess.

We're pecking away at packing for the Middle Fork trip and I have the double whammy of having to be ready to take back off for Week-of-Rivers when I return.

I did enjoy going to Crabtree Lake the evening before last and grilling a dinner out with the CCC social. It was a laid-back evening. It was obvious folks were getting excited about WOR. GOPC was there coincidentally having a demo day and I got to try out a Pyrhana Ammo (not impressed) and a 2007 model Jackson 4Fun (Very Impressed). One of the CCC folks brought a brand new WS Habitat 74 (lime green, of course) that made me jealous enough to ask if I could try it out too. It's quite different feeling than a planing hull, but it was comfortable, rolled easy-as-pie, and picked up good secondary stability one you got past the primary tippiness. Dream on, I reckon.

Hot times at the Ocoee

2007-06-18T18:07:00.000-07:00

Another hot and dry weekend moved us west to the Ocoee RIver in TN. It was our first time staying at the Thunder Rock campground at the Ocoee. David and Sandra had invited us up to paddle for the weekend. We ran into Robert W, Ben, Robbie and Jeff as well. We paddled with Dodie on Sat as well and did the whole middle Ocoee. SUnday, I paddled with the group while Nacy shuttle bunnied for us. Took out at Goforth Creek on Sun for a short day and the long drive back home.

I met Sarah M today to go over galley proofs of the large brochure print job for CCC. Larry B also dropped by today for a beer. I t was good seeing him after so long. He seems to have mellowed, if ever so slightly.

First course

2007-06-08T05:34:00.000-07:00

My first time instructing (co-instructing, in this case) a beginner whitewater kayak course went pretty smoothly. We met at Lake Jordan on Saturday for time in the boats, land lectures, and stroke practice. Sunday saw us on the Cape Fear for a low water run and eventually, a very rainy day (Boy we needed the rain!). After a late start due to someone in another class not showing, we ended up spending even an hour on the river loner than planned. I saw a lot of smiles during the day as folks made it through their first small drops and saw quite a bit of improvement even as the day progressed.

Tuesday, I headed down to the beach for the first time of the year, taking both sea kayak and playboat. Had quite a chop on Tuesday and wore out quickly. Wednesday, I took my first trip out in the sea kayak and paddled to the Shallotte inlet sea buoy and back. Later in the afternoon, I took the playboat out again to wrap up the day.

Putting DWQ on the water

2007-06-01T05:49:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, I made arrangements for about 20 folks from DWQ and their sig. others to meet outside of Jefferson NC and canoe and camp on the New River (NC). We had a great campground (Zaloo's Outpost) all to ourselves. Two daytrips in the canoes gave us a total of 16 miles on the river. I think folks (many of whom hadn't spent much time in canoes) had a good time. It was nice for me to arrive early Friday and camp through Monday morning without having to rush up for the weekend and then rush back home.

When I finally did get home, I decided to start into the process of insulating the attic of the garage to try to keep it a little cooler this summer. I finished 160 linear feet of the ceiling this week. I figure I'll do the same for the next 2 or 3 months and even the costs out a little.

Today I 'll spend preparing for teaching my first beginner kayak class this weekend. Chuck Hunley and I are co-teaching: beginning at Jordan tomorrow and then probably a LOW water day on the Cape Fear Sunday.

WV Weekend

2007-05-23T21:24:00.000-07:00

I had a fun weekend in WV paddling with Chuck and Nancy on the middle Gauley at 1500 cfs Saturday and then my first trip on the lower Gauley (well, the first 3 rapids- Koontz' Flume, Canyon Doors and Junkyard) at 1100 cfs on Sunday for a quick day and then back home. Once again, it was a week of catch up afterwards, dealing with email, the yard, grocery shopping and then the latter part of the week getting ready for the DWQ canoe trip to the New River (NC) the coming weekend. I got a bit accomplished late tonight toward completing scans of the CCC newsletters for final distribution of the near-complete set.

Settling in

2007-05-16T06:23:00.000-07:00

After a couple of weekends of the instructor course, it was relaxing to take a weekend of fun paddling to the Nantahala and camp with the Woods, et al. We had two fun days on the Nanty with some good weather and plenty of time to play all the way down. In two days, I did 10 loops on the falls to work on my micro-macro move and get it dialed in a little better. We ran into the CCC Novice/Int clinics a couple of times and it looked/sounded like they were having fun.

After a day of rest on Monday, Nan and I took a flatwater paddle down the Deep River and lunched at the Endor furnace with the CWMTF staff.

It's a day of packing today to head off the WV to see Ginny for a day and then paddle WV over the weekend, buring up the roadways once more.

New Horizons

2007-05-08T08:04:00.000-07:00

I'm finally starting to feel recovered from the weekend and having completed my ACA whitewater kayak instructor's course. It was a mentally and physically challenging pair of weekends with long days (and a few nights) in class and on the river. We ran the middle Ocoee last Saturday as a challenge to look "competent and confident" on Class III (+, in this case) whitewater even though we can now only teach on Classes I and II. It was my 3rd run down the Ocoee and, though I had the added strain of trying to look good for the instructors, I felt really good about the run and had a great time even though we spent 7 hours on the river and I was whupped by the time we took off. Sunday was another long day on the Tuckaseegee. While the river itself wasn't much of a challenge, we had the added tasks of presenting 'model form' while paddling and presenting both prepared and impromptu teaching topics. I ended the day (another long one with 7 hours on the river) feeling good about what I had accomplished and resigned to the fact that I'd done my best and had hung in there with a mostly 20-something crowd in the class.

The Big Course

2007-05-01T05:50:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I started my ACA Whitewater Kayak Instructor's course in Cullowhee, NC. I was really wound up about the event and decided it would do me some good to head up there a day early and do some on-river work on the Nantahala. The first weekend of the course really went well and the instructors did a good job of putting the class of 10 at ease. We me for 4 hours Friday night with lectures, 4 hours Sat. AM with lectures and student presentations and 4 hours on a lake SAT PM with stroke and roll work. Sunday AM had a couple of hours of lecture and student presentations and then back out to the lake.

More to come next weekend. I need to spend some time this week on the lake here at home perfecting my "modeling" of strokes and also to complete some homework of reading and developing a presentation of bow surfing for next weekend.

Zooming back out to the retirement perspective, it still seems like I have a full-time job. I haven't found much time yet to sit and wonder what I'm going to do. There are always some projects to take care of, appointments to keep and deadlines to meet. I spent all day yesterday catching up on email and CCC business and today, even the trip to the lake will entail dropping by the dump with garbage and recyclables. The cupboards and fridge are getting a little bare so a grocery run is in the near future. In another day or so, I'll need to start repacking camping gear for next weekend.

A good weekend in West Virginia

2007-04-23T19:27:00.000-07:00

Nan and I headed up to WV for the weekend to paddle with Chuck, Nancy, Don, Karol, Robbie and Jeff. Adding a new one to the 'life list' we started on Saturday with the Dry Fork of the Cheat near Hendricks, WV. It was a great class III with lots of playspots, holes and surfing waves. Stage was about 4'. There were some marvy ledges near the bottom that allowed for a beefy side and a little more tame spin side. The sky was blue and sunny and it was really warm outside. Water temp was just on the bearable side without pogies.

Sunday saw us on what looked like a low-flow day on the middle Gauley. Flow was about 1,000 cfs as we put on but it quickly became obvious that a release started that morning. By the time we hit Woods Ferry, there was plenty of water padding the rapids. I played (an unwitting) probe at Woods Ferry and later at Chainsaw and demonstrated the lines NOT to tkae, plunging right into the big hole in the former and over the chainsaw in the latter, spinning down in a squirt the whole way. Backender was really beefy by the time we arrived at the takeout and after a long scout of both the sneak to left (wasn't really contemplating this, but wanted to see it with everyone else anyway) and river-right scout of the drop, I tried following the line that Jeff had so smoothly accomplished. I didn't make it far enough right and after bouncing over some big waves, ate a little bit of the hole and rolled quickly up in the pool.

We made it home about 9:30P and sacked out after a long day. It's tome to start buckling down and studying for the kayak instructor's course next weekend. Photos of the weekend.

Feeling Soggy

2007-04-19T06:35:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess I'm getting my wish: Paddling until I get my fill. It just occurred to me that I've paddled 5 days out of the last 7 and today I think I'm going to take a break from it. I started doing a little more landscaping yesterday and will continue a little more today, at least until the rain comes. The Grays and Brabecs may be padding WV this weekend and if they do, Nan and I might tag along.

I'm still having a tough time getting a fixed schedule of wake/sleep going (not that I'm trying really hard). Some nights I'll bed down 10-11 and some nights 12-1. II certainly don't seem to have any trouble sleeping until 9AM, regardless. Eventually I'll have to get over the latter, but for the moment, it surely ain't bad.

Been another CCC week

2007-04-16T14:34:00.000-07:00

We had a good day of flow on the Haw last Thurs. (~6.5') so I ran some new folks down the middle at 1:00 and followed up with a second group on the lower at 5:00. Off the river at 7:30.

Friday was the first day I was able to get out in the yard and do some things so I bought some herbs and mulch and got to work cleaning up some fallow beds and cleaned on of the 4 ponds.

Saturday was the annual Neuse River Cleanup. Had to get up at 6:00 AM for an 8:00AM start and boy, was it ytough to fit back into that mold. Michael C and I paddled canoes from Poole Road to the next bridge and filled both boats with about 15 bags of trash.

Sunday I committed to safety boat for the CCC Swiftwater Rescue course...again at 8:00 AM.....WAHHHHH! The river started out about paddlers' zero (~4.5'USGS) and the weather was ominous. By the time of our first break, heavy rains had begun to swell the river. By lunch it was visibly rising fast. By 2:00, they had to call water portions of the course becuase the flow and wood coming downstream made it just to dangerous to hold the course. They moved onto land for scenarios and Tiffany M and I were excused from our safety boat duties to run the lower. The bridge gauge was reading 5 feet when we left and after a beefy run with lots of big holes and waves, the bridge gauge read 6'. The Haw rose to about 13' USGS overnight.

Had a little slower day today going to the dump, to Lowe's and the grocery store and listening to the wind blow and blow and blow. Lost power for a little this AM so I sat down with a book at home for the first time in retirement and enjoyed a quiet moment.

The Easter Week

2007-04-10T18:44:00.000-07:00

It was a busy week getting things ready for the CCC Easter meeting in Gatlinburg. All week long the weather forecast degraded and day by day, I'd start packing more and more clothes. I longingly looked forward to the arrival of my new drytop from REI since my drysuit is in England being repaired. I wasn't looking forward to facing a 20 degree weekend with an old leaky drytop and splash pants. The new drytop arrived and of course it was the wrong size. REI wouldn't and then couldn't get me an exchange of size and I was left without.

We had a fun mid-week kickoff to regular poker nights with 'the boys' on Wednesday night including Mike, Bill and Steve. We pigged out on wings and pizza and let the first night go by with freebee chips so we could get a feel for cash flow. It took about 3 hours for us to exhaust our $20 of play-money, with Bill the big winner. Nancy wisely made alternative arrangements for the evening.

Nan and I head to Gatlinburg on Thurs. by ourselves after several folks bailed on the weekend and riding up with us. There were about a dozen folks there Thurs. night and about 20 by Fri. night. Friday dawned without any appreciable natural flow except eastward on the FB and Noli and westward far out on the plateau. We paddled the lower Pigeon in cold but sunny weather on Fri. with newcomers Clint and Greg while the rest of the group paddled the Pigeon Gorge. Fri. night and all the way through Sat., the snow never ceased. We were greeted with a half inch of white and heavy winds Saturday morning. It took all the intestinal fortitude possible for me to join the group of 10 for the French Broad on Sat. It was cold but fun and rewarding.

We decided to head home Sunday after a short hike with Mark and Dana in the Cosby section of GSM NP. I took it easy for the next two days, catching up on paperwork and cleaning/warming up from the trip. Finally found a Kokatat drytop at NOC after striking out at ERA and GOPC. It's on its way and should be here in plenty of time for the instructor course at the end of the month. Once less item to fret about.

Playing Hookey

2007-04-02T17:18:00.000-07:00

In the wayback machine today...back to the first day of summer during school years. Admittedly, I had a little more of a plan of what was up for the day than I did back during high school, but it still had that feeling...freedom. The freedom to anything you want to do...and so...I took the trash and recycling to the dump.

Just so happens that the closest (arguably) dump is right beside Crabtree Lake park. Also just so happens that I had my boat, lounge chair, good book, and picnic lunch (sort of...BBQ sandwich and sweeeeeeeeet tea) in the truck as well. That got me through mid-day OK.

Also figured I'd help Nancy out with her yard project so I stopped at the hardware store and got her some landscaping timbers and gravel. That's helping, right?

Settled in at home about the time Nan was breaking for work and heading out for yard work, so I cooked her a nice shrimp scampi dinner and then set about to mop up some CCC business. I wrote a letter of support to Sen. Snow (for CCC) for his bill to limit liability of indiv's /orgs for coordinating/leading paddling trips. Good timing on this. There's a lot of paranoia going through paddling clubs about this liability (though not necessarily founded in many facts).

The biological clock still isn't working right yet. I still find myself suddenly up until 1:00AM and sleeping till 9:00. ? I guess the body stages its only little freedom revolution when it can...but we'll have to work on normalizing that a little.

Catchup Day

2007-04-01T15:32:00.000-07:00

After the previous hectic week I needed to catch up with some biz today and spent most of the day in the 'office' and in front of the computer. Finished taxes, announced the results of the CCC budget vote and got to work ordering new CCC equipment. Nan took care of her todo list as well today, working in the yard. This mix of tasks may help us each find our own times and spaces and keep us from sitting on top of each other all the time.

Decompression

2007-04-01T07:59:00.000-07:00

Day one was a day of decompression. Bob Brueckner posted an impromptu middle Haw River cleanup on the CCClist to make up for the day that had been washed out two weeks ago. I decided that a good day on the river doing something worthwhile was a good way to begin my new journey. We had a beautiful day and while we started out with only Bob and I planning to clean, in standard CCC style, we had seven other CCC boaters join in and wound up with a dozen bags of trash and numerous other large articles: enough that we had to empty the canoes twice. After 7 hours on the river, I came home whupped.

The beginning

2007-03-30T13:17:00.000-07:00

Today's the big day. T-minus zero. I've been trying to characterize the feeling of it in my mind. Sometimes it feels like I'm on death row: Everyone keeps saying goodbye like they're never going to see me again. Right....like I'm just going to fade away. I'll be back around and bothering them relentlessly....peppering their email with the latest web-fodder of the day. I think the retirement party last Saturday was the big peak for me. Since then I've been low-keying it with thoughts that I'm not at an end, but at a beginning.

The retirement party was a meaningful event. I was humbled by presentation of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine and the ESS plaque was beautiful. The language (of both) really capture my career ethos. I loved the fact that Steve, Jay, Mitch and I could round out the years as a group but felt bad about any implication that our unity at the party reflected that I don't enjoy a now-firm bond with my current peer group, the BAU. They've meant a lot to me in the past year in accepting me as a senior peer rather than a former supervisor/manager. That was a feeling I had missed for years and years.

I think everyone else are more excited about the 'finality' of today than I am. For the last month or so, I've been scanning (literally, as in electronically) my years of paper files into .pdfs, for both my own records and to make available to anyone, particularly the Aquatic Toxicology Unit, a little bit of the history that led to the present. That process was as much a catharsis of the years as anything else has been.

Nancy asked me last night what I wanted for my 'retirement dinner' tonight and nothing out of the ordinary really registered with me. I think we'll just do a couple of trays of grocery store sushi by the TV as a typical Friday night and maybe savor the moment a little more than usual. She out-did that and got a good dinner from a sushi restaurant.

I'm still in a bit of a fog...a feeling that I'm sure will quickly change as I get a routine set. I think pacing will have to be a focus so that I'm not constantly looking for something to be occupied with. That will come with time.