05-May-2007
Water Level: 13.25 according to visual on gauge.
Well today was a great day for paddling. I spent the entire week up at the Ottawa watching the 2007 worlds.
It started off by going to the opening ceremonies on Sunday night and watching the squirt boat competition on Monday and the rest of the C1, K1, and OC1 on Wednesday through Friday. I met lots of great people ranging from the competitors to their parents and support teams. I had a great time at a BBQ hosted by Devon Barker and her parents on Monday night. I had fun at the Jackson Farmhouse. It was real nice to meet EJ and his extended family. They are all super nice.
I also ended up giving a hand with the setup on Thursday and Friday. I had a primo spot for taking picks during the competition. Right up front in the media section. I would like to thank Matt and Joel for letting me sit there even though I did not have a media pass. I guess it is a perk from helping out. I said goodbye to old and new friends after the closing ceremonies on Friday night.
Well it would have been a shame if I did not at least go paddling on the Ottawa at least once. After all I know Derek, Neil, and Val would have been razzing me for ever if I had not paddled at all. I have never paddled the Ottawa at anything over plus one on the gauge.
I met up with Jess, Katie, Greg, and Jay at WT around 10:30. Once again I was the token open boater. I dropped my boat and gear off at the putin on the way down to WT. We did the shuttle and were on the river around 11:00 or so.
We headed down to McKoys. Jess, Greg, and Jay ran it without scouting it. Katie and I got out to scout it. She took some pictures of me running the tongue on Phil’s Hole. I was a bit nervous but managed to make it down in one piece. I had to pull over and empty out some of water that came in the boat. I ran back up the path and took pictures of Katie for her run down.
After that we paddled down to the gauge. It was really bizarre to see the river so high up.
After that we headed down river. As per advice from Kate Quinn I opted not to run Little Trickle. I ran the Magical Mystery Tour solo. It was a very pretty class 1 run that came out below S-Bend Hole. I walked all the way back up to Iron Ring and took pictures of river from there all the way back to S-Bend Hole. All I can say is holy crap was Iron Ring ever scary in the room of doom. After that I caught a few surfs at S-Bend Hole.
I paddled down to Butterfly and took more pictures. It was less consequence of a run than in summer levels. After that I paddled up to Angels Kiss. This is definitely a sweet wave for surfing. I took a lot of great pictures of the gang and some other paddlers that showed up. I decided to try and get on the wave before heading down river. I almost made it before having to peel off.
We paddled on down to Garvins. Jess and Katie walked around on river left. I walked around on river right in order to setup to take pictures of Greg and Jay running elevator shaft. The others stopped for a lunch break while I continued taking pictures of Garvins.
I then headed down solo to Upper No Name in order to take pictures. I then ran down to the top of Lower No Name to take pictures of it as well. I watched another group of paddlers go down. I then waited for the others to show up. Some of the gang got out to scout on river left. I was the first to go down river. I now know where Big Smoothie is. That is where I got nailed and went for the swimming for distance award. It was a cool feeling to be sucked out of your boat and have your paddle ripped out of your hand while upside down. I had a refreshing swim down the river. I looked back and saw my boat right itself up and my paddle floating ahead of it. It was pretty amazing that my boat and paddled floated within four feet of me at the same time as to say take that bitch … who is your momma now! I put the paddle in the boat and started swimming it to shore. I then had a offer from one of the other kayakers for a tow in for the last 10 feet or so and I accepted. I found out that one of the kayakers in the other group also swam and he told me that it was quite ballsy to run Lower No Name in a big a$$ open boat. The others in the group made it down unscathed. Jess and Katie were happy as they normally took the cheat run but decided to run the big stuff.
After that it was a nice float down to the takeout. I saw Jenny at the takeout as they were setting up shuttle for their run down the river. I told here I had a great day and only swam once. She joking asked me if I wanted to make another down the river with them to improve my swim count to zero. I declined as my step-mom was making curry chicken for dinner and that’s my excuse and plus I was totally exhausted from the weeks activities.
I would like to say thanks to Jess, Katie, Greg, and Jay for letting me paddle with them today.
