Nicole Mansfiield suits up for the 30 foot Medina waterfall in Medina NY. This creek runs under the Erie Canal just before turning and falling about 30 feet. So yes, essentially there is a river running over another river (canal) a little different to say the least. The Erie Canal dumps water into the creek right above the waterfall making this park and huck runnable most days of the year!
Check out this footage sent in from Chris Morelli, Northeast regional team paddler. His crew has been putting down some first descents lately, chekkit:
On the way back from Outdoor Retailer Yonton and I had the chance to run one of the most impressive river canyons in the world - The Black Canyon of the Gunnison. We had a kick ass crew consisting of canyon vet Capt’n Milo Wynne, our Rockies Rep Brent Toepper, Asheville homeboy turned Boulder bike guru Daniel Windham, and Astral team paddler Jakub Nemec. Its been about 5 years since I’ve been back in the “M-BOX” and it was so sweet to get back in there with such a great posse!
Milo knows this river all too well and I think he said it was his 46th run…it was only my 16th and it was awesome to be back in there with my good friend who showed us all the clean lines. The Black is notorious for nasty rocks, poison ivy, extensive safety, pteradactyls… (well maybe not those)…and good old fashioned portaging. If you are not down with “river viewing” as we like to call it this may not be your can of Foster’s. There IS some really sweet boating to be had, but there’s no doubt about it - you gotta work for that shit.
Here’s Jakub firing up the first big rapid, DAYWRECKER:
I think Yonton really liked this run. The dude is one of the best boaters that I know but kinda dislikes portaging. He did awesome and styled a lot of rapids, like this one called LOWER INTESTINE:
After these couple of Black classics you get to BALL CRUSHER, here’s Daniel Windham not letting the libations hold him down (Daniel had a heavy boat that day)…
We rallied all those rapids and then some more, after a nice 18′ WATERFALL you get to what we like to call THE PORTAGE…I really don’t know how to sum it up…its pretty brutal - BUT, keep in mind when things get tough down there you need to simply look around and remember where you are. Not many have seen “the guts of the earth” from your perspective. Check out Brent and Yonton in the midst of river viewing at its finest:
So we carried down to the cave camp, which for many crews marks the end of Day 1. Here we had a great chance to reflect on the day and slept in the cave with the sounds of the canyon singing its amazing song (thank Jah those ring tail cats let us sleep).
We woke up on Day 2 and utilized our fishing permits to enjoy some time having, what Milo liked to refer to as, “a Dumb off”…the trout were hitting like crazy. Check out this hog that Daniel pulled (then released to probably eat the next kayak that he saw)
After breakfast and the fishing tourney we packed up and hit the river.
To start Day 2 you have to execute a rather tricky portage on river-left, then scurry back to the right over various methods. Then there’s a big ole rapid called NEW GENERATION once you get back to river-right. Jakub decided to give her a go, and had an awesome line. This is a portage for most and I cant believe how easy he made it look…I would seriously scout and protect this drop if anyone contemplates running it. Its really difficult with no margin for error!
We kept a good pace down to the GREAT FALLS portage…down here Brent and I made it to a happy little spot below the falls and contemplated canyon life awaiting on the crew - it was good to chill with BT who has been in the industry for years, representing the best companies out there and being an overall great ambassador to Colorado kayaking (check out Off the Deep End)….
So down here the river braids out and goes off multiple cascades and falls…none of which look all that nice. Again our boy Jakub fired up a seldom run line on the Falls, here he is styling it:
From here its some extended boogie down to Chukar Trail, the takeout. Once you get there enjoy the 1 mile race to the top of the false summit hill. Milo made it first with the rest of us not too far behind (I think)…we enjoyed a quick lunch sesh, then loaded up and hit the road. What a great trip with the crew. Here’s a little video that Jakub put together. Enjoy!
PS - The poison Ivy is really bad down there this year. Our crew had a few nasty bouts with it - my worst in about 10 years. Make sure to take precautions if you are allergic (or not if you like pain and suffering - which is probably why you want to run the Black anyways right?)
Well we made it to British Columbia. Here we found a very fast long slide, a short but, super fun creek, and spent some time at the mighty Skookumchuck narrows.
Demshitz hit Yule creek this year at lower flows than before. Still some big slides and a big crash. Dave crashed about 20 feet down the 80 foot slide. “I’m still in pain from that one”.
PADDLERS;
Bryan Owen, Keith Sprinkle, Gareth Tate, Adriene Levknecht, Chris Baer, Dustin Marquart, Evan Garcia, Adam Bixby, Steven Hughes, Gabriel Latini, Arlyn Agababian, Nik Hasse, Lee Timmons, Keith Sprinkle, Yonton Mehler, Drew Duval, Bishop, Billy Jones.
VIDEO CONTRIBUTORS;
Adam Bixby, Jacub Nemec, Evan Garcia, Gareth Tate, Laura Farrall, Nik Hasse, Taylor Fearrington, Bob Bailey.
*all footage shot within 60 miles of Asheville, NC.
MUSIC;
Glitch Mob - “Starve The Ego, Feed The Soul”
