Colorado Whitewater Revival
truck surfin, Slate River (photo: Atom Crawford)
So I know that the blog-o-sphere is loaded with posts from Colorado this year with the record snowpack and all. However, I couldn’t leave for this year’s OR show without sharing some images and memories from a recent trip back to my old stomping grounds. This trip back was particularly awesome because I was able to travel with my good pal Paul Bartholic. Paul and I have enjoyed many years of Colorado kayaking together since 01 and it was time for a little revival. We hit some kick ass venues for both kayak and leisure including OBJ, Red Rocks, Daisy Creek, The Almont Lounge, and of course the Arkansas River while visiting some good friends along the way.
Mex at OBJ (photo Atom Crawford)
We started off by stopping by CKS and the Arkansas River. The level was around 3,000 cfs and we hit no rocks in Chaffee County. This was a big change from the bone zone drought conditions that we have become accustomed to this summer in the South. We ran about 17 miles from the Numbers to BV in like 2 hours, that’s pretty fast with the high water. Also, we were able to enjoy some QT with our peeps from Salider and Buena Vista, what a sick crew out there!
Paul at the biggun (photo Chris Larsen)
Next up we blasted over to Crested Butte to meet with our boy Chris Larsen and enjoyed a few days of classic CB creeking. Also up in the mix was Mexico, our boy from back in Ashevegas. Mex is spending his summer running about the CO wilderness like a wild marmot. I think he’s gonna head back to fire up the Green Race this fall. We camped at the OBJ campground and drank many PBR (standard kayak elixer) to keep our spines in line after the abuse that OBJ dished out. After a few days of running about the alpine realms we loaded up the Rav4 (a pretty sweet shuttle rig actually) and went over to Red Rocks to witness the shitness. Of course I am referring to the Widespread Panic’s immensely sick show that they laid down on Sunday. We were glad to meet more of our crew from AVL like James, Sunny, Jon, and Allison. Check out this stream of the whole show if you think you can handle it: http://panicstream.com/streams/wsp/2008_06_29/player.html
PBR at Red Rocks (photo Bryan Owen)
The morning after the Panic we found ourselves waking in the back yard of Bob who lives somewhere near Red Rocks. Paul and I loaded up the Rav again in search of some boating. We hit the classic Rio Taylor near Almont Colorado, joined by CKS hommie Joe Carroll. Joe was my roommate for a while in Colorado and he is a great mellow dude and a solid paddler. If you ever need to ask about the rocker profile of a Prijon Gambler or maybe you’re inquiring about the recreational opportunities of the Ark Valley, give him a call at CKS.
OBJ almost bottom slide (photo Bryan Owen)
To finish it off we blasted back to the CB zone to enjoy even more OBJ action. This time we were joined by Kyle and Mike Hagadorn for a sweet day of creek boating. Also, check out some pics from professional photographer Michael Clark who happened to capture some other great shots of our crew: http://www.michaelclarkphoto.com/ohbejoyful_071208.html
salud-
Bryan
Bryan above OBJ waterfall, photo Atom Crawford
