Grayscale

Sean Allen and Spencer Cox's new video is coming out in a few weeks. The trailer has some goodies from South Drywood in it Many of the other shots are from Alberta/BC border runs, I think. The notch on the Elbow in flood is in the trailer somewhere as well.

I am not sure if footage from Boundary creek made it in.

Here is the trailer from kayakwest.com

http://www.kayakwest.com/frames/pages/grayscale.htm

You Tube Carnage

For those that haven't yet discovered the wonders of youtube.com

Flows are up!

Check out the flows. Many of them are up due to snow melt from our good friend the Chinook (thanks Chris for forwarding on the tip from Chuck in Pincher). We may be trying for a local run Thursday and then Castle on Saturday. Castle has peeked and is on it's way down, but we are hoping it will stay above 30 for the weekend. Make sure and comment if you are interested in going on one of these trips.

Open Pool

There will be open pool session again this year starting in October. Right now, it looks like for Oct, they will be from 9-10PM on Thursday nights. The times may change in later month's, but it depends on scheduling. You can get current pool schedules at

http://www.uleth.ca/sportrec/aquatics/schedules/schedule.htm

Check this regularly, for monthly updated pool times!

See you in the pool! Janson will be there on Oct. 5th!

Boat Prices

I've finally gotten the price list for the club boats. As is club policy now, we continually offer club boats for sale to club members, with the idea that an active paddling community has paddlers who own boats. The prices remain current until the executive change prices, which I expect may occur in the spring of 2007.

The boats can be found at

http://www.savefile.com/files/109799

They are saved in an excel spreadsheet with relevant stats. If any club member is interested in a boat, please contact myself, either through email or phone.

Thanks!

Please Take It!!

As we were doing inventory this weekend, we have decided to get rid of some stuff. It will end up in a dumpster if no one wants to claim it for themselves (current members only).

We have an old wood paddle (90 degree offset), a left-handed paddle (1 blade is damaged, tip is broken off), a right-handed paddle (1 blade is damaged, tip is broken off, but has been re-shaped)

As well, we have 3 old nylon skirts and 1 old neoprene skirt (C1 shape? For a smaller cockpit) that are up for grabs.

Please!! If you want any of these contact myself or Clay. If we get no responses in a week or so, then they never existed!

See you in the pool! (when we have times posted!)

Dragon Boating

The local dragon boating group is having an open paddle at henderson lake. Meet at the boat dock around 6pm this Tuesday or Thursday if your interested.

Boat Prices

Boat prices for club members will be posted shortly. This prices will be current for the rest of 2006. If a club member is interested, we should have them in the pool by Sept. 11th.

See you in the Pool!

New Club Purchases

The club used some of it's rental money from the summer to purchase a riot sniper, a riot turbo and 4 new paddles. This should complement our exisiting boats by adding both a larger and a smaller boat. As well we needed the new paddles.

We are also hoping to purchase a new canoe and some more PFD's for spring.

Finally, some maintenance work was done on the trailer. Some new paint and electrical work was done to keep it in a functional state.

See you on the River!

Kicking Horse River

Well Clay and I made it up to the Kicking Horse, as well as Chris and Nathan. Although I can't comment on how Chris and Nathan's run went, I can mention a few things about our trip.

WOW!! WHAT A RIVER!!(Find Clay and his boat in this picture!)

This river is really the perfect river. Hard, continuous, easy access, somewhat easy portaging with beer at the end. I can't wait to paddle it again.

We first ran Hunter Creek to Glenogle. At low flows, this was a technical run that was very interesting, but the easier section that we ran. Not that it was easy! I haven't been this freaked out since I found out my wife was pregnant! (kidding) The big rapids, Portage and Shotgun come up quick and they are still pretty big at low flows.

Next we ran Glenogle to Golden which was a more technical section. The rapids get harder and harder until you reach the bridge where they reach the pinnacle with a rather nasty rapid. As you can see from the pictures below, maybe a bit too technical under the bridge!

*As mentioned in the comments, this is a dangerous class 5 rapid with a high risk factor. If you miss the portage point, it becomes quite difficult to get off the river, as we found out. I decided to walk this rapid and spotted Clay from above the rapid with a throw bag. Although this provides added safety, it does not eliminate the risks. Paddle within your ability!

(good start)

(where did he go?)


(not good)

(still not good)

Well after watching a 47L kayak get sucked underwater after it begins to resurface and a bit of an epic we were back on the river. After the bridge it's a pretty action packed section with technical moves to position yourself with good lines. If you could sweat while kayaking, I was sweating. It then finishes with some nice calm water and tourists who love it when you do a roll.



All and all, it was a great river, but I'd hate to be on it and be over my head (there were a couple of minutes where I felt like I was) as it's not a great place for a swim. Well I hope you enjoyed my trip report and we'll see you in the pool this winter! I'll post pool times when I get them.

Trips August 15th to August 31st

Some possible trips North including Kicking Horse or South into Montana might be coming up... hoping for Kicking Horse this Saturday. It's consistant class III and IV, so a confident roll is prerequisite.

If anyone else doesn't mind others joing a trip with them, please leave a comment of your paddling plans for the next two weeks under this post.

Trips August 4th to August 10th

I know there are some paddlers still getting out. Don't be shy. Let us know about your adventures.

Kayak Demo

High Level Canoe and Kayaks is having a Demo Day in Waterton.

This Saturday, they will have some sea kayaks for demo in Emerald Bay. I believe that the demo time is from 10AM to 3PM. For those interested in the bigger boats for lakes or ocean, this might be a great chance to see what's available!

See you on the river!

Photo Contest

As users of the Oldman Watershed, I wanted to encourage the paddling community to send entries in for the Oldman Watershed Council photo contest.

http://www.oldmanbasin.org/photo_contest.html

The prizes are not that great, but perhaps we can increase awareness regarding recreational and paddling use of the watershed. As Stew said earlier this year, expansion of irrigation infrastructure does indeed threaten some of the best paddling spots in Southern Alberta.

Good luck and happy paddling.
Mark Kadijk

Trips July 28th to August 3rd

The summer is flying by, so take advantage of some of the paddling trips.

Upper St Marys has provided some fun trips over the past two weeks. Flows (17 cms) are great for begginers, and a couple of play spots provide a place for more advanced paddlers to practice skills as well. Just yesterday, a group of 10 paddlers enjoyed the Upper, some of whom had never paddled on a river before. Both they and more seasoned paddlers enjoyed some hole and wave surfing as well as a great sunset. All of the reports that I heard were positive. If those paddlers or any other ORCKA members are interested in this trip or any other trip, here is the place to leave your comments.

Trips July 21th to 27th

There is still plenty of water flowing in BC. If you have any exciting paddling adventures planned, comment on them here.

There are a couple of runs around the Elk that could make a solid day of paddling if linked together (Lodgepole to Wigwam to Elk... class III-IV/V). If anyone else has paddled any of those sections, I'd love to know what they are like. Also, if anyone is interested in planning a trip out there leave your comments.

Happy paddling!

Magrath Triathalon Needs Kayakers (friendly reminder)

Magrath is having their annual triathalon July 29 and are asking for our help. They have done some research and have found that kayakers make for the best rescue craft for triathalon swimmers. They are hoping for as many able-bodied kayakers (meaning kayakers that would most likely not create a need for rescue themselves... you should have a roll) as are willing to volunteer. This years Magrath Triathalon has a cap of 200 participants, so there will definately be a need for more than a couple of boats. We have commitment from three boaters to this point but could use a couple more. Your time would be greatly appreciated.

The commitment would be from 8 am to about 10 am at St Marys Reservoir, and I was told that we would get t-shirts and possibly food out of the deal. If you are interested in helping out, please let me know, so I can get back to Magrath with approximate numbers. Thanks.

Trips July 14th to 20th

Share your trip plans here.

Trips July 6th to July 13th

Oops... We missed a "trips" post last week.

This weekend might be a Crowsnest and Castle weekend for the Smith Brothers. If there is anyone interested in a full day of paddling or even catching portions of the adventure, let us know by commenting. Don't hesitate to comment on other trips that you wouldn't mind others jumping in on either.

Happy Paddling!

Bummer

Well after getting hammered on the lower Cameron (I got trashed in the big falls in the lower canyon and swam out into the undercut) I decided to go explore Alderson creek on foot instead of in a boat. This was probably a good idea since flows were low. Instead I figured, if lucky, it would turn into a bit of a canyoneering adventure. It certainly did. Large waterfalls with mandatory rappels. Several cliff jumps and some nice slot canyons. I will post more in a few days. Unfortunately in one of my pool jumps I made it a bit to far and my shallow landing meant I smacked my bottom good and hard on a rock. A broken tailbone is the result. I took it a bit easy on the rest of the hike out.

On the brigt side, I think a portage on river left of the must port falls on lower cameron may be a good option instead of the long hike out. It gives you a bouncy 20-30 footer at the Alderson junction. However no mor boating for me this season. Just more drywall dust from renovations.

Boundary Trip Report

BOUNDARY CREEK REPORT

June 25th
medium (ideal) flows
Cameron at medium low, Pass creek at Medium

Joelle, David Faubert, Spencer Cox, & Chris Goble


Paddle about 5 km down to the boundary marker on the west side of the lake. Hike up a game trail up the boundary cut to have to look at water levels and to scout most of the canyon.

Follow the trail south, crossing the creek on a good bridge.



The Boundary creek trails heads up a short way past this. Hike for 3km until you get to the foot bridge. Put in just above this for a bouncy warm up drop.

The start has a canyony feel to it, but doesn't have any big drops. A log 1/2 down this section may present problems at high flows. Several worn branches extend down to river level, but you should be able to thread through these with some care.



Expect class III paddling in this section.




The river begins to open up. An open hillside on the left signals the first real drop.



Scouting is easy due to the boundary cut on this side. Customs is a 10 or so foot drop with a sharp turn off the top. There is a large pool after this, and some wood down stream.



The next drop has some funky pillows and deep water eddies. A log in the drop in addition to the undercuts could be serious. We ported on the right by following the boundary cut back down to the river.


The river now enters the canyon. The left side is steep slab. The right side often has breaks and ramps that separte the pots. However scouting and safety oftens involves hiking up and down the brushy hillside to make it to the next buttress. The next major drop is a 20 foot corkscrew melt. About 20 feet below the drop current feeds into a 3 foot undercut. Although it appears to readily push through good safety may be wise.



A small 4 foot pour over is next. Just below this is a potentially dangerous drop.



A slanting ramp feed into a series of undercut sides. At ideal flows there is a fun sneak line on the right that bounces off a ledge staying away from the caves.



Some scrambling may be required to set up safety and get a good scout. A 50m canyon section follows with a class IV entrance.



A good slide comes up next with a vertical drop of 10 feet or so. It is followed by a 6-8 foot drop with tight recirculation and a big cavy eddy below on the right, At high flows this could be unfriendly.



Eddy out after a short pillow drop, as the largest drp on the run is only a few pools away.



This drop is visible upstream of the foot bridge. A horrendous bushwack is required to get down to scout and set up safety. The drop is a 30 foot cruncher into a slot. It is a fun ride with a fair bit of time to brace for the impact at the bottom.



A large rooster tail belies a decent class IV drop. A log is present far off to the right in the pot below, but this should present many problems except at high flows. From here the foot bridge is visible with a foamy undercut on riber left.

Kayak has been found

Well you can say that I am a happy camper now. I was informed today that my kayak was found and has been well preserved over the weekend. Thanks to the wonderful people of Magrath it has been returned to me!!! I am very excited to get back out on the rivers. Thank you to everyone that was helping me with the process of finding my boat and gear, I am very grateful. This is just a thought, but maybe everyone should think about putting some type of identification on their gear and boats!!!! It might be a good idea incase anything like this happens to anyone else.Thanks again and see y'all back out on the river. SBWW

Trips June 23rd to June 29th

We got some paddlers excited to start posting for the next week. Fantastic! Many of the flows are still great although they are coming down. Let's take advantage...

Just Off of Whoop-Up Bridge

The flows were sitting pretty high on wednesday night when Mark, Clay and I went out to the weir on the old man river just south of the whoop-up bridge. with these high flows the weir changed into a more pleasant surf wave. We had a blast and we only had to travel about ten minutes from our homes to play around in our boats. Mark was showing us his tricks and having a great time doing it.
The flows were still just not high enough to really keep you in the wave. As you can see in the above picture the water would build up then crash over the top over and over again, but could not maintain a constant curling to help keep you in. So it was a little difficult to try any tricks and stay in the wave. You would get flushed out pretty quick. BUT with a little more rain it would be awesome. More towards the middle of the weir was a spot to side surf. There is alot of moving water in this area to kick and bounce you around as you side surf. Clay showed us how to do it and made it look fun. Ethan was our great photographer who was there to support and keep us safe if we needed it, But all these photos were made possible from Ethan. Who would of Kayaked with us but didn't have his boat in Lethbridge. But we appreciate his efforts to watch and take these shots.

Lee Creek

Looks like Lee creek is up pretty good with the rain. You can paddle it from 10cm up, but 30+ is optimal. All images are from a flow of 2 cms.



The narrows up by Beazer is a good section. There are two ledged that are class II to III depending on flows. They are by the mini trailer park and cabin about 1km down stream of beazer.



Then things straighten out. At the narrows the big hazard is a log jam on an island that some current feeds into. The channel on the right is fun. Expect class III.


the entrance to the narrows


the cannal after the narrows

If you take out at the bridge on the Beazer highway there will be a fair amount of flat water until then. Watch out for a barb wire fence just under the bridge. There are lots of logs, but few river wide ones. From the beazer bridge down through Cardston there are a number of fences above the golf course that make things hazardous.

Kootenay Fest

More info on the begginer / intermediate festival on July 1st and 2nd here

Trips June 16th to 22nd

Post them here.

For locals it looks like swiftcurrent is flowing. It can be run above 600cfs. Lee creek is also going, although you should be comfortable with wood for that one. The drywoods should be pumping. Cameron is big. The mofo is up to high again. The lower Saint is up to 80cms which is a medium. The belly is high, making a fun run. Blackiston is at medium, but as always check under the church camp bridge for logs.

Two medicine is getting big near 2000cfs. Chances are it will just turn into a flush down low.

Rain Wave

Stew sent me the following info on the surfers who headed down to the saint.

Dave Roscoe is a UL student who's been board-surfing up on the Kan with the group there and wondered about local waves down here.  I provided directions to Rain Wave and the result follows.



The Rain wave was awesome this weekend! The flow got up to almost 90 CMS
and the wave was great on a surfboard. I've attached a couple pics of my
friend jake and I. thanks again for the advice and directions.

Sheepish

This weekend Clay and I hooked up with some Calgary paddlers for a run down the sheep. We put in at Bluerock amidst the crowds. Clay met us at Sheep falls. The first section down to Bluerock was fun and quick. I would say it was one of the challenging sections of the run - fairly continuous class II+ to III-.



After that is Bluerock, a class III+ 5 foot pour over that seems to trash those that can't boof.



Next comes sheep falls. This is a classic tall pour over. The pool is pretty safe although there is a large flume just below it. A nice pic nic area is nearby

A few minutes downstream is the first of the class V's. Tiger jaws is a frequent port. People may run it once, but due to a rock fin just below the drop that has injured several paddlers, most people will only run it once and consider it done. Clay ran it and luckily got just enough lift to avoid the trashing. RIght now a river wide, submerged log is around the corner



Around the corner is the S-bend. This is a fun, fast section of IV+. The middle line at the bottom will bury you in a seam. After Clay's boat ran away from him from shore, I tried to catch up to it. This meant I forgot to tie my helmet on as I rushed to wait in line for put in space. After some last moment river signals at the lip of the drop, I ended up on the middle line, sucked into a seam and had my helmet sucked off. Banging into the wall meant a swim was in store. The crowd in the eddy nicely dragged me to shore and rescued my helmet.



The next drop is triple ledge. More people run this. It is three drops close together. The top one is very fun, but it tends to squirt. This messes up the next line, and can feed one into the room of doom - a bad undercut on the river right. An 8-10 foot ledge slide is the final step.



Lower down on the river there is a small version of S-bend called Landslide. It is easier than it looks which is good, because it looks pretty nasty. From here there is a small canyon with no real rapids. Lots of fun though.

Miscellaneous Updates

I have finally updated some of my web pages on kayaking. The best location is through the site map. I included more details on Two Medicine, some extra pictures of swiftcurrent and sulphur creek. I also posted the information on Gold creek. Boundary creek should be coming sometime soon - once it is run.

Nathan has also made world fame with his post and photo on Jackson Kayaking.

Clay ran the right side of Lundreck falls the other week, and Chris ran the left side this week. Flows were pretty low - 11cms

Magrath Triathalon Needs Kayakers

Magrath is having their annual triathalon July 29 and are asking for our help. They have done some research and have found that kayakers make for the best rescue craft for triathalon swimmers. They are hoping for as many able-bodied kayakers (meaning kayakers that would most likely not create a need for rescue themselves... you should have a roll) as are willing to volunteer. This years Magrath Triathalon has a cap of 200 participants, so there will definately be a need for more than a couple of boats. It should also make for good PR for ORCKA.

The commitment would be from 8 am to about 10 am at St Marys Reservoir, and I was told that we would get t-shirts and possibly food out of the deal. What could be better than a t-shirt? Well, I asked the rep who asked me for help about the possibility for relasing the damn for their kayak volunteers. She said that she could talk to the guy responsible for release as she figured that might be more motivating than a t-shirt and doughnut. We could warm up for a short couple of hours in the morning on flatwater, get a cool t-shirt, and make a fun Lower St run.

The Lower St might not be an option, so we could try another club run elsewhere afterwards. If you are interested in helping out, please let me know, so I can get back to Magrath with approximate numbers. Thanks.

Trips June 9th - June 15th

It sounds like rain for the weekend. You're gonna get wet anyway, so why not have fun paddling in it?

I will be paddling Upper St. Marys Saturday morning with my bro and a beginner. It will be a great opportunity for those who are just learning some river-running skills to get some extra direction and practice on a fun class II river. If you are interested, leave a comment, and I'll get some more specifics for you.

Happy paddling.

Awesome Kayaking Courses!!!

This was one of the great and exciting adventures that Nathan and I were able to take part in with Chris Goble in his intermediate course that he is providing. The main part of this last session was at Blackiston creek, but thankfully Chris gave us the opportunity to push ourselves to new heights. These courses are great learning experiences. If you are ever given the opportunity to take any course with Chris, or any other instructor, DO IT. You'll learn alot really quickly and your confidence level will sky rocket. So Learn all you can because I never thought learning could be so fun....SBWW

More pictures


Janson on Deja Vu


Nathan on Deja Vu


Nathan on the flat rapid in the argillite of Blackiston creek - class III-


Ethan practicing surfing on the Blender at St. Mary's

more pictures will come this afternoon

Trips June 2nd-June 8th

Everything looks like it is flowing. I am in Waterton this weekend and will be doing an exploratory run on Boundary creek on Saturday. It will be a 5km flat paddle and then a 5km hike in.

Blackiston is at medium flows. The logs under the bridge have been cleared. Cameron is at medium to high flows. Drywood should be flowing.

Trips May 25th to June 1st

Water is up everywhere so the challenge should be deciding where to go. The belly surf wave is big and fun, although the eddy is pretty washed out. An extra hour of eddy building and it would have survived quite well. I am on a course around the Cardston area. Begginers are meeting at 9:00am in the Alternate School in Cardston, and Intermediates are meeting at 1:00pm at Tim's on the upper Saint.

Post other trips here.

Dearborn

The dearborn river north of Helena and south of Augusta is one of the prettiest rivers I have seen. It flows along vertical canyon walls for most of its length.



The rapids are rarely above class I+ except for 2 short sections of II- and one of a boulder garden III- that would be a challenge in a breakable canoe.




The upper sections are apparently fairly flat as well. We ended up camping near the headwaters. There is an informal campsite just before the cabins near Falls creek. By the diversion dam there is a small play wave. A campiste about 1km further down has a small play hole, and is further removed from the road.

Falls creek is nearby. While a pretty run, it is mainly a number of steep semi-runnable drops up to 50feet tall. The upper Dearborn looks much more pleasant, although it is still a stout run. We, unfortunately didn't get to hike it. Across the valley from the dearborn are a number of caves. It is a great place to explore.

Swift Water Rescue Course

Tim Ruggles is running a Swift Water rescue course June 5 and June 6. The re-certification is only one day. Contact Kimbal River sports at 653-1099 for more information. A wilderness first aid course is also going on.

Lower St. Marys on Victoria Day

The lower St. Marys is currently at 31cms, so I'm thinking hit it while it flows! I am thinking of a 4 or 5pm start, depending on who is available to paddle. Post if you wanna paddle!


Clayton & Matt Hironaka and Myself hit the river around 7pm and were off around 9:30. It was a great paddle, but a bit late. The play hole at the willow/birch? tree was awesome! Lot's of power and fun to play at the 31cms. I am hoping to get out on Friday (if the flows are still up) as I get off work early (2pm) and am looking for a few interested parties. A threesome would be nice!

See you on the river!

Lower Saint on Wednesday Cancelled

Well, due to car problems on Tuesday and lack of interest on Wednesday (Sorry Kevin!) or the short notice, I was only able to get one intersted party for the Lower Saint this week. If there are any interested parties for next week, please post to let me know. I would like at least 3 total (not me, myself and I) to make the trip worthwhile and for safety reasons.

The trip would depend on interest, weather and flow levels. I there are enough interested parties, we could find water so the levels wouldn't be so important.

To make it easier for me to contact you, my email address is below. This is specifically for Scottg and Kevin, who expressed interest already. I'll need phone numbers to contact you as I don't have yours Scott and I have seemed to have miss placed yours Kevin.

Again sorry about the trip not going this week, but let's try and get some interest for next week!

Why Kayaking is Better than Biking

Well this weekend, I decided to stick around for Mothers Day and do a bit of biking with my brother. Biking eh? They should just call it "2 wheel suicide". Just kidding, don't want to offend those bikers out there. Anyways, long story short, monkey see, monkey do, monkey crash...

You don't get road rash like this kayaking! So this is why kayaking is better!

Well I hope everyone is getting excited about the long weekend! For those that are intimidated about kayaking, the 3 Rivers Whitewater Rendezvous (Snofest) is a nice way to paddle in larger groups for those that go it alone. They usually have a beginner, intermediate and advanced trip everyday. Great way to meet people and paddle with a safety net.

Anyways, good luck everyone on finding something to do this long weekend!

See you on the River!

Long Weekend Trips May 19 - 25

Trips are still in the works for the long weekend. Ideas being tossed up are Kootenai river area in Monatana for Yaak and Kootenai (Class IV and V), the Lussier area for Skook and such (Class IV), or perhaps the Dearborn area (Class II, 0 and V). Hopefully others will be heading out as well. The Calgary area looks poor for flows, Monatana ideal, and the Kootenays pretty good, getting quite high as you head south west.

Two Medicine Falls

Two Medicine Falls
Originally uploaded by cgoble72.

After reading "Floating in Montana" that describes most every large volume river in the state, I was a little bit worried about the possibility of a near unportable falls in a deep shale canyon. The truth is actually quite different.

The upper Two medicine is located 1.0 hours south of Cardston by the town of East Glacier. The run starts at the first bridge north of East Glacier. There is a pull out just south of the bridge. The suggested take out is the highway bridge. The easy walk out is on the east side up a large grassy hill.

The run is about 6km in length and has quite a few small features. I would guess a solid class II all the way down. It has a character similar to Livingstone, but more constant and with crux rapids a half grade down. At higher flows there should be loads of easy surf waves. After the falls things often run over a flalt bedrock base.



The falls are about 15 to 20 feet tall and quite clean. There are no undercuts. The left side feeds into a deadly tree. Porting requires a short hike to some trees and a rope to lower boats off a tree and perhaps a body rappel for 15 or 20 feet. (Pretty easy compared to the epic imagined). A large pool backs up the falls. A few ledges lead to this. Get out river left.



All in all a great run. I would say low flow is 600, medium probably 900


Standard rapids for the top 1/3. The bottom 2/3 is more wavy than ledgy.

There were two or three partial sweepers, but no river wide logs. It was pretty wood free all in all. Since it is about the same distance from Lethbridge as some of the Castle runs, I wouldn't be surprised if this run becomes quite popular. Since it is dam released the season may be fairly long.
/br>

UPDATE Low flow - 700 to 900


Medium - 900 - 1300


High 1300 - 2000?



More images from the trip on Thursday are here