Sunday, May 30, 2004

Trips June 1 to 7

Thur June 3rd - We will likley not be running a flat water trip this day. Instead, we will save it for the BBQ on Friday June 4th.

Fri June 4th - 3:00 (1st run) or 6:30 (2nd run) Kimball River Sports - BBQ changed- Instead of having a BBQ in town, we are going to combine it with a run down the Upper St. Mary's. Sorry for all the changes!

Sat June 5th - ??? - Uper Sheep (IV - advanced)

Sun June 6th - ???

Thursday River Sessions

Thursday River sessions are still a go. These start at 7:00pm at the Botteril Park boat house. These sessions are free for all members to attend. Boats and equipment can be rented for the evening for $5. They will most likely run to the middle of June. Most evenings we seem to paddle down to the Highway 3 bridge. The canal is too low. Some gentle waves can be found jujst below the weir if people don't want the flat water.








To find the boat house, drive to Fort Whoop-up, and continue south underneath the bridge. The road ends at a parking lot where we typically put in. The boat house is 100m before this on the east side of the road. It is behind a locked chain link fence.

Thursday, May 20, 2004

St. Mary's Access-Update

We stopped by Tim's newly outfitted shack (Kimball River Sports). He was there and
pleased to report that the Cardston Council have approved the proposed
public river access and he further indicated that the Council will go
ahead and undertake the road grading. While we were at the overlook of
the old access, we saw a County survey crew arrive. Tim indicated that
the Council expected that the project would be undertaken pretty quickly.

Tim had previously indicated to me that we can go ahead and use the new
access anytime and he's using it for his rafting crew. There's a short
hill near the bottom that's a bit steep for vehicles and there might be
a slight curve off the road allowance near the bottom of the hill. For
boaters it's a short walk from that point down to the river or 4 x 4's
might go right down. When the road's put in there will also be a
parking lot/picnic site right by the river.

To use the new access drive past Kimball and up the usual hill. At the
top of the hill, continue past the old turn to the right that we took
for the prior access and continue southward for 3.2 km (2 miles).
However, the road angles to the right to avoid a wetland area. Follow
the road as it then turns to the right (west) and continue for another
2.5 km, with another slight loop around another wetland. Then turn
right again (north) and the road allowance heads down to the river.


This new access route takes you to the upstream end of the meander that
used to provide the put-in. I'd guess that the shuttle drive will be
about the same time as the old shuttle but there'll be no big hill.

-Stew Rood












For a larger image click here

Tuesday, May 18, 2004

May Long Breakfast

Just some admin info for the breakfast we are doing Sat. and Sun. Here are the people that are helping out so far. Any others are welcome. We will be arriving at 7:00am to get things going for 7:30. Clay and Kirsten are in charge. Kirsten is bringing all the food, plates, etc.

Sat.
Clay - Kirsten
Chris Goble
David Kelly
Naomi?

Sun.
Chris Goble
Kris Anderson
Naomi?
David Kelly

It looks like some more volunteers would be greatly appreciated. Just put up a comment, or email chris if you would like to help out. This is a big fund raiser for the club.

Friday, May 14, 2004

BBQ & Paddle

The ever changing BBQ. With the weather being perfect on Friday June 4th, it seemed like a number of people couldn't resist paddling. While the in town trip seems to be problematic, it looks like a number of people are up to check out the Upper Saint Mary's. We will most likely be paddling at 3:00 (meeting at Kimball River Sports), and then having a BBQ at 6:00 at Kimbal River Sports. We will have some burgers and pop, but an email confirmation would be highly recommended. You will need to pick up rental boats tonight(Thursday June 3rd) down at the boathouse at 7:00. People wanting to paddle after the BBQ may also do this.

Hope this works. Sorry for all the changes

Chris 653-7447
cgoble@allstream.net

May Trips 25th - 31st

May 26th (Wed) at 5:30 on the Upper St. Mary's - Meet at Tim's Kimball River Sports Office. Here is a video clip that seems to load a bit inconsistently.

May 28th at 2:00 - Blackiston Creek at DQ in Cardston. We may also do upper Cameron Creek after, depending on the crowd.

Friday, May 07, 2004

May Trips 18th -25th

May 20th (Thur) at 7:00pm Oldman River

May 21-24 (Fri-Mon) is the Castle River Rendezvous held just north of Beaver Mines, at the Castle River River Rodeo Grounds. We will be doing the pancake breakfast on Sat, and Sun and need volunteers.

Wednesday, May 05, 2004

St. Mary's Access

For those who have been wondering the status of the Upper St. Mary's River here is some of the latest information. There is going to be an important meeting at the County Office building in Cardston on Monday May 10th at 1:15pm (located on the south side of town by the Nursing Home). We need as many concerned individuals as possible to come. This should give the council some idea as to the support of the proposal.

As of January, the new road allowance had been approved. The old road that went along the Stuart�s land down to the horshoe bend has gotten closed off. Only half of this road is on the road allowance. Previously Tim Ruggles had allowed people to use this access. With the land changing hands, this option has been removed. The new road allowance comes down to the horseshoe bend from the south. There is large hill that needs leveled off for vehicle access. The county expected that this would cost $30 000 to $40 000.

Some well informed individuals thought that this cost was overly high. Various reasons for this high estimate have been tossed around. One view is that some individuals may not truly want access to the river to go ahead. Another view is that the hill will take a sizable amount of work to level off.

Tim Ruggles owns an earth mover and figured that the hill could get leveled off privately, greatly reducing the work costs. Chuck Lee apparently has a number of grant proposals ready to sign. I believe our club is also willing to contribute some funds to ensure this project proceeds. A few acres of land at the Put-In is going to be donated to the county by Randy Stuart. This will serve as parking and picnic areas.

I believe we just need to convince the county of the continued importance of this access. Currently there is no legal access to the Upper Saint Mary�s.

Here is an image of the access





New Courses

Tim Ruggles from Kimball river sports will be running a number of courses for his company. He is willling to open them up to committed individuals. Payments should be made before the course dates.

Swiftwater Rescue levels 1,2 - May 20-21 at Upper St. Mary's
PROA raft guide course - May 15th.

Tuesday, May 04, 2004

Partner Posts

If you would like to find a partner to paddle with, please respond in the comments section on this post. Please give your name, email or phone, preferred boating level, and any other comments you feel are appropriate. Hopefully this will let local boaters get in contact with each other. I know there are lots of people interested in paddling lakes and easy rivers like the Oldman. It just seems like it has been hard for people to get hold of each of other. Don't be shy, it makes for boring weekends.

Sunday, May 02, 2004

May Trips 1st to 17th

May 6th at 7:00pm Oldman River

May 8th (Sat) at 9:30 at Castle Falls Campgournd - Castle Falls run (Class III+ run) Meet at Cosco at 8:00?

May 13th at 7:00pm Oldman River

Weekly River Sessions

After its sucess last year, we will again be holding Thursday evening flat water paddles on the old man river. These will start at 7:00pm at the Botteril Park boat house. These sessions are free for all members to attend. Boats and equipment can be rented for the evening for $5. They will most likely run to the middle of June.

New Executive

The following executive were elected at the April 2004 AGM

President - Chris Goble
Vice President - Mark Iwaasa
Director - Clayton Hironaka
Director - Mark Kadijk
Treasurer/Secretary - Kirsten Hironaka

The following administrative positions were appointed
Newsletter - Chris Goble
Website - Wilco Tymensen
Rental Supervisor - Clayton Hironaka 327-8722
Rental Coordinator - Mark Kadijk
Purchases - Mark Iwaasa
Pool Coordinator - Mark Iwaasa

Boats For Sale


ORCKA has a number of boats for sale. We are selling old boats to try and encourage active paddlers, and to make space in our crowded boat house. The following boats are for sale. Sales must be approved by two board members.

Dancer (1) - $150
Response (2) - $100
Pirouttes (2) - $150

Best time to purchase is Thursdays at 7:00pm at the boat house by botteril park, just past Fort Whoop Up.