around bolders and into eddies that could I barely fit in. So they opened up and let me in as one of the cool kids. I guess I should've let them know up front that I 1) am from arkansas, and everyone knows arkansans have jedi like domination over water ways 2) was trained by one of the best canoers ever (seriously he has his own documentary, well kinda). Its also funny to note how people become a lot more friendly and talkative when they find out you fly planes, which I noticed on another float trip 2 weekends earlier where the same group suggested I do a section further down with 2 other older gentlemen. I love just telling them i'm in the AF and let the trip go longer until they reask what exactly I do, and note the differences. Its ridiculous. Anyway the float WAS one of the most difficult ones I've done, but it was a lot of fun, and I learned a lot about the differences of the rivers out here vs. back home. And to the groups defense they had no idea what my background was, there have been people lost on this stretch, and it is a ridiculously large canoe for that river.
15 August 2009
ye of little faith
13 Aug Thursday evening after work I booked it home to join the local kayak club on the Cache La Poudre river just outside of town. Luckily earlier this year I had a run in with a tree (post for later) that resulted in my purchase of a "slighty" used canoe, but more importantly an awesome friendship with a former river ranger that taught me how to handle a large canoe better than most posers with a little sporty kayak. When I pulled up with my canoe I was being stared at like a hippie in boone-town, and everyone was pretty standoffish, but not bashful with constant comments on how "technical" this float was going to be and how many rocks were exposed, i guess their friendly way of showing doubt. The stares continued through the subsequent rapids as they prepared each time to have to throw me a rope and catch my boat, but they quickly turned into stares of pure amazement as they realized I still hadn't flipped and many of them had. They started cheering as I squeezed tar-baby (my canoe's name due to the black patch on the bow) 
around bolders and into eddies that could I barely fit in. So they opened up and let me in as one of the cool kids. I guess I should've let them know up front that I 1) am from arkansas, and everyone knows arkansans have jedi like domination over water ways 2) was trained by one of the best canoers ever (seriously he has his own documentary, well kinda). Its also funny to note how people become a lot more friendly and talkative when they find out you fly planes, which I noticed on another float trip 2 weekends earlier where the same group suggested I do a section further down with 2 other older gentlemen. I love just telling them i'm in the AF and let the trip go longer until they reask what exactly I do, and note the differences. Its ridiculous. Anyway the float WAS one of the most difficult ones I've done, but it was a lot of fun, and I learned a lot about the differences of the rivers out here vs. back home. And to the groups defense they had no idea what my background was, there have been people lost on this stretch, and it is a ridiculously large canoe for that river.
around bolders and into eddies that could I barely fit in. So they opened up and let me in as one of the cool kids. I guess I should've let them know up front that I 1) am from arkansas, and everyone knows arkansans have jedi like domination over water ways 2) was trained by one of the best canoers ever (seriously he has his own documentary, well kinda). Its also funny to note how people become a lot more friendly and talkative when they find out you fly planes, which I noticed on another float trip 2 weekends earlier where the same group suggested I do a section further down with 2 other older gentlemen. I love just telling them i'm in the AF and let the trip go longer until they reask what exactly I do, and note the differences. Its ridiculous. Anyway the float WAS one of the most difficult ones I've done, but it was a lot of fun, and I learned a lot about the differences of the rivers out here vs. back home. And to the groups defense they had no idea what my background was, there have been people lost on this stretch, and it is a ridiculously large canoe for that river.
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