Last Wednesday when the weather forecasters were calling for a torrential dumping of lowland snow around Seattle I was happy to hear that Dave Moroles was still game for trekking out to the Skykomish for a run – and Rob McKibbin said if we showed up he would have to go, of course. It turned out to be a great paddle, with not as much snow as forecast but still around a foot at the put-in and around 34 degrees the whole time.
I have to say the gear we have access to these days is just incredible – with six layers stuffed into a Goretex dry suit, a skull cap underneath my helmet and some Glacier Gloves (my absolute favorite), I actually rolled early on just to cool off, and my hands stayed warm the whole time. I would have a hard time believing that was possible if I didn’t actually experience it.
Anyway, I got a kick out of these pictures of Dave and Rob – pretty classic. As usual I was reminded of why this is such an incredible area to whitewater kayak in, not just because of the rivers but also because of the amazingly good boaters like these guys who are a blast to paddle with and always encouraging, even if you do completely miss your boof and nosedive directly into Ned’s Needle and then miss your first roll, in a creekboat, for heaven’s sakes, like I did a few days before this. :)
Speaking of which, Samson Kim, I followed your advice about keeping the blade in the water as you approach the lip of the drop and actually got a decent boof this time around, so thanks!