Off to Canada

I'm taking a week of for some paddling in British Columbia. I've not seen a lot of this province, so this will be a hoot. In honor of my vacation let me introduce the Kayak Cult Extreme Edition
www.kayakcult.com.

We're going way off the grid, and I don't anticipate much in the way of Internet connectivity in the B.C. interior. So everybody have fun at work and be extra productive.

- Otterboy

Floods and site updates

I just ran across a great United States Geological survey of North American flooding. Interesting reading, if you dig this kind of thing. Personally I can look at flowing water for hours.
http://ks.water.usgs.gov/Kansas/pubs/fact-sheets/fs.024-00.html




Here are some other interesting resources on the November 2006 floods which hit the Pacific Northwest.
The Science Behind Mount Rainier's November 2006 Floods



I found some great pictures of the damage to Rainier National Park:

A rare sunny picture of the floodwaters.

Campsite 26 at Ohanapecosh Campground

Damage to Highway 23


Where Sunshine Point Campground used to be


Wood on Ohanapecosh Creek

To get an idea of the scale see if you can spot the picnic table in this logjam.

More Road Damange

Kuntz Creek completely changed it's course.


This Week at The Kayak Cult
Antz Longmon on kayaking in New Zealand

This week's picture and youtube. The theme is carnage!
http://www.kayakcult.com/

Whitewater Parks - Resources

My trip down to Reno got me thinking more about whitewater parks. I'm surprised at how many of them there are around the country. We don't have any here in Washington State yet, but Spokane will begin building one in the summer of 2008. See Tom O'keefe's article on the American Whitewater site for details.



http://www.ripboard.com/ also has a great writeup on existing and proposed parks in the United States. Their information looks a bit outdated (they don't include the Spokane park), but it has good descriptions of each park.



Other Resources

Bardstown Boaters has an interactive map of U.S. whitewater parks.

Paddler Magazine has a good article from 2005

Men's Journal Article on the U.S National Whitewater Center in Charlotte, NC.

List of U.S. and international whitewater parks (updated 5/24/05)



I personally suck as a playboater, and don't have a much interest in it anyway. If I'm throwing ends somewhere it usually means I'm doing some rodeo creeking and anyone following me should take another line. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against playboating. It's great training for river running and - learning how to get thrashed in a hole and still roll up is a useful skill to have.



All these parks look cool, but I'm a bit skeptical of the economic benefits they're supposed to provide. This is a gut feel, not a data-driven statement. I suspect they are similar to ballparks in that they simply shift how entertainment dollars are spent rather than change overall totals (if anyone has information to contradict my gut feel I'd love to see it - email me at otterboy at kayakcult.com).

Back to the Kayak Cult - www.kayakcult.com

Otterboy gets ejoocated

I spent the last two weeks with my nose in an HTML book and redesigned The Kayak Cult site. I published the new version last night with the newbie error of not checking the layout in all screen resolutions. So, those of you running 1280x720 see some funky stuff. We'll all just have to live with it for the moment until I can get some help.

- OB

Back to the Kayak Cult - www.kayakcult.com

Reno Kayak Park - Part II

The post on the Reno Kayak Park generated a lot of interest. Is there anyone out there who's paddled at the park? I'd love to get details of the best flows, which features work for which moves, etc. If you've spent any time there feel free to email me: otterboy {at} kayakcult.com.

- OB

Back to the Kayak Cult - www.kayakcult.com

Reno Kayak Park

I had reason to be in Reno over the weekend and made a point of seeing their fabled whitewater park on the Truckee River. I'm not much of a playboater, but this looked like fun. Unfortunately there weren't any kayakers there. I dropped by on a late July on a Monday afternoon, so it was mainly kids on summer vacation splashing around. I still got some pictures.


There is still surfing to be had at low water. This is the second ledge on the south channel.



Here is an upstream shot of the same hole. You can see how low the water is upstream of the hole.



Here is an upstream shot of the north channel features.



The first ledge of the north channel. This would be great at higher water.


Here is the park's website: http://www.visitrenotahoe.com/plan_your_trip/outdoors/kayak_park/

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