~Albert Schweitzer~
After spending almost the entire week on Brown's Island, I was pretty much Riverrock'd out by Friday afternoon, which is ironic considering Riverrock didn't even start until Friday evening. My friends Matt and Liz had asked me if I wanted to go to the Eastern Shore of Maryland with them to pick up some furniture over the weekend, and with the weather for Riverrock looking piss poor, I took them up on the offer. I ended up having a wonderful weekend sleeping in a dry and warm bed, getting a warm shower, avoiding a day of soaking rains on the island, going on a kick ass little road trip (except for the broken hip part. That sucked.), and most of all catching up with two good friends. As we get older and life becomes more and more busy, time with friends becomes less and less. Because of this, I think the important thing is to value the time you do have with friends, and catching up with Matt and Liz reminded me of just that. Thanks for the weekend guys! Y'all are the best!
Monday would have been a day of rest before work on Tuesday, but this was no ordinary Monday. It was Errol's birthday. Anyone who knows Errol knows that this means shit is probably going to go down. We are getting older, so the shit that goes down has changed.....for the most part. Errol was having knee surgery later in the week and needed some island time. (he had torn his ACL attempting to ski off a twenty foot cliff in New Hampshire......enough said) He had bartered a rather unique trade of some sort and ended up with the following item in his possession.......
Now, most people would look at this picture and think, "this looks like a great way to go fishing". I looked at this picture and immediately thought, "There is whitewater behind it. That MUST mean it is supposed to run whitewater." So I concocted a plan to convince Errol into thinking it was meant to run whitewater.......it took me less than five minutes to convince him. Monday was his birthday, and the stars aligned. The plan was set and when the sun rose Monday morning, the adventure began.........................
Week 7 on The Island started off with a great high water weekend that was put to good use. On Saturday I was able to catch up with my friend Prado, and catch a lap around eleven and a half feet with him. I like paddling with Prado because he is fast, conservative, and safe, plus he is a good guy. He wanted to see The Island, so we bombed down to Hollywood, gave a quick scout after hearing that a log jam had formed in Stripper, then cruised through Hollywood, which is a fun rapid at high water. The line stays the same, but everything around you gets bigger. After Hollywood, we made our way to The Island and then to the Southside takeout. It was good to catch up with Prado and get a full lap in at a good water level. He approved of The Island.
Sunday brought about a rare occurrence. First off, I was guiding a raft, something I hadn't braved since last year. Second, the level was 9 feet, a perfect level for rafting. I was meeting up with my childhood friend Hauserman, who I had not seen in a long time. He was bringing along one of his buddies, and the guys last name was Moneymaker, so I figured he must be legit. We were rafting the entire stretch of whitewater, from Pony Pasture all the way to The Island. For being as green as they were, Hauserman and Moneymaker both styled the river and made Hollywood look easy. (It was the guide!) Nah, they both did well and it was good to get them out to The Island and get some big water rafting in. Come back anytime fella's, only next time it's in a kayak.
Week 7 on the island was a blur of bouncing between re-entering modern society and struggling to stay focused on avoiding.....well, modern society. I was screwed. The good thing was my job seemed to be going well, and I was getting to see and participate in some really cool stuff, like the set-up for Riverrock. Every year Venture and Sportsbackers host the best outdoor festival in the country, on Browns Island. Setting up includes watching the rock walls and stages being built, bike ramps going up, athletes and sponsors arriving throughout the week, and all kinds of cool little vendors; like Goal Zero, a company that manufactures light weight solar panels for backpacking. Thanks to them I am now able to get battery, cell phone, and IPad power on the island through solar power, and the panels and power unit are the size of a notebook and weigh almost nothing. It's pretty sweet!
"An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day."
~Henry David Thoreau~
My favorite part of everyday now is in the morning. I naturally wake up early on The Island, and not knowing what time it is, paddle to the Northside, run Pipeline at sunrise, and then walk up the Canal Walk to my car at Tredagar Parking lot. The paddle and the walk are always peaceful, and I love walking across Brown's Island early in the morning before anyone is there. It reminds me of growing up on Stonehenge Golf Course and walking home from a friends house early in the morning before my parents woke up. Being able to experience the James everyday like this is a gift, and it is what reminds me that I am doing the right thing by living on the island. Walking across Brown's Island on Thursday morning before Riverrock was a cool experience.
Sunday brought about a rare occurrence. First off, I was guiding a raft, something I hadn't braved since last year. Second, the level was 9 feet, a perfect level for rafting. I was meeting up with my childhood friend Hauserman, who I had not seen in a long time. He was bringing along one of his buddies, and the guys last name was Moneymaker, so I figured he must be legit. We were rafting the entire stretch of whitewater, from Pony Pasture all the way to The Island. For being as green as they were, Hauserman and Moneymaker both styled the river and made Hollywood look easy. (It was the guide!) Nah, they both did well and it was good to get them out to The Island and get some big water rafting in. Come back anytime fella's, only next time it's in a kayak.
Week 7 on the island was a blur of bouncing between re-entering modern society and struggling to stay focused on avoiding.....well, modern society. I was screwed. The good thing was my job seemed to be going well, and I was getting to see and participate in some really cool stuff, like the set-up for Riverrock. Every year Venture and Sportsbackers host the best outdoor festival in the country, on Browns Island. Setting up includes watching the rock walls and stages being built, bike ramps going up, athletes and sponsors arriving throughout the week, and all kinds of cool little vendors; like Goal Zero, a company that manufactures light weight solar panels for backpacking. Thanks to them I am now able to get battery, cell phone, and IPad power on the island through solar power, and the panels and power unit are the size of a notebook and weigh almost nothing. It's pretty sweet!
"An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day."
~Henry David Thoreau~
My favorite part of everyday now is in the morning. I naturally wake up early on The Island, and not knowing what time it is, paddle to the Northside, run Pipeline at sunrise, and then walk up the Canal Walk to my car at Tredagar Parking lot. The paddle and the walk are always peaceful, and I love walking across Brown's Island early in the morning before anyone is there. It reminds me of growing up on Stonehenge Golf Course and walking home from a friends house early in the morning before my parents woke up. Being able to experience the James everyday like this is a gift, and it is what reminds me that I am doing the right thing by living on the island. Walking across Brown's Island on Thursday morning before Riverrock was a cool experience.
On Thursday afternoon, after work, I attempted to help Lugbill get the slalom course for boatercross set up, but a monster thunderstorm blew in from the west and came up on us very fast. There was a strong wind ahead of the storm, and it blew a dust cloud high up into the sky. When the front approached the river, the wind gusts must have topped fifty miles per hour. I was sitting on the edge of Tredegar Pool, just above X's, watching the wind howl across the river. Small water spouts were being whipped up off the pool, and the dust and debris being blown in the air was incredible. I turned and paddled downstream, and with a sustained 30 mile per hour wind at my back, I made it to the island in no time. Unfortunately, when I arrived I discovered my tent had been blown into the trees. It was my kitchen tent, so I decided to just say screw it, and crawled inside my sleeping tent to avoid the storm. The front blew through fast and the evening ended up being rather nice, although I was now down one tent....which I didn't put back up until the following Monday.
“Things always work out for me because I do whatever I want without worrying about the consequences.”
“Things always work out for me because I do whatever I want without worrying about the consequences.”
~Tucker Max~
There will be more Tucker Max quotes. That is a promise.
After spending almost the entire week on Brown's Island, I was pretty much Riverrock'd out by Friday afternoon, which is ironic considering Riverrock didn't even start until Friday evening. My friends Matt and Liz had asked me if I wanted to go to the Eastern Shore of Maryland with them to pick up some furniture over the weekend, and with the weather for Riverrock looking piss poor, I took them up on the offer. I ended up having a wonderful weekend sleeping in a dry and warm bed, getting a warm shower, avoiding a day of soaking rains on the island, going on a kick ass little road trip (except for the broken hip part. That sucked.), and most of all catching up with two good friends. As we get older and life becomes more and more busy, time with friends becomes less and less. Because of this, I think the important thing is to value the time you do have with friends, and catching up with Matt and Liz reminded me of just that. Thanks for the weekend guys! Y'all are the best!
Monday would have been a day of rest before work on Tuesday, but this was no ordinary Monday. It was Errol's birthday. Anyone who knows Errol knows that this means shit is probably going to go down. We are getting older, so the shit that goes down has changed.....for the most part. Errol was having knee surgery later in the week and needed some island time. (he had torn his ACL attempting to ski off a twenty foot cliff in New Hampshire......enough said) He had bartered a rather unique trade of some sort and ended up with the following item in his possession.......
Now, most people would look at this picture and think, "this looks like a great way to go fishing". I looked at this picture and immediately thought, "There is whitewater behind it. That MUST mean it is supposed to run whitewater." So I concocted a plan to convince Errol into thinking it was meant to run whitewater.......it took me less than five minutes to convince him. Monday was his birthday, and the stars aligned. The plan was set and when the sun rose Monday morning, the adventure began.........................
