Hard Core Paddles

Let me be blunt: Hard Core Paddles are awesome. Their durability is solid, they have a ton of power, and the company offers multiple options on customization. They are well worth the price.

Last summer, I broke yet another Powerhouse. Destroying paddles is something that I have normalized. Every year or two I put myself in a situation that I stress a paddle beyond what it can handle… and it breaks. I reached out to a handful of shops looking for a replacement paddle – 4CRS, CKS, NRS, and even to Werner directly. All of them were backordered. COVID-19 was impacting the supply chain for everything from toilet paper to whitewater paddles.

I then pondered other options. AT was discontinued years ago. I love Jimi Styx, and have been using them for guiding rafts for years, but he’s currently backordered until 2022, and he doesn’t do bent shafts. The Euro paddles — Galasport, Double Dutch, and VE — all paddle well, but again are hard to find stateside. Whitewater Technologies is a new company that I’m excited to check out, but they are still in the construction phase. Coran’s updated Seven Two isn’t my style. Accent looks alright, but are known to have a heavy flutter. I was drawing a blank.

Then I remembered years ago, while paddling the Tumwater section of the Wenatchee, that I bumped into Andy and Mike Nash. They were passing out prototypes of a new paddle and talking up the fact that it had a wood shaft, a “Hard Core” (still sounds like an ‘80’s rock band to me). It looked interesting, but the round blades looked a bit small and we were about to put on at significant spring flows. That day, I missed a great opportunity due to my ignorance of paddle physics.

Years passed and I wondered what Hard Core Paddles was up to now. Their website is simple yet full of solid information. I liked what I saw, but I wanted more info, so I reached out with a generic instant message. Later that day, my phone rang. Mike (who physically builds the paddles) was on the other end. We chatted for over an hour, talking through some of my concerns and presenting me with insight into the paddle design. I took a chance, ordered one, and immediately took it to Brazil for a three-month test drive.

 

Here are some of my initial questions, and resulting personal experiences, after swinging a Hard Core paddle for three-months.

What if I just don’t like it? They have a satisfaction guarantee. Hell, they’ll even cover the return postage.

Durability? After three months of river abuse, and a ton of bouncing around in the cargo bay of multiple planes, busses, pickup trucks, and being used as a tarp pole, my paddle showed very limited wear. Yes there is superficial scratching, but it wasn’t shrinking like a fiberglass Werner.

Power? The blade is relatively round and the surface area is about 40 cm² less than my old standard Powerhouse. The blade shape shares a classic River Styx style. This all initially concerned me. I like a powerful blade and these seemed like old school designs and techniques. Mike dropped a knowledge bomb on me here and started talking about dihedrals. Most aggressively shaped paddles need a fairly aggressive dihedral to eliminate paddle flutter, hence losing a large percentage of their power. A balanced, rounder, paddle blade doesn’t flutter nearly as much and you can limit the dihedral. This effectively gives you more powerful pull in a smaller blade size. If that is all a bit nerdy for you, just know there is a ton of power in these mid-sized round blades.

Paddle Length vs Grip Width? As bent shaft paddles get longer, the grip width gets wider; the idea is that a bigger person would want a longer paddle and a wider grip. This ratio of grip width to paddle length has become dated. The modern creek boat has a significantly larger volume than it did 20 years ago. These larger boats have created a demand for a longer paddle to help control them. Hard Core has thought about this, and rescaled their ratio for paddle length to grip width. This allows you to bump up three to six centimeters in paddle length and keep your familiar grip width.

Flex? It’s a carbon paddle, it feels pretty darn stiff. The wood core does manage to shine through here and work its magic. The wood’s natural flex patterns elongate the power transfer, just a bit, making the joints feel better after a long week. The wood core also means that they retain warmth much better on those really frigid days.

Lead Time? Average delivery time is under a week from order.

Human Factor? Your paddle is built by Mike Nash out of his “garage” in Gold Bar, Washington.

Price? $440 It’s more than many other fiberglass models out there but it fits right in with any of the other high end carbon paddles on the market.

If you’re in the market for a solid, powerful paddle, Hard Core is making them, locally, and at a fair price. And mention this article for $15 bucks back on your purchase.

www.hardcorepaddles.com

 

Brazil Beta

 

Descending toward the perpetual roar of whitewater, with sweat flowing off your brow and into your eyes, vegetation obscuring the already undistinguishable “trail,” jungle navigation is never elegant. There is the expected amount of cursing, tripping, and slipping.

Rudnei Ribeiro enjoying some ocean time

What you would assume to be a secure foot placement crumbles into a slick mud skid. Balance falters and that once stable foot is now in the air, your butt is now in the slippery mud and you are starting to pick up speed, sliding through the jungle. You reach out, grabbing for trees, branches, vines, or anything which might slow your descent. “Damn those were thorns”, expletive, thud, expletive! You come to an abrupt stop, relieved that the boulder you smashed into was in its precarious location. 

 

playing Frogger in downtown Sao Paulo traffic

 

Perfecting the balance necessary to descend this kind of terrain is possible. However, dragging a 9ft kayak with one hand, a 201cm paddle in the other, along with encumbering yourself with the entanglement opportunities of a pfd, helmet, skirt, and GoPro, make these advances a torturous excursion. All of this stumbling around in the Brazilian jungle has led to some spectacular rivers, many of which have little or no written beta. Here is a quick low-down on a few notable sections: 

 

 

Ribeirão do Braço Grande

 

Put In: GPS (-24.09578386090188, -47.254910219123175) Note: Follow feeder creek to main river
Take Out: GPS (-24.120205688341642, -47.26647569261122) Note: There is a house on river right
Class:  4
Flow:    Visual, consistent light rain (that is very common) will be enough to have good flow.
 
Run Description: Bedrock slides, ledges, portages, and a few boulder gardens. Access for this section is a thirty minute hike down the side of a mountain with no trail. Quality rapids start immediately. After half a dozen solid rapids, the river relents back into meandering riffles and overhanging vegetation dodging. 

Renato Costa Guimarães and Rudnei Ribeiro on Ribeirão do Braço Grande

“Little Hell” section of the Rio Inferninho Quinta dos Ganchos

 

Put In:  GPS (-27.36381508850432, -48.75438122944922) Note: Small wooden bridge
Take Out: GPS (-27.364597510074283, -48.740676968134) Note: Large dome slide
Class:  5
Flow:   Visual, heavy rain needed to have flows above boat abusive levels.
 
Run Description: Bedrock slides and waterfalls, rapids are large. Multiple portages (60 foot waterfall landing on a rock shelf). Scout every horizon line. 
 

Renato Costa Guimarães on Little Hell

 

 

Rudnei Ribeiro behind the camera capturing Chris Baer on the first big slide of Little Hell

 

 

Rio dos Cedros

Multiple sections

 
Put In: GPS (-26.655205356249457, -49.35048029377008) Note: Dam
Take Out: GPS (-26.66130168294995, -49.33309718472249) Note: Power station
Class: 5+
Flow:   Visual; gauge is currently offline: http://ceops.furb.br/restrito/SisCeops/views_pub/tabela_nivel.html search Rio dos Cedros on the site; usually dewatered due to dam
 
Run Description: Dam creates a fun auto-boof park and huck. The rest of the section is a sieve pile.
 

swing into the kayak bar just upstream of the historic bridge 

Put In: GPS (-26.66130168294995, -49.33309718472249) Note: Power station
Take Out: GPS (-26.672412956279782, -49.32129836646087) Note: Historic bridge
Class: 4+
Flow:  Visual; gauge is currently offline: http://ceops.furb.br/restrito/SisCeops/views_pub/tabela_nivel.html search Rio dos Cedros on the site; large watershed, usually flowing
 
Run Description: Rapids and rocks come at you quickly with long, boulder choked rapids. A local guide can make the difference between this being a quick lap or an all-day scouting mission.
 

historic bridge over the Rio dos Cedros

 
Put In: GPS (-26.672412956279782, -49.32129836646087) Note: Historic bridge
Take Out: GPS (-26.672479012772477, -49.320825566464634) Note: Small footbridge
Class: 5
Flow:   Visual; gauge is currently offline: http://ceops.furb.br/restrito/SisCeops/views_pub/tabela_nivel.html search Rio dos Cedros on the site; large watershed, usually flowing
 
Run Description: If you enjoyed the section above, this is a step up. One massive sieve that is usually portaged river right, and two very bouncy boulder garden rapids.
 

private take out on the Rio dos Cedros

Put In: GPS (-26.68411207759926, -49.31353274517334) Note: Small footbridge
Take Out: GPS (-26.701225044973278, -49.287494734592016) Note: Private, kayaker-owned farm
Class: 3+
Flow:  Visual; gauge is currently offline: http://ceops.furb.br/restrito/SisCeops/views_pub/tabela_nivel.html search Rio dos Cedros on the site; large watershed, usually flowing
 
Run Description: A perfect warm-up stretch for this rocky river, or maybe just a cool-down after one of the upper sections.

 

 

 

Rio Garcia 

 

Put In: GPS (-27.04832886973124, -49.0921790976178) Note: Gated park entrance
Take Out: GPS (-27.028249001720194, -49.0930442596256) Note: Small drivable bridge
Class: 4+
Flow:      Visual; typically looks low, but the flow gets constricted in a micro-gorge
 
Run Description: Micro-creeking on the outskirts of Blumenau. Fun bedrock features. One big double drop that is usually portaged river right. Crystal clear water coming out of a national park. (Possibility of more good rapids upstream?)
 

Joao Gabriel Araujo scouting the "portage" on the Rio Garcia

Itajaí-Açu River

Multiple sections

Note: “Paradise” section further upstream has a much smaller flow window and is typically dewatered by a dam

 

looking down on the Itajaí-Açu River

Put In: GPS (-27.080805786301287, -49.513652261165326) Note: Side of road pull-off
Take Out: GPS (-27.076767560704273, -49.435098606638086) Note: Ativa Rafting Company
Class: 4
Flow:   http://ceops.furb.br/restrito/SisCeops/views_pub/tabela_nivel.html search Apiúna on the site. Range: Low 1.0 meter - High 2.6 meters
 
Run Description: Spectacular big water fun. A few steep ledges should be scouted. The general characteristic of the river is read and run big, rolling waves.
 

Joao Gabriel Araujo enjoying a fairly large caiparinia

 
Put In: GPS (-27.08034395994515, -49.442244208502295) Note: Looks like small private driveway
Take Out: GPS (-27.076767560704273, -49.435098606638086) Note: Ativa Rafting Company
Class: 3-4 with an enormous flow window
Flow:  http://ceops.furb.br/restrito/SisCeops/views_pub/tabela_nivel.html search Apiúna on the site. Range: Low 1.0 meter - High 3.5 meters
 
Run Description: Large volume bedrock ledges. Fun class 3 at low water, huge dynamic waves at high water. 

 

 

adventure by Chris Baer

Rio Negro

little van heading south

Stacked, eddy-less basalt rapids sound fun, that is unless they culminate in large drops with either a reconnect or a rock in the landing zone. The Rio Negro will never be a classic. Mainly due to the fact that it’s in the middle of nowhere (Hornopiren).

Rio Negro from Chris Baer on Vimeo.

Hornopiren is either a full day of dirt road driving or a ferry ride away from anywhere. The perks: a small town atmosphere, fresh seafood, and beautiful camping next to the crystal clear river.

Bayside Hornopiren

Aeon Russo, no rocks in the landing zone, just a tree

The sloped basalt rock structure creates leaky eddies, (eddies where a large portion of the water, and potentially eddy-scouting kayakers, escapes out the downstream end of the eddy rather than recycling back up). This meant that eddy scouting was not a feasible option. At every major rapid we were forced out of our kayaks to scout. Our descent took four and a half hours to navigate the dense three kilometers of river back to camp. Thankfully, the basalt does stack into a handful of spectacular drops… that aren’t too problematic.

Aeon Russo, Rio Negro

Hamish Tills, U-turn Rapid

Aeon Russo, no rocks in the landing zone, just a tree

While this river has plenty of issues, its complications add to its intrigue, and the next time I find myself in Hornopiren I will make time to get another lap.

adventure by Chris Baer

Sea kayaking the San Juans in whitewater kayaks?

looking westward into the San Juan Islands

The spring road trip had brought us to Anacortes, Washington, known to be one of the best sea kayaking destinations in the world. 

After calling a myriad of sea kayaking shops near the San Juan Islands Avery and I were still without any usable beta. The local paddling community was still mourning from a double fatality from early in the month and handing out beta to non-sea kayakers wasn’t going to happen. Some Google research later, and we had a rough idea of tides and a couple camping options on Cypress Island.

camp on Cypress Island

I’m not exactly into paddling non-moving water but that was my first misunderstanding. The water between the San Juan Islands moves at speeds upwards of ten miles an hour. Determining the lulls between high and low tide wasn’t easy, and Avery and I spent close to two hours making a one mile ferry from Guernes Island to Cypress Island due to a minor tidal misunderstanding.

sunsets on the ocean are beautiful

The camping was gorgeous and the fact that we came ashore pre-season meant we had the camp and ample winter driftwood to ourselves.

not your average sea kayak

Checking the weather report before we took off, it looked as if we would catch a small storm overnight with light wind and rain. The ocean showed us who had the upper hand with driving rain and gusts of wind upwards of thirty miles an hour. The Coast Guard issued a small craft advisory, and I’m pretty sure our whitewater boats are smaller than what the Coast Guard fathomed.

awaking to a pair of bald eagles

The next morning we awoke to a clear blue sky, light breeze, and the sound of a mating pair of bald eagles in the trees above. It was exactly what we were looking for, a relaxing morning of instant coffee and fire toasted bagels. We waited and timed our route back to the mainland with the current. Our six hour paddle out turned into a three hour return while using the current in our favor. This included a curious chase where we were trailed by our new friend, an inquisitive harbor seal.

our new friend the Harbor Seal

Sea kayaking will never overcome my love for the river but it is a unique way to see the Washington coast.

Solo paddling big volume waterfalls? 4,000 Islands Lao

Sun setting on Cambodia

Lush green islands speckle the five mile wide Mekong river, creating intricate mazes of big volume waterfalls. This area is known as the 4,000 Island section of the Mekong River, and it ought to be on your whitewater radar!

So many options

Between the countless islands are paddleable sections of whitewater! The location was created by a plate tectonic shift, steeply lowering the downstream portion of the river by 40 vertical feet. In some areas this means big volume waterfalls, in other areas are steep multi-tiered ledges, while others become massive bird sucking hydraulics (the birds actually get sucked out of the sky into the massive crushing force of the water).

bird sucking hole

Picking your daily adventure can, and will always, be a bit of guess work. The islands overlap each other, and the scenery looks very similar right up to the horizon line.


4,000 Islands Lao! Solo? from Chris Baer on Vimeo
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Accommodations are available on the island of Don Det, a relatively big island smack in the middle of the Mekong. The island has only recently come by relatively stable electricity. The only access to the island is by a small flat bottom boat pushed by a "long tail" outboard motor so make sure your gear is in a dry bag. Over the years it has become known as the party island, and its location in-between the borders of Lao and Cambodia allow it to have a very lackadaisical legal enforcement system, with “happy“ shakes available on the menu in many of the rustic restaurants.

the crew taking off

Paddling solo is dangerous.

With a lack of local paddlers and the rest of the international team heading “home”, I found myself solo in the midst of the limitless waterfalls. Deciding to paddle class 5 solo is really hard. Thoughts of injury, flush drowning in the massive boils, getting caught in a fisherman snare, and fist pumping at the bottom of one of the big drops all spun through my head. With some tough decision making and hearty scouting, I made the very selfish decision to fire up some of the gems solo. It was worth it!

adventure by Chris Baer

Kayak Spelunking? Xe Bang Fai River, Laos

Lao's subterranean beauty

Caves and rivers go together like orange juice and toothpaste…or so I thought. After years of paddling, “cave” has transformed into a heinous curse word. The idea of purposely putting on a river section that disappears for 12 kilometers seemed ignorant at best, but still very intriguing.

Our team from left to right, Chris Baer, Marlon Butler, Isaac Tracey, Miri Miyazaki, Ryan Butler, Lincoln Taylor, and Kieran

Our team had, yet again grown in number (Lincoln Taylor, Ryan Butler, Isaac Tracey, Miri Miyazaki, Marlon Butler, Kieran, and myself) and now contained a wide variety of participants, some with limited whitewater experience. Unfortunately, our team’s whitewater knowledge was not my first concern; the beta for the river section we were about to attempt was outstandingly insufficient.

Here is the translated beta I received;
1. Xe Bang Fai cave is at X point on the map.
2. A couple of trips have gone through the cave.
3. There are rapids leading to the cave that need to be portaged.
4. You should camp in the mouth of the cave.
5. There is a BIG “Swiss Cheese Falls” in the cave.
6. It should only take two full days.

“Vague” would be a kind description for this beta. We didn’t even have the name of the town closest to the put in or the take out. Adding apprehension to the mission, in the middle of nowhere, past midnight, one of the vehicles digested its serpentine belt while trying to set shuttle to an unknown destination. (The van was left on the side of the “road” for the duration of the trip.)

Due to the unexpected shuttle situation we were left sleeping in lackluster accommodations. The bed had two blankets over it to help conceal protruding springs, bed bugs, and I didn’t want to know what else!

The team constructed a new game plan: river or nothing! We piled two vehicles worth of equipment and people into an extended cab pickup truck and hit the road. Tracey and I were precariously balanced on top of the stacked boats teetering above the truck cab.

Xe Bang Fai River, Laos, Who thought paddling threw a 12 Kilometer long cave was a good idea? from Chris Baer on Vimeo.

Where is the put in?

Ryan Butler, looking into another siphon filled rapid

The road we were traveling on consisted of the finest rust-colored dust; when you stepped on the surface, your foot actually descended a solid half-inch into the dust. By the time we first stopped for directions, Isaac and I had acquired a new maroon skin tone. Another hour on the road and it started to parallel the river. I was getting excited now that we finally had found the river with a floatable flow. All of the sudden, I saw water flying through the sky! A second later, I heard a dull thud. After some investigation, my redneck assumption was confirmed. They still fish by dynamite in this region!

We stopped the truck just outside of “dynamite village” and made access to the river. The plan was to try to make it an unknown distance to the mouth of the cave by evening.

Isaac digging for a boof

The pace started strong, we made progress down the gently flowing river bed interspaced with class 2 rapids. Then a couple good class 3 rapids and an interesting class 4 appeared. Most of the larger rapids were created by limestone rock configurations, forming the relatively deep and concise lines with occasional nasty undercuts and sieves.

duckie disaster

In one of these rapids the skill set of our team came under question. The rapid was a basic class 3 ferry, but one of the boats didn’t make it. The craft went careening down a sluice that I didn’t want to explore. During the botched maneuver a paddle was sent downstream on its own and disappeared under a rock. It took longer for the paddle to reappear than I can hold my breath for. The river was quickly proving its nature and made it clear that our team should ponder the severity of a mishap. A quick meeting was held; a couple paddlers decided to walk a few of the more sieve-infested rapids. Hand signals and a few white water basics were reiterated.

Late in the afternoon with Isaac and myself leading the pack, we made our way down to the entrance of the cave. Discovering no beach or camp at the mouth of the cave, we turned around and attained half a mile upstream to a large sandy cove on river right.

setting sun at camp, warming up with a fire and noodles

Camping on the sandy beach was enjoyable with a fire and the classic menu of ramen noodles and odd canned meet. Along with stories, we passed around a small bottle of moonshine that Lincoln was able to barter from the local wildlife rangers.

starry night at camp

The following morning, we arose with the sun. While stoking the fire, we warmed up and refueled with Nescafe, jam, and bread. We evaluated who had which headlamps and attached them to our helmets. Our team also discussed cave protocol: sandwiching some of the less experienced paddlers in the middle of the pack and being really careful.

Entering into the cave involved a portage over a river-wide sieve. It felt absolutely disturbing to walk over a fatal river feature within eye sight of the total darkness we intended to paddle into.

standing on a sieve, looking at the tiny entrance to a massive cave system

The entrance into the cave is stunning, with a massive limestone wall diverting the river underground. As my eyes started to adjust to the darkness, I made the initial move under an ominous overhang. The river reopened gently on the other side, allowing a final glimpse of light as we entered a partially collapsed room. The room was massive, easily over a hundred feet tall and wide, and it quickly leads you deeper into the dark abyss with a class 2 rapid.

“It’s dark, really dark!”

I had one of the better headlamps, and I still couldn’t see. The gigantic rooms were filled with mist. Paddling with headlamps in the mist was like driving in dense fog, you can turn the high beams on but you can’t see any further.

The first rapid we approached deep inside the cave sounded terrifying! The roar of the water was echoing off the ceiling and walls. I was full-on scared and wondered what we had gotten ourselves into. One by one the headlights lined up and descended into the pool below.

We continued on into the darkness running interspaced class 2-3 rapids blind. Catching unfamiliar last chance eddies in the dark does not happen. Each attempt to scout a rapid before running it was unsuccessful. I started to wonder when the rumored “mandatory portage” of “Swiss Cheese Falls” was going to appear.

One of the countless reflective cave features

Pushing on, our team occasionally spotted reflective surfaces. We would paddle closer and create a semi-circle around massive shimmering stalactites. At other times there would be a slight breeze bringing bugs and bats. It is absolutely amazing to look up and watch bats zip back and forth as they collect their meals.

stalactite mania!

After a few hours a light glow appeared in the distance: were we nearing the end? Where was Swiss Cheese Falls? The sun managed to reflect and bounce half a mile into the cave, illuminating bright blue water, ceiling and walls draped in a light green moss, and stalactites dangling everywhere. The team took time to bask in the beauty of the cave and celebrate a truly new experience for everyone.

the exit, almost as stunning as the entrance

Miri hiking out of the cave

We paddled away from the cave, a mile later, a local fisherman waved us over for a chat. The exit logistics were easier than anyone could have imagined. Scooter transport was arranged and an hour later we piled back onto the truck, headed to town.

Isaac and I tending the stack

Feel free to contact me for reliable beta on the Xe Bang Fai River, as well as applying for a permit with Green Discovery… and don’t forget to bring solid vehicles!

Is ignorance bliss? Spending time in undercuts of the Wairoa River, NZ

Another sun set on the North Island of NZ

Twenty-six days a year the Wairoa River flows through a densely forested gorge. The other 339 days it’s rerouted in order to create a small amount of hydro-power, destroying a delicate ecosystem.

at the put in for the Wairoa, cliff jumping, paddling, and kids splashing

Waiora from Chris Baer on Vimeo.

heading into the beautiful canyon section

With only a few release days a year the locals flock toward the Wairoa. The upstream access point turns into an arena of cliff jumpers, sun bathers, and kids splashing in pools, not to mention the Gore Tex clad kayakers heading into the rapids downstream.

Ladislav Švarc, on the waterfall

The shuttle on the Wairoa only takes ten minutes, which means most paddlers make multiple laps during the release days. On one of these laps I was sitting at the base of Roller Coaster, the crux rapid, which has a tight entrance and stacked hydraulics in the main pitch. The issue with Roller Coaster is that all of the water at the base of the rapid flows directly into the left wall, which is distinctly undercut.

playing of getting chundered?

I floated in the safety eddy at the base of the rapid watching the rest of the crew when a paddler flipped on his descent. I wasn’t too concerned because Roller Coaster has the tendency to roll a fair amount of paddlers. The undercut left wall is located nearly 30 feet from the base of the rapid, which is far enough away that most people can attempt a couple of rolls. The scare came when the paddler botched one roll attempt after another. It wasn’t until he had floated across most of the pool nearing the undercut wall that he finally snapped up. A shaky brace and spastic attempt at getting away from the wall led to another capsize. The overturned boat made contact with the wall and it instantly disappeared.

The team went into action. People clambered onto rocks with throw bags, but there was nothing to throw at, he was under the rock. At this point I stayed in my boat, unclipped my tow tether, and patted down the front pocket of my PFD where I carry a CPR mask. Thoughts of how to deal with an unconscious victim started ripping through my brain. Everything was in place for some bold rescue attempts, all we needed now was a body. After a few seconds the crowd of rescuers started getting quiet because we hadn’t seen him in a while. Other thoughts started to roll through my head... previous accidents, and the thought of setting up a lowering system to start probing the undercut. Panning back and forth across the water line there was no sign of the paddler - he, his boat, and paddle had all vanished. I neared the wall looking for any signs when a helmet finally emerged from under the corner of the rock wall. That half a second while the helmet was on the surface of the water face-down felt like an eternity. I took a couple of huge strokes toward the would-be victim, he finally tilted his head upward and took that first surreal gasp of much needed oxygen. With one more stroke my bow was in his face and he grabbed onto it. I paddled back into the eddy. Amazingly he had no idea how close he was to dying and seemed rather unfazed by the episode.

the tight entrance into Roller Coaster

Is ignorance bliss? He said that he just tried to stay calm and not do too much. I know from experiences that I would have been super aggressive down there. I’ve had a few friends come up from beneath undercuts with their fingernails packed full of moss and debris. Then again, struggling hard for an unknown escape route would certainly have deprived me of oxygen more quickly.

wheelie through stacked holes of Roller Coaster

Steven Johanson, boofing Bottom Drop

Have fun out there friends, and do not be complacent, especially on your home runs! Just because you have paddled a section a thousand times doesn’t make the rocks any softer or the undercuts, strainers, and sieves any less dangerous.

As the five month trip was wrapping up it was time to sell the van and other gear. Time to go to the beach for a couple days of true relaxation.

adventure by Chris Baer