Enjoy the CDU Newsletter
Published: Mon, 08/17/15
Issue
474
17th August 2015
Message Bank
My 25th Avon Descent was nearly perfect and I couldn't have
asked for a better result considering the training I had done.
I was the 30th single craft across the line, I was the 13th
kayak, and 2nd in the WWK1 and the first paddler over 60 years.
Although I didn't train as much this year, and the fact that
when I do train my longest training run is usually around
5kms, unless I'm in a race, I thought I did pretty well. Because
of my previous experience paddling long distances I knew I
could make the distance even if I don't train as much but
it was very rewarding to have beaten everyone from our Saturday
morning training group, many who were much faster than me
on flat water.
Going into the race I knew I didn't have the speed but I
had the knowledge of the river and the experience which proved
crucial on day one in the T trees and day two in the Avon
Valley. I probably passed about 20 paddlers in the day one
t trees and caught up and passed paddlers that were 10 minutes
ahead of me going into the trees. On day two I passed many
paddlers in the first five minutes through the t trees and
although I didn't paddle like a world champion down the Avon
Valley Rapids, I was careful and didn't make any mistakes
so I hit the flatwater knowing that I had a near perfect run
with many of my opposition behind me.
If there is any thing I would credit myself with and that
is consistency. I have done 25 Avon Descents and I can only
remember capsizing once in that time. In all the times I have
paddled the Avon River, apart from that once in a kayak, once
in flood in a C1 (kneeling with one paddle blade) and twice
in a C2 (two paddlers kneeling using single bladed paddles)
I have never capsized on the Avon River in 37 years.
Although I beat all our Saturday morning paddlers, I missed
out on beating Sue Quick who was also in a Wild Water kayak.
I knew she had trained much harder than me, and I knew she
was going to be hard to beat so I prayed all week to beat
her but my prayers weren't answered. Unfortunately Sue beat
me by 7.30 minutes on day one and I beat her by nearly 4.45
minutes on day two so she beat me by 2 minutes 45 seconds
overall. It hurts to be beaten but I will get over it.
Thank you to those paddlers who have supported Canoeing Down
Under over the years and who give our name out to new paddlers.
It was great to see so many photographs of paddlers in this
years Avon with paddlers either wearing a CDU product, using
a CDU paddle or craft or just simply having a CDU sticker
clearly seen on their boat or paddle. Without your custom
we wouldn't be here and to be able to give so much in sponsorship
back into the sport.
****************************
It was great to see previous CDU Saturday morning paddlers
Paul Waters and Derek Amy take off 4th and 5th places in the
long plastics and 16th and 17th single overall. That's impressive
especially when there are so many young surf ski paddlers
from surf clubs around and good K1 paddlers. Both are over
50 years old. It just shows you are not finished at 50.
Our Saturday morning group did extremely well with Baillee
Liddle being the 1st plastic and Bonnie the third plastic
to finish with surf club member Aya Okano sneaking between
them. Susan Quick was the first women over the line in a WWK1.
Mark Lawson and Peter Tomczak who were once CDU paddlers won
the Double Kayak male division. In the mens double plastic
class CDU members Rob Jarrett and Chris Watson were first
with CDU paddlers Ron Ayerst and Stephen Wise coming second
with CDU paddlers David Garner and Richard Chilcott coming
4th.
In the team of singles former CDU paddlers Terry Brooke (T2)
and Scott Lacklison were 3rd, Erica McKnight and Jane Liddle
were 1st females and 7th team overall. Jason Gardner and Steve
Bolger were 8th and Jabid Herd and Peter Gigengack were 9th
and old former CDU paddlers Steve Coffee and Alan Moreby 10th.
In the WWK1 Division I was second male and Peter Liddle 3rd
, Phil Lansel 5th and Kris Smith 6th.
Other standouts in the single plastics apart from Paul and
Derek were former CDU paddlers Ron McKenzie 9th and Steve
Cashion 13th and Ray Cambell 14th. CDU paddlers Doug Hodson
and Simon O'Sullivan teamed up Louis Botes and Malcolm Goodall
to come 6th in the team of 4. They were also raising money
and awareness for Sacoma. Newer CDU paddlers Belinda Custer,
Christine Lawson, Deborah Barry and Janet Stephenson were
the 8th team.
Other CDU paddlers Micheal Liddle was 20th single plastic
which was pretty good for his first Avon and the first time
down the valley. Craig Metzke was 33rd single plastic, Adam
Roujae 37th single plastic, Graham McMahon in a short plastic
49th, Emma Staples 5th female plastic, and Dallas Rodgers
14th K1,Dan Ralph 56th plastic
Training & Courses
We Will Be Back
with Saturday Morning Training
ON...Saturday
5th September
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Stories
Avon Descent
2015
Well what a roller coaster ride we had
leading up to the Avon Descent. The river was the lowest that
I had ever seen it at this time of year, in fact there was
really no river. Paddlers were unable to practise and if they
tried they had to walk a lot. Because of the low water, few
novices entered the race and with paddlers who wanted to race
not able to paddle on white water, it was the worst winter
for whitewater practise and for sales that we've ever had.
Being a sponsor of the Avon Descent unfortunately brought
little reward this year, so let's hope it will be better next
year.
With water low and weather predictions being pretty grim there
was a lot of negativity floating around about the race which
really didn't inspire first timers to enter. Being an old
codger it seemed that social media was actually doing more
harm than good for paddlers thinking of entering the race.
I, like many others were getting ready
for a low river. I have done some strange things in my time
so a low water race didn't bother me one bit, in fact I was
looking forward to it. I'm all for a hard race, to conquer
it brings out the best in us and it shows us what we are really
made of.
Wendy and Kevin White doing some shallow water paddling/running
a few days before the race. Photo Adam White
Just as we were getting
comfortable with the low water contingency plans and only
a few days before the event we finally got some good rain
in the wheat belt and suddenly everything changed. The river
was up and we were back to the normal course, which meant
that the time I spent lengthening my black wild water kayak
cockpit to help me to get out when portaging wasn't now necessary,
I changed back to my usual golden wild water kayak.
Unfortunately the rain was a little too late to help our sales,
and it didn't help the Avon Descent either, numbers were still
down, but it was a life saver for the media and Channel 10
and for the future of the event. One of the good things about
the Avon Descent is that it is very unpredictable and there
probably wouldn't be a race anywhere else in the world that
was so complicated and complex to get ready for either as
a competitor or organiser. Strategies changed daily and by
the time race day came only a handful of paddlers would have
paddled the course in the higher water levels and I wasn't
one of them. However it really didn't matter to me. I had
been in 24 Avon Descents and I had paddled the river hundreds
of times and although I have difficulty in remembering what
happened yesterday, I can still remember the T trees and the
rapids as I had sketched every rapid and written a book, so
I was more prepared than most.
To make it more interesting most people
wouldn't have paddled white water for a year and nor had I.
I rarely get to go down the Avon in my race kayak before the
event anyway as I'm usually working or running courses so
I always have to hope that my skills hadn't deteriorated over
the past year. It didn't used to be a concern when I was 34,
44, 54 but when you get to 64 you start to wonder. Do I still
have the skills? I know my speed has declined but will I mess
up the rapids? The Avon Descent gives me an opportunity to
see if old age is creeping up. If I start falling out of my
kayak, if I start getting into trouble in the trees and taking
the wrong routes I will know that old age has set in. So it
was going to be interesting to see how I would cope this year.
The relatively easy course on day one, without too many rapids
would help me and others to acclimatise to our craft and to
moving water.
My usual support person was Alaine as my wife Jenny had done
it too many times to be eager to do it again, but Alaine couldn't
be my support this year as her daughter Emily was flying off
to England the day after and she might not see her for 5 years
so she wanted to spend as much time with her as possible.
Luckily I had two other good friends to fall back on, Pam
Riordan and Olywn Brown. I first met Pam in 1990 when I was
doing my Around Australia expedition. I had just paddled,
walked and cycled 24,000kms around Australia taking one year
and my last hooray was to paddle across to Rottnest, paddle
around the Island and then paddle back to Fremantle. Pam was
on Rottnest at the time on some sort of course. She had heard
of me, but not met me. We met there and have remained friends
ever since.
So on the Friday afternoon before the event I took my kayak
up to Northam and registered. Whilst there, the rain was so
heavy the streets were turned into rivers, which gave good
indications that tomorrow's race was going to go off with
a bang, there would be no portaging or getting out of our
boats every few minutes. The race was really on. With the
higher water I thought I might have a better chance against
the lighter girls who were paddling very well and who would
certainly have had the advantage in the lower water conditions.
We arrived at Northam about 7.20am. Pam and Olwyn soon got
into support mode. Over the speaker we were told that paddlers
were off at 8.40am so I had plenty of time to check out the
weir and visit the toilet three times and to eat a tin of
rice pudding. Hopefully the rice would keep me going for a
few hours. It was cold, real cold and a few minutes before
the power boats were going to start there was a delay due
to the powerboats grids not sorted. That wasn't the best news
as it meant that paddlers had to hang around and get colder
than they already were.
Pam Riordan and myself
at day one start. Photo Olwyn Brown
There wasn't the same buzz
around the start line as other years as the numbers were really
down. The regulars who usually do it, but didn't like the
thought of low water weren't there, but now they were going
to miss out on the good water levels and some good fun.
I was dying to get off to get warm as the delay was making
us more chilly. At last the power boats had gone and we were
able to get on the water. I was off on Grid 5 with the other
WWK1s, the Wavehoppers and a few other boats. Once on the
water paddlers were orderly.
The top paddlers at Northern
Weir. Photo John O'Sullivan
On the start line I was
on the outside and close to the island. Then the wind started
pushing paddlers my way and I was nearly forced onto the island's
shoreline. First mistake choosing that position I thought
and although I had to be careful not to hit the underwater
rocks when I took off, I got away okay when the hooter sounded.
Phil Edwards, Sam Pilton, Sue Quick and Kieran Simpson shot
off ahead as expected. Bonnie also got in front of me, I expected
that as well. I'm not a good sprinter. Approaching the weir
I was still ahead of Baillee, yippee, and watched Phil and
Sue take a path to the left side of the weir and post where
the flow was stronger. I picked up speed and paddled straight
over the lip and when I reached the bottom, Bonnie who was
just in front of me took the left channel so I did a bit of
a U turn and paddled into the right channel hoping to get
ahead of her. When the two channels joined Bonnie was a boat
length ahead. The water was high enough not to get stranded
on any rocks so we both skirted and meandered down the channels
and beyond the railway bridge and the Mortlock River. The
Mortlock was carrying a good amount of water so our pace increased
even more. I managed to get on Bonnie's wash, but she eventually
slipped from my grasp. How annoying! Bonnie was paddling a
Fury and it seemed the perfect ski for her in this water level.
She was fast and now I realised that she was faster than me
and I wasn't going to keep up if I didn't work harder.
The K2s dualling for
first spot. Photo JC
Danny Moreton, Dave Martin
and Kane Tonkin just after the weir. They are always my opposition.
Photo JC
1km on and I'm happy
so far. Photo JC
There were very few paddlers
having trouble on this first section and paddlers were generally
well spaced so if anyone ran aground you could see them. There
were also very few paddlers pass me for the first few kilometres,
then faster paddlers who were in grids behind me and team
paddlers started to overtake. I dreaded Baillee passing me
which she eventually did.
Katrine Bridge came into view. Pam and Olly were standing
on the right side before the bridge shouting out if I wanted
anything. I didn't. The teams were readying themselves after
the bridge, but there weren't many of them there. I just can't
understand why there weren't more teams as even if the water
was low it would have been fun and easily achievable.
Paddlers started passing me coming up to the Glen Avon Rapid
including Dave Worthy who was in a team this year, Kieran
Simpson, Jarrad Eaves, Adam Roujae, Ray Campbell and the double
plastic of Martin Clancy Lowe and Warren Munns. David Worthy
took a centre route across the weir rapid whereas Martin and
Warren paddled over to the right. About 5 paddlers followed
them giving me space to go where I wanted.
Peter Kioutis and Stephen
Myers followed by Sam Pilton at the Glen Avon Rapid. Photo
John O'Sullivan
Baillee Liddle followed
by Danny Moreton and Dave Worthy at Glen Avon Rapid. Photo
John O'Sullivan
Maureen Bowra in a V7
leads a pack of paddlers over the first drop on Glen Avon.
Photo John O'Sullivan
I slipped down the first part of the weir with ease just scratching
over a few rocks before aiming for the second bigger drop.
Paddlers started coming over from the right so I paddled faster
to reach the drop before them. Martin and Warren beat me to
the drop but I narrowly escaped sharing it with another paddler.
The rapid was running well, I got down but the tricky current
and a big eddy at the bottom tried sweeping me and others
towards the tree. I managed to get away leaving some of the
other paddlers to get caught.
Before long Ray, Dave and a few others had passed me yet again,
although one or two paddlers had capsized at the rapid so
they wouldn't be passing, not yet at least.
Jane Liddle caught me, she was teamed up with Erica McKnight
and what a powerful team they were. I didn't realise how powerful
until Jane passed me and started drawing away from me like
a woman possessed! I chased her as we moved under Dunbarton
Bridge and the rapid. The photo below looks as if I'm catching
up but in reality she had just passed me and was leaving me
behind. My goal was to beat all our Saturday morning crew
but it wasn't panning out how I wanted. I had Bonnie, Baillee,
Peter, Adam now Jane already in front of me.
Jane Liddle in front
of me at Dunbarton Bridge. Photo Ray Smith
Jane's daughter Baillee was ahead of
Jane and I could see Jane slowly catching her up. As we approached
the long pool before Extracts Weir, Jane who was now several
hundred metres ahead of me caught up with Baillee and when
they reached the weir they both headed straight for it to
go over. It gave me a clear path to portage. The bank was
a little steep, and it was here that I realised my aging body
wasn't as supple as it used to be. It was a little more difficult
to prize my body out of the small cockpit and climb the metre
bank, but once I got out and started running there was no
stopping me. I heard Lawrence Greed on the loudspeaker mention
my name as I slipped by all the spectators and to the end
of the portage trail at the river's edge, where Pam and Olly
were waiting. I shoehorned myself into my cockpit, wrapped
the spraydeck around the combing and Pam handed me a banana
and a slender plastic bag of rice, which I placed on my spraydeck
to eat later down the river.
Running Extracts Weir.
Photo Olwyn Brown
Michael Liddle left, Brett Young running,
Adam Roujae orange kayak and Jarrod Eaves
green boat in distance
all Saturday morning CDU paddlers and first timers portaging
Extracts Weir.
Michael and Adam take a break
whilst I paddle off leaving them behind
I was now ahead of Jane
and Baillee again and I stayed there for some time but eventually
they caught up and passed. Watching them go by was a sad time
for me. A little joy came back when I passed Martin and Warren
who were on the river's edge emptying out their double plastic
Molakai ski. Reminiscent of the last two Avon's. I became
sad again when another lady, Aya Okano passed me and she was
on an Endorfinn going like the clappers.
Aya Okano a women on a mission.
Photo JC
There were cheers from
the bank as I moved through Toodyay and the team's changeover
point. Further along and before Toodyay there were groups
of people along the shores having picnics and cheering. One
young lad was giving away marshmallows. The Toodyay Rapids
were flowing much better than last year and it didn't seem
that any one was having problems getting down it.
Ray Campbell who kept passing me taking on Toodyay Rapid.
Photo JC
At the West Toodyay bridge
where Pam and Olly were waiting I sped by throwing to them
my empty plastic rice packet. I didn't want it to slip off
my deck and into the water leaving rubbish for all behind
to see. After the bridge the tea trees were getting closer
but it still felt like eternity to get there. First I passed
Weatherall Reserve where the team changeover was located with
cheers from the crowd, then I headed towards the trees feeling
pretty okay despite only eating a banana and a little rice
since leaving.
About 500 metres from the tea trees I could see a crowd of
paddlers entering. They all disappeared, then I saw Baillee
enter the trees soon after. I was a long way from them so
I didn't think they should bother me in the trees. When I
arrived at the trees I was alone, although I had paddlers
following behind but it didn't take me long to catch up and
pass some of the ones in front as they must have taken the
low water route which is much trickier with overhanging branches
with more tight turns than the route I took. Within less than
a kilometre I had overtaken several paddlers. I was happy.
I caught up with a few more paddlers.
I saw them take the centre route and I took the right route
which was possible in these higher waters and I came out before
all of them. Yes I like it, I was on a roll. One by one I
whittled the group down.
As I approached Lovers Lane and Jimperding Brook there was
another big group of paddlers 150 metres ahead. I wasn't looking
forward to catching up as the next two channels were the worst
in the day one tea trees. They disappeared around a right
hand corner and when I got closer I could see they had not
taken the proper channel so they were all stuck in the trees.
Steve Cashion was the only one that managed to get around.
As I sneaked through the usual gap I could see Baillee was
stuck at the front of the pack. I smiled to myself, yes I
got her! Somewhere along the line I had also passed Aya, Danny
Moreton, Dave Martin, Ray Campbell, Jarrad Eaves, Kieran Simpson,
Adam Roujae, Gary Killan, Malcolm Percival, and many others.
Steve Cashion passes me yet again. Photo JC
Steve was now the only
paddler I could see in front which was good as one of the
worst sections of tea trees were ahead. A team paddler who
had passed me several times before was teetering up my backside.
At the Devil's Den Steve took the right safe route which I
expected to be too shallow. There was no one in front so I
took the left channel into the Devil's Den where the channel
meandered around trees and low hanging branches and then had
two fallen trees blocking the channel near the end. I moved
into the channel with the paddler behind clipping my stern.
We were in this narrow channel trying to thread around several
trees with a dangerous chicane at the end and this guy was
clipping me. I was expecting to be pushed sideways but I refrained
from telling him to get lost.
I reached the tricky tree
section and threaded myself through a gap on the right of
the first tree. Branches from another tree were poking out
like moose antlers. I steadied myself and pulled myself around
them and off I went, happy as Larry. John O'Sullivan and another
person were waiting at the end of the channel with cameras
in hand and with cheers of support. They knew people would
be capsizing at that point which happened to the guy behind
me. That's justice for you. I never saw him again after that.
Steve Cashion who took the other route still hadn't appeared.
I took off alone very thankful to have survived the worst
section on the river.
Successful in paddling
through Devil's Den. Photo John O'Sullivan
Two of my competitors
David Martin and Danny Moreton having fun at Devil's Den.
They that start together swim together. Photo John O'Sullivan
Rob Jarret and Chris
Watson get through okay. Photo John O'Sullivan
Another tricky section lay ahead but
in this water level I knew I didn't have to follow the low
water route which had a tree blocking it. There was no one
in front and no one that I could see behind so I approached
it alone. I paddled down a small rapid which I had to portage
only 6 days earlier. I knew my way and I was soon along the
easy bit and down a narrow fast channel and out in the open
and all was honky dory.
Once I had passed those two technical sections I knew it was
going to be easy going from here. There was no one in front
so I had a clear run but within a couple of kms I had caught
up with a bunch of paddlers struggling to find the right way.
I followed for a while as I couldn't pass and then when I
knew they took a longer way I slipped down the quicker channel
leaving them to flounder in the thick trees as they tried
to enter the main channel again. I smiled as I left them all
behind. I now had passed heaps of paddlers many of whom had
passed me earlier on in the day, so things were going very
well.
I paddled a little further to see Bonnie and another paddler
coming away from trees on the right bank. It was a mystery
to which channel they had taken, but it didn't matter, catching
up with Bonnie was the icing on the cake, the best thing since
sliced bread, as she was a long way ahead when we entered
the trees. Bonnie turned her head to look behind and saw me
bearing down on her. The surprise on her face was so rewarding.
I chased her along a long pool but she kept me at bay and
then Steve Cashion caught me up yet again. Steve had been
leapfrogging me most of the day. About 2 kms from the finish
line Bonnie and Steve were still ahead but I had two sneaky
turns up my sleeve that could catch them out if they didn't
know the quickest route. As we reached the end of the last
long pool there is a channel to the right which is usually
quicker so when Bonnie failed to take it and paddled straight
on I was confident I would pass her as the route she took
was usually blocked with trees. Feeling cocky and happy as
Larry I paddled on but when both channels came together again
Bonnie had managed to get through and she was still slightly
ahead. Bugger, now I only had one more chance to get ahead.
Bonnie and Steve led through the last
section of tea trees before the end. They were a little cautious
and as we approached the last sneaky tight gap that I had
up my sleeve I waited to see which way they were going. They
paused when they had two channel choices. Whichever one they
took I knew I could get through the other channel quicker
as I had done it several times before. When they took the
left channel I smiled. I took the right and bingo I got ahead
of them with only Leatherhead Rapid left in my way. With no
one in front to bother me I paddled down Leatherhead with
no problems and into the last few hundred metres of flat water
with Bonnie and Steve trailing.
I was so happy and when I saw Peter Liddle ahead I was even
happier. I was so close to him. I hadn't seen Peter all the
race and I hadn't realised that he had started 2 or 3 minutes
ahead of me so it meant that I was faster than him on day
one.
I crossed the finish line pretty happy, I would have passed
at least 20 paddlers in the trees and I had beaten all the
Saturday morning paddlers and other paddlers that I wanted
to beat except for Sue Quick who was also paddling a WWK1.
She was just too quick for me this year. Looks as if I will
have to paddle harder and do a lot better tomorrow!
Within seconds of paddling over the
line Bonnie turned up. She wasn't quite as happy as me but
apart from Sue and Sam who were paddling composite kayaks
she was the fastest lady in a plastic on the day.
I was pretty happy to
pass Bonnie in the tea trees
Day Two story next week
Race of the Week
9 Years Ago
on Monday 14th
August 2006 I started my
Missouri River
Expedition
Day 1
I was deep in thought as my friend Ed
Jager drove me closer to Three Forks, where the Jefferson,
Madison and Gallatin rivers joined to form the Missouri River,
my starting point. It had taken us over 8 hours of continuous
driving to get here from Ogden, Utah where Ed lived. At 10.30am,
Monday 15th August 2006 I finished loading my kayak with 4
weeks of supplies and was ready to take off on my near 2400
mile (4000km) journey. With a back drop of a high cliff face,
crystal clear water under my hull and the heat already scorching
the valley, I said my goodbyes to Ed, who’s help I had
truly appreciated. Instead of heading downstream I paddled
a little upstream against the current to where the three rivers
joined to form the Missouri River. At this point I was only
100 miles away by river from the great Yellowstone National
Park where grizzly bear, buffalo and wolf roamed, and where
the Madison and Gallatin rivers started their journey.
If you love the outdoors
why not take on a journey
The starting point at
Three Rivers
With the current being
fairly fast and the rocky bottom creating a few small rapids
I turned the kayak, waved to Ed for the last time and headed
downstream passing high cliff faces and mountains to my west
and dry hills to my east. It was hot, everything was dry but
the river was clear and cool and running about 4kms an hour.
I was not feeling in my best paddling shape, having done so
little long distance training in the weeks leading up to today,
due to my busy work load at home, but I had been paddling
for years and I didn’t think it would be a problem. Time
will tell if my 55 year old body would stand up to the 4000kms
of paddling ahead!
It was the explorers Lewis and Clark
who put the Missouri and many of its place names on the map
and I was about to follow their journey downstream. I had
seen a program about their journey on the discovery channel
some years earlier and it had inspired me to follow their
path. Before 1803 the United States only occupied the land
on the eastern side of the Mississippi River making up less
than half the land it occupies today. Two large tracts of
land had to be purchased before it was able to form the 50
states, New Spain and the Louisiana Purchase.
As a result of the Louisiana Purchase
in 1803, President Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark to find
out what lay in this unmapped territory, west of the Mississippi
River by way of the Missouri River. It was in 1804-1806 that
they became the first white men to explore the Missouri River
in full and my journey would not only follow their course,
it would follow a course in history, across Indian Reservations
and lands of the Shoshon, Assiniboins, Hidatsas, Mandan, Sioux,
Pawnee, Oto and Osage and take me down one of the most important
rivers of the world. The big difference was that Lewis and
Clark had to paddle, drag and walk upstream against the current,
as well as having Indians and grizzly bears to consider. They
also recorded their journey and the fauna and flora that they
saw on the way. All I had to do was to paddle 4000kms down
river.
The day was hot, the landscape and the
mountains that were close by were dry, really dry. After a
mile I caught a glimpse of Ed who had followed a track and
was stood on the riverbank. He waved, I waved back, then seconds
later he was lost from my sight. A railway line ran beside
the river and after rounding my first bend a very long train
rattled by. Within minutes, pigeons, pelicans, ducks, hawks
and an eagle by the waters edge became part of my new world.
A big fish even jumped clean out of the water as I neared
Cedar Hill. The river was running quickly at 6 to 9 mph and
accelerated even faster where the grade increased and small
rapids had formed, and that was without paddling. What a start
to my journey.
The mountains that spread around me
were spectacular but they were in a desperate need of a good
rain. Just before moving under a high derelict bridge, an
impressive side canyon and creek joined the Missouri from
the right. To my dismay the current started to ease here as
I entered Toston Lake as another train passed by. Disappointingly
my paddling speed dropped to under 5 miles an hour as I crossed
the small lake. I stopped for a pee on some pebbly rocks and
surprised several ducks and pelicans which were standing on
boulders nearby. It was only a small lake so I soon arrived
at my first dam, pulled out on the left at a boat ramp and
started unloading.
When Lewis and Clark explored the river
there were no dams. Sadly over the years the river has been
subjected to many changes with several dams being built which
has in turn formed small and huge lakes, some over 220 miles
(350kms) long. These dams have created about 17 portages varying
from 300 yards to 4 miles in length. It is only between the
lakes where the river runs free that the river is similar
to what it used to be and it’s not until the last 750
miles (1200kms) that it has no barriers at all. At this point
the river has been straightened, deepened and channelised
to allow barges to carry goods to towns along its path.
The Gates to the Mountains.
Downstream of my start point.
With my gear in several bags and backpacks
I walked and wheeled my kayak by trolley along the dusty track
passing several workmen, working nearby. After I passed the
dam wall I searched for a suitable spot to put in and found
a shallow spot down a rocky bank. As I returned for another
load it was stifling hot and although the portage was only
a few hundred yards it was still extremely hard work especially
because I wasn’t in top shape.
Water was being released from the small
dam, so when I got away from the shallows and exposed rocks
there was a good current running. Once under the bridges at
Toston the hills started to spread apart and the countryside
opened creating a good place for antelope, deer and eagles
to roam and which were plentiful. Despite the fairly quick
current, it still seemed hard to gain the miles and as my
drinking water was hot, it did little to quench my thirst.
I set my sights on reaching the York Islands bush camp, which
meant I would have paddled 36 miles (60kms) for the day, which
I didn’t think was too bad for the first day.
I passed two men who were in an anchored
boat and fishing. A little further I caught up with three other
men in a dory boat who were drifting with the current and fishing.
(A dory is a small, shallow-draft boat, about 16 to 23.0 feet
long. It is a lightweight and versatile boat with high sides,
a flat bottom and sharp bows.) What a pleasant way to fish.
They put their boat in upstream and just sit there and fish
or look at the scenery and let the current take them downstream
with no effort at all. I sped by them and arrived at York Island
boat ramp about 7.00pm. Two couples were loading their canoes
onto their cars when I arrived and by the time I was unpacked
and claimed a camp site, the young fishermen arrived. They had
caught 15 carp but they said they weren’t good eating.
We chatted as I watched them load their boat on the trailer
and they couldn’t believe that I was going all the way
to the Mississippi.
When they were gone I erected my tent
on a grassed spot overlooking the river. It was a nice camp
for my first night. I had a table, a bench, a toilet and a
beautiful view of the river and the fish were jumping. I soon
had some water boiling for a hot chocolate drink. I needed
something to help my weary body get some energy back. My backside
was a little sore, from the seat of my new kayak, but because
I had my trusty thermarest self inflating kayak seat with
me, I could use it the following day to make it more comfortable.
It had been a very hot day and it took
until 10.00pm before the temperature cooled down. As soon
as I had eaten I felt much more refreshed, but with a slightly
weary body, I later laid my head to rest at a place that Lewis
and Clark had camped, 201 years earlier.
If you would like to read the entire
story go to; www.terrybolland.com [ http://www.terrybolland.com ]
Fantastic people Sue and Ed at their
home in Ogden, Utah. Ed transported me to the start of the
Missouri, was there at the end when I finished and also helped
to transport me, Tony and a canoe from Vancouver to Jasper
on another trip. Sadly Ed is not faring so well now after
suffering a stroke, he also has the onset of dementia and
suffers short term memory loss. I owe a lot to Ed.
Races
SLALOM WA –
STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS –
23RD AUGUST 2015
WALYUNGA NATIONAL PARK
SLALOM COURSE
(don’t forget helmets/spraydecks & floatation) or
HESTER PARK SLALOM COURSE
http://slalomwa.canoe.org.au/paddlinglocations/
Proposed Program:
08:00 Course set up & payment of
registrations & Bib Issue
09:00 Briefing
09.15 – Demonstration and practice runs
…
K1 – 1st Runs (Second to follow)
C1 – 1st Runs (Second to follow)
C2 – 1st Runs (Second to follow)
Presentation to follow races
********************
NANGA CHALLENGE
2015
When: Saturday 19 September, 2015
Event HQ: Baden Powell Campground, Lane
Poole Reserve, Dwellingup,
Western Australia
Disciplines: River paddling in moving
water including a couple of small rapids.
mountain biking and cross-country run
Categories: Ironman/woman, pairs, teams
Our Sponsors: Canoeing Downunder, Crank’n
Cycles, Water Wanderers, Protective Case, Joondalup Sports
Remedial Massage, Canoesonline, Alarm Sytems WA, Protective
Cases, BB Cycles & Ascot Riverside Kiosk.
This years charity is Samaritans Crisis
Line
Enter here: http://ascot.canoe.org.au/