Oh Be Joyful Triple

On my day off, my friend and co-worker Bobby drove up to Crested Butte with me to do a little creeking. Bobby wasn't up for running the big stuff, so he covered photo detail. I ended up running the creek 3 times, and we didn't see a single other person while we were up on the creek. It was pretty cool getting that high alpine wilderness experience with beautiful scenery and fun waterfalls. Bobby ended building a harness out of a piece of webbing and did some rope work to get some pretty good shots, here they are:

The Crested Butte Quadruple Crown

I've temporarily left the southeast for the summer to work as an intern for Colorado Kayak Supply, so I'll be living in Buena Vista Colorado for the next 3 months.

This past weekend, I was able to do something I've wanted to do for a long time. I left Buena Vista Saturday morning and drove up to Crested Butte to run what's called the Crested Butte Quadruple Crown: Oh Be Joyful, Daisy Creek, The North Slate, and The Upper East River.

It was really cool to hang out with the CB local crew. The paddlers that I met in CB represent what kayaking is all about with their help and hospitality. Here are some pictures from the day:

(upper gorge on Daisy Creek)

(the slightly continuous nature of Daisy Creek)

(Crested Butte backcountry)

(my new facebook picture)

(zach springer running "rip your head off" on daisy creek)

(big wood falls on daisy, unfortunately our camera missed us here due to the lack of eddies)

(ethan passant dropping in)

(eddy party)




(zach on the big one on OBJ)


(Chris Menges running the put-in drop on OBJ)


(the fun snow hiking around OBJ and Daisy)


(ethan passant contemplating his line before dropping in)


(menges dropping into the maw)

After the quadruple crown on saturday, I hung out in CB for the night thanks to the awesome hospitality of CKS Squad member Zach Springer. We woke up a little earlier on Sunday and ran the north slate and Oh Be Joyful one more time to end the weekend.

Overall, this has been one of the best weekends of kayaking I've ever had. I was able to paddle 4 new creeks in one day, most of which were class V.

So far Colorado has been awesome, and I've only been here for a week. Check back soon for details and pictures of what I call the BVAK (Buena Vista Ass Kicker)...