Over the past year and a half I have spent time kayaking the little. But, my lessons started a few years ago when I started canoeing whitewater with a flatwater 15ft canoe. The Little taught me that day that if I want to paddle whitewater I needed the right gear. I pinned and folded that boat at least twice paddling it down the little. As I moved to running the easier sections of the river I learned little lessons about water levels and when the gauge says it's too low...that means it is too low. Once I started running the rougher stuff... Meanies, sinks, elbow etc... I had a few key lessons. First, don't forget your skirt. On a nice spring day last spring I drove the 1.5hrs to the little just to see that I had left my skirt high and dry at home. I promptly turned around a drove home... lesson learned. Today I learned another lesson at the little. I paddled with my friend Dave and he didn't feel like running the meanies or the sinks today so I decided I was going to fire it up with Dave setting safety. The first drop of the meanies went well. I was endered alittle, but nothing bad. Second drop was a different story. Normally I ferry across and boof the little rock in the center and miss the pourover while landing in the eddy. Today the water was alittle low and instead of boofing the rock I hit it and stopped. This flushed me into the pourover sideways where I proceed to get a nice surf. Finally I flipped and when I rolled up I had flushed out, but I was freezing. That is when the Little taught me another valuable lesson. ZIP UP YOUR DRY SUIT! I ran the sinks with out major issues but did have to role up at the bottom. Dave got a few pictures of this and I will post them when he sends them over. Over all the little seems to always save a few key lessons for me each time I visit...This one was a chilly one to learn.
Epic Fail Boof Line
Getting a nice hole ride... you can see my drysuit unzipped!
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