Durham

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Erie

Four leggers.

Sunset from the deck of Ky's parents place on Lake Erie; Cleveland, OH.

Wagons East!

I am, unequivocally, a "western" kid. I say this because I was born, raised, and until recently, resided in the "west." That is, the western United States (of America), and specifically the state of Utah. (Utah is a terrible place - don't ever go there. Especially the rivers. They are dorky.)

But now the time has come to cast off the bowline and begin the next great adventure in my life: a year-long wilderness experience, in the most terrifying wilderness I can fathom -

the "east."

Actually, I couldn't be more excited. My better 2/3rds is gearing up to finish her Masters degree at Duke University in Durham, so we are off to explore new rivers and lakes, new forests, new mountains, new cities and new people, new food and new experiences.

You won't see many desert trip reports for a while, or many dory shots. But if you check back now and then you will see a glimpse into the world of a "western" kid pointing the wagon east.

Happy trails to you.

Hermit

When we got to Granite Falls, the water was high (17K?) and the right side run just looked unreasonable. The first couple waves at the top fed this big, nasty hole and being late in the day, we decided to stop and drink the hole away.

We ran Granite the next morning on lower (but rising) water, and the run was textbook for everyone. Seriously steep and deep!

When we got to Hermit, the water was back up (15-17k?) and the waves were going off. I figured a huge chance of a flip, so I decided to try and cheat the left side with Whit in my boat. Larry and Iris were going down the middle. Ray, Bug, Mikey and Dave would watch, shoot pictures, and decide which way they wanted to go after seeing how we fared.

Larry and Iris had a great run down the gut, with Iris at the oars.

Larry and Iris between waves 4 and 5. Ray Bloxham photos.

My run was a little more interesting. I pushed hard from right to left over the tongue and firmly into the left side.

Kept pushing...

and a big lateral wave from the left side pushed me right into the middle of the tongue.

So I went with it, and ended up having a big, fun run.

Whitney getting a front tube to the face in the 5th Wave. Ouch! Sorry Whit.

Taking some heavy tailwaves.

Grand Canyon 2008: Lees Ferry to South Cove