I sometimes come across really fascinating articles in the paddling community that I think may be of interest to the readers of my RM Outdoor Adventures mystery series (Deadly Currents, Wicked Eddies, Fatal Descent). Here's a very cool one:
http://paddlinghq.com/general-news/4697-seven-kayak-facts-you-didnt-know.html
Showing posts with label whitewater. Show all posts
Showing posts with label whitewater. Show all posts
Monday, October 07, 2013
Friday, August 02, 2013
A Duckies Trip!
Last Wednesday, I went on a duckies (inflatable kayaks) trip with a group from the Summit County Senior Center on the upper Colorado River through the Little Gore Canyon. This is a section of mild whitewater, class II and III rapids, that is ideal for duckies, especially during the low water flows of late summer. Our outfitter, KODI Rafting, took excellent care of us, and the two guides kept a wary watch on us from their rafts, which served as the lead and sweep boats on the trip. We all had a great time, even those in the group who had never paddled duckies before.
The first photo below shows some of our group (I'm wearing the yellow shorts and floppy hat in the middle) during the "safety talk." The second photo shows me in my yellow ducky, and in the third, I'm lounging in a small riverside hot springs pool with fellow paddlers.
The first photo below shows some of our group (I'm wearing the yellow shorts and floppy hat in the middle) during the "safety talk." The second photo shows me in my yellow ducky, and in the third, I'm lounging in a small riverside hot springs pool with fellow paddlers.
Monday, July 02, 2012
Saving Guatemala's Wild Rivers
Last Friday, my husband and I saw a beautiful, moving, and adventuresome film at the Colorado Mountain College auditorium in Breckenridge. Titled Rios Guatemala, it chronicles an expedition down some beautiful and exciting whitewater rivers in Guatemala. It also shows the brave diplomacy that had to come into play when angry Mayan villagers detained paddlers they mistook for hydroelectric engineers. The expedition had to convince the Mayans that they had the same goals--to preserve and protect the rivers.
The film was made to bring attention to the danger threatening these Guatemalan rivers, due to proposed dam and mine development, and to the need for developing a sustaining ecotourism industry in the area. Ecotourism would offer an alternative to exploitation of these wild and pristine rivers and provide a source of income to the indigenous Mayan people. The film is being shown in the United States to attract attention and funding to a brand new foundation, the Rios Guatemala Foundation.
After viewing the film, I was ready to go to Guatemala! What a beautiful country, and what an amazing trip it would be to paddle down those roaring rivers. To see previews of the film on YouTube, go HERE and HERE.
To find out more about the Rios Guatemala Foundation and its mission to provide for the enjoyment, preservation and restoration of wild rivers in Guatemala, go HERE. You can see and hear the director, Guatamalan native Max Baldetty, talk about their vision at the website. You can read a mouth-watering description of their planned "Highlands to the Sea" fundraising expeditions on the Rios Lanquin and Cahabon, named by Paddler Magazine as one of the twelve best jungle river trips in the world. And you can gather a group of whitewater paddling friends and contact the foundation to schedule your own trip of a lifetime. You can feel good about it, too, because twenty percent of the trip sales go directly to the RIOS Guatemala Foundation and the preservation and restoration of river ecosystems in Guatemala.
The film was made to bring attention to the danger threatening these Guatemalan rivers, due to proposed dam and mine development, and to the need for developing a sustaining ecotourism industry in the area. Ecotourism would offer an alternative to exploitation of these wild and pristine rivers and provide a source of income to the indigenous Mayan people. The film is being shown in the United States to attract attention and funding to a brand new foundation, the Rios Guatemala Foundation.
After viewing the film, I was ready to go to Guatemala! What a beautiful country, and what an amazing trip it would be to paddle down those roaring rivers. To see previews of the film on YouTube, go HERE and HERE.
To find out more about the Rios Guatemala Foundation and its mission to provide for the enjoyment, preservation and restoration of wild rivers in Guatemala, go HERE. You can see and hear the director, Guatamalan native Max Baldetty, talk about their vision at the website. You can read a mouth-watering description of their planned "Highlands to the Sea" fundraising expeditions on the Rios Lanquin and Cahabon, named by Paddler Magazine as one of the twelve best jungle river trips in the world. And you can gather a group of whitewater paddling friends and contact the foundation to schedule your own trip of a lifetime. You can feel good about it, too, because twenty percent of the trip sales go directly to the RIOS Guatemala Foundation and the preservation and restoration of river ecosystems in Guatemala.
Friday, March 09, 2012
Water Sports Blogs and Websites I Recommend
Given that my RM Outdoor Adventures mystery series has a whitewater river ranger as its sleuth, you would expect me to have my finger on the pulse of the whitewater sports community, and you would be right. If reading Deadly Currents has piqued your interest in this activity and you want to learn more, here's some recommended blogs and websites:
American Canoe Association blog
American Rivers blog, a river conservation organization that I support
River Ranger blog (particularly if you're inspired to become a river ranger and are looking for job postings)
Waterblogged, the blog for O.A.R.S.
Rafting.AllAboutRivers.com for a list of outfitters serving each state with whitewater rivers
Whitewater Rafting for similar information about outfitters throughout the US
Rafting Colorado website for information about Colorado outfitters
About.com's Whitewater festival calendar
FIBArk whitewater rafting festival website
US National Whitewater Center website, where our Olympic whitewater athletes train
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
A Worthwhile Column: Letting Go of the Negative
I read this column in the Opinion page of the Summit Daily News this morning and had to share it with my blog readers. The topic is about overcoming the fear of running whitewater rapids, but the inspirational message could apply to so many things in people's lives. Enjoy and feel inspired!
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