Spring Cleaning by Will Richardson | May 4, 2008 | Uncategorized | 0 comments May 3, 2008 By Joe Keck Hey Jackson Kayakers! It’s spring here in the Rockies and things are starting to gush. As Earl from Colorado Kayak Supply mentioned, rumor has it that CO is going to go off this season. We have a monster snowpack and it has been cold all spring, which keeps all that snow from melting away slowly before the runoff. Speaking of CKS, be sure to check out Paddlefest in Buena Vista on May 15th-18th. That’s only two weeks away! With any luck, one of my favorite creeks, Clear Creek of the Arkansas (IV+/V-), will be running. If so, be sure to meet me up there for an evening run all three days of the Fest and I’ll line you out. Even if creeking isn’t your style, I guarantee that the Ark valley will have top tier paddling for everyone between several play parks and sections of all difficulties. I’ll see you there along with EJ, Clay and the rest of Team JK. I hate to be cliche, but now is the time for a little spring cleaning. Normally, I head up a local creek with a chainsaw, but this spring I joined 180 other volunteers to clean up the South Platte River as it rolls through downtown Denver. It was a little cleaning to help all the citizens of Denver enjoy the local river. The haul was impressive with fully loaded rafts, duckies and kayaks removing car bumpers, bottles, bags of trash and even a dead cat. The event coordinators did a fantastic job of recruiting volunteers and sponsors, but I still might be more impressed by the mean barbeque skills they demonstrated at the take-out. At the event, I ran into a slew of Jackson boaters including a cute JK couple, but the most impressive one was a 7 year-old Sidekick named Henry. His whole family was out helping the cause and he was down right bored with the II+/III- rapids. One of his goals for the season is to run the committing Lower Taos Box (III+/IV-) with his dad! On a final note, I just couldn’t leave you guys without a few shots of the gnar-gnar. The first classic of the CO creek season is Escalante creek (V-). It’s an absolute five-star desert gem and worth the drive if she’s flowing well. These shots of the Purple Stomper were taken at a medium/high level by Tom Janey. Cheers! Colorado Joe 7 year old Sidekick Henry Jace and Christine getting after it Trashman Roy Submit a Comment Cancel replyYour email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Email * Website Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ
