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By Jesse Coombs

Hi Everyone,
Most people may not realize this, but one of my favorite things about being on Team Jackson Kayak is the fact that we have a bunch of great youngsters on the team. I have always enjoyed kids, and to have several of them on the team with great attitudes is a special aspect to the team. During Paddlefest at Buena Vista we all taught classes and helped CKS as well as showing the premier of Hotel Charley 3: The Lost World. Sunday afternoon I was looking for the opportunity to run something harder. I spoke with Ben about getting on the Pine Creek section of the Arkansas and he was definitely interested. Earlier in the day during lunch I saw Jason Craig and invited him to join us for a run on Pine Creek and the Numbers. I also saw Lauren Burress and invited her to join us as well. After a short session at the play features I saw Jason, Dane and Jonathan and they were all fired up to get on the river and work their skills on some harder water.

We loaded up the tour van with the three boys and 5 boats and gear and headed over to the shop. We saw Lauren there as well as some others. Before we knew it there were 9 of us for this trip. I checked with EJ to make sure he knew what the youngsters were doing, and we headed off in a caravan for the water. Jason, Jonathan, Dane, Ben and I decided to run the Pine Creek section and then we would join up with the rest of the group for the Numbers section. We spent a minute scouting the holes and then headed for the put in. With no warm up, we all got in our boats and as soon as we were all in the water we headed straight in to the maw. Of our group, only Ben had done this section before. Not wanting to rob ourselves of the experience of figuring it out, Jonathan, Dane, Jason and I took off for the front looking forward to mixing it up. We all had good lines, each of them a bit different. Dane decided he wanted to pass the big hole on the right while the rest of us went left. He got pulled into the hole a bit but a quick flush and roll and he was out with big smiles. We all were smiling from ear to ear. It is a short adrenaline filled section with fun moves.

We then quickly saw the rest of our 9 person group and headed into the Numbers. I have to say, we have the best kids on our team. Lauren, Jason, Jonathan and Dane were playing with every feature on the river, knew it like the back of their hands, and were always looking for a reason to smile to the person next to them. We were taking every hero line we could find on the river and plugging every hole. With plenty of teasing, laughing and playing we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves for the entire section. There is such a great energy in paddling with younger paddlers, and I truly appreciate their unchained enthusiasm for the river and good times.

A big thanks to Lauren’s mom for running shuttle and taking photos. I hope everyone has the opportunity to paddle with kids. It keeps you grounded! We can sometimes let our egos or adult responsibilities carry over onto our time on the river, and paddling with kids on the river is a great reminder that only valid reason of being on the river is the smiles.

 
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