Idaho and Back: 4 months on the road & back to Dec boating at home.

I left Moscow, Idaho on July 30th of this year and headed east across North America. My plans were to surf on the Ottawa for a few weeks, head south to compete in the World Cup, and then spend some time on the Gauley River in West Virginia. I got to paddle so many more rivers than I anticipated and I didn’t end up returning back to Idaho until late November. Here’s the list of rivers I got to paddle: Ottawa, Gauley, New, Raquette, Green, Moose, Tallulah, Great Falls on the Potomac, Russell Fork, and the Watauga. The play spots I hit were: Rock Island, Pigeon, NOC, Eternity hole, and Big Rock.
The last week I spent back east paddling was in Rock Island, TN with the Jackson family, Clay, Jessie and Juerg. I only planned on staying a few days, but the weather was amazing and I was having so much fun paddling with everyone that I ended up staying a week! The Jackson house is such and entertaining place to be because of the games (Frisbee golf, football, and ping pong!), Kristine’s wonderful cooking, and family dinners. I also got a tour of the Jackson factory. It was pretty cool to see how our boats are manufactured. The weekend before Thanksgiving I finally decided I needed to leave Rock Island and start my drive back to Idaho.

On my way home I paddled with my friends in Missoula and then hit my favorite play spot on the Spokane River with some good friends in Coeur D’alene, ID and, of course, Jud Keiser. It’s good to be home, but I already miss kayaking almost every day and all of the friends I made while out east. At least we are getting some rain right now in North Idaho, so there might be some boating here this December!!