A Year of Awesome Opportunities

A Year of Awesome Opportunities!

Today I am writing from the Sequoia National Forest- we are parked at the take out of Brush Creek. A Creek I ran 12 years ago but not since! My husband Nick and I have two kids and two dogs packed into my Sprinter RV, and a trailer full of kayaks.

Each year when we pack up our RV from TN and hit the road, our schedule is semi planned but we never really know what we’re up to. Like a river, we are simply going with the flow.

We have been on the road for over a month already. We visited Iowa and their new WW Park (super FUN!)

We moved slowly towards the PNW with a quick stop in Boise, ID that turned into 10 days of amazing paddling. High water river runs, fun playspots and more…

We finally made it to White Salmon Washington and spent over two weeks doing runs on the White Salmon river and Nick ran a few of the surrounding waterfalls.

The cooler weather encouraged us to move south. We had planned on being in Coloma, CA but the passes got snowed in and its not an ideal place for our RV, so we went to Reno, NV where they had more water then I had ever seen there before. We did several days of big water runs, plus a few days playing at the playpark. All my friends in Reno have Kids, so we balanced kayaking with excessive amounts of Playdates.

Now we are in Kernvill,e California. Where the weather is pleasantly hot, the water levels are insanely high and we are camping where we get absolutely no service.

Not having set plans and following the good flows reminds me how awesome the nomadic lifestyle is. I like to have some stuff organized, always make sure I have a stash of diapers, baby food, and everything my family needs to function. (water, coffee, food) But beyond that as long as we are together and doing what we love, wherever we are seems to be the right place.

Yesterday I ran Brush Creek again for the first time in 12 years. The water was quite a bit higher so it was more difficult then I remembered. I had great lines the whole way down, and was much more calm then I anticipated being. While I don’t know if I will do it this high again before we leave, there is something special about returning to a river you haven’t done in several years. A reminder of what brings my family and I to these small towns, and remote locations. I hope everyone has the opportunity to chase what they love!

We do have some events we want to hit up along the way, see family, friends and compete in as many rodeo and creek races as possible. I hope to see some of you who love whitewater as much as we do, and if I don’t see you at one of these stops! Then hopefully I will simply SYOTR somewhere else!

Happy Paddling
Emily Jackson-Troutman

5/12-14/17 Reno River Festival
5/26-28/17 CKS Festival
5/30-31/17 US Team Trials, BV CO
6/3-4/17 Animas River Days
6/8-11/17 GoPro Games
6/15-17/17 North Fork Championship
6/22-25/17 Subaru Outdoor Games
7/21-23/17 Toby Creek Race (BC ?)
8/12-13/17 Montreal Eau Vive
9/2-3/17 Canada Cup
9/15-17/17 Gauley Festival
9/22-24/17 GAF
10/5-7/17 Sickline
10/20-22/17 Lord of the Fork Race
11/4/17 Green Race
11/22-26/17 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, Argentina