Joe Keck wraps up his summer of creeking

October 6, 2009

By Joe Keck

Hey Jackson World!
I wanted to write in with a bit of an updater about this summer
from the Rocky Mountain Region. We had a fantastic summer this
year because of a great snow pack followed by a cool summer. This
weather provided for great flows on the rivers and creeks all
summer. The highlights of my summer were the big drops in the
second gorge of Lime Creek, which I hadn’t run before and all of
the multi-day trips. We ran multi-days on Upper Cherry and West
Cherry Creeks in California, the Black Boxes of the San Rafael in
Utah, the Grand Canyon in Arizona, the Clark’s Fork Box in Wyoming
and the Black Canyon of the Gunnison here in Colorado. It was
quite a bit of traveling, but unbelievable kayaking throughout.
Look me up if you need any beta or a guide. I also got involved in
some of the local races here. It was fun to go up against the pros
on one of my favorite home creeks, South Saint Vrain, during the
Lyons outdoor games. Suffice to say Clay and Dane beat me, but
we’ll see about next year! I did better at the Gore Canyon
Classic, where I placed 6th in the creek boat division. I can’t
wait for next summer, but until then, I’ll be visiting the south
east for a little cool weather paddling!

SYOTR,

Joe from CO

The shots of the purple boat in 2nd Gorge of Lime Creek are by Ryan VanNuys
The shots of the yellow and green boats are from the Clarks Fork Box and were taken by Alex Clayton
The shots of the black boats are in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison by Mike Brodene
The first shot of me in the black boat that is pretty obviously Cali slides was taken by Tyson Titensor in Upper Cherry Creek.