Richland, Repeat Tuesday

[A Savage spanke]

and where are the pictures of the bootie beers?

[NoQuarter]

First timer report!

Yeah, I swam twice and I deserve to shotgun a couple through a nasty rotten wet sock. I know I learned the difference between gettin' your roll down and getting it in your body. Felt good about my roll on the Tot and this was a totally different demand for reaction. Like I said a couple days ago, I would have traded for more volume in an instant. River beats the s**t out of you quick if you're over.

The creek was at around 3.3 when we got on and it was definitely exposed and technical. Jimmy was right when he mentioned later that warming up during the first couple of relatively calm miles is a good idea. Roadblock was a good wakeup but on Knucklebuster, I saw Chris get hung in the middle and Anthony was dodging around him, trying to catch the right eddy. Just like an (in)patient noob, i decided I would be able to run left of the ledge. That's where I didn't plan well enough and got pushed onto the ledge, bow stalled over and hung. High brace there might have popped my paddle, still under warranty, but I didn't notice it until after we ran the falls. Rolled there but it was definitely a good reminder that the creek was bony under there and your head does not belong.

All I know is that I kept following the lines set out by the four chill members of the crew and even though we were sometimes on top of each other, I got to practice the hell out of my boof and we ran most every drop clean. I'd just see someone disappear downriver and know that's where I needed to look for some air. I can definitely say I went from seeing rocks as problems and instead saw them as features. Should have taken the time to catch a few more eddies but to pick my way through lines and adjust to the river pretty quickly.

Lower screw up was especially fun, especially after hitting my tail and swimming Upper Screw Up--got hit a couple of times good on the helmet. Will be replacing with something MUCH BETTER THAN PROTEC 'cause I had it adjusted pretty tight and a rock still got me up around the temple. I'm most interested in the paddle techniques that will increase my margin of error and build into my muscle memory the reactions to forestall a roll.

Anyway, door #2 was an awesome intense drop and by the time I flew across Maytag I couldn't believe we were done. I wanted more but also very glad that I made it through without learning any harder lessons, 'cause it was definitely there... Kyle's chin can attest.

All my respect for the guys who were kind enough to cruise with me, especially Chris for setting it all up. He, Anthony and Jed were the Crazy eyed jesters, egging us on and just putting forth that f**k yeah attitude. Billy made Richland seem like his stinking backyard creek and knew every little eddy, squirting holes and spinng rocks just like it was walking to the kitchen. Gives me a shitload to know I have to learn. Kyle is just the stand up guys who makes everything look easier than it should the first time.

Richand is without a doubt the most beautiful fun kayaking I have ever done and I look forward to getting a few things corrected, getting out there again and eventually making it my backyard creek.

And the story of the dude who got pinned running the lower section ALONE isn't worth retelling except to say we had a fire going at the end and yes, I had to drive with SPANKE's d*ck drawing in the dust on my windsheild all the way back to Marble 'cause I was out of wiper fluid...

I felt alive and all the other s**t was in nice perspective that we've got it fucking good any day like the one I had last Tuesday.

[Cowper]

Now I'm hating it even more that I missed this one.

But thanks for taking the time to share a detailed report!

[anthony]

The outage is over right??

[ckuntz]

Great write up Jon!
Didn't know about Spanke's artwork... hahahaha
Had another great and entertaining time on Richland :)
Chris

[Cowper]

Yes, outage is over, but luck of the draw I'm on pager duty this week - no days off, even on the weekend have to be ready to go in to work if needed. Monday morning I was able to handle watching the gage go up on the grounds that I might have missed that one anyway, it could have turned and headed down at 2.9, or any other excuse I could think of to not think about it too much. But from Monday noon on, seeing that it would still be there Tuesday with a forecast of 65 and sunny, that was tough.

So I really do appreciate these reports - it's all I get this week!

[hfunkhouser]

Don't feel bad, John. I took my first Richland trip in Feb, and I took a couple of easy swims. It showed me that I needed to work on some stuff, too. Richland is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. I just wanna say again that the crew that was there are some great folks, and we were very fortunate to have had them there. I'm putting some practice in, and hope to see all of you out there very soon.
Howard

[A Savage spanke]

I feel like I need to say this again. I didn't draw anything on your windsheild, that was some other people in my crew. The reason i'm pointing this out is because I have a black truck that currently has 3 dicks scratched into the clear coat from people drawing in the dirt. So please don't feel like you need to get revenge on me, because I didn't do it.