The summer season is closing out. No more Black River rafting or shirtless laps on the Bottom Moose...

It was a great season, and I've learned a lot from it. I started the season off with a week and a half of some of the best boating I've ever done. It was right in my backyard too. The now annual Spring-Moosefest provided a great kickoff; including an R2 descent of the Alpine Line on Crystal, my personal first descent of the Alpine Line in a kayak, and a rescue on the hard-to-catch Mill Creek that resulted in an unnecessary 911 call. 

After a day of rest, I jumped straight into a week-long kayaking extravaganza. Joining me were such esteemed figures as Scott Martin, Thayer Walker, Alan Panebaker, Uncle Jim, and Will (Papa C) Crimmins. These guys have some of the best attitudes in whitewater, and paddling with them will make for a great day no matter what the conditions. 

I managed to catch Woodhull Creek, Fish Creek, Otter Creek, the Independence River, the Middle Branch of the Oswegatchie River, and the Black River over the next 6 days with some combination of the culprits mentioned above. After another day of rest I showed Cory Haas down the Indy. This was maybe his 5th day on the water, and he ran EVERYTHING. I guess he must have had a great instructor...

A few days later and 4 wisdom teeth less, I began my road trip to Portland, OR. My father and I spent 27 hours in my 2 door Hyundai Accent with no air conditioning and a muffler that didn't do it's job. It was a fun trip. After a brief layover in Murdo, SD (population 60, no joke) we made our way to Missoula, MT for a night out on the town courtesy of Doug Ammons. The next day was spent reuniting with long-time-best-friend Ian Jirasko, and driving to the town near Palouse Falls. That's a big one...

Moving into Portland, I felt like I was in a bigger Burlington, but without friends or any idea where to go. Homesickness was definitely a bigger problem than expected, but after a week or two, I got into the swing of things and started to have a great time in the City of Roses.

Memorable runs included the Orletta section of the White Salmon, SUPing the Lower Clackamas, the Lower Wind, the Wenatchee Play Run, walking off Icicle Creek, the North Fork Skykomish with another East Coast transplant, multiple Hanford trips, and the infamous Green Truss section of the White Salmon.

The paddling scene in the PNW is just incredible. There are so many paddlers and rivers there, it would be easy to spend the rest of your life and never paddle the same run. The people are great, and the whitewater is challenging. Do yourself a favor and get out there. I hear eNRG Kayaking knows what's up...

After countless memories had been made, it was time to make my sad farewell. Thank you so much to Sam Drevo, Niko Peha, Michael Gordon, Ben Small, Cat Loke, Laura Taylor, and everyone else that made my time in Portland so great!

On the way home my dad and sister wanted to do something fun. I told them to go jump off a bridge...
After that, driving was a little boring. We made a 33 hour push from best-friend Ian's in Western Montana all the way to Cedar Point, Ohio. It was good to be out of the car.

Since I've been home, I've playboated a bunch, developed a staph infection, missed out on the 4 hours of creeking that is the Moshier release, spent multiple days in the hospital fighting said infection, and gone to class.

Finally, I wrapped up the summer season very much the same way I started it. Boating on new runs with good friends.

I rallied down to Gauleyfest in Summersville, WV with Scott Martin with plans on meetng up with Papa C and Sam Drevo. A night spent in one of the worst rainstorms I've ever experienced and several hours waiting at the put-in for the Upper Yough had me worried that I should have stuck to going to class. Once on the river that all changed though. Despite locals claiming the water was too high; Scott, Sam, and Eli all fired it up in their playboats, and I paddled Scott's Detox...which lets face it, is a playboat. A quick drive down to Summersville revealed slightly warmer temperatures, but the gracious invitation to sleep in the hotel with Mr. Yakima was much appreciated.

A mellow but fun day on the Lower Gauley while Scott shot the Girls at Play was a nice warm up for the Upper the next day. The Upper Gauley is a great run and sees so much traffic from commercial rafting and unprepared private boaters that it's difficulties and dangers get talked up a lot. If you're comfortable on big water and use a bit of common sense, you'll be fine on the Upper Gauley.

Coming into Pillow Rock on the UG. Note the crowds on river left and right, this is about half the people that were there watching. Also note Sam Drevo backlooping out of the Room of Doom

All in all, it was a great summer season. One worth celebrating, for sure. For now it's time to dig out those extra fleece layers and find the drytops. It's getting cold here in the North, the leaves are starting to change, and that means the fall rains are coming to pump up the Adirondack Classics.