Posted on 03/14/08 12:41 AM| by Team Kagome
On March 1st we took care of our kayak cert with Wave Trek/OAC on the Skykomish River out of Index. The morning started out with dryland training, review of the basics and watching videos while eating delicious waffles whipped up by our great instructor crew. We then headed out to the river to practice our skills of reading the river and basic paddle strokes. It was a fairly cold day, with the snow level not too far above us and a light drizzle which at one point turned into hail. Needless to say, no one was looking forward to an unplanned swim.
After doing some more river reading and grabbing a quick bite to eat, we loaded up the boats to drive down river to run a lower section. Our guides were in play boats and we were all soloing inflatable kayaks. The inflatable boats are much more stable but also less responsive than the hard shell boats. Either way, they were much more seaworthy than a Sevylor Tahiti, which we have all used at some point in local races.
We put in and hit a decent rapid right out of the gate. We all made it through but managed to get an idea of how cold the water was from catching a little water in the face from the waves. We pulled out upstream from Fisherman’s and scouted the river. We all decided to run it on the left side, making sure to avoid the two holes just off the left bank. Roger went first, followed by Jared, Jen and then Dave. Roger made it through, no problem. Jared got turned sideways in a wave and took a swim, ending up sitting on a rock right above a hole. Jen made it through, just missing Jared on the rock. Looking upriver for Dave, all we saw was a boat stuck in a hole – no Dave. Yikes! A few minutes later, he popped out on the shore. It turned out that he was stuck in the hole with the boat, unable to get out. In the flip, he lost his paddle so we got to practice a little towing on the rest of the trip. Not too long later, a local on the shore lent us an oar so Dave was able to paddle again.
After the river, we headed back to Index to change into dry clothes, put away our gear and stand in front of the biggest “space heater” you’ve ever seen. This thing could melt your clothes! It was a great day on the river, despite the cold and rainy weather. We actually got a few sun breaks throughout the day. On the way home, we stopped for Mexican food and went over out to do lists and plans for upcoming events.
