Saturday, February 24, 2007

Feb, 24th 2007 - the streak hits 15!



The temperature was about 28 degrees with a south wind in our face. The river gauge has been frozen on 6.3 feet the last few weeks but we figured with the recent snow melt there should be no issue and we should not get stuck . It is bad enough when you need to step into the river when it is warm. Dressed appropriately, Pat and I put in at Community park with a takeout destination of Royce Rd.
The air temperature was not a factor but we quickly discovered the river appeared to be very low and the prospect of getting stuck was a distinct possibility. Shortly after we passed Kent's work (and called him to let him know we were floating by...we missed you buddy!), our worst fear was realized. Just south of 63rd there we sat in the middle of a 6" deep river. Al tough I had speculated that with my additional insulation, I could out wait Pat and he would be the one to give-in and step into the frigid water, it was Kayakman Dan that plunged his feet into the icy water. A couple of tugs and a few wet steps later, we were back "floatin' down the Dupe".
The things you do for your little brother!!
My recently waterproofed boots and my Goretex socks worked quite well, not that I want to try that again. Other than getting stuck a few times, the trip was uneventful without any significant events.
Check out "My photos on Flickr" in the "Other sites to see" section to the right.

Saturday, February 17, 2007

February 2007....a deep freeze




February has been an extremely cold month with temperatures dipping below zero. We are in the 2nd to last weekend in the month and my fear is our consecutive month kayaking streak will come to an end. Both Kent and Pat talked to me today about kayaking so I am not alone in the quest to keep the streak alive. The west branch appears to have many areas of frozen river, however, as you can see from the pictures taken today, the east branch seems to be flowing ice-free.

The forecast next week is for upper 30's and rain so we should be good to go. Although it will be pushing the steak to the end towards the end of a month, it won't be as bad as the miserable conditions Pat and I endured on the last Sunday in April 2006.

Hopefully I will have an entry next week summarizing how we kept the streak alive!!