PK and Gail went to Santa Fe, NM last weekend, for a weekend of fun and sun with some family, but more importantly, to eat at Maria's Kitchen, which is a top notch Mexican food restaurant in town that has hooked many, many people over the years. It's pretty remarkeable, because you will be talking to somebody completely random that you don't know and if Santa Fe gets brought up 9 times out of 10 they know what it is, and are hooked themselves. Bottom line, eat there if you get a chance.
On Saturday PK and my uncle Tom went fishing on the Rio Chama, first ending up at the tailwater below Abiquiu Dam, northwest of Espanola, NM. This is host to a short, easy stretch of water that is more popular with the fishermen more than the paddlers. The fish were not biting, so they headed upstream to the Day Run of the Chama Canyon, which is where we are heading next spring for our annual beginning of the season New Mexico trip. PK took some pictures to pre scout where we will be next year, and I gotta say, it looks pretty fun. Can't wait.
abiquiu dam
below Abiquiu Dam
more below Abiquiu
looking up into Chama Canyon
the rio chama
the rio chama again
class II+ overdose
big and brown
can't wait
As always, the more people we can get to come next spring, the better this trip will be....
Benjamin Wright aka Ben-jammin, Benjamanover, Ben-gina "I like freshmen......"
person-> Profession: Furniture Placement Consultant Hometown: Carbondale, CO Hair: Short Ride: Toyota 4Runner Riding Since: 1998 gear-> Board: Burton Ronin 164 Boots: Burton Ronin Poles: he doesn't use poles, DUH Jacket: Quicksilver Pants: Special Blend
extraneous-> When I grow up I want to be........a ROCKER The soundtrack of my life is composed by.........Iron Maiden My favorite food is........anything as long as it's meat and potatoes My beverage of choice is.......New Castle Ale OR Chocolate Milk
person-> Profession: skier Hometown: North Conway, NH Hair: spikey Ride: no ride, he's a bum Riding Since: 1990
gear-> Skis: High Society FR 187 Boots: Dalbello Krypton Pro Poles: Leki customs Jacket: 4 Square Pants: 686
extraneous-> When I grow up I want to be........a pushaman The soundtrack of my life is composed by.........DMX & Journey (together) My favorite food is........shepard's pie My beverage of choice is.......BEER
person-> Profession: lift ops/tar junkie Hometown: Gunnison, CO Hair: unkempt Ride: '93 Ford Explorer Riding Since: 1993 gear-> Skis: Rossignol Scratch Brigade 178 Boots: Lange CRL 170 Poles: Scott Jacket: The North Face Pants: The North Face
extraneous-> When I grow up I want to be........geologist by day, gynecologist by night The soundtrack of my life is composed by.........Rammstein My favorite food is........Bacon Cassarole My beverage of choice is.......Bitburger
extraneous-> When I grow up I want to be........an eXtReMe mountain man The soundtrack of my life is composed by.........Rush My favorite food is........5B's Tatornator My beverage of choice is.......Extra Gold Lager
The paddling season is officially over, and it's time to recap on the glorious season we had here in Gunnison. With the water high all year, there was plenty of paddling to go around, and we saw to it that we got as much possible in this year. All told, I personally logged 48 separate trips, and accumulated 288.5 river miles. I had somewhere around 350 going into this summer, which brings my career total to somewhere over 600. I have the official mileage somewhere, I just need to find it, and when I do I will bring that information to light.
With this year firmly behind us, its time to honor some folks with some awards for this season.
Swim Team Captain: Kevin Brooks Kevin racked up an incredible EIGHT swims this summer. A few on the Taylor, a few on the Gunny, some his fault and some not his fault, Kevin showed this year that he is NOT afraid of the Gunnison River, even when it's freight-training at 3350 cfs. Honorable Mention: Gerilyn Williamson
Dead Man Walking: Ben Hendy After flipping his cataraft in the flood-swollen Psychadelic Falls, without a life vest, Ben nearly became the state's 4th high water victim after the runoff laden river sucked the life out of him and made him a rag doll. If not for the timely assistance of Marcus, we might have lost our portly but beloved companion. Honorable Mention: Nikki Williamson
Boofmaster 2008: Aaron the Old Man In true Aaron fashion, he launched his sturdy Wavesport of every rock in sight, sometimes with positive, and sometimes with negative, but always with comical results. On the few times he pulled them off it was pretty rad; watching him sail off the last ledge on Farmer's Bridge is one of my prize days from this year. Honorable Mention: Nate Hardy
Rookie of the Year: Corey Hartman Corey only went once with us this year, and the day he chose to go the Gunnison hit 4750 cfs, three days before it's peak of 5100 cfs. It was the highest I ran the Gunny all summer, and Corey betrayed no ounce of fear otr trepidation, and instead tore it up and did great.
Freestyle Award: Paul Muirhead Whether he's surfing, splatting, cartwheeling, or spinning, Paul is a blast to watch on the river. He plays in any wave he can find, wave wheels and cartwheels downstream through wave trains, splats or spins on any rock he can find, and just generally has the best time possible on the water. It's fun watching Paul because he really shows how versatile a kayak can be!
Bitch Award: Marcus Elich Marcus started the season strong, going 8 for 10 to start the season. Then, he randomly decided the family motorboat was more worth his time, and his battered craft, in need of simple repairs, sat unused for the rest of the summer. What happened Marcus? Where'd ya go??
Here is my total log from this season. Every trip has it's details but I will spare you those in favor of this simple list:
4/05 Rio Grande R- Orilla Verde 4/06 Rio Grande R- Orilla Verde 4/19 Gunnison R- Middle + Lower 4/20 Gunnison R- Middle + Lower 4/26 Taylor R- Upper 4/27 Gunnison R- Middle + Lower 5/03 Gunnison R- Middle 5/11 Gunnison R- Middle + Lower 5/19 Gunnison R- Middle 5/21 Gunnison R- Middle 5/25 Gunnison R- Middle + Lower 5/29 Gunnison R- Middle 5/30 Gunnison R- Middle 5/31 Gunnison R- Middle + Lower 6/01 Gunnison R- Extended Lower 6/14 Arkansas R- Big Bend - Salida 6/15 Taylor R- Middle + Lower 6/21 Gunnison R- Middle + Lower 6/22 Taylor R- Park Run 6/27 Gunnison R- Middle + Lower 6/28 Taylor R- Park Run 6/28 Taylor R- Lower 6/29 Gunnison R- Middle + Lower 7/03 Gunnison R- Extended Lower 7/04 Taylor R- Lower 7/12 Taylor R- Lower 7/12 Gunnison R- Extended Lower 7/13 Taylor R- Park Run 7/24 Gunnison R- Middle + Lower 7/25 Taylor R- Lower 7/26 Gunnison R- Upper 7/27 Taylor R- The Slot + Upper 7/30 Gunnison R- Middle + Lower 8/01 Taylor R- The Slot + Upper 8/02 Taylor & Gunnison Rs- Scouts Honor to Lost Canyon Resort 8-03 Taylor R- The Slot + Upper 8/09 Taylor R- The Slot + Upper 8/10 Gunnison R- Rockey River to McCabe's 8/14 Taylor R- The Slot + Upper 8/15 Taylor R- The Slot/Upper + Middle 8/18 Taylor R- The Slot + Upper 8/21 Gunnison R- Middle 9/13 Taylor R- Upper 9/20 S Fork South Platte R- Chutes x2 9/20 South Platte R- Waterton Canyon 9/27 Taylor R- Upper
So there ya go! Looking forward to another great year next year.
If you live anywhere in the west or in Colorado, then you likely woke up this morning to the same thing I did: SNOW! That's right, a wonderful fall storm came rolling through yesterday, leaving snow over a large portion of Colorado, and the west. It's likely this snow will all be gone in a matter of hours and days, but it's the first piece of the puzzle to fall into place for this winter. Skiing is coming soon, I promise!
