River Guide PFD

It started raining in North Carolina and Tennessee just as my new River Guide PFD arrived in the mail. I spent three days running the Green before the rivers came up. I ran the Watauga a couple of days later, then headed to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park for some classic creeking. Things were dropping, so we ran the Little the first day. It is a nice class III/IV run that holds water well. It rained that night and we headed to the West Prong the next day. The West Prong is one of my favorite rivers on earth. Seven miles of continuous Class V whitewater tumble down Newfound Gap. We did two runs on the Upper West Prong and one on the Lower. Today I paddled in the backyard on the Nolichucky at 2500 cfs.

The PFD feels great. It has a rescue harness and plenty of pockets for webbing, carabiners, etc. All photos by LG Porter.

A PeakUK Year

Wrappin' up the year! Lotsa Creek Jacket! Here is a picture update from some my top runs of 2008. All the footage can be seen in the upcoming film, THE RISEN SUN.

Japan Expedition! Droppin' into a late afternoon, blind gorge.

Devils Postpile, with a high scout before The Crucible. Kevin Smith Photo.

Rogers Creek, BC. Clean bedrock & water everywhere. Ben Hawthorne Photo

A different angle on Upper Cherry Creek. Lake Gorge. Mike Fisher Photo

South Branch, CA. Quality boofs all the way down. Kevin Smith Photo

Some carnage from the boys on S. Branch. Chillin. Kevin Smith Photo

The day 1 finale, finishing it off with a good 50. Kevin Smith Photo

Dude in the Cali backwoods trying to steal some stuff. Notice the knife in the back pocket.


Good year! Stay tuned to PeakUK and Huckin Huge.com for more.

Dealing with Risk

We all deal with risk in kayaking differently- sometimes we portage, sometimes we run it, and soemtimes we make the wrong decision....Either way, the internal battle between running and not running something can be difficult.  How do we make our decisions?  Why the heck do we do this thing called kayaking?!  

Here are a few of my thoughts on this everpresent issue:

Well, #1 we are in this sport because it's friggin FUN!  We do this because of the rush we get from cleaning a line, or the confidence we get from running some scary a$% drop.  We do this because of the people we meet along the way, the places we see, and the people we turn in to- adventureres.  This past year, someone very close to me had a near-death experience and was at the very last second, saved.  His view is a more humble one but he has not lost his passion for the sport.  His way of handling the situation involved writing about the experience and discussing what could have been done differently in retrospect (although doing this sometimes leads us to the conclusion that in the moment of chaos, everything is done that should be done...to critique after the fact often leads no where)

However, not all of us can recover from an experience when the sh*& hits the fan as they say- if we survive at all.  Sometimes, we realize something about ourselves deep down inside that we never knew.  We may choose to leave the sport in pursuit of the dream not yet achieved.  Or we may choose to ease up and paddle less and less.  Whatever the decision, it is never an easy one.  

After having a few near death experiences myself, I have a few thoughts on ways to get back on the water and be comfortable:

1.  get back on the water the next day if possible- the more time that goes by, the more uncomfortable you will  be when you finally return to the river

2.  Discuss the incident with your paddling buddies from that day and family.  Evaluate what was done and how the group felt afterwards (maybe you need a new paddling group?)

3.  Give yourself a pat on the back for even getting to step 3!

4.  Looks at your paddling gear and see if you are missing something very important...pin kin? throwbag?  

5.  Finally, if you continue to paddle, set goals for yourself to help you get more comfortable with uncomfortable situations

I just was thinking about this the other day and wanted to write a bit on it.  What are your thoughts?  Your experiences?  Let us know!

Oh and Merry Christmas from all of us at Peak UK!!!! Stay warm and toasty!!!

-Christina Russell

Scudders Freestyle

It's starting to get colder here in Pennsylvania, as it tends to do this time of year, and the paddling options are limited. The best thing going right now is Scudders on the Delaware. Here's a little video:


Scudders freestyle from Jeremy Laucks on Vimeo.