Halloween Kettle Trip

As if anyone needed further proof that snowflakes and wind make for great paddling weather, a great time was had by all on the Kettle River Saturday.

Mother nature decided to hand out both tricks and treats to us for our Halloween paddle. On the tricks side, it was barely above freezing with high winds and snow falling when we put on the river. On the treats side, however, we had good water levels, great company, and even a little sunshine before the trip was over.

Nora, Andy, Dave, Spot, and I arrived at the river in two groups, but were floating together by the time we hit Dragon's tooth. The level was about 3' on the bridge gauge (1400 cfs), which left us with not one, but two decent surf waves at Blueberry. If it was warmer, I think the 2nd wave would have been bouncy enough to try some blunts. The waves at the end of Dragon's tooth were also large and steep, and made for easy down-river wave wheels.

The kayakers also took advantage of the water running over Wolf Creek Falls in front of an audience of hikers. I had high hopes for getting a helmet-cam view of running the falls, but was foiled by the cold. Turns out rechargeable camera batteries don't last long in chilly weather and the camera died literally on the lip of the falls. Next time I'll bring some lithium ones.

Dead batteries aside, it was a great way to spend a chilly Haloween afternoon. Here's hoping the rains keep coming!

1st Kettle Run

There was pretty much an armada of kayakers on the Kettle today for what was my first run of the season. We had over twenty in our group when we put on, and as we were leaving we saw another group taking out. There were paddlers from the Twin Cities, Wisconsin, St. Cloud, Duluth, and more. It was really fun to see everybody, and to meet a handful of new people!

To make things even better, the river was at a great level (2.7' on the bridge gauge) and it was a nice mix of play and river running. The snow and cold stayed away for the afternoon, and we had sunshine on us for most of the run.

Newbie Aaron had his first day on a non-verm river and did great. Several of us ran Wolf Creek, even though it was a little low. There were a couple swims and a couple saves, but on the whole it was just a lot of fun. Bring on the '09 season!

Kettle Day

Great day on the Kettle with Dennis, Nora, Bill, Jade, Brian G, Bobzilla, Stretch, and Monkey Boy. The level was good and the main wave in Blueberry was like surfing silk. Really fun. I tried a couple blunts but couldn't stick 'em. A few people got spins on the wave, and everybody got some good carving in. There's a video of a short surf Dennis had toward the bottom of this page - you can see how smooth the wave is. We also spent some time wheeling (and endering) at Last Chance Ledge. Then, Brian and Jade got to hit their first waterfalls on Wolf Creek. You can see the video of Nora running it at the bottom of the post. Great fall paddling day. I tossed some more videos on my YouTube page, and got the Web album uploaded so that you can download the full size files. Check the links to the Web Albums and YouTube.

Kettle Day

4 of us (Brian J, Caleb, Roger, and I) headed up to the Kettle to get some play before the water goes away. The level was on the low side, but there was still fun to be had in Blueberry, Dragon's tooth, and Hell's Gate. We also did the cliff drop and went over Wolf Creek Falls. Wolf Creek proved to be the most interesting part of the day. The water was low enough that a couple of us got hung up on the lip. This happened to Roger, who then teetered over and penciled into the pool below. He went in perfectly vertical, causing him to slice through the water and Piton off the rocks at the bottom. He jammed one ankle pretty hard and put a nice dent in the bow of his boat. Thankfully, neither boat nor ankle broke, so he should be back in the game soon. Note to anyone running it at low water: After Roger hit, Brian J and I checked the depth below the falls and found it was less than 4 feet. Still safe if you can avoid going straight in, but worth thinking about... Also, found that if you give a hard stroke off the lip of the falls, you can do a 180 in the air and land soft, but flat. Fun way to go, and it avoids the piton issue.

My water camera is on its last leg, so I'm saving it for Scuba from now on. Brian J took some videos and pictures. When I get the CD from him (hopefully in the next couple days) I'll post pics from this trip and last week's verm trip.