More Contest Photos

Here's a couple other photos that I took for that contest, but didn't get them in before the deadline.

Scuba Diving

My friend Jason and I went scuba diving in Lake Wazee (Near Black River Falls, WI) on Friday. It was my first time in the last 2 years, so it was nice to have an easy shore dive as a refresher. Wazee is an abandoned iron mine that has filled in with water to become a 355' deep lake. The bottom is made up of a combination of sheer cliffs and sloping access roads, so there are a variety of environments to dive in. Normally the visibility is supposed to be 30-40', but we went right after a big thunderstorm that kicked up enough setiment to drop the vis to about 8'. We got to do one dive in a sunken forest at about 30', then another dive along a wall where we went to a platform at around 55'. Due to the thermocline, our time below 30' was pretty limited. At surface, the water was around 70 degrees, but at the 55' platform it was around 34 degrees. Brrrrr. We did see lots of bass and panfish in the shallower waters and got to try throwing rocks under water. It's a lot harder than it sounds.

Photo Contest

Kim's office is redecorating, so they decided to hold a photo contest as a way of getting some artwork. The theme had to be minnesota-based. Kim and I spent a couple hours around the cities shooting, and here's a couple of the shots we came up with. Hope you like em.

Wausau 8-13

Finally made it back to Wausau for the first time this summer. Bill K, Dennis, Nate, Ben Swails, and some others got to go play on the course all day. Can't get enough of that loop hole. Everybody managed to hit some pretty sweet moves and we all got treated to watching some great paddlers going big. Can't wait to go back.

Nate's Bachelor BBQ

Yes, it's sad but true: Nate is getting hitched. So, today a bunch of us went out to Lake Harriet for some grilling, slack line walking, football and swimming. Had a great time, and I wish Nate and Emily all the best.

Climbing, Canoeing, and Camping

Most of this weekend was spent between Rochester and Whitewater State park nearby. My self, Kim, and Kim's friends Lindsey and Jason climbed over 600 stairs to get up a hill to a forest service tower, then climbed the tower for a pretty cool view. After that, we spent 3 hours canoeing the Whitewater river, then camped in the state park. Great cooking on the part of Lindsey and Jason led to an awesome fire-grilled dinner. Great weather, great weekend.

Darn Tourists...

OK Jill, here's your post. Audrey and Andrew came out from Ireland to see how our Independence Day goes. They wound up getting a highspeed tour of Minnesota, including watersports, cliff jumping, a visit to Lake Superior, the zoo, a Saints game, and more. Busy schedule, but lots of fun.

Sturgeon Falls

Awesome weekend in Canadia. John and I drove up and met up with Zinger and Greg, who not only showed us around the waves, but proved to be great cooks and hosts. Instead of roughing it, we were eating gourmet meals and watching DVD's. Definitely not a bad deal. The river was a bit lower than I expected, so the waves were only 3-6 feet tall, but still absolutely rockin. Greg was perfecting his "floops" and backstabs, Eric was showing off on the waves, and John and I were surfing, spinning, hopping, and throwing ends when we could. Big, warm, DEEP, friendly features and luxury camping. What more can I say?

Verm at 60cfs

Started today by taking my nephews out to a lake to practice some flatwater stuff, then met Andy down at the verm for a little summer scrapin. Andy got to body surf donut for the first time, and I tried the rope swing down at fishermans. Then, I let some of the local kids try out my kayak. Good times. Unfortunately, I had my camera out of the case for a bit today and some water got in it. It stopped focusing down at donut, and now the lens motor seems to be dead altogether. So long, little camera.

Perfect Wisconsin Trip

Yup, it was pretty darn near perfect. Jake and Dennis twisted my arm until I agreed to come along. We had 90 degree sunny days and high water on both Section IV of the Wolf and the Peshtigo. As a highlight, Jake hit a roll off the top of a 4 foot high boulder that essentially turned into an airscrew. Definitely cool to watch. Great weather, great water, and great company. Tough to beat that.