Tag Archives: white water kayaking
Tips for if (when??) your kid becomes a better kayaker than you…
This post was originally published at: http://jacksonkayak.com/blog/2018/04/04/tips-for-if-when-your-kid-becomes-a-better-kayaker-than-you/
Progression in kayaking is an amazing, terrifying and rewarding activity. It’s HARD and yet oh so worth it…





We’re hooked after a week on the Ottawa River!
The universe was on our side back in June when I got asked to come out to do some work just outside of Ottawa and it was the exact same week as the L’il Shredders trial program at Wilderness Tours that Hunter had been invited to. Obviously it was meant to be!
We spent a week living together in a rustic bunkhouse on site at Wilderness Tours. It wasn’t fancy but it had power to charge devices and was clean. Outhouse just down the way and showers at the main lodge a few minutes walk down the road.
- Rainy put in
- flooding after the monsoon
Our first day didn’t get off to an auspicious start… we awoke to light rains which quickly turned into monsoon like showers that lasted off and on all morning.
We spent the weekend together on an Eric Jackson class which was a lot of fun. He is really knowledgeable, and finds ways to play and teach at the same time. Here are he and Hunter paddling boats full of water in the whirlpools on Butcher’s knife.
Hunter also learned a new technique for getting out of his boat!
The prize at the end of the day of paddling is a nice sheltered bar at the take out that has beer and juice on tap – a great way to end the day!
Sunday brought EJ’s “Big Water” indoctrination – meant to teach you that things that look scary because they are big are not necessarily so. What it really meant is that everyone had to throw themselves into Phil’s hole, the first rapid on the river. You can see a very small part of my boat with most of me under the water – it wasn’t a great washing machine ride and ended in a swim when my skirt was blown.
Hunter had an equally unsuccessful Phil’s experience. If you look hard you can just see a corner of his boat in the centre of the photo (yellow and black) and you can see a small dark item just downstream a few inches. That dark item is his helmet, which should be attached to his head but got pulled off. It was lost to the river gods that day…
Luckily EJ was able to grab a helmet for him at Keeners and we carried down the river with Hunter a little shaken from his first big beatdown.
We both survived the weekend only a little worse for wear and having learned a lot of new things! I then headed off to work for two days while Hunter joined Seth and Maddie in the L’il Rippers program.
A new helmet was purchased after an unplanned detour to Ottawa on my way to work on Monday and Hunter managed to talk EJ into a sticker and Simon into cutting the sticker for him to get it looking cool.
- first spin on Garb
- Garb boof into eddy
The week went well for Hunter with lots of surfing and skill building delivered by Seth in sneaky ways. He managed to shake off his beatdown and was back to his usual self by Tuesday. When Big Water Thursday rolled around we both made it back into Phil’s fairly unscathed and EJ was right – it builds your confidence!
- Double surf on babyface
- beware of rafts coming downstream!
I went back into an EJ weeklong session on Weds and continued to have a lot of fun. I came down with a major sinus cold which definitely played havoc with my ability to clearly think, and that did correlate with a much lower confidence level most days. I now consider whitewater kayaking in the same category as “operating heavy machinery” in terms of the things you shouldn’t do while on cold medication…
Overall our week was fabulous. We met lots of new fun people, paddled in warm water and warm weather, learned new skills and Hunter came home with a new boat – a RockstarXS that was just released by Jackson in May. It was a great fit for him and really allowed him to have more boat control. Thanks to Jackson and the great folks at Wilderness Tours / Ottawa Kayak School for helping to make that happen.
He’s already been busy taking it out on flat water and doing mystery moves…
We definitely recommend Wilderness Tours for families and non-families equally. Lots of things to do on and off the water with a really friendly environment. For those that don’t kayak there are a wide assortment of rafting or inflatable kayaking options and a great school to take lessons from.
Top results at Alberta Whitewater Provincials
This weekend was the successful culmination of a busy summer of kayaking. We participated in the Alberta Provincial Whitewater Canoe/Kayak Championships at Canoe Meadows on the Kananaskis River and were one of two Yukon athletes in attendance.
We have spent close to a month training with the kids from the Alberta Slalom Canoe Kayak team this summer, through various camps and races from early July to late August, and it has been an amazing experience. Full thanks go to coaches Mike, Paul, AJ & Kyle for making training and competing achievable and relatively fun. They were great cheerleaders and stepped in when Hunter had no interest in listening to Tim or I.
- Saturday Schedule
- Sunday Schedule
The weekend was full of various races and Hunter made the most of the opportunity to participate in multiple events. Hunter was also joined by Pelly Vincent-Braun, another Yukon paddler, for the event.
- Hunter & Pelly C2
- Hunter C1
- Hunter K1
- C2 Gold medal
- C2 silver medal
- Hunter K1 bronze medal
We were really proud of the boys – they sat in a C2 together for the first time about 10 minutes before their first race. Pelly’s power and Hunter’s water awareness enabled them to pull of a strong race in the Advanced event (see photo at the top) and a silver medal. Day two was an even stronger result as they got the hang of it together. Hunter has come away passionate about C1 paddling – his novice Gold was his first ever clean slalom race, which was exciting in itself!
There was great recognition of their results in the local papers, which was also nice to see! These are fun articles to read…
http://www.whitehorsestar.com/Sports/whitewater-paddlers-snag-top-awards-in-alberta
http://www.yukon-news.com/sports/yukon-paddlers-excel-at-alberta-whitewater-championships/
Mexico Whitewater Adventures
For many great reasons, we decided to go to the Huasteca region of NE Mexico with Ben Kvanli of the Olympic Outdoor Centre in San Marcos, Texas. It was a bit of a leap in the sense that this was a no frills trip that kicked off with a 15+ hour drive, along with 5 other people, in a passenger van to get there. It turned out to be a fabulous week and we now have 4 new friends – Kelly, Phil, Nejla & Greg!
Quick & dirty Beta: We were in the state of San Luis Potosi, the Huasteca Region (mountains & rivers) and paddled on 3 distinct rivers with 3+ conditions- Rio El Salto (travertine slides & drops), Rio Micos (travertine slides & drops), and Rio Tampaon (flat water, standing waves in canyons, flat water). We also toured around and saw the Cascadas de Tamul on the Rio Santa Maria, the Sola de Goldrinas Tamapa and the city of Valles.
We left Saturday February 1st at 12:45 am. This was intentional as it enables us to pass through Mexican customs at first light (i.e. 7:00 am) and then drive the remaining time in the light on the Mexican highways (where 2 lanes are actually 3 lanes). We stopped in Victoria for lunch at 11:30 and then carried on to Huasteca Secreta on the Salto River – our home for 2 nights. We stayed in small yurts with outside bathrooms and showers, surrounded by lush vegetation. The hotel is right on the Salto River – an azul blue warm water river – right at the base of a 160 foot waterfall.
- Hunter & Big North at the Falls at El Salto
- Cabins at Huasteca Secreta
- Lee bundled up with blankets & towels due to no heat
- outdoor sink
- outdoor shower
- map of other Huasteca Secreta facilities
We had a fairly slow and lazy first paddle on the lower Saltos by the time we got going on Sunday. It was a run full of slides and drops that worked their way from smaller to larger… warm water and sunshine helped with all of the comfort zone stretching that was going on! The put in is just up the road from the hotel but a bit of a bush wack and steep climb down the rocky slope to get to the river. The slides and drops are all made of travertine, a type of corral, that builds up in the river and also has lots of green, lush growth that makes the slides slippery.
- climbing down the rocks to the put in
- beautiful travertine clusters
- falls at the put in
- Lee on a drop
- Lee on a drop
- Lee on a drop
- Hunter at the top of the slide
- Hunter at the bottom of the slide
- hunter going off a small drop
- Hunter just after a drop
Hunter did a fabulous job of running his first drops and he loved the bump & grind of the slides. He did his first combat roll at the bottom of a 10 foot drop and there were loud cheers by everyone. My big win of the day was going over the 20 ft salsa drop. It had a 5 foot slide and then the drop. The 5 feet went much faster than I was expecting and over I went, screaming I’m sure! Hunter chose not to do this one and he and Tim portaged around part of the drop and then found a place to throw their boats off and jump 10 feet into the water, which was better than the scratchy bushes.
Tim joined Ben, Phil, Greg & Nejla for an afternoon run on the Upper Saltos and had a good time. It was a bit rushed as it was getting dark but they powered through everything!
Phil made some great videos of our runs on the Saltos:
Hunter
http://youtu.be/6nxttFkuJXE
Tim
http://youtu.be/rPIycTjmCO8
Lee
http://youtu.be/ypxtabrU2cY
Monday saw us driving from El Naranjo down to just north of Ciudad Valles and to the camp on the Rio El Micos. We got in around lunch time, got settled in our palappas and then did an easy run down the lower Micos.
- palappas on the Micos River
- Shower/Bathroom building
- Sinks at the bathroom building
The camp was similar in style to what you see on the Ottawa River with a number of cabins spread out across the property, a couple of washroom/shower buildings and then a main eating hut. The rate was very affordable and the staff were wonderful. This is a tourist location for Mexicans that are looking to raft, zipline and play in the waterfalls.
- local farmers market at Micos put in
- Phil & Hunter playing
The lower micas run starts just up the road from the camp in the midst of a local farmers market. There are a number of small drops that converge on the river here so it made a good place to play and warm up. The rest of the run was made up of small surf waves and easy slides and drops.
- Hunter & Ben paddling Rio Santa Maria
- Hunter on Rio Santa Maria above the falls
- ladder on the trail to the top of the falls
- looking down the Valley towards Rio Verde
- Lee & Tim atop the Cascadas de Tamul
Tuesday was exploring day and we started off with Hunter and Ben doing a short run down the Santa Maria to the top of the Cascadas de Tamul while the rest of us hiked in. It was quite beautiful and very very high!
- a big pit / sinkhole that we went hiking down to
- the Sinkhole
- Hunter and lee on the sinkhole trail
- locals picking flowers from the trees
- VW Bug with speaker on top
- street cart
- market
- found this & diet coke in the “american store”
- Ricardo’s Taqueria in Valles
- Ricardo’s Taqueria in Valles
- street vendor making chile corn
- ben bought bar stools from the truck in the alley
A few other stops that day were the Sotano de las Golondrinas, a great big sinkhole, a stop in a small village where we bought Diet Coke from the “American Store” and Hunter’s new favourite – Chile Corn (roasted corn on the cob with butter, chile & lime) on a stick and then dinner at Ricardo’s Taqueria in Valles. On our way home Ben bought some fabulous bar stools dirt cheap (I wonder why…) from a truck in the alley!
- put in on the Tampoan
- Tim paddling out of the canyon
- stopping for cliff jumping mid river
- small portage as the river has closed in
- paddling under the first bridge on the Tampoan
- the flotilla – our group + Mexican raft guides
Wednesday was a long day of shuttling and paddling as we paddled the Tampoan River, which was an hours drive away from camp. Ben’s local rafting friends decided to join us, which made for a very full van and a fun group on the river. The Tampoan is different from the Salto & Micos as it has a bunch of flat water, a long canyon section with boulders and standing waves and then more flat water down to the take out. It was another great day for Hunter’s paddling – he trailed Ben down the “easy” lines (still lots of pushy water and waves) and managed 2 combat rolls in the midst of the hardest section before ending up swimming after he got pushed into a rock. We were both so impressed with his bravery and choosing to roll vs panicking and swimming right off the bat.
- The gang (without lee) at the Upper Micos falls
- Hunter at the Upper Micos falls
- Hunter behind the upper micos falls
Thursday was our last day of paddling and we were headed to the Upper Micos before starting the drive home. Unfortunately I was visited by Montezuma Wednesday night and spent the night and morning expelling all food that I had taken in, so chose to stay in bed vs paddle. The Upper Micos run starts with a long travertine slide and then moves into a series of drops before coming out at the farmers market where the lower Micos puts in. One neat feature is that you can go behind the Upper Micos falls and get a sense of the power of the falls!
By travelling to a non-touristy area of Mexico (by American/Canadian standards) we had the added benefit of really getting to experience the local culture. At no point did we feel unsafe but it did really help to go with someone that spoke Spanish and knew this area inside and out.
This region is powered by the Sugar Cane industry and there were fields and trucks coming and going all day long. We cut some sugar cane directly from the field one day and it was neat to see how it is not nearly as sweet as refined sugar.
- picking sugar cane out of the field
- sugar cane trucks waiting to go into the factory
- sugar cane factory
Hunter also had a great time hanging out with the local puppies…
- hunter making new friends – tampoan take out
- hunter making another new friend…