This might be the first year end post LL has ever done. It's been a while since I've posted anything, so this is in part to let you know (if anyone even reads the blog) that LL is still alive. 2012 was a great year - here's hoping it will be even better in 2013. Here are a selection of my favorite snaps from the last year.
March. After a winter of skiing, thoughts turned back to kayaking as the days got longer. One of the early trip of the year was to Vancouver Island. This is the final canyon of Harris Creek, a nice run down south near Port Renfrew.
April. The Seymour in North Vancouver is a real bread and butter run for Vancouver paddlers. Some of the local die hards (me included) get 50+ laps a year on this thing - it's short enough to lap before work in the winter, and to bang out laps during long early summer evenings. This past spring was one of the better seasons on record, with water levels running over 3 for nearly 6 weeks. This is the last rapid of the canyon at high water.
May. The Ashlu needs no introduction. The spring release season is perhaps my favorite time of the year up there. There are no crowds, unlike in the fall when there have been a few days with what seems like 20 people on the river. This is the second rapid in the canyon - Will is aiming for the fantastic boof in the middle of the river on the 1st day of releases of 2012.
May. While attending a conference for work in Calgary, I was able to sneak off for a day and paddle one of the local runs. This is Dave Crerar running Titan on Cataract Creek. It wouldn't have been possible without the help of the Calgary crew - thanks!
June. In June and July I was able to realize a long term goal to go to Norway on a kayaking trip. It was a good time making new friends, seeing old friends and doing some good kayaking. This is the Brandseth River, above the time trial section of the Extremsportveko.
June. The Brandseth again, during the time trial race. This is a section well suited for racing with easy spectator access and a short, action-packed course.
July. The highlight of my Norway trip (and probably the year) was getting to paddle the Teigdalselva near Voss. Here's Mark Basso, our gracious host, paddling off the 3rd or 4th waterfall on the run. While the drops are spectacular, I was most surprised by the difficulty of the 'inbetween' stuff on this run.
July. The double drop at the take out of the Teigdalselva. It's a big rapid, but readily runnable!
July. This was a busy month with Norway at the start and the Callaghan Race at the end. I was lucky enough to squeeze in a weekend, late season trip to the Island between these things where Maxi and I were lucky enough to run Little Qualicum Falls. This is something I've wanted to hit for a while and it was good to get it done, even if the flow was a bit on the low side.
July. The Vancouver Island weekend was a busy one - we paddled 5 or 6 runs in 2 days. This is the Monkey Canyon on the Gold River - still at a reasonable flow in mid July!
July. The ever-classic Callaghan Creek falls. This is the day before the 2012 race. This was the third iteration of the race, and it was the first race that had a nice medium flow instead of a near-unreasonable high water (for racing).
September. I didn't spend a lot of time kayaking in the fall this year. Our crew did spend a fair bit of time scouting out new runs. This photo is from a day scouting a section of river in the upper Lillooet zone called Salal Creek that is at the bleeding edge of what might be runnable. Notice how close, yet how much lower the valley bottom is.
December. The Callaghan in December. Definitley a season closer, and I think the last time I paddled. Here's hoping the snow piles deep to give us another long season with many months of snowmelt!
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