My first Kayaking trip- Middle Eel River- Part I

Everyone getting ready to be on the river!

I know I am slacking off again with my blog. Well same excuses...again. I have been busy. A lot happened in the past couple months, not only that field season has started, I also went on my very first kayaking trip with a group of amazing people and of course BTE :). Well my very very good friend CC and PN from Toronto also came to visit, but I will talk about that in my next post....

MIDDLE EEL RIVER first!!!

Four days on the river.............I was actually really nervous before this trip cause I have never done this before. I think I am the only beginner in the group. But everyone was really nice and encouraging, especially BTE was extremely patient with me.

Protection is key!

Before I talk about the actual river trip, I have to talk about the drive down. I thought I was going to faint :) Those forest service road are simply my biggest enemy, I got extremely car sick and thought I wouldn't make it. Ran into some pirates on the way down :) (They are actually our friends)

Thanks to BTE sister, I get to be on an IK (inflatable kayak, that is how everyone else called them). They are really comfortable and I felt really safe in them. To start, BTE tied my IK with his so he can guide me through the river.

C cruising on the river


I flipped!!! I swam my first rapid....and that was really scary........I honestly felt like I have to fight for my life. But the funny thing was, while i was trying to grasp for air and keep my legs up so they won't hit the bottom and get caught, but i was also thinking I can't let go of the paddle. In my mind I was like " I really want to let go of this paddle so I can use both of my hands to hold on to the boat, but I know this paddle is probably pretty expensive" I can't believe I was thinking about that while i was fighting for my life... I guess that just means it was that scary after all :)

J and K having a snack on some warm rocks

After my swam, I all of a sudden felt a lot stronger, so I detached myself from BTE and went on my own :). I actually paddled some little baby rapids by myself :)

Enjoy some videos!

After being on the river for three days, we finally got to the put out at Dos Rios.......

To be continue-