The TRAK Files Episode 6.

Better Late than never I just Realised I had not shared this episode of "The TRAK Files" on my Blog yet. so here is Episode 6 which came out in May this Year.
Episode 7 has been put on the back burner for now due to New projects I have been doing and the needs of TRAK kayaks, though it will be out in the next year.

September 8th: Were The River Flows; A 2nd Return from the Grand Canyon.

 

3 days ago I, Along with 15 other individuals stepped off four rafts onto the muddy shores of the Colorado River at Pearce ferry Arizona. Over the last 16 days we had traveled 280 miles through the Grand Canyon following were the river flows and now our fantastic journey was at an end. It had been a journey of dynamics, dynamics of people from all over the world who were mostly strangers to each other brought together by their common friendship with me and a sense of adventure. It was a trip also of dynamics of water, traveling a rocky passage carved by the river, Rain in the desert, rapids, hydraulics and currents of a chocolate and monsoon swollen Colorado river; river travel also being a stranger to some on the trip. This trip was about discovery and exploration, following in the footsteps of a rich history of exploratory pioneers, traveling one of the mightiest rivers in the Americas which for many was a trip of a lifetime, for some it was a return journey, and for a number, it seeded the desire to return.

We experienced colours, Red in the desert heat, Blue around the scorching sun, Gold of Rattle Snake Scales, white of the water falls hidden up side canyons, Black of the Rain clouds illuminated by lightening and Brown of the earth filled waters of flash floods after torrential down pours. Ringtail Cats raided our camps at night, scorpions scurried about in the dark and stung a few, Waterfalls erupted from high cliffs and just as quickly disappeared as the rains stopped. In between the sun came and went, but there was always the river. The river of the color red (Rio Colorado) was our path and was often veracious and often tranquil, though always a place of comfort and fear as it lead us through the deep walls of the Grand Canyon where Huge rapids raged and glassy meanders calmed. Through the river we traveled, we swam, we played and we grew. Rafts and Kayaks surfed, flipped and charged lines through the white water (though more aptly named brown water on this trip), often we were left more dirty from the water washing over us than if we had rolled in the sand itself, and sometimes the side creeks cleansed us fresh.

Ultimately this was an amazing trip that none would forget, and as we drifted the last night through, sleeping, singing, dancing and drinking on our four rafts strapped together (kayaks stacked on the back), beneath the sublime stars and the last 40 miles of Canyon walls, we reminisced in glory of journey and in sorrow of end and all was right. When the next day’s sun gradually found us, we were quite and sober, relishing such a poetic end to a Grand Journey. For me this was a dream come true, to have shared this experience with some special people I have meet throughout my life and journeys of the world, though also largely because my dad came along, and all got to share in what I am passionate about.... life and adventure.

Jaime Sharp

 

From here down I post my trip log of more details that some may want to read

 

Grand Canyon log  august 21st – sept 5 2013

Day 0  20/8 Lee’s Ferry

Camped at put in after rigging rafts

I slept on raft. light showers that night had me with umbrella over me for shelter.

Day 1 21/8 Soap Creek

Quick intro to kit and kitchen from Raft outfitter.

Launched at 11am

Paddled 11 miles

Light rain at night lightening 

Group did great, such an awesome mix of peeps. Strong up river wind in afternoon had to camp early.

Great night at camp, everyone's slowly winding down

Slept on Raft, Heavy rain shower that night ( sleeping on boat was wet)

Day 2 22/8 Shinumo (I think)

Launched 9.30'am

Paddled 21 miles

Overcast afternoon (nice and cool)At house rock everyone ran there own boats, stu, Kyle , Bruce (whom swam half way through ) and myself . Was a good rush. Nathan ran Duckie  solo all day swam 3'Times

Kept going good kid. Glynn paddled raft through rapids,

And many others gave there hand. Motor raft group stole our site at 29mile so had to push on. Played guitar that night

Got raided by ring tail possums that night, all around kitchen and got into fruit on the rafts. Not much sleep for most of us, i Slept on Raft again

 

Day 3 23/8 Buck Farm

On the water at 9.30

Sunny morn over cast afternoon patchy night lightening

Stopped at a number of sites, nautilus canyon, red wall cavern , natural bridge. Flat days paddle of 14 miles. I kayaked in Jackson rock star, and swam playing around as I couldn't get my hand roll IN it. Had some fun.

Pulled into an awesome site for camp, Kayaked in a ok play hole, others went hiking, great salmon dinner Slept on Raft.

 

Day 4 24/8 little Nankoweap

12 miles

Slept in raft under tent fly though ended up being Clear sky's for a first night, over cast and cool warm all day. Morning yoga then walk up Canyon. Rafted 6 miles to canyon for water fall hike and lunch. Beautiful waterfall  3 naked men swimming. Lunch then on the water to little Nankoweap camp. Drinks in raft in sun then ribeye steak BBQ and no bake cheese cake 

 

Day 5 25/8 Cardenas camp

Rain all day and a 12 mile day

Fun day though near end raft got stuck in a sleeper hole and Kelly and ken got kicked around and then swam. Rest of run was wet and cold, though we were not far from camp. Had a night under the tarp drinking smoking cigars and playing music on iPhones over little speaker.

Slept in my tent for the first time

Day 6 26/8 Clear creek camp

Rain and more rain

Camped at clear creek 10 mile day

Finally into the Grand Canyon proper. Had a load of 7,s and our first 8 (Hance Rapid). Good fun big rapids, really worked me hard on the raft though got all the lines I wanted. At our camp was a fun little play wave for kayaking on. Rained most of day and all off night. Great dinner everyone exhausted. Got raided by ringtails again. slept in my tent again 

Day 7  27/8 Above Salt

I awoke to river levels up higher than usual, despite the dam control of the grand, due to side wash water feeding. I camped lower than everyone else and awoke to  the closest peg to the water on My tents being in the water

Today was the big water rapid run, granite, hermit and crystal. I ran the first two in the TRAK and walked back up to run the raft down, I got the TRAK airborne in granite, nailed the big wave on hermit then rolled , the raft line was messy on hermit we hit the two big waves side ways, though every one made it through  . Crystal had the TRAK packed on the back and I pushed the raft through it. Ryan got his raft stuck on the shallows after the rapid, took a while to get it off.

In the afternoon we had heavy ran at camp but then cleared and dried our gear .  Guitar songs that night

I slept in tent.

Day 8 28/8 Lower Bass? Lat 36.179 Lon -112.309

Sunny day camped at upper black creek camp

Paddled the TRAK  all day, dad did well pushing the raft, had a great couple of walks up to a waterfall and then to elves chasm. No rapids over 7, dad ran them all.

Nice night at camp good sleep all gear finally dry.

Day 9 29/8 Keyhole? Lat 36.39924 Lon -112.567163

Played guitar in black creek slot canyon in the morning, amazing acoustics, I wished I recorded the song we came up with while in there.  In TRAK all day again. Good small rapids fun day.

slept in raft again

Day 10 30/8

In TRAK stopped for lunch and hike at deer creek. Camped with another group at a late camp site.  we had Bootie shots that night for all the swimmers so far,  I went to sleep on a flat rock, then had to leave because of ants, so slept on raft then a heavy rain storm came in the night and i had to scramble to set up tent on before mentioned large flat rock.

Day 11 31/8 Below National

Didn't sleep well,  rainy morning, Got on water to see loads Of awesome waterfalls from rain . Sighted 4 rock falls from camp .

In raft all day with TRAK slung across back of raft. River chock full of crap and wood. Good camp spot, and afternoon rain. slept in tent.

Day 12 1/9 Upper Chevron

Today we hit LAVA FALLS, sunny day, packed up camp went up side canyon for morning explore, then paddle 16 miles to lava, ran in kayaks first(TRAK down guts) all went well. Kyle ran first raft hit line sweet, Ryan next flipped at top, eventually after prepping rafts for flips, Bruce and I ran our rafts, Bruce got almost all The way though rapid and then flipped on bottom wave, I fortunately nailed The line. RE Flipped rafts down stream, paddled to camp late no lunch. Great camp bootie shots  Awesome stars in sky.

Slept in my tent

Day 13 2/9 Parashant camp

Lazy morning in camp

Blueberry pancakes

On water by 10.15 Am 

flat water float stopped at petroglyphs for lunch. Super hot day. Floated and drank beer, meet other rafters shared stories of lava falls fun. My solar charger started playing up.. Nice camp by 4.30 (perralgry?) snoozed on raft and Awoke to practical joke of me floating down stream with ken yelling help, help boat afloat. I rowed back in a dazed surprise to find everyone hiding and taking photos, quite funny; they had me tied to a long line and I had been floating out there for a while before they had woken me up.'it even took 8 people to slide my raft off the beach without waking me.'

Great dinner and great stars. Hot night, I risked sleeping on boat again, despite afternoon antics and the evening lighting on the horizon promising rain. 2 full days left :(

Day 14 3/9 Middle 220 camp

9.30 start 20 mile day to 220 camp

Meet up with other raft groups, had a social float with slip in slides, rock jumps, beer trade for Tabaco, and then an awesome camp. That night we gate crashed the commercial operators a camp up from us. We ran in in with leprechauns outfits and it turned out t be “strip botchi ball”  game called “debauchery ball”, with young female raft guides half naked, there were a few men naked too including a bunch of us by the end of it. Then after some naked hugs we said good night.

It was a great night to sleep on the raft.

Day 15

Relaxed morning simple breakfast, nice time by the river, finally the group seems to be relaxing though some issues with some. We said hi, bye to the girls from last night as they floated by. The. We headed off down river. A few rapids then we hit the diamond creek take out, said hi to the American cool dudes and dudetes we had Been jumping of shit with, they gave us their left over rum and gin. And the girls from last nights debauchery  also said goodbye again.

From there we visited and swam at travertine creek, what stunning spot . After lunch we pushed on, then on the first big rated 5 rapid Bruce Jon and Fiona got flipped out of the raft again, in a sticky hole at the bottom. it was a quick rescue with Bruce the only one that got separated from the raft.

We struggled against the wind for a while as it blow up river and then paddled some other solid mid grade rapids. It is exciting to explore a new part if the canyon from our last trip down here.

that night was our highlight, we Had an amazing night float, bouncing off rocks, drinking laughing sleeping through the last 40 miles of river, while the dark canyon walls whizzed past us framing the night sky.

Day 16

Awoke to a stunning morning on the last piece of the canyon, too soon the sun was on us and.it was hot. Ran behind schedule on float time, took 14 hours instead of 12 for the last 40 miles. Pulled out at Pearce ferry at 11am. 

then we where in Flagstaff reloading gear into cars and heading to our Backpackers and out for dinner and a night of drinking and rock and roll bands.

Amazing trip.

More Pics here

Another Blog of the same trip By Fiona McBride here  Part 1 and  Part 2

Big Beats at Jordan River

 

It was the start of the week and with a nice twist of luck I needed to do some filming for TRAK Kayaks and the surf was up at Jordan River near Victoria in BC Canada. So loading up the folding boats into the back of the truck I drove down island to meet James Manke at the campsite on the beach. Pulling in at 11pm after a two and a half hour drive I set up my tent by Manke’s Camper Van woke him up for a bit of a chat, then hit the sleeping bag.

Day 1

We awoke to a ripple, but bye lunch time there were some solid sets coming through and the surfers were turning up. The large sets (forecast was saying 8-9 foot swell) had a face of about 8 feet, but were fast at closing out and reasonably heavy, this made the rides in long boats short step and thumpy. if you didn’t get off in time. In one instance I took good beat down by a wave that broke on me as I turned to work my way back out. This beat down put some good stress on the TRAK and I ended up with a bent frame, though couldn’t see it until I got out at the end of the session. The bent frame did not stop me from surfing and I continued for another hour or two, though got very frustrated by the fact the boat would turn right on the wave and would not come back to the left unless I almost broke the paddle pulling it back. ( if you are interested in the TRAK Kayak more and how the Frame of a kayak could be bent check out the TRAK website www.rethinkkayak.com).  I was surfing with a Lendal Rebel White Water Paddle that we had taken on the Grand Canyon. It was a short paddle about 193 cm and I had some fun with its quick cadence and he big blade face, though Ultimatley I was missing the reach and mechanical torque of the 210cm Lendal Kenitik touring paddle or my Greenland paddle. Though it is always fun to mix up the paddles some time to keep the brain alert and to discover new nuances in boat and paddle control.

As the day progressed the swell became smaller and more predictable as the tide turned and James, Gerhardt and I surfed the closer break for some smaller though longer rides. At JR the outer break will reform in closer and often create a nice predictable point break into the river mouth, however out back the waves are more committing and often very punishing, which Day two came to show us.

Day 2

Costain Leonard and Kate Hives turned up, the morning had been similar small waves, that slowly built with the rising tide, soon there where huge fast breaks running right across the river mouth and around the point to the next beach and board surfers where getting some amazing long and huge rides. There was still a great inner break great for Long boat surfing however out back the face height was pushing 13 -14ft in some sets, and was not a place for a long boat to play on this day. However Kate headed out in an HP Surf kayak, got some fun runs and some major beat downs, the last and final one had her limping back to shore with a swamped boat and all the fins broken off after a huge wave broke on her and took the boat to the bottom. I also took the folding TRAK Kayak out the back a bit (after straightening the Frame again) to try my luck with pushing through the big stuff, this day I was also using a laminated wooden Greenland Paddle by VIPPaddles,  I ended up with some good air of the back of the first big wave, and then a good beat down from the third. With no way to surf the step faces effectively, and a good possibility I would bend the frame of the TRAK again, I worked my way back in, To surf the inner break for some fun rides with Costain, James and Kate (who was now in her long boat). We were also joined by Taver and Kelly who came out in their Delphins. It was a fun day surfing with a big crew, and there were some good beat downs, some swims and tolerable amount of gear breakage to equal that we were pushing some limits though in a reasonably safe way.

Thanks everyone for a great day, and to those wanting to get into kayak surfing some more, please don’t surf alone, Learn surf etiquette thoroughly, develop your skills slowly and don’t surf near surfers, SUP’ers or any other water users until you know how to control your boat safely.

Check out this great link for more info on surf etiquette. http://tsunamirangers.com/2011/08/15/surf-kayaking-etiquette/

TRAK Files Episode 5, International TRAK Packing

OK so it has been a few Months since the last TRAK Files Episode! Finally I have worked my bum off at the computer and finished Episode 5, all about traveling the world in the TRAK Kayak. I hope you enjoy, it has been almost three years of filming to make it happen! ~ J ~

World Wild Adventures Ltd is Born and the SKC Kayak Symposium

 

Here I am in the UK for Business; meeting with my Friend and new business partner Rhoda Mcgivern, to solidify the foundations of our new adventure travel company “World Wild Adventures”! Some of you may ask “New? ....But ‘World Wild Adventures’ is what you have always called your little project company!”

And in essence those people are right. My hobby concept business was Called World Wild Adventure and was started in my mind in 2006 and put into practice in 2008, though the official Birth of the full grown company (now known as World Wild Adventures Ltd or WWA) is a new birth of that business, as of this year. The funny thing is that Rhoda also had started a hobby business about the same time and called it “Worldwild-Adventures” and that is how we meet (I found Rhoda and her company while Google-ing what I thought was my Unique business name) and came to realise after talking for a while and meeting in the UK, we had a vision for the same business. Now here we are over two years later with a business loan and partnership, starting our UK based Company; one that will merge my passion for kayaking and water, with Rhoda’s passion for bush craft and tracking, with the want to help create and solidify sustainable cultural tourism with a reflective adventure educational twist.

Through “Discovery of Adventure” (challenging one’s self to risk in order to gain in-valuable unique experience and growth), “Clarity of Old Growth” (Exposure to old knowledge, Skills and cultural beliefs of ancient tribes), and “Freedom to Slow” (being able to be in the moment), we promise to give you Amazing trips that you will take your breath away. The world is full of amazing moments and Journeys and we wish to help facilitate those and share them with whoever wishes' to take the step onto a wild journey of discovery with us.

Rhoda and I took a step into a journey of discovery when setting up the business over the last couple of weeks, by taking the offer to work with a Shamanistic business mentor to help define and solidify the powerful intent and future for the company. “A bit Woo Woo!” you may say, and perhaps it is, though through this system we were encouraged to really be true to what we want to make the company and its potential, plus embracing the ancient cultural knowledge that we hope to discover with other cultures on our adventures. The process was very much structured like any business development plan would be, just with a more human touch and a fusion of ancient knowledge. This process also worked towards discovery our logo and colours, so stay tuned for more developments on that, but for now here are the significant Images that are playing into the formation of WWA Ltd.

In between weeks of working with Rhoda on the business nitty gritty (while she balanced being pregnant and having a great family to look after, and I slept on their fold out coach in the lounge), I found time to head to southern Cornwall to “The 6^th Sea Kayaking Cornwall Symposium 2012”. I had been here two years ago roughly when I had first meet with Rhoda, and now I was returning again, and again with the TRAK Folding Kayak. However this time round I had the whole week to do an Advanced training course and film some stuff with Jeff Allen and Simon Osborne for the TRAK Files series and another film project I am working on. Plus I even got integrated into the BCU system.

The week was good fun, catching up with old friends I meet last time I attended, meeting new ones, Learning loads, paddling some big water, Doing a talk about my New Zealand expedition of 2011 and the hard and amazing lessons that where learnt (www.kayakdownundernz.blogspot.com), and paddling for hours in the middle of the night practicing night emergency incidents and Navigation. One of the coolest things was pushing the TRAK Folding kayak to do the skill set required by BCU 5 star training, and it handling it.

We dragged the TRAK up rocks, did rough water rescues from it, and to it, Rolled it in surf and rock gardens, Rock hopped and Surfed, as well as towed people through surf and during the night with it. This boat is truly awesome and has very little down falls as a folding boat in comparison to the hard-shells. That being said as with any boat it is the paddlers comfort and skill that sets the stage for the boat to perform, but it is good to know she can take me where I want to go. That being said, I finally broke some things, during the surf sessions and rolling I cracked the seat a little (this didn’t affect me paddling on though it was a break), I loosened the modified thigh braces from all the prying against them (by tightening the screws the issue appears fixed) and the deck line pulled free form the deck mount during a hit from a wave while doing a tow rescue. The main thing with the deck line mount was my spare Northern Light Greenland Paddle was stored on the bow, and when the big wave hit (as I was trying to create counter pull against the surf for the boats being towed in), the force of the wave lifted the paddle so hard the deck line pulled free of it securing tab;“No biggie though” and it should be easily fixed.

 

The whole week was one of my funnies social paddling adventures I have ever had, and I can suggest to anyone who may be looking to learn advanced rough water paddling and incident management skills, that if you get a chance to train with Jeff Allen, do so, he is a huge resource of knowledge and ability.

Contact Jeff at Sea Kayaking Cornwall

And or look out for him at a Kayak Symposium somewhere in the world near you.

My time Sea kayaking ended with a blast, when we were pulled out of the surf by police with whistles in order for the Navy bomb squad to set off to old World War II air bombs, that where found in a near by Paddock. Quite interesting to watch and here the explosion.

 

 

 

Any way I have had 20 days here in the UK and It is time for me to head back to Canada, tonight I am on the Sleeper Train to London (very Luxurious really, and cheaper than a hotel, plus you get a bit of free food and hot drinks). I had to say good bye to Rhoda early and Rhoda’s dad dropped me at the Station, as Rhoda went into labour with her second child a couple of hours before I was due to leave, unfortunately I can’t stay to meet the newest member of the World Wild Adventure Team, though I am sure I will have much to do with him in the future. So as I leave Cornwall someone new arrives into this world of wonder and adventure, what a lucky boy he is!

J