It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve returned home from my summer out West raft guiding and safety kayaking for Kodi Rafting. It was an amazing summer of paddling with friends from home and friends that I’ve made in Colorado. I will never forget my time in Buena Vista and am hoping to return there again one day in my life. Here are some pictures from over the summer –

Enjoying the view while taking care of some business. - Photo by Erin Qualters

Wave wheel on the Arkansas. - Photo by Eliza Burk

Our campsite setup. - Photo by William Ott

Racing the Speeder on the Numbers section of the Arkansas. - Photo by William Ott

Cool view of the West out of my side view mirror. - Photo by William Ott

After returning home it wasn’t long until my itch for boating was starting up again. Hurricane Irene had arrived and I attempted for some local goods but ended up getting skunked horribly. I couldn’t be disappointed for long because Beaver Fest was approaching the weekend after. I road up that Friday night with Geoff Calhoun and we made it up to Colton, NY for a good night of sleep under the stars. The next morning we woke up bright and early to crank out a bunch of laps on La Raquette! I got in around six laps but the last one hardly counted because the water had pretty much dropped out. Here are some shots of us on the Raquette –

Geoff hitting the boof at Colton. - Photo by Patrick Rogers

Looking like a perfect landing for Calhoose! - Photo by Patrick Rogers

Heading through the slot backwards. - Photo by Patrick Rogers

After the Raquette on Saturday we headed over to Taylorsville for a some “socializing” with friends from all over the East. The next morning we got up for some early morning hucking on the Mosier Slide on the Beaver. It was crazy to me that just two years ago the slide was run from the very top for the first time by my friend Kevin Vesely and now I think almost ten people including myself ran it from the top eddy from the side. After the Mosier Slide we did the Mosier and Eagle section of the Beaver which is always a good time. There was even a race on the Eagle section that evening which Geoff had gotten first in. You can check out the rest of the results here – Race Results as well as the results from the race on the Raquette on Monday which was also a cool event. Here are some pictures of the Mosier Slide as well as the Beaver –

Dave Carey on the Mosier spillway. - Photo by Mark Zakutansky

Graham Seiler boofing at the end of the spillway. - Photo by Patrick Rogers

A shot of myself on the Mosier section of the Beaver. - Photo by Patrick Rogers

After returning home from a great labor day weekend in New York I had heard that Pennsylvania was due for some moisture and knew that it was going to be a week of creeking. I got on some great local favorites including Conewago East in Mount Gretna, Long Green right outside of Baltimore, as well as some micro creeking on some tributaries that come into the Codorus (I had done with Kevin several years back in the day). By Wednesday I had my fill but when I realized that we were getting more rain I knew that I had to go big. When you want to go really big, you call in the DEMSHITZ. Talking to Jared Seiler (One of the ring leaders of Demshitz) Wednesday night we discussed a plan to do some exploring the next morning up in Northern Pennsylvania where the flooding would be the worst. Bad idea.

When I started driving the next morning I should have taken the hint that it was going to be a long day when they were closing every major highway I was attempting to get on. After an entire day from driving (escaping) from town to town attempting to meet up with Jared in Berwick, it had seemed that I became trapped in the town of Shickshinny which had become completely submerged underwater. Shickshinny was literally right next to Berwick but it had seemed like they closed every road leading into the town. I made a final attempt to jump a barricade and drive through some water almost stalling out my car. I eventually made it after spending almost ten hours in my car and moving from town to town taking whatever detours I possibly could.

When I made it to the Albertson’s house, Jared’s friends who are locals to the Northern PA paddling scene, we discussed plans for the next day thinking that we had plenty of options. Even with the immense amount of rain things were still dropping out quick and we new that we were going to have to act fast in the morning if we were going to catch anything. Jared had his mind set on Heberly Run in Jamison City since our options were limited with all the roads closed and Pennsylvania being in a state of emergency. We new that the dirt road taking us to the put-in of Heberly was going to be completely ruined because of the flooding which is why Jared and Albertsons devised a plan to run shuttles using the Albertson’s Quads. In all honestly, it was probably one of the dopest ways I’ve ever run a shuttle. It maybe even tops the Glen Miller shuttle! Maybe. Anyways, Heberly turned out to be low but the drops were still good and big! This run was comparable to something straight out of the gap, with drops almost as big as David’s on Hornbecks or Raging Angels on Tumbling Waters. Needless to say, I was impressed. After we returned from the run to our cars we were awaited by an officer from the Game Commission. He wrote the Albertsons a citation for using their Quads on Game land which was totally whack because we were only using them for transportation, NOT FUN (Okay we did a few wheelies too)!

Check out a few of the freeze frames Jared took from the day –

Using the quads to get to the top! YES!

Myself launching Lewis Falls on Heberly

The Alberstons cooperating with the officer.

Myself running Big Falls on Heberly Run

Well, that about sums up the end of my summer and the beginning of my fall season. Now I’m sitting here with an ear infection, probably from Long Green or the Codorus (Damn you Codorus!) wishing I was playboating Holtwood. Happy Paddling until next time!

-Brenton