Moke River

Last Sunday I paddled on the Mokelumne River about 3 hours from home with two friends from the kayak club. Most of the rivers aren't runnable this time of year, but the Moke is one of the rivers whose flow is controlled by dam releases. We had a great time.

This entry method is called a seal launch. The concrete is a water diverter to break up the water coming from the dam. I did it first and then filmed Larry and Dan coming down.If you view this clip on my new camera you can watch it in reverse, which is quite amusing.

Here's Larry and I trying to surf a small wave. It's actually easier to surf a larger wave because the face of the wave will be steeper making it less likely the paddler gets "flushed" out or off. I missed it the first time but had a fun little run on my second attempt before getting flipped. It really is like surfing in that once you're properly balanced on the wave you really don't need your paddle and you can turn simply by leaning, or in paddler lingo, practicing good "edge control."

This is me approaching the Devil's Toiletbowl rapid, with a little too much speed and off balance (trying to avoid a rock just to my left).

Dropping off the ledge...

failing to keep my weight over the bow...

This side of the boat is supposed to be in the water =)

Here's what it looked like on video. The first paddler through is Larry, demonstrating what it's supposed to look like. The second paddler through is me showing what not to do and getting some more rolling practice in!

Dan and Larry, nearing the take-out. Since we drove only one vehicle up there, I volunteered to do the bike shuttle to retrieve the car from the put-in. So after paddling 6 or so river miles, I rode 8 or so miles on Larry's bicycle (which we had previously stashed at the take-out) back to the car. And since water runs downhill, it was an uphill ride. The fun on the river made it absolutely worth it though. I got a few other clips from the day, but the upload times are too frustrating! I also spent a few hours trying to create an actual highlight film using Windows Movie Maker or something but gave up on that too =).