The moment I switched from a traditional 5 day work week to a 9-8-80 schedule (alternating Fridays off), I had my eye on this specific Memorial Day weekend. The stars lined up and graciously provided Caitlin and I with a 4-day break from reality.
So we accordingly spent the first day waking slowly, sipping warm beverages in the rising sun. I haven't really spent too much time on my back deck, but I recently dug the patio furniture out of storage. This may be my new favorite spot to enjoy the rare slow morning.
Our plan for the day was to break the seal and get Caitlin on the water for the first time in 2025. She was trepidatious about her skill, but that of course was unfounded. She quickly remembered the correct way to edge coming out of eddies and her rapid memory was quite good. All she needs is more time on the water and she'll be ready for Class V, no problem.
We spent the day soaking up the sunshine and relishing the rare quiet moments on the South Fork. For a holiday weekend, both of us were shocked at the lack of people on the water with us. Bonus - it was technically a dual sport day as I rode my gravel bike for the shuttle (which only turned out to be 3.5 miles from Greenwood to Marshall Gold!).
Evening came and on the menu was steak, an easy favorite of ours. Again with the back deck -a full circle moment in the fading evening light, spending quality time with my partner eating a great meal. Life really couldn't get any better... but it actually could, this was just the first of four days!
Saturday was Amelia's birthday, and she'd planned a slow party lap on E2P, along with a kayak charcutrie board. Intrigued, I immediately knew that I needed to contribute to the feast. First to mind was cake - though the only short order cake I deem acceptable is from Trader Joe's. The next closest alternative was apple pie - again the only acceptable spot for pie is Ikeda's in Auburn. Easy, only a 5 minute drive from my house.
The method of pie transport left me scratching my head. How would i manage to pack rescue gear, camera gear, a pie, and a breakdown paddle in my half slice? Then it hit me - my heavily despised Pelican 1150 case finally found its purpose.
The charcutrie board ended up being a total success. Pro tip, a medium Gnarvana makes for a great cutting board and serving table.
Sunday was a bit different - by now the fatigue of paddling several days in a row was beginning to show and I was getting sloppy. So therefore it was a great time to relax on a familiar run in my creekboat and focus on photos and exploration.
We started the day off with Kyburz, a run I had PFD'd last year around the same time. My impression of this run on that day was that it was continuous, pushy, and rocky. As perspectives change, this flow on Kyburz is just fun and relaxing, with options for satisfying moves and good boofs. Once we wrapped up on the South Fork, we mobilized over to the Silver Fork, a mere 15 minute drive.
Our intention was to run the Silver Fork Slides, a fairly straightforward and fun section of the Silver Fork American. Watching the gauge the previous few days revealed an odd spike in flows. Last year I had ran it around 450 cfs, and thought it was forgiving, low, and very interesting. The main draw of this run certainly isn't the challenging whitewater (at this flow), but rather the beautiful and unique setting. For the gradient and volume of water, this section of river is strikingly smooth, save for the occasional mank and one or two must make moves above wood/sieves.
As we scrambled down the 300 vertical feet from the road to water level, our shoes filled with sand and sweat soon soaked our already damp dry suits. I was nervous, but excited for what was to come. When we finally set our boats down above the put in rapid, I was stoked to run what looked like a great boof, and a high speed hole skip. Every paddler in the group had different lines - I opted for the flake boof to ferry/hole boof. It turned out great, and I was able to snag some great shots of everyone.
While I did feel like I knew what to expect from this run, I will admit that my on river experience was quite unexpected, but in a good way. Since our crew only had vague familiarity with the run, a large group of 8, and a few team members who hadn't run it before, we moved slowly and scouted our way down the river.
For me, it felt like what I could imagine expedition kayaking would be like, but without the unknown fear factor - we all knew that it was runnable, but were making our way down slowly, setting safety where we thought we needed it, and communicating lines effectively via hand signals or through the group telephone.
It was very much refreshing to feel comfortable in a run that was unfamiliar to me - I'm not usually one to probe a line for the group, but I was feeling good that day. Several times I volunteered to probe a line after a quick boat scout, relaying beta to my crew via hand or paddle signals.
I also made a concerted effort to practice using a polarizer - as the days grow longer and the sun shines brighter, a polarizer has been key to cutting glare and saturating colors. However, I'm terrible at remembering to adjust the filter's polarization for optimal glare reduction. On this day, I made a conscious effort to compose the shot, adjust the polarizer, then shoot the photo. I think the use of the PolarPro every day filter helped on some shots, but hurt on others here - raising the ISO was the only way of combating a medium aperture and fast shutter speed. This further reinforced the fact that the Everyday filter is but a hindrance whenever there is not direct sunlight.
For Monday, our crew settled on E2P (again), since it was really the only run with ample water. For a moment, we considered a return to Kyburz, but that was quite low (in my opinion) and pretty bony.
I will admit to relying on my Tamron 17-70mm lens a bit too much, choosing instead to alter focal length on the fly rather than "zoom with my feet." This day I made yet another intentional effort to take my rarely used 35mm f/1.8 prime lens (also maybe bolstered by the fact that I just bought a $5 49mm-67mm step up ring, rendering my 67mm threaded filters useful again) and practice composition via positioning.
Wow. I can't believe I hadn't done that sooner. By now, I've photographed E2P so many times that it's starting to get stale - or so I thought. Just by tying one hand behind my back and limiting to a single focal length, I completely changed my perspective of shooting these rapids. By being forced to hike to different perspectives, I found some great compositions higher off the water. In a sense, I think that fixed focal lengths are not so much of a hindrance but rather an empowering tool for forcing creativity when things get stale. Plus, the f/1.8 wide open aperature doesn't hurt when I'm struggling for any fraction of a stop of light that I can get.
Shooting in 35mm fixed focal length also reinforced Darin McQuoid's principal of the "dreaded water level shot," and the greater idea of uncommon perspective making for great photos. Since we spend so much time at water level scouting and in our kayaks, our brain tends to overlook any water level photo. So next time, I'm searching for higher perches and different angles.
In any case, thanks for listening along - until next time.
Epic!