Needless to say, it’s been a long time since I’ve written. I’m mostly healed from my MCL tear so I’ve got content to write about, but there lies the rub…when I’m forced to stay off my board (or trails, or dance floor, or yoga mat, etc) I have nothing to write about relative to the blog. So I’m doing my best to sneak a post in here and there, while excited to be active again and too busy being active to write about it.
My first experience back on whitewater, post injury, was on the first day of 2018. A great start to a new year! It wasn’t, however, on my paddleboard. My first whitewater adventure was with the American Whitewater Association New Years day paddle, an annual event, on the Clackamas. My guy Sam and I R-3’d it on a raft, with his young photography and paddle apprentice Colby. To be legit, I’d like to say we R-4’d the run with Mojo (the coolest dog in the world) with us. Mojo and I were both excited to start the new year right… finally getting back on the water. The day was gorgeous…coldish but clear and it was large, fun group of paddlers. The river was running at a perfect level and fun was had by all. Now, as of March 2, way beyond my ability to remember details about the paddling I have to admit that a highlight was the homemade oreos that one of the paddlers contributed to the potluck after! Ha (my TRUEST passion in life reveals itself…food!!).
The New Years day paddle was great, however I was excited to get back on my paddleboard on whitewater which I did the next weekend with a wildly unseasonable Saturday on the Santiam river. It was a sweet reunion. Since I was mildly nervous about what my knee could do I wanted to start small. I chose the first stretch that Sam and I ran together–our first date. A fitting stretch and fairly romantic, in my mind, since he has been my whitewater paddle buddy, for the most part, since I started running frisky ripples on my board. We put in at Mehema and took out at Linda’s (as we did that first day). The difference this time around, was that the river was running at 4 times the CFS. I was surprised to find my legs uncontrollably shaking for about 3 or 4 minutes, through the first rapid. After that, however, they firmed up. I suppose it was a reaction from my muscles “what the hell is this?!”…hmmmm oh yeah, we’ve done this before.
Honestly, nothing particularly noteworthy about the run except it rejuvenated my confidence in my knee’s strength. The Santiam is always beautiful and fun. Also, 65 degree weather in January is pretty epic. There have been several amazing paddles since…you might be saying “then why not share THOSE stories Sue…this one was mediocre…? However, I’ve got to get moving out to ski and yoga. Gotta save something right? For now, thanks for listening and happy paddlin’….
Frisky Ripples 