Dropping treats, coming in hot, routing the goods and stomping the stoutness - Zak Shaw California Spring Tour

"Dropping treats, coming in hot and stomping the stoutness"
I'm pretty sure we're still talking kayaking here....The whitewater in Cali keeps me on my toes enough as it is without trying to keep up with the jargon/smack.
Image below Zak Shaw
Ben Jackson fires off plastic surgery, South Silver.

After some time on the Cal Salmon we rolled south. I had a week of freedom before heading to Portugal and ultimately the Norwegian Arctic.
Phil Boyer and Rachel Moore were on a similar program so we headed south to the Kaweah River.
After a long drive on 99 south we arrived in "Three rivers" and quickly dressed for the Hospital rock run.
Image Zak Shaw
stout adj = possessing or showing courage and determination.
Stoutness - Big and intimidating rapids that hand out punishment if they are not stomped.
Rachel Moore stomping the sections first move.

The following day Phil and I set shuttle with Charlie and Ben for the East fork run! Its a top quality run and with a pushy flow we had was a tense day out.

Image Zak Shaw
Charlie watches Phil Boyer dial in a must run drop early on.
The third day Charlie and I joined a team of 4 others and rallied to a section higher up in the Kaweah drainage.

Image Zak Shaw
Paddler - Taylor Robertson, Upper East Fork Kaweah.

Image - Zak Shaw
Charlie Center, Upper East Fork Kaweah

Ben Jackson - Racing strips makes it faster to find treats....

"Dropping a treat" yeah boy - Kiwi stud Jamie Garrod get's it done, South Silver
Image - Zak Shaw

Autobarn - South Silver
Image - Zak Shaw

Clavey and Gravy..ClaveyGravyClaveyGravyClaveyGravyClavey and Gravy

Image - Ben Jackson
This week I arrived back in California. The transition this year from sleet and snow back home in New Zealand to heat waves and endless sunshine in California was an easy one.
In our first week back we fired some new fuel into the Suby, jumped the battery and rolled out.
Golden gate was our first test and having paddled the run several times we made fast time. Not without drama though. An Irish friend swam above one of the main rapids out of his boat and Ben Jackson cut his eyebrow.

Ben Jackson prior to being ducktaped.


Image above - Ben Jackson Clavey River.
With Coloma as our base we then headed south on 49 to the Upper Clavey road bridge and camped near the put in.

Image Zak Shaw.

Image above - Zak Shaw
Our first day started early. We had camped at the put in bridge in order to get going early.
We made great time through the top 8 miles before lunch.
Below lower Clavey bridge things beefed up and we moved slower.

Image above - Zak Shaw rolls over a big ledge with speed and eyes the hole/pool below.

Image - Shannon Mast leads the charge in the Lower Clavey. Time and time again we found continuous grade four whitewater and very rarely had to get out to scout. If we had asked prior I'm sure someone would have mentioned the severe lack of camp sites in the bottom canyon and so at 6pm with the bedrock continuing to hold us in we pushed further looking for small patch of sand to spend the night.

Image - Shot by Ben Jackson - Zak launching clear of a river wide hole.

Day two - image Zak Shaw.
Shannon Mast airborne and looking good part way through a cool ledge drop.

Image above - Ben Jackson
Zak lines up a pair of ledge holes.

The last move on the Clavey. Shannon Mast fires up.
Image - Zak Shaw

"When all is said and done, we're trying the best we can to play"

I'm unsure as to who said it. It was a line sung in "Chasing the White Demon" a DVD produced by the "No Big Names" crew a few years back. Its a good one. Image above - Scuba Steve and Dean Arthur about to touch down, Prices Flat, Whitcombe River.
Well we're another summer down. They seem to race by. Before packing the van I managed to swing some time on the coast in the company of Keith Reiley. Moving under the radar Keith maintains a low profile on the NZ creeking scene but is one of the countries top adventure paddlers.
Image below - Keith Reiley inside Prices gorge. This section of river is walked more often than its paddled. Even if you walk every rapid its better to be riverside than busting your gut to get up and around. Try it!


Keith Reiley dropping into a fast chicane drop that comes at you before you know it.
Kokatahi River.
Image - "the man drop" As I watched Steve and Keith complete the portage I was struck by a contrast in size.

The Bliss-stick Mystick a design thats right at home on NZ's West Coast. Fast, responsive and predictable. Keith Reiley finds a launch pad in the Kokatahi.

Image - Lower Kokatahi Gorge. How many kiwi's appreciate the undisturbed natural beauty of our wild rivers?
Image - Dean Arthur, Whitcombe River.

2 day Hoki, Southern Alps, NZ

If you asked me which section of river was highest on my list this week I'd yell "The Mungo"
Last weekend everything worked out. Eden Sinclair was home in NZ taking a break from life at sea as a geologist doing seismic work of the coast of Angola. JJ Shepherd was on hand with one week left of his NZ summer stay and Dave Kwant gained clearance to go with baby number on the horizon line.
To be in the Mungo with a team of anything less would make the days longer and compound the uncertainty associated with each must run drop. Its a stand out trip and one of the countries most demanding. Locked in by polished gorges the Hoki feels more committing than any other coast river Ive been on.
Image below - High in the Hokitika the river drops into several spectacular gorges. In shot Eden Sinclair sits below the falls plumming spray happy to be on his home run.

My day started at 4.30am.
I drove out of Christchurch city over Arthur' s pass in time to fly at 10am. JJ, Dave, Eden and I had not paddled collectively since our Tibet Expedition in 2006.
Coffee, hot cross buns, a sandwich and banana's got us to the chopper pick up point on time and we set off on the longest flight.
Image below - Eden Sinclair lines up a table top ledge early day one in the Mungo.

We flew past the regular day run put in and then Bruce just seemed content to keep flying. Below us whitewater raged constantly downstream and we peered into a number of gorges. After a couple of minutes it became a joke, there was so much steep whitewater below us that I gave up trying to memorize lines and looked at JJ in disbelief.
Image below - JJ fly's out and away from another classic drop within the first two hours.

Image below - That man again, from ship to steep creek who would notice!
Controlling the inside of the turn Eden Sinclair on the verge of another feel good drop.

Day one took us 7 hours. Frisco canyon proved to be the crux of the day where our team was faced with two options. Run a drop filled with timber of throw your gear in and swim. JJ probed first and broke his regular pattern of accuracy falling off the drop into a retentive pocket in the base of a drop. He got hammered briefly but resurfaced in good shape within Dave's grasp.
Eden fired through second and made the line clean.
Not excited about boofing a drop with a log in it Dave and I teamed up to provide safety for each other. We threw the boats into the flow then jumped to swim around a short undercut corner. Drama....
Serpentine Hut, a kayakers paradise.
Dave Kwant runs from Dando. The chopper's blades did some tree pruning upon arrival!
Ben Jackson and porno Pete joined us early for day two. Bruce then flew our overnight gear out for us, Bonus!!

"Almost golden"

Image above - Golden Bay at sunrise. Beautiful to wake up to, not good for kayaking.
NZ's ever reliable weather forecasters spread the warning. "80mm of rain to fall west of the Takaka hill" Thats what Golden Bay needs in order for it to transform from a sunny white sand paradise into a steep creek rain induced kayaking meca.
In the Murchison pub our plan was confirmed and we headed north after work the following day.
We knew we would arrive late on the banks of our target the Parapara river so I packed a spotlight. At 10pm the flow looked good at the takeout but the rain had stopped. We remained hopeful that it would rain throughout the night.
Nine years previous I'd spent an unplanned night spooning two of my good friends, freezing within the Parapara gorge. Fatal mistake - we picked the shortest day of the year to do it.
It got dark at 5pm so we made a shelter out of ferns, kayaks and lifejackets.
Some nights just go forever....
Keen to set the record straight on round two we got an early start and drove back to the rivers take out.
Disappointed the flow had dropped to almost half we had to fall back on paddling the Upper Takaka river.
With the bare minimum flow we still found some good action but lost alot of plastic in the process.

Shannon Mast - Walking into the Upper Takaka river.

Irish Graham gets it done on a cool 6m drop mid way through our day.


Shannon Mast finds his gold in Golden bay.

Teva Buller Fest, Paddlers hit the Matakitaki River head on!

This years Teva Bullerfest went off in Murchison earlier this month.
Here's a few images from the Matakitaki boatercross race.
Brad Lauder cleaned up for the second year in a row in the men's open.
Image below - Brad Lauder makes a clean break through gate 2.


Lead paddler Yohann Rozenburg fighting for first in one of his heats.
Paddler - A focused Josh Neilson

A super day in the Kokatahi, NZ

Image above - Graham Charles www.imagematters.clear.net.nz

Finding a way! Tight moves is just how it is in the Kokatahi.

Sam Hughes on hand to spot Graham's landing.

"Its all good down there" Hokitika River NZ, Zak Shaw - photoshoot

Image above - Jess Brown makes ready to fly on route into the Hokitika.
Last week was a good one! After my 65 day stint in the southern ocean I was hanging out to go creeking! The transition from sea kayak to creek boat is always a good one! Things happen fast, the moves feel good and drops get the blood flowing.

Shannon Mast gets it up on "Viagra falls" a rapid that like many on the West Coast changes regularly.
As close as we get to Cherry Bomb! Shannon Mast launches off the wall and back into the breakthrough gorge.
A visit to the gates is a standout experience, one that will keep you going for weeks! Jess Brown and Shannon Mast hanging out at the "Gates of Argonath"

Passing through the gates. Graham and Jess soaking up the rewards of NZ heli kayaking.