My Fall paddling has been held close to home as I am preparing for a major expedition but what I found is that through my gallivanting around the world I have overlooked some gems lying right in my backyard. Here are a few of the rivers I was lucky enough to score hardly a stones throw out my backdoor.
Kooteni Falls is a natural play park for paddlers. The falls, which you can easily lap as many times as you want flows straight into Super Wave, one of the biggest best waves on the west coast. The river then continues on through a classic big water class four plus canyon.
The Elk River just North of the boarder in BC is another classic in the area. Boasting a clean 40 footer into a football field size pool and countless fun class five rapids and drops, this was one of my favorite new rivers I paddled this Fall.
CFS is action! I love seeing throw back boats styling lines. The CFS was my first ever creek boat and I was happy to see a good friend lacing lines all the way down the Elk in one.
This is one of the first drops you get to on the Elk. Watch out for the undercut cave on the left!
The next river we paddled up in BC was the Spillamachine River a couple hours North of the Elk. This is a picture of my good buddy Jonny Meyers lacing a line on the stoutest drop of the run.
The next drop that follows is happy ending. Here is a cool shot of myself getting just that on a cold BC day.
Of course another instant classic is the Box. Due to it remoteness, quality of whitewater, and stunning scenery this has become my favorite run relatively close to home.
With so many amazing rivers and places to paddle around the world it's easy to forget about what is hiding in your backyard. I am already looking forward to more exploring as soon as the rivers start to run again... Happy New Year!