South Silver

The South Silver Fork of the American River is the closest thing to natures Disneyland. Slides, drops, teacups and a ton of granite make for one big playground.

Auto Barn... Sweet As!

I first paddled the run back in 2003 and ever since it has been high on my list of things to do when ever I'm back in this part of the world.

Settled high in the Sierra's, the drive alone is worth the trip. You are treated to amazing views of the surrounding hills with their towering granite domes, a landscape foreign to many kiwi travelers.

Berno slotting into holiday mode

Its this granite that leads us along the winding roads in search of the put. After some creative 4wdriving in our 2wd Suby (with no clearance) we managed to glide gracefully into the clearing that is the carpark.

On this particular trip we managed to rally a huge team of kiwi kayakers. The ex. CPIT boys were camped at the put and have been for a few days. They had taken almost all the seats out of their family wagon and made an outdoor lounge around their outdoor fire.

NZ winter or California granite.... you can decide

Along with AD, Rachel Moore and Zak, we numbered 9 kiwi's at the put in.

Straight off the bat you are into AutoBarn, a super fast slide that kind of feels like a big granite gutter. After lapping this a few times we headed on down stream to the next sweet features in our outdoor playpark.

Slides more slides...

The team worked through the aptly named boof boof slide with varying degree's of success.

The lovely Rachel Moore boof boof sliding

Our next stop was the first of four fantastic teacup drops. It is these teacups that kiwi paddlers have been dreaming of for years. The team split up and ran and re-ran all the different combo's they could through the teacups and down into the signature drop on the run... Sky Scraper.

Zak Shaw dwarfed by Sky Scrapper

Many lines were run, smiles we had as we all threw ourselves down this granite wonderland.

After lapping out SS and the infamous Off Ramp we headed on down stream for more slides, boofs and great fun... It really is the most fun you can have in a kayak.

Team CPIT checking some of the goods.

Me lining up for Off Ramp

We all had a sweet day out in the Californian sun paddling with good friends. For me it was an added bonus to paddle with the boys from CPIT. Having paddled with them in NZ and having the privilege of teaching with them, it was great to be in one of the world's best kayak destinations throwing down.

eNZed represent.



Music is by Kiwi charger, LADYHAWKE - My Delerium

Clavey River

The Clavey River is the gift that just keeps on giving.

The Clavey has long been on my list of rivers to run in California. Until now things haven’t quite worked out timing wise.

Zak and I had been keeping a close eye on the Dream Flows website. We made the call to head south and put out the call to the numerous kiwi’s lingering down the road at the local campsite. Initial enthusiasm had the team swell to seven. By morning our team had shrunk to 2.5 paddlers. Hmmm.

Clavey Car Camping

After wasting the morning away we managed to commit Shannon (fellow NZKS employee) the remaining .5. We also managed to figure a relatively complex shuttle that involved a team driving to Yosemite first… Sounds positive already.

Now that we had locked in a full team of three, the suby (actual nickname… really original) was packed to the roof and we made our way south down highway 49.

49 runs north south along the base of the sierra’s and is the all important link to many of California’s best paddling.

Zak lining up the entry to rapid #73

We decided to make camp near the put-in so we could get an early start. With a little time up our sleeve’s we stopped in Tuolumne City (they use the term ‘city’ very loosely) for a beer. After driving around the town that time forgot we found the ‘Loggers’. It was next to the only other open business in town. Sierra Ink, a tattoo outfit. Go figure aye.

Shannon thinks he's off to play cricket.. whats with that?

Anyone who has meet Shannon knows that he looks about 15. So, with out ID he was promptly kicked out of the pub and was made to sit in the Suby while Zak and I enjoyed a beer. After much piss taking the publican let him back in and even let him drink a beer.

Shandawg testing out his split paddle

Our day begun at the crack of 9.30 as we pushed out of the first eddy and straight into our first portage. Once we were back on the water things got going with both a rush and a roar. Pushy class four and laden kayaks put the team in the groove for the day.

Blue Steel. No school for that..
Image: Zak Shaw

Things were going pretty smoothly until Shannon jammed his paddle in between two rocks and proceeded to break the entire blade off. Go the class three mank (mank is usually a shitty and shallow rapid).

We make so much $$ teaching kayaking that we just cut werner paddle's up for fun.
You can see how much fun it is...

After sorting this we made short work of the remaining Upper Clavey section. Unknown to us, we lunched at the half way bridge. This was fine, however, it was one of the last decent places to camp. From here we dropped into the lower 8 miles.

The pinstripe's make for bigger boof's. Honest
Image by Zak Shaw

The consistency in gradient is amazing in the Clavey. Very quickly you loose count of the pool drop combinations you run on your journey towards the Tuolumne. Slowing, mile after mile, we made our way down stream looking for a sweet beach to set up camp. As the afternoon slipped by we realised that there weren’t really ANY camping options. Finally about 6pm we finally found a beach we could camp on. It even had sun (for the first 10 minutes).

Zak doing his best to blend in

After a restful nights sleep we pushed off from camp at 8.30 to tackle the remaining two miles that would lead us to the confluence. In the back of my mind I knew we had to keep things moving because we had organised to be picked up at midday.

Ha! Fools are paddling straight past the last camp site. At 2pm...

During the last two miles the Clavey kept doing what it does best. It kept on giving. Drop after drop the Clavey kept going. The paddling was pitched at a fantastic level. Most of the 100+ rapids were at the limit of safe boat scouting. Zak was feeling good out on the water and was happy to probe what we couldn’t see.

Shannon perfecting his rocket move. Rapid # 243

At the confluence with the lower T high fives were issued and we turned to head for our midday shuttle pick up. Hilarity ensued as we fell through Clavey falls. Going from 25 cumecs to 240 was quite the transition.

The boys getting ready to run the toilet bowl

Our Clavey trip proved to be the trip that kept on giving. After paddling the remaining 18km in an hour 20 we were worried we kept our fantastic shuttle drivers waiting at the bridge. 12.30 had us at the take out. No shuttle. One o’clock came and went. No shuttle. One thirty, no shuttle. By 2.30 Zak had drawn the short straw and was dispatched we a passing vehicle to try and get the Suby.

Zak Shaw "Where's the shuttle?"

Finally, at 3.30 our shuttle had arrived. Shannon and I were starting to feel a little worse for wear after 3 hours in the 38oC heat. High fives were re-issued and we were done.

Turns out Anna had gone walk about in Yosemite, got on a one way bus to now where and got lost. Mmm

Golden Gate

The past few days have been a blur here in California. Landing and being whisked off to Joe Bousquin's place complete with bbq and chilled beers, talk about an ideal start to the trip... It was a definite improvement from me losing my ipod and new headphones at LAX.

From Joe's place in Sacramento, Zak and I headed in land an hour to Coloma and the beginning of our paddling trip proper. We warmed up with a run down the Kyburz and Peavine sections on the South Fork of the American. To round out our first full day in the country we were dragged reluctantly off the infamous Coloma Club. Drinking and hilarity ensued.

Jamie Garrod stomping rapid #143

Day two began at the crack of 11am and we gradually made our way to the put in of the golden gate section... Let the adventure begin. The flow peaked around 1600cfs meaning the run had its fill of sizable holes and sizable moves. The kiwi team swelled to 7 with the Chch boys coming to play. Four hours of sweet paddling had us at the take out with a few tall tales to tell.

Zak Shaw threading the needle

Irish Barry (not Irish Graeme, he was to hungover to make it to the put-in), had the misfortune of swimming one of the biggest rapids of the day. A few nervous seconds saw him wash battered and bruised into the eddy at the bottom, minus paddle and boat. Lacking the necessary transport, Barry was forced to hit the feet for a two hour climb out to the main road.

My day was not without incident as well. Keen to avenge(?) my thrashing in the bottom of Golden Gates F1-11 two years ago....

The plan. Clean the run.. have a good day. Debt settled.

Bernard Oliver can do it with no hands!

This plan, however, fell apart.

Chasing Barry's boat down stream, I ran a pour over drop, clipped a rock on landing and proceeded to flip and become pinned upside down in the bottom of the drop, wedged between a rock and a hole place. Not a good place to be. Running low on O2, an executive decision was made, pull pin on spray skirt, stay in boat, flush from the hole and leave ego slightly intact.. This was not to be. Only the flushing part of the plan worked.

Golden Gate 1, Ben 0

After paddling 200m of class 4+ with a fully submerged kayak I was separated from my new boat and new paddle.. Bad! But, not before catching my paddle on a rock and then on my head, resulting in a split eyebrow. Mmm. Golden Gate ego not avenged.

DIY first aid. If you can't duck it!

However, all was not lost.

Besides a few minutes of drama the trip was a raging success. Pulling into the take out eddy, we were meet by Graeme (not hung over now) and a box of Heineken beer. Ahh, success finally!

It was great to be out on the river with the ex CPIT crew and seeing them paddle well.

Action Packed

The past three months have found me in a state of perpetual motion. Teaching kayaking has kept the schedule full to the point of being full on. Tag Buller Festival into the mix and things have been a little crazy here in Murchison.

Shannon Mast battling it out in the Matakitaki Boater X
Photo: Zak Shaw

This year saw Karl Reece and I team up to make Buller Festival the best one so far (I'm not bias, honest). Having spent six years behind the scenes with the weekend it has been great growing it from strength to strength.

Quarter Finals Action. Bradley Lauder out in front. Not too sure about these North Islanders taking out Buller Fest
Photo: Zak Shaw

Teva Buller festival had some very cool firsts in 2009. First up, Teva stepped up their commitment to the event despite the tough times for this global brand. Big ups to Sarah Foote and the team behind her.

This year also had the greatest number of competitors ever. We managed to crack the magic 100 mark in the Boater X held on the Friday. This trend continued through the weekend peaking with over 500 revelers Rocking the Buller and the Ultimate Descents base to the foundations on the Saturday night.

Me vs. the crowd in Murchison's biggest ever game of paper, scissors rock. The prize, a brand new customised Bliss-Stick Mystic creek boat. Score!

Post Teva Buller Festival come down was quickly washed away with a few stellar trips down to the coast (my second home) and some white water therapy. Can't beat it. I was lucky enough to get down the Upper Hoki with an All Star team.

West Coast taxi services care of Bruce Dando
Photo: Zak Shaw

We had a fantastic day out. Good mates, good water, the Hoki gorges need I say more. It was topped off with a fantastic swim sequence from Porno Pete and JJ Shepard. Poetry in motion.

Folk often ask 'why?' and refer to our pursuit of happiness as 'crazy' when we seemingly put ourselves in harms way to paddle hard water. Until you are there you won't understand. Until then a amazing photo from Zak Shaw might give you a small insight. For more of his mint images check out passion4adventure

Paddling the Arahura River on your 60th Birthday. Respect!

East Coast representing

The Upper Rook's

team 440

Its been a while since I have been so fired up about a mission here in NZ. Zak and I took the opportunity to do a kayaking mission out east after running some river rescue training in and around the central north.



We picked Zak's bro Elby up from his base on the Kaituna in Rotorua and headed east. The forecast was for plenty of rain so we were confident in finding some sweet paddling. With darkness settling over the land we drove into the Urewera's and into or first problem for the trip. Over a 100km of gravel roads and a fully loaded truck had taken its toll. Flatty. After plenty of grovelling around in the mud we got the spare on and tentatively hit the road knowing that another flat would have us sleeping roadside. Not an option.

As midnight drew close we rolled into our 'farm' base happy to be off the road. A few quick phone calls before we left meant that Zak had hooked us up some sweet shearing quarters. Chur!

zak in action on 'handle bars' drop

Over the next couple of days we tagged into multiple descents of the upper rook's sampling all the goodness it had to offer at the varying water levels that were on offer. A two minute drive from our lush accommodation had us at the take out. Drop the bike, and 10 mins later we were ready to put on. Not quite as sweet as the kaituna shuttle but plenty sweet for us.

kiwi rivers, gorgeous!

With geology not found in other parts of the country we got to sample plenty of papa slides and ledge drops. It was a bazaar feeling to be running sweet slides all set in sweeter kiwi bush.

The Munamuna River

Zak had walked in here a few years ago with his old man and taken a photo a two sweet ledge drops that he thought were about 5 foot in height. On the back of this we decided to go bush with the boats an see if we couldn't tap into some of these ledge drops.

Elby Shaw an hour in and wishing he had one of our hydraulic's 'strap on's'

More 4wd had us at the road end and strapping the boats on. The 3km hiked quickly turned into 5km as we realised the drops weren't were they were meant to be. The first hour and a half were pretty sweet going as we waded through bogs and across farmland. As soon as we stepped into the bush things got a little harder with a 260m climb up a migning slippery over grown track.

has anyone seen the put in?

The 3 hour mark had us just above the put in but it took a further 30mins of bashing to access the river bed.

Worth the 3 hour walk. You be the judge

Two 5 foot ledges. Yeah right!

With time running low we dropped into the 'flat gorge' as Zak had quoted it and ran some pretty big water class 4 and 5 for the next two hours. We didn't mess around with cameras and the like as daylight was running low and the river had already come up close to a foot while we were on it.

Elby getting 'cali' on it and staying out of trouble

Surfs were had had, lines were bold and we were happy to pull into the take out eddy. Not a bad day out and a possible 2nd descent. All was left to do was to celebrate east coast styles. Drive an hour and a half for beer and bourbon. Chur chur!

For Zak's rebuttal check out passion4adventure

Mangawhio

Socks. You don't need socks in California in July. You need jandels, boardies and beer, but not socks!

If you live in NZ and are working in the central north island during July then you will need socks... and a bunch more warm things as well. Having spent the past couple of years working on my 340+ jandel days a year this winter came as a bit of a shock. jacksonoutdoors almost became jacksonindoorswithbrieftripsoutsideintothebitternewzealandwinter.blogspot.com but I figured it would never really take off.

I have managed a few adventures here and there but my days in a kayak have been outnumbered by my days on a snowboard (4) and my days sick (6) but not quite my days hung over (3). Awesome, really... Mmm, anyway.

One such adventure had my driving to a river just north of Whakamaru which is just north of Wellington (by 6 hours).

I teamed up with the esteemed team of Brendan Bayly and Bernard Oliver. With plenty of rain around we headed for the Mangawhio River which is almost (literally) in Brendan's backyard.

All we knew is that it was beautiful and was steep in places.

About 20 seconds into the run the river signals its intentions. A clean crisp 12 footer. The next 30mins is filled with plenty of boogey water set amongst beautiful NZ bush.

you wanna slide?

A cascade and the main road bridge signals its time to step aside or step up. The 2 and 3 foot drops you scouted from the bridge turn into 10 and 12 foot drops. The bottom three drops are where all the goods lie. 10 foot into 30 foot into 40 foot of goodness. After scrambling to scout the combo we make a call. Berno and big drop Bayly will fire up the first two while I video. Then they will wait 15 nervous minutes in the micro eddy while I 'climb' my way back up to my boat. Easy.



Brendan lead by example making the top two look easy. Berno followed the trend. Sweet, my turn. Top drop, good, 30 footer, sweet until I land and my back rest blows out. Awesome. 3 kayaks, two boat eddy, vertical walled gorge and 8m down stream the river falls away another 40 feet. After trying in vein to sort my backrest the answer is obvious. Turn and tuck.



After a decent thrashing at the bottom I rolled up minus an elbow guard and smiles all round. Brendan follows soon and joins me in the eddy to watch Berno get the best thrashing I have seen in a long time... and its all caught on tape.

40 feet to freedom

Only in NZ

Only in New Zealand could you paddle around a river bend in the middle of a walled out gorge to find a dead pig on one side and a cotton clad hunter on the other.



I was teaching on the Anawhenua River near NZ's infamous Urewera's with a group of students. We paddled around the corner to find a guy about to swim across the river to try and recover a pig he had shot. His plan from there was to jump in the river and swim down until he could get out with the pig. After convincing him that it would be a really bad idea (air temp 8oC and the water not much warmer), Alan Ferguson and I pulled the 50+kg boar into the river and ferried it back across to him... If he had swum he was looking at about 700m before he could get out, plus all the white water. All in track pants. Darwinism in action!

Mokihinui River Dam 2.0

An updated version of the Moki River footage.




Feel free to comment. Also, for more information check out forestandbird.org.nz
To check out another threatened river on the westcoast check out the Waitaha

Cheers