Since Tuckfest, I've been itching to try out whitewater river stand up paddling at the US National Whitewater Center. So I finally did. I went there to do this....
...and this...
....but ended up doing this...
...and this...
Its hard folks. But I knew it would be. I was expecting to get humbled and swim a lot and that's exactly what I got. The US National Whitewater Center (USNWC) only recently started offering whitewater stand up paddling as an official part of their programs and activities. I've now done two group lessons along with my friends Mike and Donald....and we're ready for more time on the water to progress some more. There are completely different paddle techniques than what we use for SUP surfing or racing. Plus, it requires whitewater knowledge and the ability to read the water. So now I've got a whole new sport (again) and a whole new learning curve (again). Being able to do this in a "friendly" environment (not in an actual river with shallow rocks, logs, tree limbs, strainer dangers, etc) right in our backyard is a real treat and I look forward to leveraging this great resource a lot more.
Here is a sunset pic after our first lesson at the USNWC and taken from the "riverfront" restaurant patio.
Summer means that when it gets hot and humid at home, its time to head to the mountains and cool off. We recently met up with my beautiful bride's brothers and their families and went for a hiking adventure off the Blue Ridge Parkway near Blowing Rock. We hit one of my favorite trails - the Boone Fork Trail. It's conveniently close to Blowing Rock, is moderate to strenuous 5 miles of hiking, winds along a creek and river most of the way, has a couple of waterfalls, and has some great swimming holes. I'm not a good judge of water temperature, but it was COLD!
Last week on Father's Day, we hiked at Hanging Rock State Park and came across this guy....a Copperhead snake...a common and poisonous snake in NC. I've now counted 6 snakes I've seen this spring and summer so far - all the others were nonpoisonous.
And we recently had a real "Wild Kingdom" moment at our house - a garter snake trying to swallow a large frog. After two hours of no progress on the snake's part, I intervened and distracted the snake, he let go of the frog and slithered off. We put the frog in the woods and I'm sure he was soon someone else's snack since one of his legs had been broken by the snake. The next day, this garter snake was sunning himself in the garden bed and probably mad at us for taking away this month's meal.
Summer at home also means Wednesday night is Classic Car night at Brusters Ice Cream. Many awesome classic cars are on display but here is my favorite - a classic Woody. Just needs some roof racks (and to be in my garage).
Evening sunsets on the lake with the family...
2 comments:
Great shot of the copperhead! Looks huge! I haven't seen any lately....just some black snakes. Perhaps that's why. Nice trail (Boone Trail). Will have to put that one on the to-do list.
Alan
Nice shots Mac. Don't know if you had the same experience I did when getting back on flat water. Seemed like my footwork and balance was loads better after hitting the river run.
Mike
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