Two Days in Salida
So 4th of July weekend Boyd and I spent with his family. We did the Boulder town run, a little bit of shopping, and and a little bit of down time.
After Boulder, Boyd and I headed over to the Salida area. Boyd and I were on our way to the Numbers, and decided to stop for lunch at Bongo Billy's in Salida. There, we ran across Clay and so we decided to stay there and surf a little bit. It was going great! The afternoon storms were rolling in, but missing us and hitting the cities upstream of us. Alot of people were showing up at the hole, including the guys (and gal) from the HUGE experiences group. Everyone was surfing it up and having fun, then all of the sudden the river rose from 900cfs to an estimated 1800 cfs.
Guys it was crazy!!! After the water rose, of course it was dirty, and then stuff started to float down the river! First is was just pine needles- nothing too bad, just really annoying. After that huge logs came down the river. Some people got out of the hole to let them pass, some people surfed with them, and other were oblivious of them and, like one girl, head butted them when they went in for a loop.
Now this water wasn't just your plain old dirty water. the water was full of silt and it was so very thick. The water coated the paddlers as they rolled up.
Boyd looping in the thick, slity water.
It was cool at first, especially with the high levels, but after that it just got to ba a hassle. I got out before all of this of course, but the other paddlers would roll up spitting pine needles out of their mouth and trying to see through the coating of thick water that covered their eyes. When the guys took off of the river it started to rain. That night Boyd, Clay, and I decided that it was definitely a hotel night so that all of us can take showers and get clean. The next day We three headed back over to the Salida hole with the intention of running something else that afternoon.
Today the hole was a bit stickier than it had been yesterday before the rain hit. My first ride I got stuck in the trough and got worked a lil bit, flipped and got worked a little bit, and finally got flushed out right in time to roll up before I ran out of breath. I still lloved the hole it was definitely at a great level. Everyone had pretty great runs, and I have lots of pictures to show for it!
Boydgetting some air with his loop. He did really well today, feeling good he nailed some front and back loops getting the crowd goin' a little bit! It was an awesome day for Boyd!
Clay Wright throwin' it down as usual; he can make any wave or hole look world class anyway. A great guy, ust like the other jackson members that were out there today Lawr
ence and Greg
Favorite ride of the day: the tandem loop. Boyd Ruppelt and Josh Oberleas looping simultaneuosly- one of the only times they actally achieved this ;-)
A great day indeed. I am so happy to be around all of these guys. Being one of the least experienced paddlers in the group it is so great to be able to learn form them!
Tomorrow Lake Creek and then back to the hectic life of Memphis,
Sam
posted by Sammie @ 8:31 PM
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