April 2004

April 09, 2004 - 3:29 p.m.

So the past couple of weeks have been fairly busy. We stayed until last Tuesday in Asheville. Mark ended up running the Green 8 times (and 4 of those were at 200%). Other than that we went and surfed Jaws at Nolichucky, paddled the Tallulah Gorge and checked out Hell hole on the Ocoee. Lots of fun and we met tonnes of good people.

Mark on the Green

Michelle on the Tallulah

Last Tuesday we split Asheville and headed straight to Rock Island, Tennessee. We spent a beautiful three days playing in the hole, though now both of us need a little break to let our muscles recover. So we have decided to make the drive west over to California and we should be in Kernville in a few days.

Mark at Rock Island

April 17, 2004 - 3:25 p.m.

We arrived in California on Sunday and we went straight to Sequoia National Park to meet up with Scott, Jason and Andrew. Mark ran the Kaweah River on Monday with them while I went to check out the massive Sequoia trees. Tuesday Mark, Jason and Scott decided to run the South Fork of the Merced river (a two day trip) so they left me to check out Yosemite National Park. I found a sweet little play hole just downstream of their takeout so I had something to do while waiting for them. The spot was soo good that we ended up heading back there on Thursday so that the boys could have a turn in the hole.

Mark on the Kaweah

Jason, Scott and Mark

Now Mark and I are in Kernville...We picked up my boat (Lil' Joe) and some gear here and also checked out the local festival. Then everyone went and ran the local creek, Brush Creek at super low water - it was like going down a big water slide with a couple drops thrown in for fun.

Michelle on Brush Creek

We are slowly going to make our way North now, hopefully stopping in to see a few friends and family.

April 28, 2004 - 11:50 a.m.

Tulomne CA

So we spent the past couple weeks paddling in California (with a visit to the whitewater park in Reno). Paddled some great rivers/creeks and even found a couple sweet playspots as well. This past weekend we had a great visit with Mark's Uncle Wayne and his family. They have a beautiful place just outside of Redding and it was nice to relax for the weekend, as well as indulge in some fantastic home cooked food.

Scott at the Reno play park

Yesterday night we drove across the California border into Oregon, where we plan to spend the next week or so before continuing our journey north.