I'm Still Paddling...I've Just Been Too Busy To Tell You About It. Part 2

We pick our story back up with a third paddle down the Kiski River in two weeks. This trip I was joined by my wife Robbin, and our friends Rose, Kelly, and Diane. Rose and Kelly had been on the river once before in tandem kayaks with their husbands (see 1/2/2010 How We Got Hooked - Our First Trip Down The Kiski), Diane had never been on the river. We decided to paddle the section from Avonmore to Vandergrift. The river level was still high enough to make paddling the riffles a lot of fun, and I thought it would be exciting for them while still being an easy 10-11 mile trip....I got the fun and the exciting part right. Rose decided that she wanted to try a canoe this time around. Their plan was for Rose, Kelly, and Diane to all share the same canoe. As luck would have it, the outfitters from The River's Edge threw a extra single kayak on the trailer. This would turn out to be a blessing.

When we got to Avonmore, Kelly decided she would paddle the extra kayak. After a foot pad adjustment and a couple of quick paddling lessons, she picked it right up.





We had a blast paddling through the first few sets of riffles. The river was high enough to paddle straight through without having to navigate around the rocks.






We stopped every so often to grab a snack, a drink, and to just enjoy swimming around in the river.






The first 8-9 miles of this journey went very well with only one canoe tipping incident. The final 2-3 miles got a little more difficult for our canoeists, though. This is also where the photography stopped as the photographer now became the Kiski River "tow boat". The river got more shallow at this point and the riffle sections became a lot more difficult to navigate. The second canoe tipping incident resulted in bumps, bruises, and lost items. From that point on I held on to the canoe to stabilize it while steering my kayak with my free hand. I would really love to have a couple of photos of this spectacle as both boats were spinning down the river bouncing off of rocks. We made it through though, only slightly worse for wear, and we're all having a good laugh about it now. Rose has sworn off canoes though, and Diane has sworn off the river completely. Hopefully Diane will change her mind and give a kayak a try sometime.


If you look closely at the above photo you will see that Robbin (front kayak) has assumed her preferred kayaking posture... feet outside the cockpit while paddling as little as possible. If you look at the rear kayak, however, you will see that Kelly has taken it one step further. Notice the rope attaching Kelly's kayak to Rose's and Diane's canoe. Kelly has eliminated paddling completely. Don't get any ideas Robbin!