Aug 1 | Finding Low-Water Magic

by Andria Davis

Andria_Davis_31-100x100Stuck at home in a low-water season? Quit complaining and hit the river! Andria Davis reports on her success in making the most of a bad water year.

 

I was surfing The Weather Channel the other day, hoping for some good news.  I clicked on a link about the upcoming summer forecast.  The weather lady said something like, “If you hated this winter, you’re really going to hate this summer!”  This statement really got to me—not because of the Weather Channel’s forecast, but because of her attitude.  A few hours later, I caught myself complaining, “It’s so dry!  There’s nothing to go kayaking on!”  After so many years of just hitting the road as soon as the conditions weren’t optimal for boating, I became frustrated by the fact that I was home, it was dry, and I couldn’t escape.  I, too, had fallen victim to complaining about the weather, and in the process made myself into a victim of circumstance.  I realized this and decided that I needed to make a change:  instead of complaining about what isn’t happening, I would learn to love what is happening.  This is the yogic concept of contentment. Continue reading →

Jul 23 | Nobody’s River Film Trailer

by NRS Staff

The journey planned is rarely the journey taken. The Nobody’s River expedition team had no idea how true this would be as they prepared to leave for a two-month expedition in Mongolia and Russia. This film documents their journey along the Amur River, one of the few remaining free-flowing rivers of the world, and through the complexities of love and loss. From their hilarious antics to deeply human struggles, these ladies shine a light on the soul of internal and external exploration–and show us that no matter what, there is always a reason to celebrate.

Winner of 5Point Film Festival’s Spirit of Adventure Award, Nobody’s River will be screening at locations in the US, Europe and Canada in 2014 and 2015.

Visit nobodysriver.org for more information on more about the film, upcoming screenings, or to host a screening.

Jul 18 | River Trippin’ in the Southeast U.S.

by Andria Davis

Andria_Davis_31-100x100Multiday raft trips are usually associated with the western U.S., but Andria Davis reports that fine river trippin’ can be found in the Southeast too.

 

Multi-day raft trips have become a necessity for my husband Leland and me.  Extended trips give us the chance to completely let go of society and all our mundane worries and live on river time.  When I’m on river time, I’m completely in the moment in the most perfect place on Earth: the River.

middlefork Continue reading →

Jul 11 | Waiting Games: Stay in the flow when you’re not on the water

by Rob Lyon

Rob-Lyon-100x100Whether you’re stuck in a tent waiting out a storm or just kicking back on a layover day, immersive board and card games are a great way to stay in the flow when you’re not on the water. Rob Lyon has these recommendations.

 

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Imagine four antsy sea kayakers stuck for a week in a leaky cabin at the tip of Vancouver Island. A storm rages outside the cracked and missing windows and a board game is spread on a makeshift table.

“Your turn, man,” I say, for perhaps the fifth time that night.

“Oh . . .”

“Dude,” I say to Mikey. “You gotta tell him it’s his turn when you’re finished with yours.”

“Roger that.”

“Game could go on all night with each of us thinking it’s the other guy’s turn.”

Colin says, “But all night is exactly what we’ve got.”

We all laughed at this, but Colin had put truth to fact. Continue reading →

Jun 16 | Papa Bradt: Being Tyler Bradt’s Dad

by NRS Staff

Where does Team NRS paddler and Wizard’s Eye Expedition leader Tyler Bradt get his legendary enthusiasm and love-of-life? Spend some time with his father, Bill, and it’s obvious. The new video short “Papa Bradt,” directed and edited by Tyler during a Wizard’s Eye stopover in Fiji, capture’s Bill’s infectious spirit and his philosophy on risk and raising kids.

Jun 4 | Inland Surfing in Idaho

by Devon Barker-Hicks

devonkayaktalkLongtime Team NRS freestyle kayaker Devon Barker-Hicks discusses the trend toward surfing more than just kayaks on river waves and why she likes sharing the lineup with surfers, SUP boarders and catarafters.

A few days ago, while surfing my kayak at Race Creek on the Salmon River, I was stopped by two guys in a mini-van. They had the Playboaters Guide to Idaho in hand (a kayak surfing guidebook written in 2000) and surf boards in the back. They asked for recommendations for waves to surf in route to the Lochsa. They were a road trip to the famous Pipeline wave. There have been stand-up surfers riding Pipeline since I was paddling a Perception Dancer, but not many joined the lineup on the Salmon until recently. Of course, it was only a matter of time. These days, you’re as likely to see a board surfer or cataraft surfer on the salmon as someone paddling a playboat, and that’s part of a trend that extends beyond Idaho to surf waves all around the world. River surfing is fun no matter how you ride the wave.

DCIM100MEDIA Continue reading →

May 30 | Warning Signs and Hitting Lines: A Lesson on the Lochsa

by Ian Fodor-Davis

 

ThreeRivers_JBoling_031714_-9497When an NRS crew heads to the Lochsa River to test drive one of our new Outlaw rafts, they learn a lesson about first-trip-of-the-season jitters. Customer Service rep Ian Fodor-Davis gives us the rundown of a memorable trip he might rather forget.  (Hint, the raft wasn’t the problem.)

Some river trips give you omens—little, almost indetectable warning signs about trouble that lies ahead. Often these come in the form of small, or not so small, mistakes that build up over the course of the trip. These kinds of omens were plentiful on our first trip of the season, and we thoroughly demonstrated how not to start the year off. Continue reading →

May 23 | How to Choose a Whitewater Kayak

by Leland Davis

LelandWith so many choices out there, how can you choose which whitewater kayak is right for you? Leland Davis has this definitive guide.

 

It’s the most burning question for beginning whitewater boaters, and one that haunts many paddlers throughout their paddling careers.  With so many choices out there, how can you choose which kayak is right for you?

When I started paddling, things were simple.  The words ‘whitewater kayak’ were almost synonymous with ‘Perception Dancer.’  If you wanted to paddle a C-1 (as I did in my early years), you could paddle a Gyromax, and later a Cascade.  Nowadays, there are so many choices of types and models of boats that it can be incredibly confusing—not only to beginner boaters, but also to paddlers who are many years and river miles into their paddling careers.  Here’s my attempt to demystify the categories and design characteristics to hopefully give you a leg up in choosing which boats are right for you.  Continue reading →