{"id":28007,"date":"2022-11-26T12:00:23","date_gmt":"2022-11-26T20:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/community.nrs.com\/?p=28007"},"modified":"2022-11-26T10:09:24","modified_gmt":"2022-11-26T18:09:24","slug":"tips-for-tolerating-winter-paddling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2022\/11\/26\/tips-for-tolerating-winter-paddling\/","title":{"rendered":"Tips for Tolerating Winter Paddling"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tell me you hate winter without telling me you hate winter.<\/p>\n

While hate is a strong word, after 12 years of double summer, I realized that I do winter best in small doses. Ideally, a few weeks at a time. I want to visit winter, not live in it. Unfortunately for me, that isn\u2019t always possible.<\/p>\n

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Not even into official<\/em> winter, I woke up one morning and realized how surprised I was that it was still cold and gray outside. As if yesterday\u2019s cold and grey was just a fluke, and the day before that\u2014a random cold front. But then I realized, hello, it\u2019s NOVEMBER. And it will probably stay this way for a while. I turned off the alarm, but instead of getting up, I wallowed beneath my blankets and debated the merits of cold water paddling or if I should admit defeat until spring.<\/p>\n

Here in the Northwest, the water is always cold. Like,\u00a045\u00b0F\u00a0(7\u00b0C)\u00a0<\/strong>cold. A lot of the rivers flow through deep gorges that, while beautiful, rarely experience the full power of the sun. But winter (and spring, that magical season of sunshine, water, and longer days) is when it rains. And when it rains, the rivers run. It\u2019s a terrible conundrum for sun bunnies like myself.<\/p>\n

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While you\u2019ve probably seen the iconic photos of kayakers going off\u00a0that waterfall<\/em>, the surrounding banks covered in snow, the reality is that most of us mere mortals wage an internal battle that consists of the \u201cshould I\/shouldn\u2019t I\u201d \u201cI could just go skiing\/to the gym\/do a puzzle\/drink tea\/insert your favorite indoor activity here\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Many of my friends tap out on kayaking around 40-50\u00b0<\/strong>F.\u00a0<\/strong>While I dislike the cold, I do love kayaking. The days you get out on the river in the snow can be pretty magical. And, if you dress right (and stay upright!), it\u2019s honestly not that bad. In fact, I frequently overheat. So, to motivate more friends to paddle with me, here are a few tips to make winter paddling more tolerable.<\/p>\n