where does the drinking water come from?

http://www.americanrivers.org/blog/one-of-three-rely-small-streams-drinking-water/?utm_medium=socmed&utm_source=facebook&source=facebook

Old School is super cool

http://www.cafepress.com/artandwater.352375709

Defining "navigable waterway" is very important to whitewater boaters

http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/Article/view/articleid/31747/

Watershed

http://youtu.be/fsmiWhKQvb0

A short film by Danny Doran

My car was having issues, but Kenny would not let me get out of circumnavigating Manhattan again.  I was on one of the funny learning experience trips that Kenny speaks about in the movie two years before.  This time, a broken car, just two of us paddling, an entire film crew taking subways around NYC to film this trip, an overzealous fisherman who caught my stern (almost hooked my face), near collision with an angry ferry boat, but PERFECT timing with the tides thanks to Kenny, made for an adventure that I'll never forget.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2752144/

Call for artists

Looks like the Liquidlogic folks are looking for art work for their new facility outside of Asheville.
Check out Shane's blog for details.
http://shanesliquidlogic.blogspot.com/2013/02/open-call-for-art-proposals.html

Awareness in the midst of the Experience

"When I was at Eiheiji monastery in Japan, everyone was just doing what he should do.  That is all.  It is the same as waking up in the morning; we have to get up.  At Eiheiji monastery, when we had to sit, we sat; when we had to bow to Buddha, we bowed to Buddha.  That is all.  And when we were practicing, we did not feel anything special.  We did not even feel that we were leading a monastic life.  For us, the monastic life was the usual life, and the people who came from the city were unusual people.  When we saw them we felt, 'Oh, some unusual people have come!'

But once I had left Eiheiji and been away for some time, coming back was different.  I heard the various sounds of practice - the bells and the monks reciting the sutra - and I had a deep feeling.  There were tears flowing out of my eyes, nose, and mouth!  It is the people who are ouside of the monastery who feel its atmosphere.  Those who are practicing actually do not feel anything.  I think this is true for everything.  When we hear the sound of a pine tree on a windy day, perhaps the wind is just blowing, and the pine tree i just standing in the wind.  That is all that they are doing.  But the people who listen to the wind in the tree will write a poem, or will feel something unusual.  That is, I think, the way everything is."


pp. 87-88
"Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind"
by Shunryu Suzuki
ISBN 13: 978-1-59030-267-5

LiquidLogic Grand Canyon Winter Assault 2013

2013 Liquid Logic Grand Canyon Expedition from Russ Langley on Vimeo.

film/slideshow by Russ Langley on Vimeo http://vimeo.com/58010609 Nice edit Russ!!! Great crew!! Great trip this year!

Preserve the Upper Animas for the future

Some CO boaters are being proactive about the status of the upper Animas from Silverton down to about half way to Durango....


Private boater support for Wild and Scenic Designation of the Upper Animas River Petition | GoPetition

Essentially, the petition is a statement that the current access and flow schedule is preferred.  So, why sign the petition?  You should look at (and hopefully sign) the petition because water rights in western states like Colorado are constantly changing, particularly as more and more real estate is developed.  It would be a shame if the further development of the Animas Valley would have a negative impact on water flowing in the river; particularly since the development is often from out of state developers for out of state owners of vacation homes who's perspective and care is often only for the two weeks each year they are in the valley.

Gear that fits in a LL RemixXP10 for a 12 day trip

on this last Grand Canyon trip.  Other than the food that fit in three drybags (from another post), here is the list of things that I brought on the trip...

Main paddling gear:
* Kokatat Gore-Tex Meridian Dry Suit (GMER)
* Smartwool Men's NTS Mid 250 Long top and bottom (2 sets)
* Smartwool Hiking Medium Crew socks (3 sets)
* Heavy weight fleece bunny suit (a real heavy weight one, not a power-stretch or anything too techy because the point is to have loft and thickness)
* Silicone swim cap (largest size possible, and one that covers ears can be folded up above ears, but nice to have the option).
* Latex kitchen gloves or chemical gloves (best base layer for hands that keeps wind and sun off of skin, which tends to dry out and crack on a trip like this).
* Neoprene Pogies.
* IR Shockwave skirt. (2 - one for me and one for the group, just in case...)

* Astral Brewer shoes.

* NRS Wingman knife

* Stohlquist Descent PFD

extras kept inside boat for super cold days:

* Fleece or neoprene skull cap.
* Neoprene gloves.

extra layers for cold days on water or in camp:
* Cheap mid-weight fleece vest
* Mid-weight fleece pants.
* Mid/heavy weight fleece pullover top

campsite clothing that I changed into a.s.a.p. to let boating gear dry:
* 700 fill down jacket.
* Waterproof hiking sneakers.
* Winter hat & gloves

(the mistake I made on this trip is that my hat did not cover the bottom of my ear lobes.  Because of this, I had a little bit of cold/sun damage on my ears)

* Lightweight rain jacket and pants (act as windbreaker or rain protection when needed).

campsite shelter and insulation:

*Big Agnes Jack Rabbit 2 person tent

*Mountain Hardware Lamina 0 degree sleeping bag

*ThermaRest NeoAir XTherm compact mattress

*Cheap minicell camping pad (made a good clean place to sort gear and supplementary warmth under the ThermaRest pad.  I kept it on the stern deck)

personal hygiene and safety:

* toothbrush & toothpaste

* 3 oz. hand lotion (applied every evening and morning)

* chapstick (with sunscreen)

* wet wipes (2 for every morning)

* small bottle biodegradable camp soap

* small bottles of hand sanitizer (3 travel size)

* Petzl Tikka XP2 headlamp 

* Petzl Zipka headlamp (backup)

* 6 extra AA batteries

* small bottle multi vitamins

* fingernail clippers

* swiss army knife

personal first aid kit:

* Adventure Medical Kits "World Travel" first aid kit

* Zicam rapid melts

* Mucinex DM

* Aleve

* Neosporin

* signal mirror

cook kit:

* JetBoil Sol

with Sumo 1.8L fluxring companion cup

* Alite Cloverware 4in1 utensil set

* 5 small canisters JetBoil all season fuel

* MSR 6 liter dromedary bag

* Nalgene 1 liter water bottle

* Katadyn Pocket ceramic water filter

* Sea-To-Summit Kitchen Sink 20 liter folding bucket

* REI Flexlite chair

drybags to put everything in (including the food from a previous post):

* 2 Watershed Ocoee drybags (food bags behind seat)

* 1 Watershed Aleutian Deck Bag (on bow deck)

* 1 Watershed Salmon stowfloat bag (in bow)

* 1 Watershed Big Creek backback drybag (in bow)

* SeaToSummit eVent compression sack (medium) for sleeping bag

* SeaToSummit Lightweight Dry Sacks (2-4 liter bags, 2-8 liter bags, 2-13 liter bags, 2-20liter bags)

personal waste management:
* special groover that fits in bow wall of Remix XP10
* roll of toilet paper
* 24 wet wipes

Our group had 4 different extra break-apart paddles and one extra PFD.

Everyone had at least a small First Aid Kit and one person had a major med. First Aid Kit.

6 people had water filters, and 4 other people had folding buckets for letting silt-laden water settle before filtering. 

The trip leader had a satellite phone.  

At least one other person had a signal mirror.

Three people had SPOT gps devices.

LGCWA 2013 photos

Paddlers from the Jan 1 - 12 trip with RemixXP10s have been uploading photos to individual galleries all week.  Here is a link.

http://artandwater.smugmug.com/LGCWA2013

It was a great trip.  We were lucky to have warm weather (for winter) on many days and an incredible crew with which to share the experience.

New Year's Day

was the last full day on the river two years ago.  The air was warm, and everyone was in a bit of a party mood at the end of this trip.

At the end of the next day, everyone was checking their email and social networks.  We learned that the Liquid Logic crew had just launched their trip on that day.  It's pretty cool how they have turned it into an annual trip.

Tequila Beach

Havasu II

Havasu

Matkatamiba

Deer Creek Logic

Deer Creek

Camp 118.6

(actually, it's Big Dune)

Elves Chasm (looking out)

Elves Chasm (looking in)

Winter Canyon