EGCREEKIN

The Rise of Blue Balls

2011-12-30T10:23:00.001-08:00

All there is left to say is...BOOM!

Later E.G.

Palguin Sessions

2011-12-09T08:55:00.000-08:00

The Palguin river runs off the flanks of Volcan Villarrica, there fore it almost always has a runnable flow. Being summer time rats here in the small town of Pucon this fits perfectly into out busy agenda. Only 20-30 minuets from downtown this river offers close reliable class IV-VI rapids for us to run whenever we want. 8am-9pm there is enough light to head to the Palguin and either run fun class IV boofs or go huge off 40-80 foot stouts! What more can you ask for?

This season the water was prime when we arrived, but has been on a steady decline from day one. This has made for a mad dash to get all the runs and levels opportunities we can in a short amount of time. Once we were warmed up with a few Nevado runs we went straight to the Middle Palguin for some test dummy action. Good lines through Stout 10 and varying lines off the big one...Aniol and I went back up for round 2! A good day of hucking for sure...a few days later Aniol was feeling Salto Palguin so we went back for a Todo Palguin! Aniol laced the stout and we went on to run the entire river with only 2 portages.

One being a very tight manky slide with a log jam, and second is Brendan Guth's drop on the Lower Palguin, which hasn't been run since that tragic day. Enjoy a few shots from the 2 runs!

Stout 10...coming in HOT!

Getting mad dirty off the curling lip of the middle!

Juanito Ugarte running the middle after an exciting stout 10 descent.

Head freeze of middle with the new GoPro 2...this thing shoots amazing footage!

Papa Garcia styling in the new Liquid Logic Stomper 90...the boat looks amazing out there on the big stuff!

Aniol running stout 10 with some style...he has been on fire coming hot off a big Mexico trip.

A sick sequence of me running Stout 10...this is the scariest move offered in Pucon!

Stern mount freeze off the middle.

It amazes me to come down here year after year and continually return to this river only to find more and different personal challenges as I grow as a kayaker. I still get scared looking down at the pool while scouting the Middle, I more scared than ever of the Exportacion, and Salto Palguin is a thing of my past after having a good line last year. This has been a cool transition for me to be a part of...every year I come back a better and more confident paddler, but I always have different goals and fears in mind. Some rapids with curtain consequences that appealed to me last year could be a total no go this year...while drops I didn't like in the past I can now see myself stomping.

Salute to the Palguin keep watching this blog as there is a ton more content to be put up and get ready for Bomb Flow TV's Episode 6 covering the first month of this Chile trip.

Later E.G.

Chile Starts off with a BOOM!

2011-12-02T09:25:00.000-08:00

This year Chile has been better and more sweet than ever before! Coming off a bad bad injury from a fall I took in Africa I was on the couch for a full month and a half. It's funny how time and your personal happiness can connect in curtain ways. When you are happy time flies! When you're not time can creep by! That's just how the human mind works at times. Therefore when I arrived fresh out of my walking boot, I was nervous to see how I would do and so excited to get back in my boat!

First day off the plane I was greeted by Anton, Ian, and my Dad in Santiago. We loaded up Ian's new truck and drove straight to the Rio Claro. Finding the level was still super high my nerves set in big time knowing we were gonna drop into the Garganta Del Diablo canyon and run the Twirly Bird at high flows. I felt a bit bobbly in my boat, but after the first few class V drops I was back in my element feeling good as ever.

It was only Ian, Anton, and I in the canyon and we couldn't even get out at the lip of Caracol to shoot, but with luck my pops was on the canyon rim and caught some of the action! Check the photos...

Ian running the TWIRLY BIRD!!!!!!

Myself tucking up and running the first stout of the trip...oh such a sweet moment.

The viking Anton bombing as always. Good to be back with the good boys running the real!

The rest of the canyon was a blur of pure beauty and high water scary action!!!!! It was a truly special day for me. Being back in my kayak healthy, with my older brother, good long time friend, and running the shit in my favorite country in the world! Like sands through the hour glass so are the days of our lives!!!!! Keep your eyes on egcreekin cuz we blowing shit up!!!!!!

Later E.G.

Chile all wrapped up in one...

2011-11-06T09:46:00.000-08:00

Here is a little video of me talking and kayaking...its all filmed in Chile and features some of the biggest, best, and hardest drops I have ever nutted up to run...Chile is amazing! Come down and check it out for yourself there is anything from this kind of stoutness of beautiful endless class II in drinkable creeks and rivers. If you are looking to buy any gear for a trip to Chile check out Rivers Lakes and Oceans my family's company in Pucon...we sell everything from the best whitewater boats to fishing supplies. Enjoy the video y'all!

Evan Garcia Chile Bomb Flow from BombFlowTV on Vimeo.

Later E.G.

The Box

2011-10-28T10:52:00.000-07:00

Being a young kid growing up in the kayak scene I always looked to the top to find my inspiration. Being from the Gallatin valley there was a group of well known amazing paddlers living right here in my home town...often know as the NERPU boys!

They made films such as Nerpu, Valhalla, Weyakin, and One World. The Teton Gravity Research boys were locals in my home town! So this made it easy for a number of incredible legends and stories to come up around town. Matt Wilson, Ben Selznick, Brain Fletcher, Nick Turner, Seth Warren, Brett "Soup" Ferre, and many other good ole' boys ripped up the best rivers and creek around Montana and the Rockies. There were two rivers that really stood out in my mind...Big Timber Creek and The Box of the Clark's fork of the Yellowstone.

"The Box" for short, was a 2-3 day run in North Western Wyoming, only a few short hours from Bozeman. I had always heard terror stories about this canyon and what it was capable of doing to even the best of paddlers. In my head this was the far exterior of what was possible in a kayak and because kayaking was the center of my own little universe...it was the coolest most badass thing I could think about doing in life!

Fast forward 8 to 9 years...thousands of days on the river...and instead of the kid watching all the movies just dreaming of becoming a so called "pro kayaker"...here I am doing nothing but going kayaking and making movies of my own. This has been quite the transformation to be a part of and it wasn't all that easy int he end, but passion and staying true to what I really wanted to become have lead me to this point in life. There I was 22 years old finally at the Put-in of The Box with 6 of my close friends ready to go!

The Box starts off with a tight little canyon known as the Honeymooner! This is mostly made up of fun class IV drops getting you ready and warmed up for the first big portage of the Box. Once you reach the Green Monster you walk high river right for about 30-45 minuets before you reach the river and an hour of flat water before the river starts to drop again. The scenery is next best to none! An amazing wilderness setting reveals itself as you float deeper and deeper into the gorge.

The whitewater that is held within The Box is world class...for the most part the rapids are very clean and runnable. There are anywhere from 5-10 portages in the run depending on how hard you want to go, but for the most part the big stuff is all walkable/sneak-able. Some of the bigger marquee drops are Deep 6, Balls to the Wall, Snuliguster, Deliberation Corner, Dilly-wacker, and Leap of Faith. There are tons more amazing class IV-V drops in there to enjoy, but just remember keep your bow up and head dry!

Tyler about to do some subbing in Deep 6! This is a classic drop that looks easy to boof, but turns out to be quite difficult resulting in some downtime! Photo Eric Parker

Deliberation Corner...you make the line or die? Weird odds, but them move goes. Photo Eric Parker

The crew scouting out Balls to the Wall! Check out that sick canyon wall. Both times we ran The Box we saw climbers sending some huge cracks on river left. Photo Eric Parker

POV shot of dropping in to Balls!

Ryan Lucas styling out Deliberation Corner the crux of the entire run. Photo EG

If you look closely you will see a white Mountain Goat high on a cliff over the river. Photo Eric Parker

Lane Jacobs boofing the oh so classic ledge drop exiting a beautiful committing canyon. Photo EG

Ryan scouting the tight line of Deliberation Corner. Photo Eric Parker

Erik Johnson running a smooth line down B.T.T.W. Photo Eric Parker

Mr. Johnson keeping the fire burning so we can cook our dinner. Photo Eric Parker

We caught some very tasty trout right in front of our camp site and ate demshitz. Photo Eric Parker

Myself capturing the beauty of Northern Wyoming. Photo Eric Parker

Johnson running Leap of Faith the last major rapid of The Box. Photo EG

Myself dropping into Deep 6! Photo Eric Parker

We saw a wild Grizzy Bear while driving through Yellowstone national park on the way home. Photo Eric Parker

The Clark's fork canyon from the Chief Josep scenic highway. Photo EG

Camp Time. Photo Eric Parker

The full moon rising over our camp on night one. Photo EG

Ben Kinsella and Eric Parker running Balls! Photo EG

Myself in the middle of Balls going super fast towards the last slot of the rapid! Photo Eric Parker

One thing I loved about the box, other than the scenery, drops, camping, and fishing, is the fact that all the mandatory portages are 100% portages. There is no second guessing the run-ability of any of the big walks...they are absolutely massive and sieved out as a wife and kids. (just kidding)

It was a total trip dropping in to The Box, twice in one year, having two successful runs with great friends. If you would have walked up to me 8 years ago and told me i was going to be lapping The Box someday...I would have laughed and said "No Way". It's amazing how life changes and will lead you down different paths. I couldn't be more happy to declare that I am truly living my childhood dream...being the elusive "Pro Kayaker" making hundreds upon hundreds of dollars and traveling the world chasing down the best rivers it has to offer.

Look for our footage in Bomb Flow TV episode #5 coming soon....

Later E.G.

Bomb Flow TV #4 B.C.

2011-10-26T13:04:00.000-07:00

British Columbia!!!! It's big, it's cold, it's canadian, it's dark, it's scary, it's BC!!!!!!!

Watch as the Bomb Flow crew drives from Montana up to Fernie to enjoy the Elk river with the local boys! Follow them north to the wonderlands of Revelstoke and off the lip of many of BC's most famous drops. Laugh, cry, bleed, and celebrate along side the boys in this 30 minuet adventure of BombFlow-ness! Enjoy!

Later E.G.

Overnighters

2011-10-21T13:02:00.001-07:00

There are so many rad parts of our sport, it's hard to say what's the best.

Surfing big smooth waves? Boofing the perfect 20 footer? Take out beers? Seeing new places? Making good friends?...Yeah all of those things do appeal to me as a long time boater, but there is still one thing that stands high above every other aspect of whitewater kayaking...Overnighters!

This summer I was blessed with the opportunity to return to California for the sixth summer in a row! It seems like just yesterday when I was driving up I-80 to Donner Summit for my first Royal Gorge run. I was terrified! I never would have guess that 6 years later I would have run this river 5 times and was the first person to complete the "Royal Flush". That's all history now...The point of the matter is that I fell in love with the whole deal!

Ever since I was a young ripper my parents had me out on the river. It all started with summer float trips down the Lower Salmon river in Idaho. I was either in the raft or a little rubber ducky inflatable kayak shredding the small class III waves! As I grew my father kept pushing me into kayaking and whitewater...following the foot steps of my brother Ian I was always behind in skill and scared of every horizon line. Not until I was 13-14 years old and after a life changing Grand Canyon trip did I truly knew that whitewater would be my life. Spending 18 days straight on the river pushing my limits every single day I knew that this was the good life!

Overnighters are the most simple form of living to me...Wake up on the river, cook breakfast, load your boat, gear up, hit the river all day until you find a worthy camp downstream. What can get better than that...the fact that you're normally with a group of awesome people way out in the wilderness far away from the fast pace of 21st century life! Yeah pretty much the greatest thing ever! So with all that in mind all you really have to worry about is what obstacles you face on the water. This lets you completely focus of boating, and this is where I personally progress the most. Day after day, rapid after rapid, just kayaking!

So this summer I was able to get to rally 6 overnight runs...

Royal Gorge of the North fork of the American - 3 days
Dinky Creek of the Kings - 2 days
Fantasy Falls of the North Mokelumne - 2 days
West fork of Cherry Creek - 2 days
The Box Canyon of the Clark Fork - 3 days & 2 days

That's 14 days or 2 weeks of being out on the river away from everything else, enjoying what I truly love to do...KAYAK! I have done most of these runs more than a few times, but the beauty and wild nature of all these rivers still keep me subtle and scared every time I visit. It's a funny feeling to be out there in the middle of nowhere, doing your thing for days on end, get to the take out, and return to "Real Life".

Out there on the river you are the king of the world and master of your destiny. Once you return to your fuel burning car you assume your roll as a pawn in the crazy game of human chess that's being played out everyday. A minion of society defined by wealth and possessions, weather you think you are or not! Spend more time on the river, be the master of your own happiness, and define your own world.

Enjoy some photos from Cali!!!!

EG lining up the massive blind lip of Wabena Falls, the last major drop of the Royal Gorge.

Camped out below some sick slides on Dinkey Creek!!! This is the only beach on the run and it's a bad ass place to spend the afternoon and night.

All sprawled out on the first night of Royal...Rattlesnake camp makes for some excellent scenery and good noise therapy listening to the stouts all night!

Fred Firing off a crazy line on Lower Heath Springs...he got his bow down good and stomped his line.

Fred on the classic Mushroom Boof of Fantasy Falls...I had these boys routing down some big stuff in there!

Scouting Heath Springs with Skippy!

Jared enjoying some Royal on Royal!!! He had a few sips before his first run!

Graham Seiler and Ryan Lucas tandem effort on the Rattler!

Nothing quite like a California sunset...its all the nasty pollution that makes it so pretty, but at least it has one pro.

Rush Wabena!

Ben Brown running what I like to call the steepest mank in Cali...this drops continues for another 500 meters!

Ian Garcia in some very nice granite slides on Fantasy Falls!

Our Crew on good juicy high Fantasy! We had a Eff'in blast...all the boyzzzzzz!

Jared leading off with a pretty descent of Fantasy Falls Proper! The cleanest easiest drop of the run.

Myself on the Fantasy Falls...the wide make the drop look small...it's not :)

The stout gorge above Rattlesnake falls is one of the most unique parts of any river in Cali.

Can't wait till next time!!!!

Later E.G.

Surf Yellowstone!!!!!

2011-10-19T14:02:00.000-07:00

I grew up only 30 minuets from the Yellowstone river. My first ever whitewater experience was me crying my way down the Yankee Jim canyon while following my brother and dad down the class III wave trains. I learned to surf, spin, and totally fell in love with kayaking on this river. It holds a special place in my icy cold heart!

I got the opportunity to return to some of my home town playspots this summer in June. First was the oh so classic Springdale wave. Its wide, retentive, and consistent! My kind of wave for sure. Here is a short I put together from a few sessions we had out there.

This next wave was a new find for the Bozeman boaters...it was only really discovered and surfed because the water finally got high enough to actually make this wave. When 23,000+ CFS is pumping through Yankee Jim canyon the beasty wave forms! A constriction in the canyon plus a big rock create the perfect combination for a BIG WAVE! We only got to surf this one for a few hours, but pulled a solid little video out of the sesh!!! Enjoy!

Playboating is a lot of fun when on waves like this...I'm not much of a hole boater, mostly because I suck at it and never really do it...but overall I do really enjoy surfing waves and trying new tricks. It's kind of relaxing after so many stouts! hahaha

Later E.G.

Racehorse Creek Falls, WA

2011-10-19T12:09:00.000-07:00

Ok I know this is kinda old news...but no one ever got the real story of what happened the day myself and Ryan Lucas decided to run Racehorse Creek Falls. We were on our way back to Montana from a good old Hood River Trip and I got a text from Fred! He sent a cell phone photo of Racehorse falls and said it was perfect level! I have been interested in this drop ever since Erik Boomer ran it in 2009, which you can see here Erik's First Descent!. So without much thought we turned the car around and rallied from Yakima all the way to the Canadian border and the city of Bellingham.

After about 5 hours of sleep we awoke to a nice cloudy day and some serious amount of shit talking going around the crew. Fred called up a photog buddy from school who had been wanting to take some kayaking shots. His name is Rhys Logan and this would be the perfect opportunity to capture some brown running! After a Nancy breakfast at some local fine cafe that was way too pricey we were on our way towards Mt. Baker and Racehorse Creek.

Our little crew eating some grub and talking about the brown to come!

Gnarcar and Brownbox mobbing out to the Nooksack drainage.

Once we got there a short trail run brought us to the scouting point. At first sight the drop looked good...but they always do :) After scouting and thinking a bit, I knew we were in for something crazy! The first 2 drops looked good and fun...but the big boy had some serious rock action and a very very tight line. Maybe an hour or so passed after running up and down and clearing some rocks off the shore for a clean landing sight, I decided to give it a go...Ryan was going to come with me.

So it took us awhile to decide to go, but we made the call and geared up!

The face I have going on here was kind of my feeling about the entire day...fired up and scared!

Taking our sweet time to get our boats into the canyon and finally getting in Ryan and I were both very nervous about this choice to drop in the gorge. The place was very powerful and beautiful! The tall sandstone like rocks covered in moss set the scene. Not being able to scout the 1st drop at river level I dropped in blind! It was an amazing drop...big ramp into a hole and off a 20-30 foot curtain falls. Treats were laid!!!!!! Ryan followed with a good line. We both be-bopped down the next slide and got out for one last scout!

Running this amazing drop...check the scenery!!!!

Tight shot of the first drop, I liked my red boat!

Ryan a bit more berried but having a good line.

This was the second of the 3 drops in the set. A pretty easy slide, but having a good line was necessary because the big drop was RIGHT THERE!

After a good scout and saying "ok I can't look at this thing anymore." I got in my boat said a quick prayer and peeled out into the channel. The line was tight and technical! Over a very scrapey rock staying left, but not too left, duck under the overhanging wall, sit up, stroke and stay left!!!! Freefall....Bang!!! on the reconnect, going very fast I tapped a flake sending me sideways and I went mock 5 into the pool totally sideways plaining out and doing a hockey stop like move! It was over!!!! I was almost heading downstream into the sievey pill of shot that laid down there until I hopped out of my kayak on to shore...I was stoked to be at the bottom and unscathed! Ryan was next!

Freefalling!!!!

Landing about to tap my stern on the flake...

Sideways going very very fast...this was an intense moment!

I don't even want to know how nervous Ryan was after watching me go, but I have a feeling that he was shitting his pants. He rallied up quick! Watching Ryan come over the 60+ foot waterfall was SICK...I thought he was right on line and all of the sudden he was airborne and sideways! Connecting hard on his edge he kickflipped and just missed his helmet on some rocks ripping his GoPro off...another connection sent his into his second kickflip into the small shallow pool. He was out of his boat quick and standing up in waist deep water. A quick tap on the head signaling he was good to go and we rescued his boat and gear. His only injury was some bloody knuckles and a hurt ego :) Walking back to the car was tiring and long, but I was satisfied about the huck session and overall success. At least we were all healthy and walking right! Ryan's crash he took 3rd place in the Rider of the Year "Carnage"!

Ryan dropping in and looking good...

A bit too far right made for a bad reconnection bucking Ry over...

Kickflipping on to his face and barely missing his head!

In the pool luck to be walking and not really hurt.

Ryan Lucas, Evan Garcia, Fred Norquist!!!!!!!

Sammy Freihofer looking very good while running safety!!!!! This was the whole crew - Rhys!

Racehorse was a cool day of this season for me...it kind of symbolized the next level of hucking to me...I have been running big drops and pushing my limits for a long time now...but I feel like there is a curtain class of big drops where I know I can stick it 99% of the time. I love running those kind of drops it builds confidence and lets you gain air control. This drop however lays in that "Next Level" category. You know the line is there, but running it is risking some big consequences. I also love these drops because when you are at the bottom that feeling of success, winning, and reaching a goal is what it's all about!

Check out the video here in Bomb Flow TV's Episode 2 Pacific Northwest!

Later E.G.

Bomb Flow TV #4 teaser BC

2011-09-29T22:17:00.000-07:00

I know people have been waiting to see what we got on in BC and this is just the beginning! Watch the teaser of the Bomb Flow boys rip and tear the terrain of British Columbia in August of this year! Revelstoke to Vancouver the stouters were slayed! BIG TIME!

Later E.G.

BFTV Ep. #3 Cali

2011-09-14T11:36:00.000-07:00

All there is left to say is...BOOM!!!!!!

Bomb Flow TV Episode #3 California from BombFlowTV on Vimeo.

Later E.G.

Callaghan Creek, BC

2011-09-13T14:11:00.000-07:00

Here is a quick little Go Pro edit from an afternoon on the Callaghan! This is a super fun short creek 10 minutes outside the tourist villa of Whistler, BC. Easy access and clean drops make this one a must do if you are in the area...you can run it really high and really low. It's like the LW if the locals say its too low...it means its not perfect flow. If this thing were in Montana it would be the best run here :) Enjoy the edit and check in to see the Cali Episode of BFTV in a day or so!

Later E.G.

The Elk River "a leap of faids"

2011-09-12T14:19:00.000-07:00

Egcreekin has really taken a hit this year with all my new projects, but I'm still committed to this site and plan on maintaining it for as long as possible. After an epic summer season in both the PNW and Cali the crew took a week off to return home, recharge the batteries and then head to Western Canada. British Columbia is one of the premiere destinations for kayaking in the entire world. Massive mountain ranges feed glacier rivers all summer and well into the fall, making BC the late season epicenter.

Fred, Ryan, and myself set off from Bozeman on Friday evening with aspirations to arrive at the Elk river, near Fernie, the next morning. Surprisingly we made it, even with battling a two day hangover. I really had no clue what the to expect from the Elk, other than the famous leap of faith drop. We met up with many local paddlers including Mikkel St Jean Duncan, Glen Carpenter, and some other great Canadian boaters to drop into the Upper and Lower Elk.

This run really surprised me with how much it contained in a short distance. The upper gorge, was stout and really fun. Consisting of a great ling slide, a horseshoe falls, good rapids, a stout 3 series, and a 40 footer we were greeted by BC in a great way. After doing the upper and hucking the falls we routed down the lower gorge enjoying some great class IV and a very steep quick hike out of the canyon. Surprised and stoked on the quality of the river we headed to Fernie to watch some bluegrass music (which we never did), bend it, and wake up to do it all over again!

I stole this photo from Glen's Facebook...cuz its sick and shows off the horseshoe dope well.

A cool shot of me riddin' dirty down a rapid on the upper.

Dropping over the lip...here is a cool stern mount...it went all white because i faded into the curler. Soft, but made for a shitty shot.

Siphon claw below the leap!

Dropping into the last hole of the 3 series...this thing gave us a scary few minutes on day 2...we had a swimmer/cave situation. The A-Team pull it off for the WIN though.

DJ Stoneman layin' treat off the Leap!

The Lower Gorge of the Elk River. A nice stack up of class IV drops is always a good way to end the day.

Here are a few shots from the two days we spent there in Elko, BC. Most are just go pro frames, we were filming hard for the BFTV Canada episode...so that equals no photos!

Later E.G.

Bomb Flow TV Episode #2 "Pacific Northwest"

2011-08-15T11:03:00.000-07:00

It has begun...the world domination of bombflow! Have you seen episode #1 pt1 & 2 yet? Part #1 Pucon, Chile, and part #2 Patagonia? If not check them out!!!! They are 50 minuets of completely mind blowing footage from all over one of the greatest most beautiful countries in the world...Now after another month has passed we bring you the Pacific Northwest episode hot off the press...I guess there is an edit glitch near the end...probably my fault...I was too stoked to get this thing out to the pubic! Anyway watch, enjoy, comment, please share with friends and family, and go kayaking!!!!!

Bomb Flow TV Episode #2 Pacific Northwest from BombFlowTV on Vimeo.

Later E.G.

Skippy's Royal Flush Video

2011-08-15T10:49:00.000-07:00

Here is a short video update from the Royal Gorge. About a month ago we put on with 13 people and rallied this 3 day overnight river. Rush, Myself, Ryan, and Skippy all ran the 5 big boys on the run completing the "Royal Flush"! Like I said here is a short cut showing some of the highlights from the trip. Enjoy!

Royal Gorge Kayaking - 2011 Royal Flush from kayakdiaries.com on Vimeo.

Check out Kayak Diaries for more updates from Skippy, this guy really slays in his boat!

Later E.G.

the times they're a changin....

2011-08-11T10:40:00.000-07:00

This year has been as busy, exciting, and interesting as ever. I know I am seriously lacking on the blog updates but lazy, never. Bomb Flow TV has taken over a good chunk of my free time and over all attention for this year. That's not to say that egcreekin will be left behind...only backed up a few months. I hope that everyone and their moms have been watching the BFTV updates and episodes...there are more on the way and our line up for this fall is unbelievable.

Now with this cool new media and attitude going towards Bomb Flow the Mag & TV there has been some negative feedback. Content issues, egotistical remarks, and a very new way of portraying kayaking has brought about some...what do they call it these days...oh yes, HATE! People are either not seeing the humor that is going into this, don't want to see it, or have some moral objection and are tied to their own personal visions of what this whitewater is.

Kayakers are kayakers, and for one reason...because its an amazing, fun, adventuresome, and unique sport. It gets you away from the rush of the 21st century and puts you in a place where you are in command of your own destiny. I personally love when people tell me how I act, view, and use this sport in a selfish egoistical manor. Most everyone of these people have never met me or my friends in person and surely have never paddled down a river along our side. Here lies my problem with the whole shebang. The internet gives everyone a voice, and for some reason in this sport especially, members of the kayaking community choose to strongly voice their opinions on matters that they pretty much have nothing to do with. Freedom of speech is one thing, but voicing out negative thoughts and energy is something I would like the steer away from.

Whitewater is a growing industry. What people are leaning towards is free media and entertainment! This make the internet our prime hot spot. You can log in from any county in the world and see what exactly is going on in the world of kayaking. So take a minuet and appreciate what is happening in our sport. More amazing photos, videos, blogs, and free media is being brought to you everyday by many members of the community...

I am having a long overdue vent on my blog that will shortly be followed up by a bunch of write ups from this summer. All I am saying that instead of over reacting pointing fingers or forming strong negative opinions, take a second think about it and open your minds to other trains of thoughts and lifestyles. Enjoy what is happening in whitewater kayaking. Everyone is in the game for the same reason and we all love to kayak. For Love of Water F.L.O.W. that's it that's all! Enjoy the videos, write ups, pictures, and all the incredible things going on in our sport these days...kayaking is growing...are you?

Later E.G.

Bomb Flow TV Episode #1 "Patagonia"

2011-07-29T11:55:00.001-07:00

This is part 2 to the first episode of BFTV!!!!! Watch as the boys go south from our home in Pucon to check out new rivers and re-run many of our all time favorite rivers! This is another 24 minuets of pure kayaking footage...so together the first episode is 50 min equaling a full length kayaking movie brought to you free by Evan Garcia and Fred Norquist! Thanks for all the support and good vibes coming our way we appreciate all the love!!!!!!

Bomb Flow TV Episode #1 pt. 2 'Patagonia' from BombFlowTV on Vimeo.

Tons of updates coming soon from PNW, Cali, Montana, BC!!!!! sorry for the tardiness been a busy summer!

Later E.G.

Bomb Flow TV Episode #1 "Pucon, Chile"

2011-07-06T14:36:00.000-07:00

There it is installment number 1 of the BFTV episodes. Hope you enjoyed watching and stayed tuned for part #2 Patagonia! Couldn't fit all the epicness in one movie. Share this movie, tell your friends, put it on facebook, twitter, let the world know about Bomb Flow TV...

Later E.G.

Back to Big Timber

2011-06-20T13:58:00.000-07:00

Growing up in Bozeman Montana I always heard legends of the burlest creek in Montana being only an hour away from my house. As my skills progressed through out the years I wanted to go see what this high mountain creek had to offer. The first time I ever went I just filmed my Brother and friend Bobby Jackson bomb down the bumpy steep slides. I was hooked...for the next few years all I talked about and wanted to do was "Big T"!

The last time I was up Big Timber creek was late May of 2006 over 5 years ago. I had a great high water run with my brother Ian that ended in epic carnage off the Lower Big Timber falls. Kick flipping and grinding upside down off a huge sliding falls made the carnage cut in YGP's movie The Source. So let's just say I had some unfinished business to attend to.

After years of boating around the world I finally made it back to my home class V creek! We walked up as far as the snow would let us and put in at a great drop call Fine Line! Seal Launching off a meter tall snow bank we started our descent. It was just as fun and beautiful as I remember it, but a bit more manky and scrappy after so many big volume creeks. None the less we had an epic time and ran everything I thought to be sane. I almost completed the total mank fest above the Pinch, which is a woody steep mess of a drop. I re-ran the Lower Big T falls 4 times in a row, and did my personal first descent on Shakedown a super technical steep manky one at the end of the run. Over all it was an epic day I got to share with my two brothers, Erik Johnson, and Ryan Lucas. Here are a few shots from the day that Ian snapped off and there will be an video coming out soon as I catch up on some editing work.

This is the last drop of Big Timber...it is a nasty set of drops called Shakedown.

Ryan in the middle of Fine Line.

Nate Dogg getting a big boof over the shallow landing of fine line.

Myself getting vengeance for the 4th time in one day...I was having a bit too much fun maybe.

Wanna bet? Let's make a deal and toss the dice...Gambling like Kenny Rogers.

Hitting a great boof above the Pinch...don't plug this one it's called Ankle Breaker!

Mr. Lucas running the meat of the Lower Big T falls.

Coming super hot into the tightest spot of the Pinch.

Erik getting real stylie on the bottom tier of the falls.

More Montana updates coming soon...the water levels all out west are holding high, but soon we will be back on the mega huckfest going hard!

Later E.G.

Just another week in Hood River

2011-06-14T07:25:00.000-07:00

Arriving a few days before the Little White Salmon race I was stoked to get on some new whitewater and rivers for once so that was my goal on this little viaje. Day 1; I met up with Ryan Lucas a good Kiwi buddy from last season and my boys the Wells, Mr. Zunders, Fry and Ollin from Bozeman. We hit Summit creek's skate park drop and got some good footage and pics from that day...I was pretty worked from arriving at 9am after the all night drive from Eastern BC.

Todd Well on another laps off his baby...he was the one who found this beast and showed the world that skate boarding and kayaking do have some things in common.

Ryan bombing off the Skate Park drop of Summit creek.

The next day I got the chance to get on a totally new creek...Little Goose Creek, or Kenobi Gorge as us kayakers know it. This run was an experience to say the least. We put in at a bridge which is always nice then entered about an hour or two of portaging and manking down some very low volume woody sections before the creek turned bedrock. Once it did Kenobi rewarded us with some excellent drops including a 40 foot slide, cool boofs, and a very committing and clean gorge. Overall a good option if the water is high and you have already done most of what there is to offer in the CRG.

Erik Johnson, Mr. Zunders, running the crux of Kenobi Gorge!

The next day was the LWS race. I was stoked to race one of the best and my favorite rivers in the world! The last time I was there for a L-dub race in 2008 I hurt my shoulder on Metlako and couldn't race. So this time I wanted to rage it! Unluckily I didn't do so well, it was team races and the teamwork wasn't quite on for me on this day. But Congrats to Lane and Louis for winning the race and going faster than everybody else...they got $200! Not too bad for a local 20 person race...

Ryan running Spirit Falls on the LWS...it is even stouter now due to new wood blocking the Chaos channel making a SYPHON!

Next up was Upper Lewis Falls. I have run this one quite a few times now and going back is always a bit of a push for me, but I do love it! The run starts off with one of the best 20 foot boofs ever...lots of volume and a big slide below makes for a good warm up. Then the double tiered 60 foot Upper Lewis is next. The hardest part of the drop is lining up and boofing off the right part of the lip...challenging if you are confronted with the task. 6 of us ran it and 6 of us had good lines, that is a lot of action for how big and gnarly this drop really is.

Todd Wells going for a good line off the uber stout Upper Lewis.

Some warm up laps on the Truss and LW buttered out sourdough for another run off Metlako falls. We had medium low flows but still went for it. Some of the best lines I have ever seen off of this beast. We killed shots and Sam browned the 80 footer giving him the world record biggest brown...ever.

Mr. Lucas the kiwi bombing off Metlako falls with his paddle high above his head.

Run # 7 if me...how many more times? Well..its just always so good.

This wrapped up our week in Hood River...the water levels were doing some funny things so we decided to bounce out and come back when some of the lower water options came back in. A quick call from Fred Norquist changed our plans and sent us on an overnighter north bound to Bellingham. More updates to come soon. To see all the footage stay tuned for the 2nd Monthly Episode of BFTV coming soon...

Later E.G.

Black Eagle Wave, Missouri River

2011-06-12T20:45:00.000-07:00

Ater the Grand Prix and getting back in my Playboat I was actually pretty fired up on getting out and getting back jive in freestyle. I heard some stories of a big wave forming in Great Falls Montana on the Missouri River at high flows. With some good rains and little bits of sun breaking up the incredible snow pack we had this winter...the levels rose for this wave to be prime. We got two sessions out there one being prime and one being a bit low, both good times! Check the videos and some freeze frames from the few days out.

A few freeze's from the video!

Later E.G.

Falls Creek, Montana Style Stout

2011-06-06T11:17:00.000-07:00

Falls Creek is located in central western Montana as a clean clear tributary of the Dearborn river. Access has alway been an issue on this creek so it is wise to ask before you try and get on this small gem of a run. We parked at a camp group like area and hiked straight up the river for about a half mile before reaching the waterfall. We all took turns running this beast and had an assortment of different lines. The landing was soft, but the lip is kind of kinked at a funny angle...be careful there is a reconnect behind the veil so don't flip going off the stout or you may come in contact with the brown wall! Enjoy the video and small photo we got from he day!

EG running the 40 foot falls creek drop. Photo Ian Garcia.

Make sure to check out Bomb Flow for more updates and video from our adventures of 2011.

Later E.G.

Grand Prix Updates 11-14 BFTV

2011-05-23T18:55:00.001-07:00

Here are the last 4 videos of the BFTV Grand Prix saga! They took us a lot of work to put together and we are proud of them....NOT. It was pure good times, a lot of work, but its what we love doin'. Hope you guys all enjoyed the content, music, and style we put forth here on these edits. The Grand Prix was one of the best and most fun things me and my kayak have ever been a part of...Millions of thanks top Pat Cambin and Julie who made this event possible. All the people who came together and competed or helped out...it was a huge team effort and all in all we killed it! Hopefully I will be invited back for next years comp and hopefully I will bring some more heat in my play boat. I guess that means I need to actually go play boating. I was throughly impressed with what I saw coming from the top guys in the play world...crazy air and control! They are really taking it to the next level out there...

For now I'm back in Montana, my homeland kayaking bit getting ready for the summer of madness that is about to ensue. The west coast is so packed with snow that the run off has barely started. So there is gonna be some serious potential for some huckings and surfings. Enjoy the last 4 updates...

Big Water on the Misstasini River...

The downriver freestyle event and more big water brownings...

The sickest "rodeo" of all times!

The stout ass Giant Slalom race!

Some photo updates coming soon!!!!

Later E.G.

Grand Prix days 6-10 videos

2011-05-20T13:50:00.000-07:00

Coming at ya hot...day 6-10 from the Whitewater Grand Prix. Tyler Bradt and I put these videos together everyday to show all the people back home how things were going up there in Quebec. Continue to enjoy the videos and make sure to keep your eyes on egcreekin and bombflow.com for more exciting updates and stories to come...I'm back in Montana and it's raining harder than I have ever seen before.

Gladiator Big Trick Competition!

Ruins Wave session followed by hot tub fiasco!

Rouge River big water boater cross!

White Dog section of the Rouge river!

Steep Creek Race in La tuque, Quebec!

Hope you guys are digging the videos...more to come!

Later E.G.

1-5 BFTV Grand Prix Updates

2011-05-16T09:53:00.000-07:00

Ok egcreekin hommies sorry about the scares updates the last two week, but priorities were towards the bombflow.com site and getting hits and traffic for our new project...bombflow TV! These videos have been up for about 10 days or so depending on the day, but if you haven't seen them they are all epic, all time, brown, awesome-ness! This is day 1-day 5 and there is plenty more from where this came from...enjoy the sick cinematography, edits, tunes, and kayaking!

Days 6-10 edits coming soon and tons of photos to go along with them! Insane amounts of epic content came from this event make sure to check out everybody's sites to get the full picture and all the stories.

Later E.G.

Gran Prix and Bomb Flow TV

2011-04-30T08:32:00.001-07:00

So we just made it up to Canada for the most exciting competition of the year...The Whitewater Gran Prix! I made the trip with Tyler Bradt and Jonny Meyers and we are joined by the worlds top kayakers to cause havoc and go kayaking for 2 weeks. Make sure to check out Bomb Flow for daily updates coming from us as we roll through the days of this event and the drama and story unfolds.

Later E.G.

Alberton Gorge Video

2011-04-22T01:18:00.000-07:00

After the small Northwest rally I have been kicking it in Missoula Montana with my little brother Nate Dawg. We have been getting out on the Clark Fork River about a half hour outside of town for some small play sessions on some cool little waves that are sort of in right now. So with out further a due I give you the Alberton Gorge in all of its glory!

Hope all is wicked liquid cross the globe...

Later E.G.

BOMB FLOW!!!!!!

2011-04-13T12:03:00.000-07:00

So here it is we have been working on trying to get something like this together for a long time now! We have gone through many ideas and failed at a few, but we have finally hatched something of worth I believe!!!!!

Bomb Flow TV will be Fred Norquist and Myself's newest project. BFTV will be a Bi-weekly edit coming to you on bombflow.com, Facebook, and this blog for free for your enjoyment! All of our latest Chile video will be featured in the next few issues so keep your eye on the prize and get ready for some serious kayaking content coming your way! Fred was rad enough to get this thing started and put together the first video, which is the trailer, showing what this Bomb Flow biz is all about. Check it out!!!!!!

Hope you guys enjoy the small teaser of what's to come in the future...If all goes well we will be rolling in the cash and straight on our way to Hollywood...Shotgun!!!!

Later E.G.

Shooting 3D on Eagle Creek

2011-04-10T11:55:00.000-07:00

Out here in the C.R.G. we have been getting on some serious good as of late! Meeting up with Steve Fisher at the Frontier Premiere in Portland we decided to join forces to make a small experimental 3D movie...Some of friends from all over the globe came in for this project and now we are in the meat of setting up shots and trying to pull off a cheeper, yet still very professional 3D kayak movie. Our first few days have past and we are getting some very cool looking stuff. Bryan Dorr joined us at Eagle Creek to take some photos on Punchbowl and Metlako falls. Enjoy some of Bryan's shots from the day. Thanks man!

Some pretty scenery on the trial at Eagle creek.

Andy Walker and I hiking up the beautiful trail to get to the stouts...its about 1.5 miles or more to get to Punchbowl...

Coming into the big boil at the lip! This is a very tricky falls to have a good line off.

Setting my angle mid way down this nice 30 footer.

Andy stroking off the boil...

Going flat and tucking on his way towards the pool.

Myself going off Metlako...6th time...went over the bars, still soft, but I couldn't hand roll up int he poll? Guess I need to go to some pool sessions.

We are now putting the 3D rigs on some new spots and trying our best to pull this thing off...we are taking our time to get the shots and have a plan for the next few days to get on some shit...Summit Creek and a few more tries at Metlako to get the money! Stay in tune for some more photos and updates from this trip!

Later E.G.

Pacific Northwest Going Off

2011-04-05T22:35:00.000-07:00

I'm out here in Southern Washington/Oregon staying with my good friends...The Wells! This family has put me up more than enough times to be sick of me...but they aren't. Their two boys are badass hucksters and all around good boaters who we come to visit as much as possible to hit these amazing rivers!

So far we have hit high water Green Trus on the White Salmon, Metlako, Bridal Veil falls, Rock Creek, and today we are up for some new stuff!!!! Hope the spring season is starting off right for all you boaters out there across America and Europe...We have a sick trip video that will drop at the end of the trip so keep your eyes on egcreekin...as well as some lost updates from Chile. These are all just freeze frames from video, but you will get the point and see what we have been up to...

The boys celebrating at the Bottom of a big dawg drop!

Coming hot off Metlako with my wings out for a long fall.

Todd stomping BZ falls at 4.75 feet...I walked!

The left line at Big Brother...this is a good way to avoid the cave, but still a very tricky line.

Coming into the straight up maw of Double Drop!

Sam Freihofer hitting the sweet spot...

Nate Garcia my little bro on his first ever Metlako run...this thing has become such a well known and run drop these days...but its still ridiculously BIG!

Later E.G.

FutaFest 2011

2011-03-30T12:21:00.000-07:00

Futa Fest is a competition, gathering, and party all to celebrate the pure epicness of the Rio Futaleufu in Patagoina, Chile. Futafest started in March of 2009 and has been a huge event ever since. The first year I attended the comp and had one of the best experiences at any festival ever. Taking top honors in all events I was stoked and wanted to come back asap...Last season (2010) I went to Peru on a tourist vacation and didn't make the event...this year it was a no brainer! I along with Anton and Dave Meyers made the drive from Pucon to Futa to enjoy the beautiful river and amazing event. This year like the last was a complete success! It really went off and everyone who attended totally made the party and competitions what they were...it was all about the community and river! A celebration of what makes the place so special. Make sure to check out Patagonia Sin Represas to show support in the effort to stop the damming of the Futa.

There were three events;

Boater cross- Three checkpoints and cross the line at the end of Mundaca first.
Downriver- Mass start bridge to bridge race...simple!
Rodeo- Who can get the most beat down in a massive hole.

There was no training on my part, but I was stoked to try and do well, so I raced hard! There was a lot of good paddlers and a lot of competitions, but in the end it was all good times and fun! The results are as follow;

Boatercross:

1st- Santiago
2nd- Evan
3rd- Mo Mo

Downriver:

1st- Ron
2nd- Evan
3rd- Julio

Rodeo:

?????????-never found out?

Now enjoy the Photos from all the albums on facebook...most of the shots are from Fico and Pura Vida expeditions.

The Trophies for the winners of the competitions...Raft and Kayak.

A big crowd watching the carnage at Mundaca during the raft race.

Party and Bullshit at Cara Del Indio...a bunch of dirty river rats.

Tres Monas!!!! Futa is a beautiful place.

Raft race starting line...mass start bridge to bridge.

Ron Fisher beat the hell out of me in Down River race...he was talking to me as he passed.

Getting the D.L. before we started the big race.

Pure Patagonia style...lamb on the fire for 4+ hours makes one of the best party platers ever.

Team Very Good from Pucon!!! These boys were the heart of the party and race.

A small cluster of boaters at the first bridge in the Down river race.

The girls rafting teams who took top honors...the venue they put on for the closing ceremony was really outstanding! Big stage, music, prizes, and a huge discotec party!

A raft about to get punished in the big hole at Mundaca.

All of us really happy to be done with the 27+ minuet race ready to start this carrete.

Anton, Myself, and Dave in the famous dingy...same one that ran the Florin and Middle Palguin.

Myself getting bucked off a bull before the Friday night party after the race...it took me a while to buck up...but I'm from Montana so I had to give it a try.

Getting free shuttle back to the put-in...the community really comes together for this event.

A bull rider much more experienced than myself.

Mo Mo, Myself, and the winner Santiago getting our awards for the boater cross.

This was one of the best weekends of the entire season, couldn't have been more happy to have made the drive from Pucon. Now we had a week to go around Argentina and Chile to go run stouts and find some rivers to run before returning to Pucon and then leaving back to the old USA...what was next for team siphon...who knows?

Later E.G.

Buen Suerte y El Rio Florin

2011-03-26T23:04:00.000-07:00

On our way home from Futafest we had the luck of getting stuck in every town we stopped in...lack of gas, time, party, for whatever reason it took us a while to get back to boating in Chile. We decided to stay aside the Rio Rininahue and run it the next morning...Jared Seiler and I got the first D in Feb. of 2008 and no one has done it since. We found a very, very bad camp site and the boys pitched a gypsy tarp set up while myself and Juanito stay in the Chevy LUV. Good choice on our part as one of the most fierce rain storms of the season hit right around 2:00 am...check out the damage below.

Dave and Anton's camp site with about 10 gallons of water leaking through all night.

In the morning we were greeted by some really high flows and left both the Rininahue and Nilahue with our tails between our legs. Upon seeing the sheer amount of water going off Nilahue I was ready to head back to Pucon and chill out...but right before we left the viewing platform Anton said, "What about the Florin?" I turned with a huge smile and said, "F*** Yeah". So off we went to the other side of the lake and the Rio Florin!

Nilahue looking like the kiss your ass good bye flow...we had no problems walking away from this stout.

The florin is not an ugly place to spend a day.

El Florin is a true stoutmasters paradise! The runs starts off pretty and class IV, but then takes a turn and drops off the face of the earth through one of the most beautiful box canyons in Chile.

Starting up top there are some open boulder drops and a few bedrock slides like this one tossed in.

The first drop you get to is called El Terremoto (The Earthquake) I call it this because it is complete craziness once you commit to running it. No safety for the first guy and you never really know what is going on in there, just have to drop in a feel it out on your way down making corrections as you go. I like drops like that no really plan just going in fighting...

Dropping in on one of the most rowdy drops in Chile...

Coming out of the mayhem and about to launch the second stage.

Juanito dropping into the crack of doom at the top of the Terremoto.

We all got through the big double earthquaker just fine and were right above a great 20 foot slide to keep ya happy and not too freaked out.

Davey getting down a super clean slide.

This drop puts you in a pool right at the lip of a truly stout waterfall. I have always called this drop "The 50 Footer" I finally came to realize that it is bigger than 50 feet...no questions asked. 60 total with a big roll in ramp! Any who, you have to run or jump this drop so you decide. We had a nice rosham-bo at the lip and Juanito won so he was up first...most people play loser goes, but in our crew winner chooses and normally goes first on principle :)

Juanito going first on the stout...he finally won the rosh, so he went.

Dave Meyers coming back strong from his broken foot only a two months before.

We all had a good time off the stout and moved on downstream...and by good time I mean, I went over the bars and had to kick my boat back in the form and Dave swam...good times! The canyon slightly opens up and there is a possible take out option that we have been using the past few years in fear of what lay downstream a few hundred meters. 3 years back we had some issues portaging a stout dangerous 30 footer in a box canyon and Ian had to jump it and swim a gnar slide to retrieve his kayak...no one has ever run the drop and ever since then I have been hesitant to go back in the gorge...but this day we had tons of time and motivation so we went down to see what was up.

Upon arrival we scouted and right away I knew I was going to give it. We talked about safety options and decided with some serious rope work we could get some one out of the cave, but we weren't going to need it...just in case! So I ran first and stomped a massive boof showing the rest of the crew that, "yes" it was good to go. Everyone liked the looks of the drop and gave her...all good lines, some big hits, but overall one badass first descent in our pocket.

I can't say I wasn't scared...it reminded me out a drop a botched in Mexico, but it looked so good I had to give her.

G-in' out the boof getting ready to land flat.

Dave leaning it over on the Fire Berry Falls...so stoked we all got to run this guy!

Juanito following suit with some peruvian style mixing in!

Once at the bottom the river is in a deep wider canyon and turns class IV for about a KM before hitting the last crux before it flattens out for good. The last two drops are manky and scary probably would be portages if you could, but it is just too boxed in to get around either of the rapids.

Anton putting in on some logs above an interesting must run drop.

Anton at the end of the canyon with only two drops till freedom. If you look close there is an underwater rock in the backwash making for a nasty spot...but you can't portage, so just don't ever think about it!

Once though it's all smiles and joy...a short walk through a beautiful field full of blackberries puts you back at the road and a short 20 minuet walk back up to the truck. The day couldn't have been better...we had good lines and no portages...on a river like the Florin that is a statement for sure...the nice people who live at the put in also own a small hot spring, which we decided that after a day of hucking, we would enjoy for a few hours. Some blackberry/pisco mix drink later we were all fired up and ready to get back to town and eat some food...when we sat down to eat the news was on and we just saw what had happened in Japan...its funny how such a good day can end with bad news like that, but thats the way the world turns I guess???

Picking blackberries at the take out so we could make our natural beverage for the hit springs session.

Kicking it in Las Termas del Florin!!!

Later E.G.

Middle Fuy; Huilo Huilo...

2011-03-24T10:12:00.000-07:00

I am missing some very needed updates and they will be up soon...in the meantime go ahead and enjoy this video I put together from our last day of class V paddling from this Chile season...yes a sad day indeed. Now, I have to leave this paradise behind and join the rest of the world on the quest to make money, sense of life, and find out the higher meaning for being put on this earth. Not really I am just gonna get enough to sufficiently scrape by and be able to go to the rivers I dream of.

Here is what I had to say about this video:

Watch Team Siphon accompanied by Papa Garcia roll down to the Huilo Huilo Canyon of the Rio Fuy. This late summer classic is about 2 hours south of Pucon and only runs at extreme low flows. The highlight is an un-portagable 20+ foot seal launch into a 50 foot falls. Along with that comes an abundance of class IV-V making it one of our favorite in the country. Enjoy the video from the last good day of boating from our 10-11 season in Chile. Sorry for Ian's profanity, he needs to curse a lot when he gets out, he can't around his 1 month old baby boy...Future Demshitz in the making.

Hope you enjoyed the edit here and a few stills we snapped off on the run as well...

Ian bombing off the big drop, it took me a long time and good swimming session to get this front on angle. photo EG

Myself rolling down the big old blue ramp. Photo IG

Amazing place indeed this was the first run in over two years...due to high water the last season and most of this year, The Middle Fuy was at unrunnable flows for almost two years. Lucky for us it came in Late February this season and we got to reap the benefits of having this late summer classic only a short drive away. Next up comes our Adventure to Futafest this season...not a bland moment with this crew! Good times indeed.

Later E.G.

Viajecito Al Sur

2011-02-24T10:23:00.000-08:00

So first off I would like to say...Thank You all for the love and positivity y'all showed in the comment war about the last post. I'm more than stoked to see all the people fired up to read and check out what I put up. I have been doing this blog for a long time now and sometimes I get lazy. However, if there has ever been a time to step up the amount of effort and media I put up, this is it. Much love to all the people out there that kayak for the love of the game and of course, the love of the river.

Back to the post...About 3 weeks ago Nico Buenaventura, a Santiago boater and long time friend, rallied us out of Pucon and south of go kayaking. Tour de Stout!!!!! So wammy, heading south on Ruta 5...first stop Salto Del Nilahue. Beautiful 60 foot ramping falls. But wait it's not so much just tuck and drop...you got to style this thing and be all intact at the bottom, or else...there is an absolutely hideous undercut that could cause some serious problems for you. With luck we had Nico's beautiful novia there to capture the action, and that she did with some badass photos...Gracias Nacha!

Myself dropping in on the big ramp!!!! Ready to go deep and pop up close to that undercut.

Freddy Gnarquist running the brown...like a demshitz.

After a nice huckfest I took everybody to one of my many secret free camp sites on the road to zion...

Lago Ranco...we stopped for a night at this beach, set up camp, and cooked over the fire and under the stars

The like something strange happen...we went to the Gol Gol, and enjoyed ourselves throughly! That river is truly amazing...6 waterfalls and a bunch of cool rapids.

Then for the main course of the vay cay we went to the Manso Gorge. This river and us demshitz have history together. Two years ago Jared, Ian, and Myself first D'ed the epicly massive Horsecock falls. Last year we went back and ran it almost twice as high as the pervious year. So coming back for a third time is a very interesting feeling. The drop is huge and scary...and after running alerces, getting into a big bee's nest, and scouting in the rain, the crew wasn't feeling the huck. So, we walked! The Manso river is one of the most beautiful wilderness runs down here without question...it reminds me of a mix between the fields of Gondor and how I picture Japan...something like that. Check out some of the shots that Nacha grabbed from the stop there.

One of the many lakes connecting the different parts of the Rio Manso

A big one in the Manso Gorge.

Ian putting his ass in the plastic and going off the shit...

Can some body say mega boof? It's amazing when your plan is to boof the shit out of a 40 footer, but somehow it goes.

So after the full day on the Rio Manso we returned to Bariloche and enjoyed some of the nightlife options available in town...our favorite Irish Pub was spot on and always finding good hospitality with local boater Matias Nunez our stent in Southern Argentina was at an end. Back to Pucon, the Siphon, and home for some of us...

Later E.G.

Zie Siphon!!!!!!

2011-02-22T14:25:00.000-08:00

This season in Pucon has been one of the best and most random years to pass. At first, I was staying for just less than a month. 12 weeks have past since the day I arrived in the end of November. This place has just got me sucked in…like a siphon! I would have it no other way…At this point Pucon is more of a home for me than another place in the world. In the past 5 years I have spent a total of 20 months living and paddling in Chile.

Back to this season…The blog has been lacking due to the fact that to be perfectly honest, we haven't done that many new things this season. I have too many Nevado, Palguin, Gol Gol, Desague, Nilahue, Futa, and Manso updates…That's not to say that this year we have run everything higher, more often, and with much more steeze. We have a mountain of footage and photos we plan to put out from free online very soon now. There will not be a Demshitz Movie this year but something more RAD! To be explained...

The crew that we had in December this season was unstoppable. Jared & Graham Seiler, Myself & Ian, Anton Immler, Fred Norquist, Jake Greenbaum, Dave Fussili & Nicole, Erik Johnson, Eric Parker, as always Rodrigo, and so many more close friends that we shared our beloved Chilean stouts with. With all that said I have shot tons of photos and not put them up yet…so here is a taste of the good life here in Pucon. Pura Vida enjoy the photos!

Fred and I ready to..."Tie one off"

The small town of Pucon, Chile. Funny how so much can happen in such a small place.

Camping out after punching a hole in our gas tank...driving too fast on dirt roads not advised.

Just a few silly kids hanging out in Latitude 39...best food in town!

The Pit!!!! All Demshitz grillin' out after a Todo Palguin Christmas day.

We were driving...and drinking...also not advised.

Sunset and kayaks, must have been a good day.

Fred getting one of the billion Horseflies back for torturing us all day on the Rio Gol Gol.

Fred layin' some treats on the Upper Nevados.

Aaaaaa.....eeeeeee Demshitz lika Brownings.

Not sure if I put this up in the last post, but I like it so take a peek. Bariloche, ARG.

Anton with a steeze line down the Nevado slide.

Dulce Amor=Sweet Love! Boofs like this make me feel the love.

Lip of Demshitz Drop on a February afternoon. Nevado needs one day of rain and its on!

The Diablito has a fucked up log in it...you can do it, but damn it's scary.

Dusk in Patagonia. Pucon right before the summer rush hit.

The birthplace of the Rio Manso. So much beautiful.

Our little house here in Pucon...Ian, Erik, Sole, and I all lived under this roof.

One of my favorite pics of the season...Lago Ranco at sunset...not a bad place to go camp.

Jakey Snakey on Alerces.

Ian Garcia drop on the Upper Car...this thing is a dirty little lady.

Erik roosting in to the lip of the Turbio Stout.

I got two tickets to Paradise!

Salto Palguin through the eye of Anton's 7D.

You can have your shiny cars, bustling cities, and high paying jobs...I think I'll stay right here.

Later E.G.

An Anonymous letter...

2011-02-07T06:37:00.000-08:00

Funny thing last night I read a very nice "anonymous later to the editor" about egcreekin in The Banks Mag. It said something along the lines of "the words I write on egcreekin are about as deep as the San Joaquin river when it reaches the ocean."

If you know what river that is, you know that it never reaches the ocean. Along with that he called kayakers out as the most egotistical and lame extreme sports athletes. Don't really care, but this guy sat down and spent some serious time on this article. I don't know what we did wrong? Maybe there's people out there that just think I'm a cocky ass hole, but it's not true.

I'm a kayaker...what does that mean? I spend most my time hiking around the woods in terrible smelling gear taking pictures of other stinky guys, to then put on the internet for people to see. Yes it's true! We live an extravagant lifestyle of sleeping in parking lots and eating ham and cheese sandwiches everyday. However, I would have it no other way.

I know what kayaking is about...I started this blog in 2006 when I was a junior in high school. I was just a kid who...looked up to my kayaking father and loved kayaking! I used to sit around and watch kayaking movies all day every day, dreaming about someday going to California or Chile to run a waterfall. I was just stoked to get out on the river and paddle. Ask me a question about an old Scott Lindgren movie I will answer, correctly. I was know as the kayaking nerd :)

What I'm trying to say is that like everybody else I just want to go boating. This website is meant to be a fun archive of the places I go and what I do, it became popular and really has boosted my career as a boater. In no way shape or form and I trying to come off as cocky with what I put up. I want to showcase the rivers we are paddling and promote myself as a kayaker...I know there is very little future in being a "Pro" kayaker, but for the time being, I'm young and I'm going to kayak.

I normally don't care about what people say, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I read the article and I felt like it was about me. No hate, just love, stop the crap talk and let's go boat.

Some parting shots
Ian Bonito!

Later E.G.

Eye of the Ass

2011-02-01T08:56:00.000-08:00

One of the best runs in the world lies in the eastern Andes mountains just south of Bariloche. Coming from huge glaciers and pristine lakes the Rio Ojo de Culo (Eye of the Ass) is one of the cleanest and most sought after runs in South America. With a bit of luck and motivation we got to rally down south away from the Pucon siphon and enjoy this river for the 4th year in a row. Meeting up with local boaters Matias Nunez and Diego Rodriguez we had a sick crew out and about to get on this epic classic. Enjoy the shot from myself and Diego.

Bariloche, Rio Negro Argentina.

"We just exited the ojo of the culo." -Evan Garcia. Quoted from this awesome old video Chile/ARG 2008!

The local boys in too deep! Look at that water, fully drinkable.

Fred, Jake, and I stoked on the hike to the put-in.

Jake stomping out Brennan Guth's falls on the Ojo.

Me coming hot into the Cali drop...the Argentinian boaters call this one "Heaven or Hell."

Matias, Jake, Fred, and I above the crux of the Ojo de Culo.

A new angle of the Cali drop...really cool sliding falls.

Matias, the local charging down some of the steep manky at the end of the goods.

There are waterfalls like this that do exist in the real life...they are in south america come enjoy them.

Matias running the brown, and avoiding the brown wall.

Our crew enjoying a beautiful sunset coming out of a glorious of valley.

Hands down this is one of my top 10 favorite rivers in the world...and I have done a lot of rivers, so that's saying something. Can't wait until the next time I get lucky and go back to the Ojo...Next time I am doing what I did last year and camping out for days, doing laps, and kicking it in one of the most amazing places down here.

Later E.G.

Slippery When Wet Teaser

2011-01-31T16:53:00.000-08:00

A long time kayaking friend of mine Shon Bollock of Shasta Boyz Productions is in the mist of putting together his newest movies Slippery When Wet. I decided to become a part of this project last spring while talking to Shon on a drive across the country. Then all summer I shot tons of footage from California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington creating the ultimate West Coast reppin' segment. The highlight of my segment will be the complete footage of the Royal Flush from this June. All 5 massive drops of the Royal Gorge run in the same descent. Shon will be putting out 7 teasers for each paddler that is featured in the movie, here is the first. Watch and Enjoy...

Keep your eyes on Shasta Boyz Productions as they start to drop these teasers and get everybody pumped for SLIPPERY WHEN WET!

Later E.G.

Salto Palguin "round 2"

2011-01-10T14:10:00.000-08:00

So there is a place...and in that place there is a place...and in that place there is a STOUT! The Rio Palguin hosts some of the most stout burl that us crazy kayakers can run. All within 5 miles you can find mellow class IV runs to the biggest drops that most of us have ever run. Last season in Chile was one for the record books, things that shouldn't have happened went down and everyone went huge all year. One of the most memorable drops that went down was Salto Palguin. Steve Fisher snagged the "first D" and many followed suit some made it look good, but most fell with very little success. I happened to be one of the boaters that got my ass kicked as seen in the shot below.

This was me the day after my first run on Salto Palguin...Not super stoked!

So after having pass a whole year thinking about the line and wanting to go back or not...the day finally came. All the boys lined up and had the Mo to get up to the top of the Rio Palguin and huck the beast once again. Our crew was huge and there was about 7-8 people thinking about running it. After scouting and decided that it wasn't too high I won the rock-paper match and went first. I was very very nervous, but had lots of faith in the dreamy line I had been thinking of for 11.5 months. Check out some shots Ian snapped of me...

I ended up tossing my paddle and having such a soft perfect line. I couldn't believe it when I rolled up in the pool, all good, throwing high fives and browns with Erik. My paddle didn't come out until over a week later when a different crew found it and returned it to me back in town.

Once at the bottom relieved to be safe, I had to sit back and film all the other poor bastards who wanted to huck it. Jared was next up and was looking for revenge as well. Mocking off the lip with Devilish speed Jared sailed a boof of amazing proportions! Like a bird he flew and exploded upon entry with the pool. But what the hell sometimes when your running the stouts shit hits the fan.

Jared roosting through the stout entrance of Salto for his second time.

Anton was next up and had a sick idea that charging the middle seem line was the best way to stomp the line. He disappeared at the top and come salmon jumping pout of the boil with out his kayak.

We missed the photos of him, but here is a sick freeze frame of him in the pool.

Logan coming off very crooked, but he ended up pulling off a crazy stroke and saving himself from hitting the rocks. He still got beat down on the wall and swam, but it was one of the most amazing lines I have ever seen. Next up was Nico, the first ever Chilean to run the biggest drop in Pucon.

Nico got flipped by the entry curler at the lip and disappeared. Seconds later he came out of the boil, rolled up and had stuck the drop. He has a bit of history with this falls as well. Years ago he was just checking it out from the cliff high above and the tree he was leaning on broke. He fell about 120 feet into the pool and sustained minor injuries. So he was rather happy to have had a successful line! Congrats Nicolas!

All the boys at the bottom of the stout happy to be alive and not dead. This was a very incredible day for us...its hard to make days like this a reality. There is always the times when you talk about going back and getting revenge or at least think about it, but for us to get there and have everything line up is nothing less than miraculous. Cheers to Salto Palguin for keeping us subtle, scared, and motivated.

Later E.G.

Palguin River Race 2010

2011-01-01T17:41:00.000-08:00

Chile is an amazing place for kayaking, as we all know. Every year this place see's more and more boaters and continually sises to amaze everyone who comes down to this long skinny mountainous country. For the past two years Kayak Chile has put together and organized a Palguin river festival. Last year it went off with tons of people, lots of beer, good carnage, and an overall amazing time. This year was even better!

With over 40 really good racers we all met up on the weekend before Christmas to hold the 2nd Annual race. Head to head starting with either 3 or 4 kayakers made for a rowdy show and a hell of a time. Gringo Soto shot the entire race and put together a sick video telling the story of the day. So I won't get to in depth with my own words. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show brought to you by BUENA LINEA PRODUCTIONS.

Pucon River Fest 2010 ( Boater Cross) from Buena Linea Producciones on Vimeo.

I have tons of pictures and videos to put up soon so just keep your eye out for some of the most insane Chile stories to date.

Later E.G.

Turbio for the boys

2010-12-18T05:21:00.000-08:00

Well this season has been epic so far! This rad little day came somewhere in between a Palguin day and a flooded Carhuello huckfest. We arrived at the closest river to Pucon to find a perfect flow that only comes around once in a blue moon. Hiking to the put-in falls and seeing the perfect level we knew we were in for some treats. The whole entire crew had rallied and we were ready to get on it!

The top drop on the Turbio is one of the dopest rapids you can find in the valley. The thang starts off with a huge 30 foot boof into a very shallow pool, followed directly by some big chunky slides and holes for a few hundred meters. A Demshitz dream, perhaps! So we all got in a huge line and one by one ran the beast. What a great day! It was Lj's second day in town and we had Kyle Dickman along for some photos as he is writing a story for Canoe & Kayak magazine. It will be pretty funny to see how that one turns out, we made a good impression of how the Pucon life goes down.

The Whole drop, minus the big slide to boof.

Jared running the nasty drop we normally walk, but looked good at this level.

Kyle Dickman getting some Chilean strokes and vertical feet done.

Rodrigo Tushner scouting and watching the boys fire the brine.

Jared laughing after his second run of the stout...good times.

MMMMMMMM HUMMMMMM!!!!!! Sliding on the Turbio.

Dropping in bro!

Jared firing up a sick stylie freewheel.

Gramos "El Nation" bombiendo el estout en el rito Turbio con estilo gringo.

Erik Johnson with similar steeze off such nice waterfall.

Jared browning the stout! On some new shit.

Heading right to the lip of one of the most rarely run drops on the area.

Rodrigo boofing off the flower drop at the take out of the Turbio.

Gramos stroking through the pot hole drop.

So it was great day to say the least, just another day in the life. Demshitz are here and we are doing it right! The turbio is a rare run that only runs with lots of rain so after this day we had many more options for rivers to do. Much more to come that we have already done, I am just once again behind on my blog updates.

Later E.G.

Getting silly in Chile

2010-12-11T08:08:00.000-08:00

So after arriving in Santiago I rallied directly to Pucon, like always. When I here nobody was around??? Then all the bitches showed up and were ready to Rally. My first day back I ran Todo Nevado with Rodrigo, Erik, and Ian...setting the pace for the trip we have followed suit with 3 Demshitz's drop runs, 2 Middle Palguins, Puesco, Tres Saltos, and an unbelievable stout on the Carhuello yesterday.

Rains have brought the rivers up and have given us the opportunity to get on some new flooded shitz, so I will have some updates to come. None of these pictures have really been edited, but you get the point.

Running the DS drop my first day back in town. So good to be back here falling once again.

Stout 10! This is the entry boof if you decide to run it into the big boy on the Middle Palguin. Make sure you get it!

Anton, The big Swed, Paddle tossing off the Middle Palguin at a high side of good flow.

Jared's first day back in Pucon...browning the Demshitz drop? I had to rappel to get this close to the lip, but the shots are worthy.

Erik Johnson seal-launching into the "Middle"...#2 for him!

What better than a day at the Hot Springs? When the rains are falling and your body is sore from stouting... Nothing.

Gramos chilling in the hot springs up the Upper Liucura river.

So yeah pretty much the standard shit...but what is better than that? I love Chile and the rivers here feel like home. We are having a great time and as always time is flying by. All the boys are back in town and it feels like the old days...by that I mean like 2 years ago. Everybody hanging out, going boating, going out, and living life. Stay tuned for when I really get some shots edited and up!

Later E.G.

Big Banana Falls, Rio Alsaseca

2010-11-19T11:34:00.000-08:00

This is a belated update from the biggest drop of 2010 in my mind. All the boys found themselves in the deepest darkest jungles of Veracruz Mexico firing up drops from another dimension. Lead by the animalistic leader of the revolution, Rafa Ortiz, we found ourselves scouting the 128 foot Big Banana falls. No one would step up, until after 5 years of dreaming and waiting Rafa was ready to drop this stout.

Getting the whole thing to line up was a mission. We spent a whole day just waking in to scout and find the right shots to take the following day. Once the day was upon us an early start was needed to catch the light, but a tropical storm from the Yucatan had just reached the region. The light was shot and rain was falling hard. With only three days left on the trip, Rush, Rafa, and Aniol already at the top and all of us at the bottom...this thing was gonna go down.

By some act of god the rain stopped as soon as Rafa was rappelled into the canyon and was ready to go. A few very tense moments passed before Rush radioed to us that he was going. Todd and I were in our boats ready to get our boys and everyone else had cameras in their hands ready to capture history. For that split second that Rafa came over the lip time froze and Todd and I mad eye contact and said something along the lines of...."SICK!!!" Boom! He hit the pool and came out against the river left wall. No paddle to be seen I gave him the "Hand of God" and he was stoked! All good, in one piece, and had just stomped the drop of his dreams.

Rafa at that crucial, oh so epic, moment in time.

After Rafa had come down we all celebrated and got on the radio to tell Rush that he was all good and the drop was clean. Before I knew it, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Aniol 'La Cobra' on rope dropping himself into the box canyon above the lip. Crazy bastard!!!! Another few very tense moments passed, but we all know that once 'La Cobra' is ready to go, he wastes no time. Radio...Good to go...10-4! Off La Cobra went with absolute steeze! Two strokes and a paddle toss lead to almost 3 seconds of free fall! Aniol went deep and came up with a boil hand roll. You know the type of resurface where you don't even know if he flipped over or not? Crushed!

Aniol keeping it together and stylie off the biggest drop of his life.

Aniol and Rafa stoked to be together at the bottom of the 2nd tallest waterfall ever run in a kayak.

It was a totally incredible day to be a part of. Even without running the drop it was one of the most exciting days of my season for sure. The boys were all so fired up and everyone couldn't believe that this waterfall went down so smoothly. Todd, Rafa, Aniol, and I continued downstream to complete the Big Banana Canyon for a celebration run. Rafa took out above the Silence canyon and had to go to town to get 3 stitches on his eyebrow from the impact. The three of us continued all the way to Puente Tomata to get more stout. Now that is no easy task after said huckfest. Without question Aniol got to the stout 40 footer and laid treats all over it. Like it was a basic 20 footer from his home run.

Aniol running the Silence and making it look oh so good.

Once we were into the goods we got caught up in the middle of one of the most intense rain storms of all time. When we got to the Meatlocker it was no scout, no safety for this bombing trio. Maybe Aniol got out to make sure he knew what drop we were talking about ;) In the rain we bombed off the Meatlocker and all boofed the shit out of the boxed in death hole below it as well. Finishing the pezma run the river was on the rise very quickly.

Aniol and I at the end of the Big Banana in the flat water above Tomata Falls.

The stills I have of Big Banana falls were taken off my Sony HD camera. The real video and still shots that came from day are so sick and will be seen in ESPN magazine and on RiverRoots new film 'Frontier'. Hope you enjoyed the Mexico updates. There was a lot more but I just don't have the photos to put up yet. I leave for Chile here in a few weeks so there will be more goods coming soon.

Later E.G.

Salto de San Pedro

2010-11-11T10:23:00.000-08:00

The San Pedro Falls is about an hour away from Tlapacoyan. It wouldn't be that far in any other country, but when the road is covered with pot holes and speed bumps, you can't just put her in 5th and cruise. After some ungodly amount of jesus's yelled out as we passed cars on corners and caught air off topes we arrived at a small inconspicuous bridge. Upon arrival you would think nothing, but when you peer over, you see it!

The fall in all its glory. I said, "There are only three places in the world you can just find a drop like this. Mexico, The Northwest, and Chile!".

Rafa slipin' and slidin' off the lip near the beginning of our trip at low flows.

Todd Wells from the bottom, I thought the drop looked way bigger and better from down at this angle.

So we had a nice session at low water, got good shots, and had a good time. Rush spotted a good jumping platform and wanted to return another day to shoot it with better light. So we left it until the very last day of the trip. After two solid days of crazy tropical rain everything was too high expect for this small drainage. We came back to it and had a nice little end of the trip huckfest! Check the video out below...

San Pedro Falls, Mexico from Evan Garcia on Vimeo.

All of us getting ready inside the house staying out of the rain.

Aniol running the brown!

La Cobra and I waiting for Rush to go big in his own way.

Aniol behind the falls running safety for the left pocket.

Rush throwing a huge gainer off a 60+ foot cliff right into the falls.

With that all said and done we had nothing left to do other than head back pick up our gear and hit the road back to the city. There are many missing updates to come soon. When I get the photos...until then enjoy the shots of San Pedro and the short video I put together of the last day in Mexico.

Later E.G.

Rio Jalacingo "San Rafael Canyon"

2010-11-05T10:09:00.000-07:00

After the Upper section of the Jalacingo, Rafa was spouting off about some really quality and scary drops and rapids downstream. With lots of time left on the trip and water levels good we had to go finish up this, so far quality, river.

The San Rafael STOUT!

Walking in through a steep banana field the first thing we were going to run was a stout 60 footer that Rafa first D'ed two years back. The only scary thing about it was, he plugged it and hit the bottom of the river! Upon scouting you could definitely see there was rocks in the landing on the left side of the drop. Rafa was super keen to fire to off, and said he was going to "45" it. Well that's all fine and dandy, but a 60 foot boof seems crazy!

Rafa on his waterfall...2nd 'D'.

Sure enough he sacked up and fired it off. Landing completely pancake flat he came out stoked saying it didn't hurt at all. Let's get this straight Rafa is an animal! I was scared, I didn't want to boof it, but I sure as hell didn't want to find rocks at the bottom either. So I went and did my Spirit thing off a drop at least twice its size. Big hit for sure, but the line was clean and looking steezy.

Some pre-stout yoga, trust me it's worth it. check the nice 20 footer right above us! Sick river.

Holding that stroke looking down and ridin' dirty.

Todd and I chilling in the pool, happy to be at the bottom.

Once completing that stout we ran one class III rapid and ended up looking at another huge horizon line with history behind it. The same day Rafa had snagged the drop upstream he also ran this one. 40 feet tall, tight entry, weird lip, two pocket caves, and it was shallow! Stout...we scouted and decided to leave it for the next day and come back for our boats.

Day 2:

Scouting the stout 40 footer right below the 60...very intense place to find yourself.

We had already scouted the 40 footer and everybody seemed to want to give her a go.

Rush, we didn't really see his line, but after video replay he killed it and made it look easy.

I went next and botched the line pretty hard. I was too far right and missed my boof stroke. I paddled all the way down and backendered at the base of the falls. Finding myself in a boiled out room on the left rolling up I paddled my way out to the pool. Todd was next. Same scenario happened to Todd. The lip was tight and the right side gave out where you wanted to take your stroke. Todd ended up in the worse of the two caves on the right. He battled his way out and looked pissed once he got to safety. He had taken his paddle across the nose and was bleeding pretty good.

Todd trying to get his bow up and clear the caves...this guy was very tricky.

Rafa was last and gave it a go, he had to see if he could stick it as well.

Rafa coming out of the left pocket after a huge boof stomp. I missed the picture of him. He got a good boof, but still had to paddle out of the boily pocket where I ended up as well.

Once through the guts of the canyon the river opened up to an amazing slide and drop section. Maybe 20 beautiful class IV-V drops lined up all in a row. The day was coming together like grilled cheese and tomato soup...until!!!!! We found ourselves looking at a very scary, very gorged in, and stout 30 footer. I was not sold at all! That was until I saw Rafa clean that everliving piss out of it.

Rafa destroying the hardest drop of the Jalacingo in my opinion...but I'm biast because it beat the hell out of me and made me swim.

So yeah after him...Todd with a broken nose fired it up as well. He landed sideways, but pointing left in the direction he wanted to end up. I was pretty much chilled out by that point and walked back up to my boat. Coming through the entry I was all good. Then I ended up too far right and taping the wall as I disconnected for my boof. Boom! Same shit as upstream...buried in the falls I do a huge backender.

Now I'm in between a powerful falls and a bad looking wall. I hold on and try rolling...I feel myself coming out, but not at much of a quick rate. No mas...I swim. This was no good place to swim. With luck I was far enough away from the falls that I got flushed downstream. With great luck I had been climbing in Colorado before I left for my trip and my finger grip was spot on. I had about 2 seconds before I would have swam into a hole that would rival Chaos or any shity boxed in stout you can think of...but I got ahold of the wall with a death finger lock and got out. Rush and Todd helped me to river left over the cauldron where I could safely jump into the canyon downstream from the hole. Weeeooooo! Heart was pounding, but I was alright. Then I got to my boat and the thing was split like a tuna can! Hike out! Up Up Up through banana fields and along country roads until a huge truck gave me a ride to Puente Tomata our planned take out. The crew got there an hour after I did and said nothing other than a huge portage remained...but I was now boat-less in Mexico once again.

Drinking some well deserved beers after a stout 2 day mission through the Jalacingo canyon.

And don't forget some bomb ass tacos...5 for $1.30? Good livin'.

I was bumming and got sick the next day. After asking around I found another blue Jefe from a raft guide on the Filobobos. Same boat, hahaha so I was back on top for now. The Jalacingo mission was a great one. I had a bad line that earned me a scary swim and shity hike out, but I was ok and ready for some more kayaking to come my way.

Later E.G.

Rio Jalacingo ¨Bukaki Slide¨

2010-10-24T17:28:00.001-07:00

El Rancho Ortiz outside of the small city of Moan...the Jalacingo is in the backyard!

After a nice warm up day on the Big B. section we knew that The Alsaseca´s brother river (The Jalacingo) was at a good level to start and knock off some of it´s harder sections. We went ahead and hiked all the way to the first drop of the run, Bukaki. Rafa and a crew of Canadian buddies, Joel, Nick, Ben, etc. found this drop two years ago on another mission to the area and got the first D. This drop is a messy, fast, sliding, multi tiered falls. Can I use any more adjectives to discribe this drop??? Yes, Brown!

Myself scouting the drop from the top putting all the moves together.

One of the most unique and strange looking rapids I have seen.

Rafa dropping in to the meaty pillow.

The final tier of Bukaki falls.

Todd working it out right about to throw a sick back free wheel off the lip.

After figuring out how we were going to shoot this drop we all lined it up with pretty much good clean lines across the board. Todd did an amazing back freewheel off the last freefall which was a mistake, but looked like pure treat layage. the rest of the run back to where we started out hike included a portage, some fun boofs, and a very tight sluce box drop that had us on our feet. When we arrived back to the truck we made one quick portage and ended the run with a totally clean 25 footer at a trout farm.

Deep deep in the darkest jungles of Veracruz we walked.

A great event took place there. Matt Baker, Rush´s filming partner got in a boat for his first time ever and hucked the falls. He swam of course, but had one heck of a time doing it. That was it for the frist of 3 days bad ass days on the Jalacingo. I will get the next two very exciting days up soon.

Later E.G.

Mexico Y La Revolucion

2010-10-21T16:48:00.000-07:00

Well there's not much to say at this point. Mexico is the bomb and there is a lot of kayaking to be done here. Beers and big waterfalls! The mixture happens to be a good one...lucky for us. After a whole day filming in Mexico city, the largest in the world, we finally bounced out of the siphon of 27 million people and off to the country, the city of Tlapacoyan, and the home of the Rio Alsaseca.

The first day we chose to do the Big Banana Canyon which is one of the longer and more quality runs you can find in all of Mexico. The day starts off by looking up at the 110 foot tall Big Banana falls, we are sure to give it a good scout one of these days. Then once downstream in the canyon the rapids become better and better the further you go. A few 30 foot falls lead in to an incredible boxed in gorge that is only class II, but has some very cool energy to experience.

After exiting the gorge you find yourself at the lip of a terrible looking 40 foot falls that is known as "The Silence". This drop became infamous from some epic beat down footage in Scott Lindgen's movie Burning Time. Todd Wells and I decided to give it a go and had good lines making it right and boofing hard. Round that out with some sick sets of incredible basalt water falls and the oh-so-sweet "Meatlocker" double boof and we completed our first day of the trip. What a classic run. It was my third time down this dope section and it still felt better than ever!

Check out some photos I snapped off from the city and Big Banana run...

I'm writing this post from pretty deep in the trip and we have already checked off some of the big stouts that we have planned to run! so keep an eye out for some sweet updates, stories, and photos coming soon.

Later E.G.

M-Wave Sessions

2010-10-12T09:21:00.000-07:00

The M-Wave has been somewhat of my salvation the last 3 weeks I have been living in Colorado. Autumn has fully set in here in Crested Butte and not much has been going on in the kayaking front. I have spent a lot of time going through old footage and importing this summer's tapes to remember all the insane good times I had with so many incredible friends.

While first surfing M-Wave I truly sucked terribly. No joke, I could barely catch the wave to save my life. It has a learning curve for sure. I am used to hopping in my kayak and being a great boater on a normal day out. This was different and really challenging. After a few sessions I started to get some tricks and catch the wave more often. I always met up with a crew of Gunnison boaters that are pretty much locals to this wave, and they showed me how to rip this drainage ditch feature. Jon Meyers, Tyler Allyn, and Tom Sutherland have been going to the M-Wave religiously for the past many years while attending Western State College only an hour away. So here is a few pictures that candace snapped off on a few really fun session to the wave. Enjoy the first playboating update on EGcreekin since 2008 at Skook hahahaha.

Tyler Allyn going for a Pistol Flip...believe it or not I have seen him stick this trick on this wave more than a few times.

Out to Lunch, enjoying himself a bit too much maybe.

O.E.B. blunting off the right shoulder.

Not gay at all!

Mr. Allyn cleaning it up at 10:30 PM!

Mr. W-Mave "Hotze" and Mr. Allyn sharing this wave.

The night session crew. Myself, Jon, Alex, Tyler, and Tom.

Jonny catching the wave with headlights of two trucks showing him the way.

Nuclear testing out in the dessert. Maybe there is a reason why Montrose is kinda weird.

Lief ripping up this dynamic feature.

Jon Meyers path of destruction...Helix.

Cleaning up my act.

The night session was a hell of a god time out there. I want to do it again someday. Now that M-Wave season is over for me. I am stoked to have finally gotten back in my play boat and gotten in shape for the fall missions that are coming up really fast.

Later E.G.

Fantasy Falls; North fork of the Mokelumne 2008

2010-10-08T09:44:00.000-07:00

This is a section off a movie I made from the summer of 2008 called "Burnt Summer". Being one of my favorite films I have made, I know not many people have had the chance to see this movie. So here is one short segment of the movie that goes from the East Kaweah all the way to the Metlako falls all the way to the Stikine. It is a West Coast riders movie.

Anyway this edit is of my favorite trip I have done on the Fantasy Falls. We had perfect levels in my mind and a great crew. Enjoy this blast from the past and if you are interested in buying a copy of Burnt Summer contact me at egcreekin@gmail.com.

Fantasy Falls, California 2008 from Evan Garcia on Vimeo.

Later E.G.

Rio Claro Canyon, Chile

2010-10-06T10:36:00.000-07:00

Rio Claro Canyon, Chile from Evan Garcia on Vimeo.

I have been waiting for some time to edit this footage of the Rio Claro that didn't make it in to Dashboard Empanada. This was our first day of the season last year and a great start to what was sure to be the most epic Chile season ever had. The Garganta del Diablo is the most committing canyon on the Rio Claro and holds one of the most unique drops I have ever run. The river drops 20 feet into a perfect 180 degree berm turn then shoots you off an other 20-30 feet of free fall. It is quite an experience to run this drop and be at the bottom of this river gorge. At times you can't even see the sky, both walls are con-caved so much that all you see is the right wall over lapping the left.

Enjoy this short tease of what it is like to be in this amazing gorge. This video was the last thing I ever shot with the standard definition Go Pro. They were amazing cameras until the HD's came out and totally changed the POV industry forever. The tune is "Si Tu" by "King Kong Klick" they are a hip hop group from Santiago, Chile. Thought it would be appropriate for the video. If you haven't seen Dashboard Empanada yet...you have to get it...you will go to Chile after watching it. There is a Pay Pal buy now button at the top right of this blog.

Later E.G.

East Fork of the Kaweah Edit 2010

2010-10-03T10:24:00.000-07:00

East Kaweah 2010 from Evan Garcia on Vimeo.

This video was from a two day session on the East Kaweah in May of this year. I had the good fortune of get to paddle with my younger brother (Nasty-Nate Dogg) and his friends Erik Johnson and Andy Walker from our home town Bozeman, MT. Joining us for the week was a Colorado boater, from Durango, Nate Klema. He was a solid fun paddler to hop on and off the river while running around the state.

This run was one of the best memories from this past summer...good friends, good weather, classic, clean, and we were for sure the only ones out there. Enjoy this edit I just tossed together and get ready for some sick shit...Mexico in 10 days!

Later E.G.

Fear Canyon of the Elaho

2010-09-30T09:53:00.000-07:00

Fear Canyon Of the Elaho from Fred Norquist on Vimeo.

Here is the last installment of the B.C. videos that we made from our 10 day trip. The water levels were funky, but we made the best of it, and had a bad ass time up there. We hit the Ashlu, Tatlow, Elaho, and Cheakamus. That is a pretty standard Squamish line up for the most part, but we camped out every night, played lots of card games locked in the tent during rain storms, got stalked by Browntin Lions, had two near terrible run ins with the Mounties, hit the swim center driving board, skated in the park, and drank lots of beer.

What more can you ask for on a boating trip? I hope you enjoyed the pictures and videos from our trip. Check back in for more video coming soon.

Later E.G.

World Class Kayak Academy Fundraiser

2010-09-27T11:12:00.000-07:00

Help World Class Kayak Academy through the Fall semester to Africa!

This amazing program takes high school kids all around the world to explore different cultures, run countless whitewater rivers, all while giving the students a fully accredited high school education. I attended this program for two years and it truly gave me the opportunity to become the kayaker I am today.

WCKA is doing a fundraiser to help the school run smoothly through out the Fall/Winter semester. Buy a raffle ticket and help support this amazing school.

$10-one ticket
$50-six tickets

This gives you the chance the win one of three prize choices!

1. Mad River Triple Tough Canoe
2. Wilderness Systems Tsunami Kayak
3. White Water Kayak (Dagger, Jackson, Wave Sport)
4. Metal Edge Touring Ski Package

Please buy a ticket to help support the school and help this fine group of people on their way to finishing off the semester.
Contact me at egcreekin@gmail.com for a Pay Pal internet purchase or send to my parents, who are WCKA school board members, at the following address;

Sara Garcia
8240 Schafer Rd.
Bozeman, MT 59715

Thank you for your help,

Later E.G.

Tatlow Creek Video

2010-09-25T11:39:00.000-07:00

Tatlow creek was a fun mission we hit...read about our day and see the photos here Tatlow Update. Here is the short edit we put together of the sick time we had in that canyon. This is my favorite of the three BC eidts we did, because i love the song, and the run it's self is insane! There is one more video that i will put up in a day or so of me really getting a quality beat down in a bad hole on the Fear Canyon. That was an exciting day for sure!

Tatlow Creek, BC from Fred Norquist on Vimeo.

I have some lost photos from this summer coming up as well. They never got put up because i was sorting through the bests and missed some of the most classic and beautiful shot taken this season. I will put them up as soon as they get sorted through completely.

I have some good news! If you are looking for new and or used gear I am starting a new website where we will be selling tons of cheap gear and boats this week! Stay tuned for all those things coming soon.

Later E.G.

The Ashlu River

2010-09-15T16:18:00.000-07:00

The Ashlu is a very amazing place! Everyone knows this, so don't disagree. We came up for some fall releases on the Box Canyon, or as the locals call it, Commitment Canyon. Fred, Candace and I were all bunched in Gnar-Car ready for a stout mission in the back woods of this awe aspiring location. Dodging many dangerous Mountain Lions, Bears, Spiders, and heavy machinery we had an swell time enjoying the Ashlu Valley.

Candace took some action packed photos while Fred and I combined efforts to film and make a sick edit. This is the most famous river in Southern B.C. and it is a bummer to see the dam controlling flows, but there is still lots of releases and opportunities to get on this famous piece of white water. Check out the edit that has gotten some really good feed back from viewers thus far. The HD GoPro's have been taking crisp footy and its always pretty amazing to watch the Cannon 7D's clarity.

Ashlu Box Canyon from Fred Norquist on Vimeo.

Here are some of the many shot from our two weekends on the river. 50/50 is the main attraction on the run and it is the first drop. It was easy to set of good shots so one day Bryan Smith and Reel Productions got their hands on a Phantom HD video camera to shoot us running this 40 footer. It was pretty amazing to watch kayak footage at 800 frames per second. That video may come out here pretty soon as well, we will have to see if we get lucky?

Scouting 50/50 on our first day in BC...what a way to start the trip

Taking a big stroke in to the pit of 50/50 falls.

Coming in HOT!

The only time of the trip I truly "LAID TREATS" on this drop.

Check out this camera! It took 3 people to make this thing shoot video.

Back boofing a nice ledge at the bottom of the Mine run above the Box Canyon.

Getting some different angles with the 7D. Check out that sweet Sweet Gear

REMIX...fast, sleek, sexy, red, comfy, a true machine of the art.

Summoning my Chi looking in to a small pool of water while tossing up the Brown.

HD Gold...That's what we were after! I should have stole the whole thing and paid off my mortgage. Wait I don't have a mortgage yet? Ok maybe just go kayaking for 10 years straight.

Hope you fools enjoyed the Ashlu update and if you like the video check out the rest of our BC edit coming up soon.

Later E.G.

Tatlow Hike-a-thon

2010-09-05T14:18:00.000-07:00

They say a picture says a thousand words...These say a million! It's hard to capture the beauty of a place like Tatlow creek, being so hidden away. However, I think these shot from Candace do a pretty dam good job. Take a peek at my last Tatlow update and you will get what I'm saying. Tatlow 2007.

This time around the road up to the Upper Ashlu river was in terrible shape and forced us to sack up and make the normally easy ascent to the run a major epic hiking mission. We walked about 2.5 miles flat, 1.5 up and 1 down? We forgot water and had a hell of a time making this run really happen for us. But knowing that this creek happens to be one of the best in Southwestern BC we gave it hell and made it to the put in. Fighting dark Fred and I ran the shity brown, filmed, and made our way down to where Candace and Steve waited to shoot some epic photos. The day ended up being a great success! After I get all the photos up I will post the amazing videos that Fred and I made from the day as well. They are some of our finest work and we just were informed that Go Pro will be using them for promotional reels for their HD cameras. Enjoy the sick shots that Candace got from a huge day out in the deep dark bush of BC!

What a rad place, it's just a bummer that we have to work so hard to get up to the put in these days. Hope the fall is starting to bring rain and water to the rivers you call home.

Later E.G.

Crystal Clear Photos

2010-08-30T18:48:00.000-07:00

A short trip to Colorado brought me some low water goods high in the Rocky Mountains with my good friend Fred. We drove south of his house in Carbondale to run the Upper Gorge of the Crystal River. This is known to be one of the most challenging and best creeks in the state. If you haven't checked out our video from the day make sure to see hat as well. Just scroll down a few posts and you'll find it. Here are the photos that went with that excellent day. It had been 5 years since my last visit to Colorado so it was good to be back and see these great rivers and huge mountains once again...and run the brown! I'm not going to quote each photo, I will let them do the talking...

Fun day out in a beautiful gorge running waterfalls...what more can you ask for? I just finished up in BC and have some sweet shots and video to post soon! Hope the summer in winding down well for everybody out there.

Later E.G.

Hamma Hamma Falls Video

2010-08-20T11:38:00.000-07:00

On the search for new goods in Washington I found myself calling around the state to local boaters for any ideas of waterfalls to go huck. After talking with a few folks that new what they were talking about we decided to go and head over to the Olympic Peninsula. Once off the beautiful ferry ride we rolled over westward to the Hamma Hamma river. Camping in an epic spot and meeting up with my good huck partner Fred Norquist we all rallied up to the falls and started scouting this stout.

The drop was scary and huge, a lot of elements going into the descent all together. The entry drop a 20 footer was very tricky and had some bad spots you did not want to end up in. As you can see by the video it was no plop and drop. The first part of the video is of our first trip out there and after Pat and I went down south Demshitz were on their normal Kill it Tour and stopped off in Northern Washington to drop this beast with Fred a week later...Fred took all the video and pictures and put them all together in this sick edit! Enjoy the hucking and super quality HD footy that we shot that day.

Hamma Hamma Falls W/Demshitz from Fred Norquist on Vimeo.

Now I'm back at Fred's house with the last of my money going for one grand finally to B.C. We are hoping the get some stout goods and have lots of good times and fine brines coming soon!

Later E.G.

Crystal Gorge Video

2010-08-11T11:47:00.000-07:00

Somehow my unbelievable gypsiness brought me all the way to Colorado, I don't know how or why but I'm here now. The first stop was at my good friend Fred Norquist's house in Carbondale. With a little bit of luck and some late summer rains the Crystal had enough water to make the Upper Gorge a runnable flow. Fred and I rallied up and sent Candace tromping into the gorge by foot. We had an incredible time even though it was extreme low flow. We still ran all the drops and got to run the whole Inner Gorge...that gorge reminds me a lot of the lower section in the Heath Springs gorge on the North fork of the American. Well enjoy the video we all put together and run the brown.

Crystal Gorge 2010 W/LiquidLogic from Fred Norquist on Vimeo.

Some pictures are coming in an August Colorado update after the trip.

Later E.G.

Cherry Bomb Gorge POV

2010-08-01T20:00:00.000-07:00

Whilst in Upper Cherry we got tons of footage of the infamous Cherry Bomb Gorge. Here is a little taste of what it is like to drop into this deep canyon and run the amazing rapids that are so well known around the world.

Cherry Bomb Gorge from Evan Garcia on Vimeo.

I hope you guys enjoyed the video and song choice...it was the summer of the World Cup as well! I think my season here in Cali is coming to an end I am heading to OR show while the Cali locals are dropping in on the Middle Fork of the Kings. I am planning some really cool fall trips to our neighboring countries! Stay tuned for some more missing updates and edits as I get all the media sorted from this season so far.

Later E.G.

Good As Cherry Pie

2010-07-27T11:59:00.000-07:00

What can be said about Upper Cherry that hasn't already been said about sex...it's pretty much the best thing ever. Well maybe? Anyways this was a trip to be remembered. The hike in was started at 5 a.m. to avoid the heat that has been consuming the entire state of California. It took me 6 hours to get to the put-in, which is longer than my normal 4 to 5 hour trek when I'm in better shape. Nobody got lost and we all dropped in to Wonderland to join Alice for a few days. We had food for 2 nights and 3 days, so we hit all the goods down to Flinstones camp and parked it for a few moons.

Brad and I taking up the rear on the hike. We stopped a few times to shoot some video and enjoy the morning light.

Bradley so skyed to see the putin from the trail...we got there about 11-12 with plenty of time to get through The Bomb to camp.

The Upper section is very wide and beautiful. Low angle slides get you warmed for the steeper good downstream.

Flinstone camp is the best place on the planet! You can either hike your boat 45 minuets upstream or just paddle across your private lake and run laps a huge slide into 6 perfect teacup waterfalls. Then rest your head on a bed of California stars...mmmm that sounds nice now right? Well it is hahaha, you have to get there sometime in this life!

Myself ready to go skipping out of the base of Cherry bomb.

Jared "Saomo" getting his third lap on Cherry bomb.

Hiking up from the Flinstones lake to go hit up some drops.

Hiking up from camp to do an afternoon session of sliding and waterfalling.

Everybody getting ready to have a playful race from the top of the slide to camp.

Leading a massive crew on a madbomb through the jedi-slide.

Busting a freewheel on one of the countless laps I did on this amazing section on tea-cups.

Coming back to the camp lake from being in heaven.

The whole crew getting some late night marshmallows! This one brings me back...

This little guy was waiting for the hiking in crew under a log...lucky he just ate a bird so he could attack!

Anyway back to our run. We did 3 laps on Cherry Bomb gorge, countless runs of the teacup section, and ran everything out to the lake expect the main line on Dead Bear falls...which we seal launched into from the river right. It was my personal first time running "Kiwi in a Pocket" and it went very smooth...what a good drop that is! After an amazing three full days of Cherry Creek madness we finally made it back to Cherry lake and our stinky van...spending that much time out there really makes you realize how fucked up places like Fresno really are! Human kind has built some very terrifying things on this earth and that place is one of them. The Photos are by Toni and Bradley hope you enjoy them there are more coming soon I don't have the good ones yet!

Later E.G.

Beast fork of the Kaweah

2010-07-26T10:19:00.000-07:00

With a good hard trip of portaging and running gnar on West Cherry we headed to the chillest spot in Cali...Three Rivers. Well it's not the chillest because it was 105 degrees everyday we were there, but it's the most mellow and quality place to lay back, tan, run the shit, and enjoy the real kayaker lifestyle. The Hideaway campground is $5 a night with free internet and showers. The camp is also only 3 miles below the confluence of the Middle fork and East fork of the Kaweah rivers...so it's a good place to be!

This was only about 10 minutes before the Yosemite park rangers came and give us tons of shit for inspiring young kids to jump the bridge. That's what Demshitz do, Inspire the youth to be better people :)

Jamie and Josh enjoying the little things in life!

Standing tall on Double Drop just a few rapids up the canyon from its bigger brother.

Cranking the biggest stroke of calm green water before dropping into the mawl of Tripple Drop.

Flying into Dead Man's Ally of Tripple Drop as most people know it. This is one of my favorite boofs in the world.

Sometimes you just got get a little dirty...Fugly Falls.

This is such a fun little set of drops...the entry looks like nothing but packs a punch and good piton if run wrong.

A nice break for lunch at the cleanest 12 footer around.

Brenden Bayly in too deep on Fugly Falls.

Sanga with a very enthusiastic boof after a small lunch break...got to love the heart.

B-Unit coming hot into the Trippler...he had nice lines both days. He is a school teacher on the North Island on the Holiday break.

Rolling with a van and subi full of Kiwi's I was once again the only American on the trip. This is not a bad thing because these guys know how to kayak and live life. Chill vibes rolled through camp as we did two day in a row on the Lower canyon of the East Kaweah. This run is one of my favorites in the state. When the level is right the rapids are sticky and big, but some of the cleanest best drops you can find. With flows from 900-800 we did my two favorite runs down this river of my life. I ran a new drop for me...I call it the "Toxaway slide" because it resembles a big slide from that river, but with a terrible looking over hanging wall near the bottom. I ran it almost all fine with a flip through the hole at the bottom..."you win some you loose some" they say, but "no harm or foul" as well! Along with that we did a few runs down the huge triple drop and ran a drop they called "Fugly Falls". The East fork was at its absolute prime flow to say the least.

After a few days of chillin' and running this amazing section we still had some time before we wanted to drop into Upper Cherry so we hung around and had one of the best days of my Cali carrer...foreshadowing...!!!!

Later E.G.

Waterfall Chasing 2010

2010-07-22T08:30:00.000-07:00

After the North Payette I went back to Oregon and met Pat Keller and a photographer named Lucas Gilman. He followed us around the state as we scouted and ran some pretty amazing big stuff. Candace and I drove them around and enjoyed the high life once again at the Wells House! Big Thanks once again to the Wells Family for being such a huge help this season. You guys are the best...I can't wait to come visit again! Maybe we'll stay in the tree house this time :)

Anyway I got on facebook yesterday and saw that Lucas posted some shots from the trip, so here they are...enjoy them this guy is a world class photographer IE he makes his living and pays all the bills with his camera...pretty cool! Candace's shots with a more stories will be posted sometime soon or maybe seen in Kayak Session later this summer!

Pat destroying Koosah falls on the Mackenzie river outside Eugene, OR.

The oh so massive Sahalie Falls up stream of Koosah...this was the biggest drop of the trip...Pat ran it right before me with a great line as well.

A cool sequence of Jesse Combs running Metlako falls in Cascade Locks, OR.

Same shot of Myself running Metalko for my forth time...Candace's shots from this day can be seen here "Candace's shots of Metlako."

Fish eye shot of my third run of the Upper Lewis Falls near Trout Lake, WA.

Hope you enjoyed checking out the shots as much as we did getting them! Thanks for the shots Lucas...check out his website here at Lucasgilman.com . Have fun and remember just like Biggie said, "The Sky is the Limit".

Later E.G.

West Cherry & Graceland

2010-07-16T23:15:00.000-07:00

After a huge run in Royal Gorge and taking a few days off paddling to celebrate 4th of July I was ready to hop back on it and go boating again. The levels of Dinky and Fantasy Falls dropped fast with a few crews hitting both over the Holiday weekend. It was kind of a toss up on what to do next, but over the years it is a natural move to head for West fork of Cherry Creek. It has been two years since I got on this run last. Myself and a group of South Easterners got there and bagged the second descent of the massive put-in slide named "Graceland" after John Grace's ballsy first descent.

This time I met back up with my kiwi boys from Royal and rallied a huge possie down from Coloma to Sonora. Camping in some of the worst mosquitoes I have ever seen we got our boats and carrying systems ready for the big hike in. We left the Box Springs trail head early in the morning and made the 4 miles to the canyon rim in a few hours. From there you have a nasty descent to the rivers edge. Manzanita and steep rocks make the walk very hard and tiring. Once we got to the river we all left our gear and continued to hike up stream a half hour to the monster slide we could see the entire hike down.

The crew walking through the mosquitos and over the granite to the put in.

The first view you get of Graceland slide...it looks so big from there, makes for a scary walk down to the river.

We got up there and the slide looked scary and massive, but there is a very noticeable good line all the way through the drop. I was ready to give it a second go! I scouted the line through the top very carefully so I didn't go off line and hopped in my kayak above the unbelievable horizon line.

Coming into the ski jump going super fast. What a view from there!

Catching some huge air in the middle. The money shot!

After the crux all you have to do is ride down the bottom bouncy slide with out screwing up.

Scrape....scrape....bounce...bounce...speeding up quick...going fast....flying through the air...more sliding fast...boom trany hit...picking up sped again...bounce...bounce....bounce! That's about what it's like to run this drop. I have reached this speed in my kayak a few times before, but very very few times. I was so stoked to have run this enormous rapid again i my life time! I had a good line so it got Bradley ready to go big and run it as well.

Brad going huge of the flake...this is my favorite photo I have ever seen of this drop. It give you an idea of the true nature of the slide.

Brad and I stoked to be at the bottom...ready to watch B go!

Brad looked so sweet through the whole top section...he caught so much air off the huge ski jump and came into the next crux to center. With an unlucky line he caught the only steep flake in the trany and pitoned his kayak a little bit. With a quick roll he was back upright and heading very fast down the bottom half of Graceland. It was good to see some more people step up to this drop because it is so big that I think a lot of people that are capable of running it just write it off as "Too Big"!

Brenden Bayly looking small at the top of the slide...one of the most spectacular locations for a huckfest in the world. Look at that dome.

Brendan Bayly, who paddled with a ton in 2007, was back in Cali for a few week and fired up to get some quality boating once again. He saw our lines and wanted some for himself. B ran a different line at the top. Instead of coming left to right, he started off far right the whole time. He had an incredible line through the whole drop. Going very fast and staying upright he was very fired up at the bottom after about 30-40 seconds of serious class "gnar" boating.

Leaving Graceland with a nice boof.

After dealing with the entire hike in and huge slide we set off downstream towards camp. There is a great/mank section of whitewater that comes next. This time around I didn't portage any drops in this section! I was stoked on that, but did take a few unusual hits in there...it maybe the steepest mank in Cali??? After that we conducted a few portages around some terrible sections of river before paddling maybe a mile more to camp. It was a long day and had plenty of action to make us very hungry and sleepy.

Bradley boofing at the top of a nice set of drops on day 2.

Day 2 starts off good with lots of fun warm up slides. Then the classic West Cherry drops come. Some nice tiering slides and huge boofs lead you to the terrible 30 foot pothole. Which I always walk after my extraction from the pothole in '07. Then come some big mank slides that lead to the "Charlie Beavers Mega Rapid."

Charlie Beavers Mega Rapid!

B and I gave it a go and had good lines taking some hits and running the rest of the stacked up huge gorge well. It goes like this big entry slide, 15 footer to 25 foot slide, nasty curler slide, and a mank boof to slide. The whole drop comes together as one of the biggest pieces of whitewater in Cali, good shiat! After getting through the next few miles we arrived at the huge portage to Upper Cherry Proper. It take a while and it was extremely hot as we walked our asses off. Once in U.C.C. we enjoyed high water through some of the lower gorge of the creek. There are some huge slides, huge holes, and a few portages in there. It is one hell of a section of river at these levels!

Arrival at Cherry lake ends the adventure of West Cherry. It is not everybodys favorite run, but to me it is insanely beautiful, has one of the most massive slides in the world, great camping, and hard whitewater...what more can you ask for?

The back of "Mum" we got it all Demshitz'ed out!

Gringo driving shuttle.

The LVM guys called it..."The best kayak assisted backpacking trip in the Sierras."

Later E.G.

The Royal Flush

2010-07-15T22:20:00.001-07:00

For a long time people have recognized The Royal Gorge on the North fork of the American to be one of the most hard core and committing runs in Cali. Big water fall fiends have come from all over the globe to test their skills on these sets of massive drops. For a good reason...running 80 foot drops is one thing, but to do it with 3 days of gear in your kayak and out in the middle of no where, is a whole different game.

For this post only, I will type the approximate height to each falls in parenthesis like so...(?) to clarify any questions.

I myself have done this Multi-day High Sierra trip three times before this year...each time I went in I ran something bigger. My first trip in 2006, all I ran the first falls of Heath Spring gorge (40) and then walked every other big drop out there. I still had an amazing trip. Then in 2008 I ran Rattlesnake falls...a drop dead gorgeous granite 50 footer half way through the main gorge. Then returning with my Demshitz homies last year I ran Heath 1 (40) Heath 2 (60) Rattlesnake (50) and Wabena falls (70). So there is a natural curve here, the problem is that once you have gone that big before it's hard to say you wanna do it again.

This year I had just returned from a huge huckfest up in the Northwest so I was already in the right state of mind to go big. I was also really excited to get in the gorge and see what I felt like falling off. So after a bit of waiting and getting a group together, I met up with some great friends to run the Royal Gorge once again.

The run started off going well. We didn't get hassled by the land owners, and made it through all the mank with ease. After the mank clears, about a mile of good class IV-V drops come before you get to the big horizon that marks Heath Spring Gorge.

Getting to the first big thing of day 1 exciting as heck and ready to go...scouting Heath Springs Gorge.

The first drop, Heath 1, has quite a long stout entry that you can choose to run or walk...a few of us ran it with some good lines and off the infamous fall into the wall we went...

Turn out of the eddy and hold a long stroke to set your angle. This drop is the one that always gets run, but that doesn't mean it's easy.

Stomping her down for a nice angle of entry...

What an epic way to start off a huckfest this truly is...so money! Then if you are feeling up for some craziness you have a 60 footer that lands in a box canyon only a few feet below you. This drop is the most committing rapid of the whole run. If you decide to go, you are faced with a huge freefall into a locked in small, with a 15 foot exit slot immediately below. The level looked good and I had a partner in crime to join me for some lemming style safety. Fire in the hole!

"Heath 2" The line to run here is far right against the and get buried by two nice curlers, making for a soft landing and keeping you on the right side of the pool to exit far from a nasty looking cave. My line was good and I went pretty deep glad to see my spray skirt stayed on! Drew wanted to run it as well so I stayed in the small eddy and waited for him to drop in.

Drew Duval running the 2nd Heath fall...Big time!

Drew's skirt did not stay on...so with luck he made the quick move in to the eddy so Will Pruet and I could help him out of the river. A quick empty and off we went to rid ourselves of the burden of being so locked in.

Exiting the second Heath falls with a big late boof stroke to free your self of this dark place. This is a bad ass move that puts you in a calm place before the "Crux Gorge".

Crux Gorge is the tail end of the Heath Springs gorge...this has terrifying boulder drops all locked in a tight Colorado like box canyon. We entered with caution and made out way through the powerful maze of stout sievey drops. This was a big part of the run already behind us and in my opinion the scariest section of the Royal Gorge. After that the river changes into some really nice smooth granite and falls into a great set of drops before Rattlesnake falls and camp site number 1.

The famous turn and burn slide above the hikers bridge.

Bradley getting some Royal Treatment in the box gorge above Rattlesnake.

All the homies rallying down a serious tight spot in the river.

After Heath Springs and getting our groove on in the nice smooth section I was just as hungry as when I put on. The level was perfect to launch of the Rattler! 4/6 of our group ran the drop in the evening with a slightly higher flow than in the morning. The other 2 people ran it after breakfast as well. This was the first trip I had been on where my entire group ran Rattlesnake!!!!! Good Stuff!

My personal best line out of three runs off Rattlesnake...I ran it in the afternoon when we got to camp...letting the fire roll downwards from Heath gorge.

Camping at Rattlesnake is one of the best place you can ever find yourself... sleeping with the roar of the falls, beautiful scenery, granite chairs, and pre made fire ring make it a top 5 Cali camp on my list. The next day starts off mellow for a while before making it down the perfect 20 and some quality granite stashes. Next up and the drop I had been thinking about for too long...Scott's Drop!

I didn't get any photos of me running the Scott's, but great video! I scouted it for a while, but already knew I wanted to run this thing. I sent all of the group, but Drew, down to the bottom to run safety and take media. After a lot of thinking I sat in my kayak and focused on the task at hand. A very powerful and extremely hard 40+ foot falls was the first move...quick aerated water moved into a cascade that rivaled any manky big slide out there. So I paddled hard hitting my line off the top falls and landing about 70 degrees with a boof stomp quickly entering the hall way above the next slide in control and fine...with a slight mis-calculation, I boofed the big hole more middle than I wanted slowing up on a rock hanging off the left shore, taking my right to left momentum...I hit the big flake near the end and was bucked vertical. What I didn't do is scout the whole drop! I thought the last drop was into a clean pool...wrong! There is a small ledge hanging out into the pool from the right wall. I landed slightly hip checking the rock. The impact was big and my right knee and ass were out of my kayak before I knew what happened. I swam! Dam!!!! But I was still very pleased with my line and made it through the drop in alot more control than I thought...A big thumbs up to Drew and we all watched as he fired it up as well.

Celebrating life after completing the crux move of The Royal Flush...Scott's Drop! Maybe 100 feet tall???

Drew had a different approach and took two paddle strokes off the top falls...his righty took his boof away and put him way over the bars off the top falls. He went deep and rolled up far left in the hallway. Getting his shit together quick he paddled hard and droped into the center of the hole only to get pushed hard right and hit the same flake that took me. With all his angle he kicked over sideways and landed face first on top the ledge i hit the side of. A kiwi buddy wrote on his blog "He got the equivalent of a curb stomping." We were scared he had K.O'ed himself until we saw him swim. All 6 of his front teeth were either gone or terribly crack and broken. Ehhhh!!!! Yeah we got our shit together and started heading down stream.

After running a few miles including a great 20 footer...we arrived at Wabena falls. This is the final drop of the Royal Gorge proper. Drew wanted to get out of the river to safety that night, so him and Will just rallied down stream to take out.

I had a mission...to become the first bastard to run all the big drops on the river in one the same trip. This drop was now the only thing in my way. I scouted it and looked at my line for a while. I knew at this flow it was not as easy as last years higher water. The flake 15 feet down the lip was kicking a bit more and the pool looked like a harder hit. But all and all it looked good to go...

Getting to the pool above Wabena falls, this rapid is scary due to the fact your above a wilderness 70 footer.

Lining up down the boily ramp, please don't hit that flake weird!

Elbows out ready to huck the paddle away...trust me you don't want your paddle here.

Yeah grab that cockpit and tuck it up!

It was perfect! Handsroll and all I was fired up as it gets!!!!! My excitement turned into down stream progression as we did need to paddle 25 more miles of whitewater before we were all good. Once we arrived to camp, I was sore and one happy happy little boy. A huge goal of mine was accomplished over those two days and I don't get proud of my self very often, but this night I was flying high while eating my mashed potatoes and pre-cooked brats!

Camping in Generation Gap once we finished off the Royal Gorge...we still had 25 miles of paddling to go. It was a long 3rd day like normal and we got to the take out to see our cars waiting for us just as we left them!

When I got home and sat down with my lady and little dog we watched footy and saw pictures of an amazing few days of there. Thanks to all my paddling friends that made this mission possible and Toni for shooting the photos of the trip. Thanks to Drew for firing it up with me...I hope you are all good and happy with you new teeth! You the man Duval! I decided that I would call running all the big drops and canyons of the Royal Gorge..."The Royal Flush"

Later E.G.

Return to Metlako...with Patty Cakes!

2010-07-15T08:56:00.000-07:00

Well after the insane good-ness of the North Payette at high flow I was back in The Gorge ready for more low volume hucking! Like my mamma always said, "Stick to what your good at". That and, "Two is better than one". So I hooked up with long time paddling gangster Pat Keller for a week of going big. First stop Metlako falls at a slightly lower than optimal flow...but it still rolled like a dream. Check out the nice angle that Candace got this day...full frontal rapped down in the bush.

Myself all the way at the top of the stout ready to fall a long way to the pool.

Pat Steezing it out like a mo fo...this was his first run and he kill it.

Bredan Wells and Jesse Combs also ran with us this day...there are photos of them, but they have not gotten edited yet. It was a good time even though I didn't hands roll in the pool below and shot a bootie of Rainer. This was my first time not hand rolling below this falls of all the four times I have run it. Metlako is a good time. Anual huckfest became and double this year, debatable weather it was a good choice or not. I still have to say it is scary to fall so far. I can't get over the shear height of this bad boy.

Later E.G.

North Fork Payette 9000 cfs

2010-06-27T22:19:00.000-07:00

The whole time I was running around in Oregon/Washington I was getting harassed by my best friend, Cheese, to come to Idaho and do his home river at record high flow. He lives in McCall, ID only 45 miles from the put in of the infamous North Fork of the Payette. Hearing him tell stories of 15 foot tall waves and man eating seems, I wanted to go, but was scared to say the least. Big water has always been a passion of mine, but steep creeking and waterfalls have become my forte. Even after trips down the Rio Baker, Stikine, Futa, Nile, Zambezi, Fear Canyon on the Elaho, and many more big water trips, I still had goose bumps thinking of this particular river with so much water.

The North Fork is 15 miles of continuous steep class V whitewater. At this level I knew there would be few eddies and none of the lines would be the same. With all that said, I knew that I had to get a taste of this epic piece of kayaking history. A 6 hour drive from Hood River put us in a sleepy Idaho town high in the Rocky Mountains. These were my stomping grounds as a young boater, I practically learned to roll on the Main Payette 11 years ago.

Getting to the river was a very nerv-racking hour. I didn't eat much and felt like a kid going to get his first shot at the doctors office. Once we came upon the entry to Steepness I could see that there was gonna be some really huge shit downstream. We drove to Jake's Ladder and checked out a few of the major drops to see what kind of brown we were about to get ourselves into. Cheese had already been out there a few times at this flow, and has grown up a North Fork boater from a young age...you couldn't have a better guide. It was just the two of us...I wanted a bigger crew but this was a good way to run this river. We just looked out for the other and had nobody else to worry about. Back to the put-in and off we went! Check the Photos and Video! Thanks to Candace for running down the river and catching us at some of the bigger drops.

North Fork of the Payette-FLOOD from EGcreekin on Vimeo.

We had an absolutely amazing day of paddling. We ran every rapid, other than Jakes and Golf Course, which was just one mile long explosion at this flow. The biggest rapids were Nut, Bouncer, Pectoralis, and Jaws...but everything else was pretty much at the same level.

Tristan catching some huge air off the back side of the Juicer wave.

Here is a cool shot of our whole group running Screaming Left.

Mike McKee feeling his nerves at the top of Bouncer down the Middle.

Birthday boy getting a back ender!

At the bottom of one wave only about 15 feet up the next to go.

Myself gaining speed to hit the wave at Juicer.

Cheese subbing out in Houndstooth rapid.

B-Ward having a good line through the chaos of Bouncer down the Middle.

Brain Ward getting some feedback from the huge wave in Juicer rapid.

Payette local Binx chilling on the shore doing what he does best...look for food.

Ben Stooksberry getting a big hit at Juicer rapid on the Bottom 5.

The next day Cheese, Tris, and I went back down to the river and met up with Local Brain Ward, Micah Kneidl, Mike McKee, and Ben Stooksberry for another top to bottom. We had another great day of paddling and running huge huge huge sets of rapids. James Bird and Tristan McClaran ran the whole river, including Jake's, a few days before I was there...BIG TIME BOATING! That rapid is an stout huge piece of BROWN! Good work Demshitz!!! I'm really fired up to have gotten the opportunity to run this famous stretch at this flow. Back north to Hood I went to meet up with long time kayak amigo Pat Keller for some more PWN-qual boating.

Later E.G.

Double Trouble, Upper Lewis Falls

2010-06-27T21:20:00.000-07:00

The thought of the Upper Lewis Falls scares me. I ran it in 2008 with a friend Marshall Woods, it was a high level and a very powerful falls. He went in the cave behind the main veil and swam out...I was nervous to go up to my boat, but ended up with a good clean line. You can see it in "Demshitz the Movie" or this blog update. Upper Lewis 2008

This time around we have been on a serious rally of paddling so I felt really good in my boat and ready to step up to this drop again. With a rainy June, Washington has had high flows for this time of year, but I didn't know what it would compare to the first time I was there. As we drove up the forest service road 23, from Trout Lake and the Wells house, it was a dark rainy day. This is a bad thing in most places, but here in the Northwest it is kind of the set mood for most paddling exploits. Very mystical!

Upon arrival to the Lewis river we could see that there was no lack of water in the upper reaches. Once we laid eyes on the falls, I knew it was very similar, or higher than my previous run. With that said it has been a few years and my eye for lines and abilities have changed. It looked good! So Myself, Todd, and Brennan geared up for what was sure to be an epic huck session.

Scouting the falls in the classic rainy PWN weather.

Scouting for quite some time Brennan decided he would go first! The biggest issue with this falls, is being able to line up on a 200 foot wide horizon line and hit the exact spot you were scouting from the other side of the river. For those that don't know...the drop is a long slide off a 30 footer landing right on top another 30 footer. Big time for sure! We all dropped in and watched Brennan disappear off into the abyss. Candace, who was taking photos gave me the thumbs up so I followed next. We had a few big markers to line up with and the line we picked set us up perfectly. I ended up launching two of the biggest boofs I have ever done. My neck was a little sore, but I didn't get my hair wet...so I was stoked as all hell.

Brennan trying his best to line up to get the good spot...you can see just how intimidating this lead in really is.

Brennan Wells running Upper Lewis Falls...first!

Go Pro Freeze of the pinnacle moment of running this drop.

Myself hitting the money line to set up for yet another huge airtime off the second step.

Todd was next up! He came over the top falls off balance and plugged vertical. This gave him down time and he didn't get a good stoke off the second falls. There was enough water going off number 2 that the hole was huge in the landing. He was pushed behind the falls, exactly like Marshall was two year ago. After a few very scary moments he came out after swimming into the veil and going deep. He was very happy to see my boat and me ready to paddle him to shore.

After that we ran 3 miles of the Lewis river down to the lip of the Lower Falls. There was some fun slides and surf waves with all the water. We enjoyed our adrenaline rush and the insane scenery of the rain forest like canyon. Seeing the lower falls was a good reminder that H2O is more powerful than you.

The Lower Lewis Falls...a great huck with low levels, just plain scary this day.

It was a good day overall and gave me some good memories of the great summer I had in 2008. We took out and drove a few mile towards Trout Lake when Todd decided to "First D" a cool culvert gorge under the hi-way. It was a good looking drop with some serious consequences. He got through it fine, with a long surf in a boxed in hole, but made it out with some play boating skillz.

Todd getting ready to pick up a lot of speed claim a first D.

Todd coming rocketing out of the tunnel...you can see me filming on the left. It's a great shot.

Another fine day of boating in Washington for us. There have been rumors of record high flows and descents on the North Fork of the Payette...I couldn't miss that!

Later E.G.

The New Celestial Falls

2010-06-26T12:10:00.000-07:00

I was going on and on about how much I love the Metlako falls on Eagle creek this last week and I saw something on the Internet where Clay Wright called it "The New Celestial". This gave me a good chuckle! For those who don't know what that is check this out Celestial Falls.

Back a few years ago people would come from all over the world to run one of the biggest falls around. 40 foot Celestial that was...now that things have changed in to a bigger more ballsy realm, 85 foot Metlako has taken its place as the new clean big drop that everyone wants to fall off. It was a good comparison.

So being right up our ally at this time of the year all warmed up in our kayaks and all we threw a fit to go up there and get on the falls after such a reviving rain in the Columbia Gorge. So Shannon Carroll, Myself, and Griff all walked our boats up the Eagle creek tail to fins a very inviting high flow to drop this STOUT. So brown we ran...

This is an amazing scouting shot that Charley Munsey took of me. Very Beautiful light and composition.

Myself bows up ready to release the paddle and tuck it up. Candace got on belay and rapped down to a few feet below the lip to catch this angle...I think it payed off.

Shannon becoming the third lady to ever run this falls...it takes a lot of nerv to go up there and commit to dropping this thing.

Great line by Her and great shot by Candace. She will be getting a photography site up very soon...so I will be able to link to that with in a few weeks. She has so many photos that I haven't been able to show yet.

This was my third time running this fall and it felt bigger than ever. I tossed the paddle to not get any rip back or take the chance or breaking my paddle. Afterwards, I sat at the bottom to watch Shannon and Grif stick this monster beaut as well. Nothing better than sharing some smiles as the bottom of a stout with some friends. I have run Metlako in 2008, 2009, and now 2010, it has become and annual huck for me, but I'm always scared the day and night before running it. Good day and great action...Can't wait till tomorrow :)

Later E.G.

Skate Park!

2010-06-24T18:14:00.000-07:00

Summit creek was discovered last year by a young group of Washingoton brothers known as the Wells Bros. They live in Trout Lake only 5 miles from the put in of the infamous Green Truss run on the White Salmon and have been searching the area for little stashes like this. We had two good days on this creek last season getting the second run down the Skate ramp falls and the first descent of the huge top canyon falls...Those updates can be seen here Summit Creek.

The basic deal with this run is that, you need a bit if rain to pump the normally dry river bed up to enough water to scrape down this high mountain drainage ditch. Once you get the water you need it is an amazing place with two very steep and clean basalt gorges to run. This day we got a bit of a later start and the water only looked good for the lower gorge…so we rallied up to the Indian Reservation to get some “Skate Park” action.

Getting down from the put in to the goods on this river is kind of a task, as the river is littered with bad trees and sticks slowing your down stream progress. Once the trees open up and the river bed goes to bedrock, all is well. The sort of un-seen Skate Park drop is the main course in this bottom gorge. This drops a total of about 60ish feet, with a huge transition and flake about 10 feet above the pool, where you catch some serious high speed air time. It can look very intimidating from the top, but normally runs better than it looks. Stories of bad lines and huge hits from this Spring had us scared to give her a go… I read this quote on Facebook of the first runs from this year;

Rush Sturges- kicked the season off with a bang... Filmed Boomer running a burly low volume 60-70 ftr on Summit Crk... then Boomer, Lane + LJ all taking massive hits on the 60 ft tranny drop. Burl gnarr. Carnage segment is off to a good start... No more please.
April 1 at 11:45pm · Comment · Like

Those are my boys as well, so I know it was for real. I had that in my mind as I said I would go first, but after a few moments of scouting and checking the scene, it looked the same as when I had been there last year. So I went for it.

Having a very smooth line throughout the whole drop. It's over before you know it. You just end up flying through the air, hopefully up right and straight.

Todd Running second with a cool line through the trany.

This is what happens if you go too far left on the drop...its just not smooth over there.

This has got to be one of the easiest going big drops in the world when run right. With no hit or whiplash you free fall for 50 feet and smoothly go from vertical to flying horizontal through the air. I went off with a good line off the flake at the lip and had a fine very soft line down to the pool. It had been a whole year since the last time I had run this drop and it was just as exciting as the first time. Watching all my friends run down the falls after me was a good time alone. 3/5 of our group had good lines the other two took crazy bounces off the bottom transition, but ended up being just fine.

The next set of slide keeps you on your toes as well. The first of which is a drop named the ”Well” because it drops into a deep crack where you can’t tell what will happen to you if you go there. Only Todd had a good line down this rapid..,the rest of us almost flipped in the crack leaving us discombobulated and out of control through the rest of the boxed in section.

Myself in the gnarly crack falls they call "The Well".

After that the creek pretty much totally looses its quality elements and turns in to a shallow tree infested mank-0-fest once again…but it is all worth the hassel to get in there to run and see the beautiful gorges. This was a run that I didn't think I was going to get on this year, but thanks to all the rain we got out there and had a good time with Parker, Erik, Grif, and Todd. Thanks to Candace for the sick shots once again. She has just been killing it, these shots weren't photoshopped at all just taken right in good light conditions. Here's a little parting shot...

Gringo and I chilling in the Glenwood valley overlooking Mt. Adams.

Later E.G.

Shasta Steeze

2010-06-18T21:00:00.000-07:00

This is a bit of a double update...First and foremost, I would like to say that all of this summers footage will be going to the next Shasta Boyz film Slippery When Wet. Shon Bollock has been making movies for some time now and I will be putting in a whole "EG" segment into his new flic. It should be a good one...personal funny segments focusing on each athlete. Check out his site Shastaboyz.com.

Back to this update now. We were in Mt. Shasta, his home town, and the flows were right to run the biggest drop on the Mccloud River. The rest of Cali has gotten HOT!!!! The water has risen to new heights, and we are all scared, so it we came up north once again. First stop on PNW “Tour de Stout” was the McCloud falls in Mt. Shasta California for a park and huck special. The middle falls of this river is the biggest and rarely has the water to scrape off it. With some rain and warm bursts of weather we got there and the drop looked very friendly. T’was a fast low angle slide off maybe a 40-45 foot free fall, this is what we’ve been looking for. A few pre-breakfast laps off this thing, which I don;t like to do because I like eating! However, the huck set us straight and got us ready to head to Oregon once again! Enjoy the wonderful photos by Candace Sanders…

Most of the year the Middle falls looks a lot like this. Fit for a cool tourist picture or bathing place for naked hippies. Not this time! We showed up to a drop that was full of beautiful green cold serum.

Getting some good speed I came off the lip hot and spotted my landing before throwing my paddle and tucking up.

This is such a fun place to be...launching big air off a roosting stout! Demshitz likes stouts.

Leaving California is never easy and I never want to do it, but this time we had a goal and some serious rain water to work with. Good things have happened so far, so keep your eyes out for the next few updates coming soon.

Later E.G.

Big Kimshew Creek

2010-06-15T07:15:00.000-07:00

Big Kimshew is one of my favorite creek runs in California…being only a day run this has got to be up there in the “most fun” category of all the rivers on planet earth. With the right flows and group, you will enjoy a mix between the Little White Salmon, and Upper Cherry…you can’t go wrong. The rapids start out fast and hold to the class V character all the way to the last take out falls.

The trick to this guy is, finding the put in, and timing the water levels…both of these factors make this an untouched river some seasons. Getting lost multiple time on the way to the put-in is part of California kayaking, it's why I love it so much, NOT. I was stressing and thought we may not get to paddle. A mile or so of walking through the snow and we made it to the Upper Kimshew Creek. We just went ahead and put on the mank infested ditch and made our way a few extra miles down to where I normally put in. It was an adventure and made our day longer, but all the work paid itself off in GOLD! With all the snow pack in the mountains out here, I think we will have plenty of days out on this puppy this Summer. Here is a small taste of the sweet treats you get to sample when dropping in on Kimshew creek…

The Island at the normal put-in of Kimshew is a rapid that does get fired up, but most the time it's only Chucky that does that!

Kimshew falls! This is just the first in the stage of a triple set that will get ya goin'.

It's about 20 feet of sliding and maybe 12-15 feet of vert...don't want to boff out to big, or you will end up giving yourself a crooked nose for the rest of your life, like me. I broke it here in 2008! This line was much better.

By the end of the goods the level had risen a lot and we had some high flows for Frenchy's Falls. Make this thing better, I swear.

Pillows...PILLOWS I tell ya.

Nate Klema giving a nice line to the bottom of this one. This is a kid we met in our travels from Durango, CO. He has been boating for a long time now, and getting out with on the CO-gnar with Matt Wilson. He was "THE" kayaker where I grew up in Bozeman MT, it showed when I got to know Nate.

And come on...If you are in the area and you don't go and rally a lap on the South Branch? Well that's, that's just not right!

Griff boofing while I watched on...glory in our eyes and a steep rough trail in front of us.

Had to get it!!! We were out there Running Brown.

Erik Johnson throwing his paddle off the 50 at the take out of day 1 section.

Mr. Klema lining up a huge boof off 99 Problems. Damn sick rapid!

I hope that you enjoy taking a look at the shots, Thanks to Nate Klema. Two of the greatest rivers in the world/cali. The water is now still rising here and doesn’t seem to want to mellow out. The California Love Tour 2010 continues as the crew searches for the next watershed to attack. We have not slowed down at all. Wait until you see the photos about to come in the next few posts! Good Stuff!!!

Later E.G.

The Kaweah's

2010-06-05T16:16:00.000-07:00

California is doing some crazy things with its weather this summer...mostly just huge changes in temperature and precipitation. This has caused for hard windows in the runnable levels of the rivers that we want to get on. After some good times in the Northern Sierras we saw that the levels were looking perfect for some of the steep tributaries of the Kaweah. Mostly the East Fork, which is one of the best steep granite stashes in the State. So with a nice crew of paddlers I headed down to the old Hideaway Campground for a Memorial day weekend of shit running and good times. The flows were between 1350-1150 @ Three Rivers making for some juicy flows on the classic runs of the area. Celebrating Canadce's birthday we went up to the National Park as well where we ran some cool slides on the Upper Middle Kaweah and checked out the sights... including the Keebler Elv's house, and a cool young brown bear off the side of the road. All in all the Kaweah is a always a good time with great weather and brown runnings. Enjoy some of the shots from our short time down there.

A Go Pro freeze frame of the big Triple Drop on the East Fork. This rapid gets very large and scary at high flows like this.

Eric Boosting through a big seem on the South fork of the T. It was kind of a failed day, but we had fun and go to go kayaking.

I would have to say that it is almost never a good idea to run something at the same time as someone else... I still have to stick with that. Sick picture though!

I have wanted to run this mank piece of shit of sometime now...Skyhook is one of the dirty drops on the East Fork that pretty much never gets run. Only when you feel like you can take a hit.

This drop has got to be one of the best slides you can run...It is called Chuck's Drop after Chuck Kern who got the first Descent in 1997, I believe. Anyway this is a huge twisting slide that goes through a very scenic box gorge.

This is a good friend from Bozeman MT...young ripper Eric Johnson running the Big slide with me...there was like 6 of us who ran it I just didn't want to toss up all the photos.

When in Rome...if you are in the Kaweah land you have to go visit the Sequoia national park.

Taking a huge stroke on the drop after Chuck's to clear a diagonal hole.

Here is a shot of me and my new dog Gringo. He is from Fresno and is only 8 weeks old...he's a stout master!

This drop is called "0-60" because you start on a shallow slide and then hit all the flow and blast off the cool falls to avoid a nasty cave on the right. Hospital rock is great fun at these flows.

So after some good times at the campground and plenty of sun bathing it was time to move on back north to get on some more goods around the state. This place is huge!!!!! If you compare the amount of driving to any other place in the country you would stay away from Cali...but you just can't do that!

Later E.G.

Getting Things Started

2010-06-03T13:02:00.001-07:00

So I know it's been a crazy little run for the past two weeks, but I have been getting some really good paddling out here in Cali. This is a little update of some photos from the time I spent with my good Kiwi buddies here. We started off with a juicy run down the South Branch and then hit a nice overnighter on the South Merced in Yosemite national park. Trying to follow water around in California can be a hassle and ue up a bunch of gas, but once your on the good tasting the pure granite boulder goodness, it's all worth it. Check some shots out from the Kiwi boys and Candace.

Sam Sutton boofing a good one on the South Branch.

Sam reppin' the brown for all the New Zealanders.

Ryan "crazy man" Lucas on the best two boofs of the run. I can't actually say that.

Portaging to the lower South Branch...don't do this unless you have really good beta or a guide.

Nate my little bro running through some juicy section of the South Merced.

All camping under two small tarps...it can still rain in California even during the so called summer time.

Brad running the "50" at the take out of the top run on the S.B.

So this is what we got into the first week I was out here...the Cali Love Tour returns once again. With that said, I'm hopping in on a new project with my high school friend and Shasta boy Shon Bollock, in his new movie "Slippery when Wet". It will be a athlete based movie showcasing a crew on boaters and how they love to do their sport. I will elaborate more on that soon...

Later E.G.

Koosah Falls Video

2010-05-29T10:10:00.000-07:00

This is the first time in my waterfall career that a random tourist has taken photos or video of me running a waterfall, and actually sent me them. I was running Koosah falls and Zach Roberts happened to be there with a little HD flip camera and caught it all on video...he came over when I was done, and asked me a few questions about the drop.

I'm down in Cali getting on the goods here so keep up to date on egcreekin because there will be tons of good update coming your way soon.

P.S. Dashboard Empanada will finally be ready to ship by this next Wednesday drop on comment or send me an email at egcreekin@gmail.com to buy a copy...there will also be a paypal button coming up soon.

Later E.G.

South Yuba Helmet Cam

2010-05-25T22:01:00.000-07:00

Now down in Cali I have been rolling around the state looking for rivers low enough to run. With an amazing snow pack in the Sierra mountains things are very high. Colder weather and rains have kept us pretty chill, but ready to attack when the run off really starts. So far I have been on South Branch, South Merced, and South Yuba. Here is a HD Go Pro video I shot from a day with 14 of my best paddling buddies on the Lower runs of the South Yuba out side Nevada City, CA. Enjoy watching all of us bomb this amazing little stash of granite boulder gardens.

South Yuba POV from jared seiler on Vimeo.

More update will be coming in soon...I'm in Santa Cruz visiting Shasta Boy Shon Bollock on my way down to the Kaweah river. Lets see what we can get into this week.

Later E.G.