Roll Sessions Are In Session

New in the sport and need to learn how to roll your canoe, kayak, or C-1? Now is the time to get to an indoor pool and learn how to roll. This winter the Bluegrass Wildwater Association and the Viking Canoe Club hold roll sessions in Louisville and Lexington.

Everyone is welcome...even if you have never paddled before. Roll sessions are informal with shared member's boats and equipment available on a first come first served basis or for assured equipment bring your own gear. Experienced paddlers will be volunteering their time to help you get started.

Here is where you can find the roll session you would like to attend:

Bluegrass Wildwater Association
When: Friday nights through March 28th at 7:30pm
Where: North Lexington YMCA
Directions: 381 West Loudon Avenue, Lexington, KY
Cost: $5/members, $10/non-members

Viking Canoe Club
When: Sunday mornings through March 30th
Where: Mary T Meagher Aquatic Center
Directions: 201 Reservoir Ave, Louisville, KY 40206
Cost: $4.50/everyone

2008 National Paddling Film Festival

February 22nd and 23rd will be the 25th Annual NPFF, celebrating 25 years of promoting River Conservation through "The Best in Paddlesport Video and Image Competition".

This year’s Guest Hosts are the winners of the "Best of Festival" and "Accomplished General" awards at NPFF 2007, The Range Life. From NPFF 2008 Video Coordinator, Phillip Sisk:

"The Range Life crew will join us all the way from the Pacific Northwest. TRL is fresh off last year's stunning zip line footage film that took top honors and back from IR’s 'Vacation to Hell' in the Peru jungle this summer. We are excited to bring these boys to the southeast to host the NPFF."

Also, NPFF 2007 Guest Host, John Grace of Lunch Video Magazine, will be returning to do a LVM Premier for NPFF 2008.

We have lots of gear coming in from for the Silent Auction. Some of the items already received are books and shirts from Helliconia Press, an instruction package from the Nantahala Outdoor Center, and BOATS! Plenty of boats from Dagger, WaveSport, and Jackson Kayaks, with more on the way.

The Bluegrass Brewing Company is again providing beverages for the NPFF, and we will have a big Awards Party with great local live talent again this year.

Now for the big news – the NPFF has a new location, the historic Buffalo Trace Distillery Lodge in Frankfort, Kentucky – the oldest continually operating distillery in the U.S.! The Lodge has ample seating and room for the masses, including a bar area off the viewing hall and a full kitchen and dining area in the downstairs area for the Silent Auction and sponsor tables. This location is only 20 minutes further for people coming from I-75, and is actually closer for those coming from I-65. It is centrally located in historic Frankfort, the Capital City of Kentucky. There is ample parking onsite for the event, and we will have a shuttle service set up for those who may party like rock stars. We have a block of 75 rooms reserved at the Capital Plaza Hotel, which is only a half-mile from the event site. Rooms are $74 per night. We will have the reservation forms posted on the NPFF website later this week.

The Downtown Frankfort Tourism Board is excited to have us there. They will be providing goodie bags for attendees, including discounts to the local downtown merchants. There are several good restaurants, including a great pizzeria, a Middle-Eastern restaurant (with belly dancing on Fridays!), a deli, an upscale restaurant, a fantastic wine bar, and several others. We are pulling out all the stops to make the transition to the new location a great one!

Tickets will be on sale online soon, through the generous help of American Whitewater.

Look for updates on our website later this week, and plan to attend the 25th Annual National Paddling Film Festival. We look forward to seeing you all there!

Todd Garland
Director, NPFF 2008

Links:

NPFF website - http://www.surfbwa.org/npff

American Whitewater - http://www.americanwhitewater.org/

The Range Life - http://www.therangelife.blogspot.com/

Buffalo Trace Distillery - http://www.buffalotrace.com/

The Capital Plaza Hotel - http://www.capitalplazaky.com/

Frankfort/Franklin County Tourist & Convention Committee - http://www.visitfrankfort.com/

Into the Wild: Yahoo Falls Hike

Here is a trip report from Jay Thomas part of the duo of hiking Bardstown Boater brothers, Jay & John Thomas.

John and I got to Yahoo Falls parking area at the northern end of the Big South Fork around 1 on Saturday and hurried to try and get on the trail in front of a group of 12 boy scouts from Oakridge, TN. We soon came to the overlook to Yahoo Falls, the tallest waterfall in KY, took a glance and then climbed out of the hollow up to Yahoo Arch. The Arch was really cool, one of my favorite arches to date.

We crossed the road we drove in on, Hwy 700, and continued on the Negro Creek trail. The trail started on top of the knob but even as we descended on the trail we stayed well above the Negro Creek. However, multiple sounds of waterfalls and cascades led us on some side trail bush wacking to some great spots. Negro Trail t-bones the Sheltowee Trace at the mouth of the Creek into the Big South Fork. The area has a large flat camping spot equipped with a large rock fire pit. From talking with the boy scouts earlier we knew their plans of camping at the spot (perfect for a large group), and we continued south on the Sheltowee toward Lick Creek. This trail section follows the BSF upstream and is fairly flat and uneventful except for some really cool beaver woodwork. Also it turns into an ATV playground of paths and camping spots.

At Lick Creek we left the Sheltowee to continue on Lick Creek trail and reached Princess Falls, an 15 foot curtain falls down away from the trail. There is a great flat camp spot enough for 4 or 5 tents with a rock fire pit and rock seating. We took advantage of the spot and quickly got a hot fire going. In the morning we backtracked to Negro Creek where the boy scouts had already packed and gone. Continued on the Sheltowee north to Cotton Patch Hollow, Alum Ford Campground, and then back in the Yahoo Falls Scenic Area. After passing some cool waterfalls and good scenery we finaly arrived to the base of Yahoo Falls. Very Cool and a great end to the trip. The pack up the four flights of stairs to the parking was exhausting; i wish they made the handrails wide enough for backpacks. Conclusively it was a very cool trip, one I'm sure we'll be back to.

Also the boy scout group said their trailer full of gear was stolen out of their church parking lot at Christmas time. I saw one of them pick up an old skillet previously left at the Negro Creek campground like it was a Playboy mag, so I don't feel they were bullshittin. After we got back I emailed a couple places and tried looking up their contact info online to pass around, but if anyone has any outdated or extra gear you want to get rid of I can see if I can reach them some how.

Costa Rica: Lower Rio Pacaure

Spalding Hurst checked in with this trip report of the Rio Pacaure, a river he ran while on his honeymoon in Costa Rica.

Hola! Costa Rica has been great. The scenery and the wildlife are amazing. On this trip, Jennifer and I have seen Howler Monkeys, Iguanas, Parrots, Toucans, Sloths and more exotic birds than I can count. The rivers are flowing from everywhere. From volcanoes and from mountains. My run on the class III-IV Lower Rio Pacaure was one I will never forget.

Jennifer and I rolled into town on Monday evening. We went to the first outfitter in the town of Turrialba. This was RainForrest World, an outfitter opened by West Virginian Phil Coleman. I told them I wanted to go kayaking, that I had my own gear, I just needed a paddle and a boat. They had me setup up for a trip the next day in about 3 minutes.

The next morning I came back to join 2 rafts, a cataraft and the chase boater, a local named Ryan, who would also be kayaking and showing me the lines. The section we ran was 16 miles long, so it was a full day. We stopped and had lunch half way through, close to where an indigenous tribal family lived on the river. We saw the local children playing at the river and running rapids on their homemade balsa wood poles.

The rapids were constant on the Pacaure, it was never a dull moment. The river was mostly class III and III+, but There were five class IV rapids mixed in. The first 2 being the hardest (Upper & Lower Huacas Falls), the last 3 being the most fun.

Half way down the run a kayaker from Colorado joined our group. It was good to have another kayker in the mix. The Cataraft had a couple from Reno guiding it down. They were doing research on the Rio Pacaure and the effect of the waterway on the indigenous people who live near it.

I paddled a very used Dagger Nomad 8.5 and this thing was huge. It made blasting through some holes much easier, but I did surf in it a little. Overall the boat performed well for me. I only missed one line on the hardest rapid, but I ended up where I wanted to be.

This trip made me realize why I love paddling. This trip makes me want to paddle more, explore more, see more and travel more. I can't wait for my next day on the river, rather it be the Elkhorn in Frankfort, Kentucky or the Pacaure in Costa Rica!