i attended gualey fest in summersville, wv for the first time a few weekends ago. it was all i had anticipated and more, a 3 day weekend of paddling bliss, interrupted only by eating, drinking, live music, hammocking and more drinking. i met my brother and a bunch of other folks late thursday night at the festival grounds - which is a large park on the edge of town. we were early enough that we found some premium ground at the very edge of the park that included some trees worthy of hanging the hammock. i was under the impression that we would be in the middle of field and tenting it, so i was super stoked to find a good place to hang.

the parking lot on the eve of the fest - so many boats.....

if you are looking for a used boat, this is the place to shop

dish glove dave's subaru on a foggy night - the festival is raging beyond the barn under the stadium lights

we paddled the lower section of the gualey river all 3 days in our play boats. this is the less intense section of the water with a few class IV+ rapids, but it is still has some killer undercuts, huge wave trains, sticky holes and awesome surf waves. next year we should be ready to be led down the upper section in our creek boats.

jimmy getting on the wave at diagonal ledges.  this wave is amazing, and you can surf it eternally. — jimmy getting on the wave at diagonal ledges. this wave is amazing, and you can surf it eternally.

koontz flume - the first class IV+ rapid on the lower - 5 boat hole is at the far left.  trust me, this rapid is huge when you are paddling a 5 foot kayak into it. — koontz flume - the first class IV+ rapid on the lower - 5 boat hole is at the far left. trust me, this rapid is huge when you are paddling a 5 foot kayak into it.

nate appeasing the river gods with a booty beer, after a few swims - he had a much better second day.

jimmy's (orange boat) go pro footage of him and me surfing the wave at diagonal ledges

October 7, 2021

Dominguez-Escalante National Conservation Area, Gunnison Gorge and the Chukkar Trail

A paddle trip down the Dominguez-Escalante National Conservation Area, the Gunnison Gorge and the Chukkar Trail.

March 30, 2020

An extended stay in the bottom of the Grand Canyon, Part 3 - Hold my beer.

As a self employed photographer, it is sometimes hard to find time to write these blog posts. It’s been 18 months since I returned from this epic trip, work and travel this past year and half have kept me very busy, in a good way, but it’s finally time to show y’all how this trip ended. Spoiler alert, it was amazing. I just read an article in the NY Times about a group who recently (March 14th) took off the Colorado river after 25 days of isolation, to find out about the chaos that is going on in the world. It took me back to the day we got off the river and returned to life above the rim. Before we re-live that experience, let’s enjoy the last few days of river life together. Hopefully a welcome distraction from the Covid-19 virus that is bound to go down in the history books. Thanks to all the folks working in the health care industry right now, including our trip leader Anna, Deb, Heather, Gaylin, Pat, Michael and Brian.

October 11, 2019

An extended stay in the bottom of the Grand Canyon, Part 2

I will be forever grateful to this team for putting enough trust in me to literally row their shit down the big ditch. Let it be known that I had some amazing instructors, supporters and words of encouragement from every member of this crew. I went into this journey understanding how to read water from my kayaking experience, but not knowing a thing about rowing an oar rig, other than point it down steam and hope you chose the proper line. The combined experience of our group, young and old (wise), was the only reason I did not flip this beast of a raft. Scouting rapids with the other boatmen, and listening to the way they saw their boats reacting to waves, eddies and holes, gave me the confidence that I could do it, I just needed to be in the right place at the right time. This was usually much harder than it sounded.

June 17, 2019

An extended stay in the bottom of the Grand Canyon, Part 1

On the night of August 1st, Jim, Nate and I met up with the rest of our group for this epic journey. Plans were hatched for the following days activities, which included being shuttled to the put in, and rigging the rafts that would be carrying all of our collective gear for the next 15 days. We chose Canyon REO as our outfitter, and I would highly recommend them - they were very professional and supplied us with everything, I mean everything, that we would need for the amazing adventure ahead of us.

For my sake, and yours, I am breaking this trip up into three parts. Get ready for a lot of photos of brown water, rafts, sunsets, beer and some of the dirtiest, yet best people you can imagine. Directly below is a gallery of the first 5 days on the water, for those of you who don’t want to read about it, and just get to the good stuff. Those of you who do want to read, I’d suggest skipping the gallery, as all or most of the photos will be below.

January 1, 2019

An epic adventure begins with an epic road trip.

You haven’t heard from me for a while, but don’t worry, I’ve still been out there having fun and documenting it - I’ve just been real shitty at sharing it. This summer I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to spend 15 days on the wild and wonderful river that carved one of the seven wonders of the natural world. I’m talking about the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon. But first I had to get there, and that in itself was quite the journey.

April 30, 2018

Late winter and early spring adventures

I've been traveling a bit the last few months, here is a quick rundown. In late February I headed down south to visit the family in sunny Florida, and to celebrate my Grandfather's 91st trip around the sun.

March 16, 2018

Late winter hang in the pine barrens.

This was a very last minute trip, but definitely one of the more memorable hangs we have had in Wharton state forest. For the past 2 years we have planned a winter trip here in February to experience some snow and colder temperatures, only to be thwarted by mother nature and global warming.

January 4, 2018

Fire and ice in the dolly sods.

I decided I wanted to be in the woods for my birthday this year, as usual. So I recruited my buddy Frank to plan a return trip to the Dolly Sods Wilderness Area for the beginning of November.

December 7, 2017

OuterBanks, how I have missed you.

I haven't been to the OuterBanks since I was in college, over 10 years ago. My family, like many from western PA, spent a lot of our summer vacations in this beautifully wild, yet over developed area. We always headed for the area around Cape Hatteras, where there was a lot less development and people, and more wide open beaches. This year my parents, with the help of my brother and sister-in-law, planned a late September vacation with my father's side of the family, who would usually join us on these summer trips.

November 23, 2017

A Campfire Feast Prepared in the Pine Barrens.

My buddy Matteo and I have been talking about getting together in the woods and cooking some serious food for quite a while now. Last month, on an oddly warm late October weekend, we finally made it happen.

woodstock for kayakers

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