STIKINE

Haunted shadows awake me, a serpent cuts the land. Burning with each beat of my heart. Cold sweats and startled sleep once more. Wounded, I had ached to dance to its song since I first had unstable beginnings in kayaking. As challenges came and went the Stikine sat proud, a giant into my pantomime of exploration.

11 Sept, a sleepless flight to Vancouver and a drive to the North Country, the magnet pulled faster and faster. 12th Sept as darkness fell-tired. The night offered promises in the morning light.

Confused conversations, like the drunkards plea, had drawn six together. We had one common thread, the morning light brought a clear cloudless sky. Packed and loaded we paddled down to the closing wall. Gray vaulted doors with shimmering threads, the Grand Canyon Of The Stikine.

Rapids came and went, with each wave friendships grew. The pull to put on had sacrificed my body clock. Portages were difficult and eddies missed. My body hampered with fatigue. But this band of brothers became solid.

Three days the canyon, all housed in isolated grandeur let us pass. Emotions the mental landscapes were pushed and pulled then set free in a world of boundless possibilities.

Framed in the walls, no hike out, no portage you stare-heart beating into the gut. All snarl and barks. All the demons of the heart. Your blades try to power through the water, slithers of chance form and disappear. Head down, you commit. Roll the dice, load the gun, dance with the reaper - but it means more than this.

Small but critical a 5ft crack ejects you from the canyon, the worst is behind but you know more is to come.

Gravel beaches and First Nation fishermen salute its passing. But the flame is still alight, its a place of magic and spells. Of silence and noise. Of the passion and grace. Of trust and chance. The majesty and honour envelopes you. I was numb both physically and mentally at the take out, no one tells you about this.

Without the unwritten bond, without the band of brothers,

The serpent could coil and crash at any moment. So its with respect that I take these memories and remember the path of the heart.

Its not about commercial gain, or funding. Its not about what kayak you ride or what paddle you have. Its not even about the moves you make. Its about more-much more. Its about the words that cannot be said, the truth that shines in the darkest hours and the salute to the river.

For this I thank you all, my friends. For the river, a thank you is not enough- a lotus to you- my teacher.

Flood

Leh has been hit by floods. Our friends in India have posted this message which reminds us how fragile things are. Our thoughts go to those in the area, to family and friends.


Things have worsened in Leh since last night, the Trans Himalaya has indeed come down. There has been massive cloudbursts last night at 9:30pm. Even telephone exchanges, hospitals and airports are hit. This morning, Leh airport was full of water, there are several people dead, the Manali - Leh and Leh-Srinagar highways have several bridges and sections of road washed away.

We have 3 vehicles including two trucks with guides and staff that are missing, we do not know their location or whether they are safe. News is not coming in as most phone lines are out. Indian TV has just begun reporting on this news. Watch for updates. Several trekkers are reportd missing.

Weather forecast for the next full week is not encouraging.

There are reports of several people buried under house collapses, Leh town is out of electricity, has several dead strewn about its bus stand. I am trying to find out more about the situation but it is difficult. There are people stuck on trails, rivers that have risen rapidly, and some are missing.

Air traffic to Leh is suspended, till further notice. The army has taken over and restricted movement to get things in order. Traffic into Leh has been brought to a complete standstill and evacuation is the priority right now.

There is no news yet of our guides, staff and vehicles. You can look up news coming in, at ::
http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/leh-f ... sing-42357
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 264165.cms
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/dozens-kille ... 287-3.html


Please do NOT travel out to Ladakh and put all plans of hold.

Vaibhav Kala

We have also been given this news info from some friends in India.

Leh flash floods: 103 dead, 25 army jawans missing

With at least 103 people confirmed dead in flash floods near Leh on Thursday night, news has also come in that 25 Army jawans in the area are missing after their posts and houses were washed away, Army sources said.

A series of cloudbursts in this Himalayan pocket prompted the floods that have caused heavy damage to life, infrastructure and property in the area. The cloudbursts hit Choglumsar area, 13 kilometres from Leh and 424 kilometres from Srinagar. Fifty bodies have been recovered from this small town, officials said.

The injured have been shifted to the local Army base hospital.

While 85 people have died, many are still missing. Sources in the Defence Ministry said the numbers are likely to go up over 100.

Major roads to Leh have been cut off and the Kargil-Leh highway has been partially damaged. The runway of the civil airport has been cut off from the rest of the country as a thick carpet of slush has settled over it.

The IAF also conducted repeated aerial sorties throughout the day to assess damage while helicopters were on standby in Kargil, Thoise and Chandigarh.

There was heavy Army presence in the area as special teams were pushed into action to conduct and help with relief operations with the limited resources available as the area remains cut off from the rest of India.

Video grab of people sitting on an elevated place after flash flood triggered by a series of cloudbursts in Leh on Friday. PTI Photo

Meanwhile, a Defence Ministry spokesperson said: "25 Army jawans are reported missing. The Defence Institute of High Altitude Research of DRDO has also been damaged. Civilian areas like the bus stand, BSNL towers, hospitals, the runway of the Leh airport and the ATC towers have been affected."

The Army hospital treated close to 400 injured people and was the only centre of medical attention as the local hospital has been washed away. The ministry said: "Nearly 400 critically injured people have already been evacuated from the makeshift hospitals by the Army. All civilian doctors in the Leh District Hospital have been operating from the Army hospital, Leh as the Civil Hospital is filled with mud."

Video Grab of rescue work after flash flood triggered by a series of cloudbursts in Leh on Friday. PTI Photo

Initial reports indicate extensive damage due because of the sudden floods. Approaches by road to Leh from Srinagar through Zozilla and through the Rohtang Pass have been choked by mud. Bridges have also been washed away on these stretches.

Several columns of Army personnel from the 14 Corps helped in relief and rescue operations.

Video Grab of a damaged house after a flash flood triggered by a series of cloudbursts in Leh on Friday. PTI Photo

Defence Minister A K Antony, who is personally monitoring the operation, took a series of meetings of senior officials of the ministry, the Services and the DRDO this morning. A medical team along with essential supplies has been kept on standby to be flown to Leh once the runway is operational.

Communication with the area is also badly hit because of the cloudbursts which was accompanied by heavy rains.

Other areas along the Sindhu river are yet to be accessed and it is feared the human loss would be very heavy.

Source: The Indian Express

FROM THE CHRONICLES OF AN ANCIENT MARINER-MAY 08

It was a cold day at the start of the year, I was giving a slide presentation at the Burrs Country Park. may old friends came and went and then from the cool water 'Pete' came. I had taken him on some river in Nepal 2 years previous and he had a poem for me.

It is not the experience of everyone but he seems to have a love hate relationship with Daal Bhat, The classic food of Nepal. It made me smile when I read it, hope it will make you smile also.

Daal Bhat is a Nepali dish
Its made from rice and lentil
And if your stomachs not too strong
Its effect is truly mental
Daal makes its way in deadly skill
Your inner organs start to spill
You hope this feeling just won't last
And hold tight-and then a blast
Of all the meals that went before
Some much longer-some of yore
First a ripple, then a flood
The feeling really is not good
A moral then- a tale to tell
Avoid Dall Bhat-avoid like hell.

This tale drags on-it just get worse
I cant escape the dreadful curse
In Kathmandu-the orchard caff
Has service poor, indifferent, naff
The food arrived at varied space
Without much sequence-rndom pace
Tibetan stir fry was my choice
Well tasty said an Aussie voice
In no time flat, spices sublime
Attacked my stomach-head-my spine
Back to the hotel then I sped
Collapsed fermenting on the bed
Teh hours that followed were a pin
Ill not try stir-fry, not again
The walls-the ceiling and the floor
and spots of yak met on the door
That toilet was a sorry state
I sat in there to contemplate
I sat for long in quiet station
And almost wished for constipation
the journey home was a great strain
With several moments on the plane
When distant rumblings were heard
Was it the engine-was it a bird?
For forty hours I had no food
Weary, weak-the general mood
upon the scales, surprised I found
In body weight I lost 9 pound
Kayaks and water-high hills above
In Nepal these things I'd loved
The people stoic, smiling, strong
they work so hard to get along
I'd go back soon, good times to find
But always-always on my mind
The fears that linger in my head
I'll leave spiced food and stick to bread
Forget your Daal Bhat, stiry fry and roast
For my good health-I'll stick to toast.

FOCUS

Just some things that I believe to be true about kayaking.

Calm before the storm, clichéd mind games for sure. Lifting the kayaks onto the shoulder; portage on the side of reason without looking, without turning back to look at the fall so often portaged.

A glance is all that is needed, a line, fine and delicate. No definition of thought. The process is far from clinical. It cannot be broken into aspects, into reason without end.

The mind witnesses the window and the glimpse of a chance and the grasp of the elusive. It is a hit to the heart that is searched for, a hit willing to be taken. Pulling all that is pure into the single moment of time. A capsule of stillness, a perfect moment.

The rapid is run, no dreams lay to rest. In that moment it is all open to the elements; the driven form of this illusion. It is open to what we represent in our thoughts as adrenalin. A thought form, a feeling that we cling to. Within the clinging the damage is done. Bravado diverts us from our true goal from the 'pure' form we search.

Only seekers understand the processes. The seeker in search of the truth who abandons all thoughts, feelings, mental illusions and perceptions for the perfect 'pure' moment in time. A moment when time slips from the realms of the rational thought. Where the mind once filled with images of reason and doubt is cast still. This is the reason to run rapids to go inside the disillusion of the masses to witness a 'pure' understanding of the moment between reality and the truth of the real.

The heart now still resting after the rapid run. The chatter has subsided through the stories told.

It is a river run so, so many times each time a new experience. Each time a fresh page. On this occasion I am guiding two friends who have spend the night hours dreaming of this river. Dreaming for an age. In the mind they have built the river into a mystical place. Having never seen it, they expect the worse. Perhaps, without knowing, placing the rapids on a golden platform they look on in humble glory. Does this attach too much to the perceived experience? Does it divert too greatly from the here and now?

At the end after the dust had settled, after the run out rapid away from the walls that have caged in the experience, only then that a conclusion can be drawn. My friends solid boaters and great companions were pushed in this landscape, the mind map perhaps not understood. Here visions of a tossed and torn windswept plateau seemed to embrace them.

Questions are always asked; conversations for whatever reason always resonate with the 'what grade is this' mantra. Those that seek the discharged 'one up manship' charge the grades. They say 'I am a class 5 boater'. They think the world owes them the next big hit, it is this bravado this boasting of pushing the limits that lead to destruction - the praise of peers means the 'truth' of the 'real' experience will forever be out of reach.

We can all have the same fix for thrills if we push our limits. Although this seems not to sit with the 'be all and end all'. For me, like many others the river, sea, still lakes of the earth offer more. Sure, even now I run hard white water but it is not the heart pounding thrill and adrenalin that I chase. It is the battle within to find the 'pure' aspect of the event. This 'pure' is the magic of stillness- of a perfect moment in time. This is all that matters and it can happen any time and any place.

Personally, it is this must make canyon or the lip of a drop, perhaps the ocean swell or the gentle caress of the paddle against the smooth silk water that is only and forever a precursor. A required event in time. It is not the 'pure' 'truth' as the end game.

No matter what you paddle, be it flat calm lazy days or the heart thumping and raging rapids the truth of the pure-real experience is forever available to you.

FREESTYLE & DOWN RIVER

Well well, the sun is out and the birds sing...Its the season for gaining new skills and playing on waves and holes. If you fancy a bash, check this event out.

This May the BCU launch their Freestyle league aiming to encourage more people back to the dark art of rodeo boating. The first event will be hosted by Pyranha at the mighty Tryweryn and results from the day will form the basis of one of the scored that will determine the GB freestyle team this year.

The best 2 out of 4 league event results will be combined to form a league ranking and the winners of the league ranking will be crowned British Champions 2010.
Categories will include Expert/Open in Ladies/Mens and Juniors/Seniors.

Pyranha will also be running fun sessions, coaching all weekend and an all in Boater x on the Sunday. Ranking, scoring and format of events are yet to be confirmed but rest assure this will be a FUN event, for people who just want to get on the water and have a go!

Where: Canolfan Tryweryn , Bala (BCU freestyle will take place on the top wave above the Chipper)
When: 22nd -23rd May
Cost: Entry to Freestyle event £5 Entry to Boater X and Freestyle £10 (Registration on the day)

For more info see http://www.ukfreestyle.com and http://www.pyranha.com

Hopefully see you there!

Also we have river running sessions....


Guided River Trips (Saturday and Sunday) - Great if your coming on your own, Daz Clarkson will guide you on the river at your level.

All trips are half day sessions and £20 per person, which is a great offer just for this event.

Book your place at registration on Saturday morning

See you on the water.

SOME THOUGHTS ON FEAR

I have been asked many times about the notion of fear and how to push the doors open and walk in a pasture free from fear. Below are some thoughts, these thoughts are a work in progress.

Many say that they feel fear when on the water. They feel scared, nervous of the rapids they are set to descend. How we deal with this fear is important, for it is the only guidance that we shall ever need.

In order to discuss the fear, first off we need to examine what is fear, or more precisely where it is manifest. Only then can we aim to control this. Fear of things we have control over is ludicrous. This is like saying 'I am scared of cancer' whilst puffing on 40 cigs a day. Whist fear of things we cannot control is posited with anxiety. If we cannot influence events, it is this lack of control that we fear, so to say, we fear been out of control. Although again this is looking awry. We let our children stumble from all fours to two, wobbling with each step of exploration. We allow the hooded darkness of inner city streets to grow with crime. We vote for a political system that will fail and yet we bypass this fear. We allow it to hold our hands through our daily lives. We accept this fear. Our true fear is a fear of our own making, not the making of a collected consciousness. When we allow fear to form from a collected ideal, we can no longer accept responsibility for it, its something else, somebody else - will take responsibility for it.

It is foolish beyond belief to be scared of the river you are descending, we made the choice to be on the river, we have control over our own actions. Some evil genius did not capture us and place us on the water. We need to compartmentalise where this fear sits.

We can all accept that rivers are dangerous places at times. We all accept that accidents, injury and death lurk around the corner. This is a rational fear. Fear of our own mortality, its healthy but needs to be kept in check. Driving the car, crossing the road and flying in a plane all present similar risks. The latter groups we have adjusted our 'inner being' to accept with dynamic risk assessments. We are well within our comfort zones and accept the possibilities. The former, our river based fear has yet to be ingrained into you dynamic risk assessments.


Allow me this time to elucidate.

Alsek, Turnback Canyon.
The river thunders through this chasm, without pause for breath. Violent and uncontrolled it rages. Leaving the last eddy the only safe net is gone. Fear, the base instinct of fight or flight, takes hold. Now, to be paddling in fear of your life is pure stupidity. The heart and mind are not strong enough to control the base urges and allow the body to function in a way that is suitable to allow proper functioning. Decisions become riddles, muscles tense and responses die. This is no way to be.

In order to function and rise to the challenge the understanding of fear must be bracketed.

If we understand that 1) what we understand as fear is natural to a certain extent and that this so called fear in its raw form closes our senses. 2) Fear of morality is natural but we accept this daily, why is the river different? 3) We live in a place where we accept limits that conditions our daily lives as an acceptance of fear. If we can catalogue these points then fear of what we do fades.

But this is not the end, far from it.

When we talk about fear of a river or fear of a rapid, what is it that scares us? If we are able to bracket the river over previous experiences, where does the fear come from?

At the point that we have managed to control our fear of the situation we are in a position that we must face the greatest fear of all. This new fear is the fear of our self, of what phantoms that lurk deep within that control our outlook on life. The Buddhist teacher Pema Chodron in her book The Places That Scare You helps us understand the concept of fear via the noble truth of suffering. Is it not true that our understanding of fear is in fact suffering. A suffering because we lack an understanding of the environment around us. Chodron writes, we expect that what is always changing is graspable and predictable [...] Because we mistakenly take what is always changing to be permanent, we suffer. This falls well into the river that we paddle on, the ever changing aquatic world. It forms fears simply because we cannot tame it. We have fear simply because we are not separate from the river. The fear we feel is a realisation that our action are linked to that which is beyond our control.

The river is a mistress in the theatre of our own making. The river, those situations that first seem to scare us, can only be feared if they act on our inner being. Fear acts deep within. It is the place that is dark and foreboding. A place we seldom go. It is the place that we cover up with televison, music, art and our working lives. This is the true nature of what life is all about. The river allows us not just a pleasant leisure activity but it also allows us the chance, however fleeting, to understand who we are without the camouflage and make up.

Each river opens our inner being, each take out can shut the door of experience. If we are unsure about our inner being, this is the point that fear will manifest. Pandora’s box will open and we have no control over the contents. Our world can be blown to pieces, a million emotions and false ideals shattering around us. Dreams and hopes of others, that weight on our shoulders, can drowned within our will. It is the dark places, the challenges of the river that can bring these to the mind.

To fear the river is without reason if we are unable to face the mirror of fear where the river brings out the 'real' for us. For myself I enjoy the depths of the 'real' that I face when the world collides within the crashing river. Looking deep within opens possibilities and allows me the chance to see who I honesty am, away from the facade of popular image, away from the trappings imposed on me and away from the trappings I brought into the mix.

Embrace the river, embrace the places that scare you, for they will teach you more about yourself than you can over know.

All in the detail.

It has been a busy time for building stuff on the web.

http://www.pyranha.com/team_paddlers.php?paddler=Daz%20Clarkson

www.purelandexpeditions.com site has also been having some minor changes.

More stuff on this blog soon, I have to rush as the rivers are up and I fancy a quick paddle.