All of the above were accomplished! We left Portland after work on Thursday evening and landed in Denver at 11:30. Luggage included camping, kayak gear and three, count 'em, three pairs of shoes.. Including my booties.. I'm getting so much better. Aren't I? We scored a rig with a rack system to carry begged and borrowed boats and enough room for us to sleep in the back, if we so desired.
The drive to Vail was spectacular with an hour long detour summitting at Breckenridge (14k. elevation) back down to 8k or so. This put us in town at a cool 3:30 am. We had printed off information regarding the campsites but little else than ammeneties and a general description of what side of town they were on, but my spidey sense paid off. We exited, circled, and sniffed our way to Gore Creek campground on a dead end road without real knowledge of anything but a lapse of time from the center of Vail Village and that it was east..
We missed our hook up for coffee (decaf these days) with Sam and Arturo, as they were off to another exotic local and their stay was no longer necessary for events. However, we quickly realized others from the area were working or competing. The freestyle competition qualifiers were underway with some strong men and women, but I was most impressed watching Tanya Faux.
She has such power! The other ladies, of course were fantastic, but she stood out as you can see in my pictures..
As I took a few pictures, I was greeted by another spectator and chatted him up for a while and then realized he was also in the competition. Stephen Wright, went on to take 2nd in the finals..
Sweet moves, eh?
As the day wound down, I networked for a while with Eric Jackson, mentioning his need to meet Wonder Midget back home, or as we now call him Margarita Balls.. The kid is 12 and he hand paddled House Wave and Lochsa Falls last weekend..
I also chatted with Nick Troutman and again with Stephen Wright regarding our friend Robbie Virostek. A force soon to be reckoned with as he enters the Keener Program with these two instructors.. Just wait till you see him in action. He'll blow you away.
That evening was the Everest Awards and I don't think I have ever been surrounded by so many people that 'get it'. The passion we have for our sports, the love we have for Mother Earth. I was in the company of such great competitors and, even though I'm not their caliber, it sure was refreshing to hang with like minded people.
One of my favorite conversations was with Silver Moon. She was enlightening and connected in so many ways. What a great woman to talk with.
Later that night, things turned a bit rowdy.. Designated driver meant no less fun having for me!
The bar closed down in the middle of a Prince song due to a nasty sewage leak from the hotel above into the bathrooms of the club and sent us holding our nose and washing our feet in the sinks down the road at Vendetta's where I continued to binge on water and boater talk! The Tanyas, Tia, The Jacksons. What a blast they were to hang with! For as buzzed as they all were, Ej still pulled out a show stopping performance to take first in the finals.. Way to go! 
But I still think Stephen had the biggest air! Check out more pictures.Boating: I mentioned begged and borrowed? Our good friend, Josh Bechtal, quenches our river lust with two Pyrahna 420s to hit Dowd Chute. The put in being at the play park in Vail and running about 5 miles.. Good fun after a weekend at the Lochsa. Check out the video of the preivous day's fun!
The next notable event, other than running into Jesse Coombs bushwacking off the same run during shuttle, was the 8 ball boatercross.. Had I felt human that day, I would have entered.. The winner is pretty much a crapshoot. The goal is to get down the river with all the 8 balls givin' er all to stop you in your tracks! Doh! It looked like so much fun!
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