Lazy Tuesday With Fred Norquist from Fred Norquist on Vimeo.
As spring approached, we saw that escalante was in. Jake and I made a quick hit and run at that one day, this is a super fun early season creek to brush off the dust from winter.


And then it happened: God came out and said "let there be water"!!! And there was water. We started running Barrel Springs when it got to a decent level. Here are a few photos from our daily barrel runs. This was a good warm-up, barrel is a really fun, long class 4-5 rapid that keeps you on your toes.

Jake and I in life after death at 5,000.


Jake and I doing our thang.
We ran barrel quite a bit, maybe 5-6 times. Here is a little helmet cam video of it at 4,000cfs.
Barrel Springs/Shoshone 4000cfs from Fred Norquist on Vimeo.
We checked the CO flows to see that Vallecito and Pandora's box were in. Jake and I set out on a 2 day shit running mission in durango.

The crew on the hike into Pandoras box, safely passing the no trespassing signs without getting shot.



We also ran Vallecito three times when we were there, but were having way too much fun to take pictures.
Then one night, God came to us and said "go to california and get some classic california granite". So we did. Jake and I left carbondale the day the Reno competition was over, and met up with Demshitz in reno. We then went on a tour of some really good rivers in Cali.
First stop was Kimshew.





So did Chris with the most savage piton that I have ever seen.

Jared on Frenchman's curve, on of the best rapids on the run.

Jared boofing a hole in the lower section.

Jeremy Laucks making it look easy.
We then drove to the South Branch of the Middle Feather, one of the most quality creeks in the world probably.










This was one of my favorite runs I have ever done, the cleanest waterfalls possibly in the world.
Here is a cool little video that I put together from another great day in california.
South Branch of the Feather Creekin from Fred Norquist on Vimeo.
We then met up with Evan Garcia, Michael Shields, and Max Blackburn and cruised to the upper south yuba. We ran a super fun section, with one of the most fun rapids that i have ever run at the end, East Meets West.

Here is Michael Shields running east meets west. Check out his blog http://fromthedirt.blogspot.com

Evan cookin up some good ol' dirt taters.
We then Headed to the Clavey river for a fun overnighter. This was my first class 5 overnighter, so it was really cool to be able to paddle to your camp, sleep and wake up to an awesome day on the river.
















I had a bit of a rough day after a gnarly beatdown that lead to a swim. Drink your booties, apeeze the river gods. Your next swim is just around the corner.
The past couple months have been filled with great times on the river. I cant wait for what is to come.
Go kayaking. Its incredibly fun.
For more thorough descriptions on these rivers, check out my blog at http://rfkayakers.blogspot.com
or evan's blog
http://egcreekin.blogspot.com
or miguel's blog
http://fromthedirt.blogspot.com
If you havent heard, the Demshitz movie is for sale now at http://www.demshitz.com. Get your copy today! possibly the best kayak video ever.....ever