Leif and Natalie

The Big South is truly a river that needs no introduction, so I won't give it one. There is a slideshow of all the photos at the end of the article. Here are a few of my favorites. Photo by Austin Woody Big South 2012 Evan starting it up with starter fluid. Big South 2012 Steezing it out a little. Photo by Austin Woody. Big South 2012 Photo by Evan Stafford. Big South 2012 Photo by Evan Stafford. Big South 2012 Evan keeping it between the lines. Big South 2012 Most of the crew cruises through Bonk. Photo by Austin Woody. Big South 2012 Evan makes it look like there's a lot of water in Meltdown. Big South 2012 Austin is snapping his paddle right at this very instant. Big South 2012 Snapped paddles don't give powerful boofs. Big South 2012 Evan with some wiggle room. Big South 2012 A leisurely back paddle after a successful run. Big South 2012 Me getting into some trouble. Big South 2012 Getting out of trouble. Photo by Evan Stafford. Big South...

I've written a detailed blow by blow account of this trip, but there's also a slideshow, with a few extra photos. Seems like just a few months ago that we were lamenting the low low water across the state of Colorado. Well, time flows in circles I guess, because here we are again in the shoulder season, back in school, with nothing to run. A series of long weekends caught up with Natalie and I, and we found ourselves stuck near home for a weekend, with only one day free to paddle. "Nothing to run" - ha! I laugh in the face of low water. A few years back, Natalie and I drove up from Glenwood Springs to Fort Collins to run the Big South, and during the drive the discharge from the reservoir was turned down to just 20 cfs. We still had a great time, although it was a very long day. Checking the gauges this particular weekend, I noticed that they were letting loose about 50 cfs from the reservoir! Hot dog! We secured a shuttle driver (Natalie Beckman - sorry for ...