Leif and Natalie

A slightly shortened version of this post was cross-posted on the Kokatat team blog on March 14, 2021 . -All photos by Leif Anderson. I have spent a large portion of my professional career thinking deeply about wood in rivers and how important it is for the ecosystems of the world; from the headwaters where logs enter our drainage systems to the estuaries and oceans where they are integral for ocean food webs. I am also a boater and am usually able to feel okay about the wood removal that the boating community does because, in general, it is fairly tactful and minimal while also appropriately mitigating risks.  Melissa Vaughn with Bryar Skinner and Michael Jonnson, Thunder Creek, WA  However, this past spring there was a log removal project on one of my local runs that made me pretty sad and upset and this past winter, during the high flow season I have noticed a knee-jerk mentality among my fellow paddlers that all wood, if inconvenient to you, must be removed and chopped up...

This blog was cross-posted on the Kokatat Team blog on Oct 12 2020. link here .  In this blog, I present some specific strategies that you can use to progress to harder water more safely. I don’t prescribe one 'right way’ because everyone’s life situation, mental states and experiences are different. However, I will present a framework that you can use to tailor your own progression to your own situation. My ultimate goal is to provide some insights so that everyone can have a lifelong, challenging, fulfilling and positive relationship with whitewater, where you don’t stop because you feel like you stalled out or because of a scary experience. This blog is a revised and more succinct version of the live webinar I gave for CaliCollective ( access the recording here ), May 2020. The ideas and essential skills I present are based on deep reflection into my own kayaking progression into harder whitewater, which included very few injuries and incidents, and fostered in me a ver...