Summertime with CUKC

Schools out for the summer, but CUKC is still running strong! We have run a couple of summer trips so far for 2011 and will continue to run more up until September. Here is a recap of what CUKC was involved in throughout the past few months:

Hell or High Water (HOHW)

This year CUKC formally put a trip together to get people aware of the Hell or High Water event. In brief the event is an initiative to bring awareness to the Petawawa River in attempt to save it from the proposed hydroelectric dam. This year we had many of our members come out to see the event. We even had our very own VP Events Juraj Kobzik participate in the kayak race down the river. He did a great job and represented our club well!!

The event was a huge success bringing out many people and clubs to the event. CUKC had a great time watching all the carnage and “relaxing” around the campfire during the evenings.  For more information on saving the Petawawa River please visit: www.savethepetawawa.ca

 

CUKC @ Palmer Rapids

Our next trip was off to Palmer Fest which takes place on Palmer Rapids on the Madawaska River. This is a fun festival that is known for its great bands that come on the Saturday night and the great clinics and instructors. The rapids are mostly class III rapids which help with the whole learning environment of the festival.

CUKC took some people to the festival this year to learn how to kayak and try out some new whitewater. We got some people to get their rolls for the first time ever and got some people to learn how to surf river waves! Then, what better to end the day relaxing in a hot tub, eating steaks, and having milkshakes!!!! It was definitely a good day!

Then for the second part of our trip we headed over to the Ottawa River where we all ran the Middle Channel. The weather started out a bit gloomy, but then it cleared up to yield a very nice day. The larger rapids of the Ottawa River did send some nerves through people, but all in all everyone very much enjoyed the day and all the swims 🙂 Our most notable swim of the day (which should be given an award) started after a bail at the top of Lower No-name. The bail occurred on river right, so our fearless swimmer had to boot his way across the entire width of the rapid to avoid the nasty Vampire Hole and other features. After making it across and down the whole rapid, he was tired, but ok…….and now he has an epic story to be told everywhere!!!

 

CUKC Hits up the Gull

Our most recent trip occurred this past weekend with a trip to the Gull River in Minden, Ontario. This is a very technical Class III+ river with some very interesting features. It is also a very shallow river (watch out for those rocks!!).  CUKC spent 2 days at the river teaching some people how to further improve their whitewater skills and teaching some brand new beginners how to whitewater kayak.

Despite having such a wide variety in the skill level of paddlers that attended, everyone learned something new by the end of the trip.  While some learned how to throw down some moves in Earl’s Hole, others learned the techniques to entering and exiting the current with a kayak. Lastly, some people improved their rolls and got them pat down even in the current!! Bravo!!

Yet again another good trip and some more good carnage. Due to the shallowness of the river the group had some cuts and bruises from different swims, but nothing serious and everyone was still happy by the end of the trip! And, as always, CUKC ate well during the weekend with a feast of steak, souvlaki shiskabobs, chinese, roasted potatoes and lots of ice cream throughout the weekend!!  Also, as a side, we got to do some other water sports too which included water skiing where Mitch and Shawn showed us how its done with slalom skiing while holding the handle with one foot!!! Well done guys!!

 

So that is what CUKC has done in the summer thus far. Don’t worry if you missed out on the above, because there are still lots more trips to come for the year. Keep updated on our Facebook page and we will let you know when the next CUKC summer trip will be. Or feel free to email us with any of your questions at info@cukc.ca