Sage on the Big Bend Dam!
Who needs Disneyland!
What happens in California after a few years of drought. The reservoirs get low and sections of rivers normally underwater become runnable again. This weekend we did the Big Bend Run on the North Fork of the Feather River. This section is normally under 35 feet of water but the reservoir is so low we were able to run about 6 miles of class 3/4 whitewater. It starts out with a short paddle to a 35 ft. dam that makes a big slide/drop into the river. At first I was very nervous, but I watched several people run it and I decided to try it. I followed my Dad to the wave above the drop and Mom follwed me. When I started to go over I felt like I was going to slam to the bottom, but the roostertail wave carried me gently to the slide portion and the pillowy waves at the bottom. I had so much fun that I paddled right over to the ropes hanging on the side of the dam and climbed back up to do it again and again. We had set up a pulley system for boats and everyone had to climb up a rope to get back up, but I was pulled up because I weighed less than some of the boats!
After several photo drops on the dam, we continued down the river for a lot of fun rapids. Box Car rapid was a riverwide hole that had a small rock slot that I was able to shoot through, while most of the other people had to drop into the hole and were flipped. After a short lunch break and a fun seal launch, we continued paddling through a few more class 4 gorge rapids into the lake where we were picked up by motor boats and shuttled 7 miles across the lake to our cars. I hope to do this again next week. Thanks Scott Sady for the great photos!
Riding the roostertail!
Peace,
Sage
Bow dancing!
What a busy month! After the American River Festival, we headed to Colorado to attend our friends Nathan Fey and Marin Peterson’ s wedding. Nathan is the Colo. American Whitewater rep. and Marin is a Predator Helmet rep. so of course we ended up on the water. After the wedding, 19 of the wedding guests drove to Utah to float the Westwater section of the Colorado River. It is a 17 mile class 3/4 float and we did it as an overnighter. The waves were big, the water cold and brown, the camp, cliffs, scenery, spectacular! My family was in our kayaks and the bride and groom were in our Dynamic Duo, and there were a few other kayaks and about 5 rafts, including our 14 foot raft Big Red, who was being paddled by the brides brother in law. LOTS OF FUN! After floating the river, we drove home, unpacked, repacked and drove to the Feather River Festival. I had a great time running the class 3 Rock Creek section and Class 4 Lobin as well as running the slalom course. The weekend highlight was the great party and fundraiser for American Whitewater that the Chico Paddleheads put on. They had 2 bands, hula hoops, fiber optic antennas and about 400 people. I was also able to have my friend Molly sleep over in the van. We both slept upstairs with my dogs Wyatt and Kenya-the 2 biggest ridgebacks, and had a blast-and slept well.
Now we are home, cleaning and repacking the van so we can go to Yosemite for a week where I’m going to climb Snake Dike, a 7 pitch 5.7 climb on Half Dome. Wish me luck!
Slalom
Sage in First Threat
It’s been another several busy weeks! It started with an American Whitewater scheduled release on the Pitt River in California where I love to run the class 4 Hero Slide right next to the 30 ft waterfall. It’s a blast! Then we headed over to Idaho for some fun with our friends the Voorhees family. We started out on the Gutter, the neighborhood play spot, and I competed in their local Hometown Throwdown, then it was up to Garden Valley where we camped out and ran the Staircase and Canyon sections of the South Fork of the Payette River. The highlight was watching 12 y/o Alec run the class 5 + Big Falls-and he stomped it! Dad also was able to do several runs on the upper North Fork of the Payette, another class 5 section, and he had a ball! We had to leave a few days early because my Grandmother had a heart attack, but she is OK now. Then next week was the American River Festival where I competed in the rodeo, slalom race and the duo down river race with my Dad. I was the only girl in Jrs. and competed against two boys, both over 15-I placed 3rd. Sunday was the slalom race where I competed against another teenage girl and the boy who won the rodeo. but this time I was first! Then Dad and I hopped into our Dynamic Duo and did the first inaugural Lars Holbeck Memorial Down River Race from Chili Bar to Trouble Maker. We were the only parent/child team so we were first, but we were only 1 minute behind the 3rd place adult team
Slalom race
Carls Kitchen, or Right of Right
This week was a VERY big week for me. It started on Wednesday on the American River where I filmed a kids action TV show pilot that will most likely be on Kids Discovery, Nickelodeon, or ABC. I was the kayaking kid and I taught the host kids how to wet water exit and even roll. Mom and Dad took them down C to G in Dynamic Duos and a few other kids in Sidekicks and Punk Rockers and we all had a blast! The next day Dad took each kid through Trouble Maker in the Duo, then they hopped in a raft while I was in my kayak and we all went down the gorge. We wrapped up filming late Friday evening and headed up to the Feather River for a scheduled American Whitewater release. My friend Lance recently had shoulder surgery and really wanted to paddle, so he and another friend named Mike borrowed the Dynamic Duo and took it down the Rock Creek class 3 section twice. They had a ball! Then I went down the Class 4 Lobin section with my Dad, Colin Kemp, Toby Ebens, and several other Reno boaters including Newt, Debbie, and Noah. It was my first time down this section and I was nervous, but after the first 4 rapids, I relaxed, smiled and really enjoyed it. My Sidekick was great at boofing and punching holes. This is one of my favorite class 4 rivers. Next week, the Pitt-another one of my favorites and also a scheduled AW release!
North Fork of the Feather
Sage in First Threat
After looking at it all year, this week I finally got up the nerve to surf First Threat on the South Fork of the American River. It is a large bouncy wave hole that is very intimidating, but with the encouragement of a lot of people (thanks Mike and Hilde!) I finally hopped in and had a great ride. It is very easy to catch, but once you are in it you can’t see up river so a look out has to tell you when a raft or kayak is coming. Now I am working on spinning in it without flipping or flushing so I can compete in the American River Festival Rodeo.
More surfing
Dad took his new custom green and black All-Star out for it’s maiden voyage today and he had a blast. He took it down Chili Bar on the American to test it on Maya and First Threat and had the fastest spins Iv’e ever seen. It was hard to wipe the grin from his face! We ran into Hilde and Mike at First Threat and Hilde was using Ruth Gordons new Star while Ruth is at worlds and Hilde was super excited about the response of the new boat and how quick it was. Eventually Mike was able to try it and he wouldn’t give it back to her! Both were excited about it’s speed and handling and how it was not as aggressive as they thought it would be-making playing on waves and holes even more fun. I was so inspired by their enthusiasm that I managed to get my first spins in Maya and finally surfed First Threat! I can’t wait to get a new orange/white Shooting Star some day. By the way-my dad recieved about 20 complements on how cool his new boat looked!
Fatty the rattler
Climbing at Phantom Spires
I had a perfect weekend! I spent Saturday kayaking Chili Bar on the American and had a blast surfing Maya, then on Sunday I spent the day climbing at Phantom Spires by Kyburz, Ca. I love this area because the hike in is short and the climbing is great. I climbed my favorite lie back and Mom and Dad played a lot on a 5.10b crack. We also had a lot of inter-action with a rattle snake that was sunning itself along our route. I named him fatty because he was the fattest snake I’ve ever seen!
Teaching River Saftey
Truckee River Safety Fair, 2009
We just wrapped up another successful safety fair sponsored by the Truckee River Foundation and I was lucky enough to help! We had about 120 kids from the ages of 4 to 14 show up to get a free helmet, pfd and water shoes and learn how to safely float through the rapids on a river. The most important thing I learned was to never dive head first into a river because you can not see the bottom, and always make sure someone has an eye on you. All the kids separated into age groups and I helped out with the little kids, which was mostly teaching the parents about water safety, and that most drownings happen in the presents of an adult. After each class, the kids received a free t-shirt and ice cream and then decorated their helmets at a station set up by the girl scouts. Some of the designs were super neat. Thanks to all the volunteers that helped!
Peace,
Sage Donnelly
Peace helmet
Debbie explaining proper swimming
Truckee River Races
I just got back from my whirlwind 7 week tour of whitewater competitions in Colorado and I had a blast!
This month has been very busy for me. It started out with the Truckee River Races in Reno, Nevada where I ran the Downriver Race on Saturday and the Slalom Races on Sunday. I placed first in both of the races and qualified to compete in the Junior Olympics as a Cub Cadet this summer in Canada! It was also the first time I paddled my new fiberglass slalom boat. It is super fast and fun to race in- and it’s orange!
After the races we packed our van and drove to Colorado for several weeks of kayaking on rivers and competing in rodeos, clinics and races all over the state. We started out at Glenwood Springs where the river was running about 15,0000 cfs, way bigger than I’m used to seeing rivers flow, and surfers on surfboards were riding it like they do in the ocean. It took a lot of tries but I finally caught the wave! Team Trials were held here and I was the only female cadet who competed. I was able to catch the wave and front surf it but it was super flushy and I had a hard time staying on it After team trials , we drove to Buena Vista on the Arkansas River where I helped teach a kids clinic with Dane Jackson and Lauren Buress. It was a lot of fun and the kids had a great time playing Red Rover and chase around the pond. After the clinic My family and I ran Browns Canyon and the Fractions on the Arkansas River. It was a blast! We then hit the Golden Community Rodeo where, as usual, I was the only girl in the cadets and I placed 4th over all.
Sage and Dad on the Glenwood Wave
After Golden we hit the Buena Vista whitewater park and ran the Numbers section of the Arkansas River. It is a solid class 4 section and I ran it with my Mom and Dad, fellow Team Jackson members Devon Barker and Alec Vorhees and Devon’s friends Kat and her husband David. The Numbers was super fun and it was the first class 4 I ran in my Shooting Star. To top it off, I only had 2 braces the whole run!
Kids clinic in BV
Our next stop was the Lyons Outdoor Games where they have a large cadet competition on the South St. Vrain creek. It attracted a lot of participants, including fellow Reno paddler Trevor LeMay! There were 14 kids total in the cadet rodeo and, as usual, I was the only girl and there was only one other 8 year old, my friend Henry Hyde from Texas. It was a tough competition and I was second, with fellow Jackson team mate Alec Voorhees taking first. After the rodeo, I ran the slalom race and placed second in Jr. girls behind fellow Jackson paddler Lauren Buress. I had a blast!
2nd place ride
After Lyons it was off to Fibark for another rodeo with a large junior class. There were 4 of us under 10 so they broke the results down and made a cadet class where I placed second again, and then I raced in the Slalom races where I once again placed second to my friend Lauren Buress.
2nd place slalom in Lyons, Co
Our final destination was the Gunnison River Festival in Gunnison, Colorado. The wave there was huge and I managed a few practice runs, but was super happy to find out the cadet rodeo was on a much smaller wave. I met Evan and Anna Schehrer and we had a great time competing. I was able to stay on the wave the entire 45 seconds and did spins and shuvits on each side-I had a ball! I managed to get my 1st first and also competed against my first girl ever! Hopefully other girls decide to compete and we can get our own cadet girls class!
Gunnison Rodeo First Place!
Back in Carson City now where the only rivers running are American Whitewater scheduled releases. Lots of fun still to be had and lots of rivers/races/rodeos still to be run!
Biking in Gunnison
Peace,
Sage
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