Following the snow alllllll the way down the hill

Spring has finally sprung here in the mountains of Colorado, and with its arrival comes the spring melt. Although I am not myself a whitewater kayaker, I do really dig the sport and have several friends who are more than willing to run some big water for my lens.

These shots are all from Clear Creek running around 500cfs about a week and a half ago.(its now running 864cfs in Golden)

The Players:

Airen Mangrum


Bridger Steele


Some Clear Creek scenic shots from the night before most of the action shots in this post.

Rigormortis Rapid


Sunset over Clear Creek in early June.


Airen's brother Neil scoutin' Rigo.


An abstract shot of the Mr. Bill's rapid.




Airen's and Bridger's boats eagerly await being put into the water.


Bridger boofing Blackrock.


Airen in the lower portion of Blackrock...


Airen entering into the meat of Rigormortis...


Then it was Bridger's turn..


I think the really cool part about Kayaking, especially for someone like Airen who is both a snowboarder and a kayaker is that he is riding the same water he has been on all winter while he is paddling. He remarked to me that he wonders sometimes if he's ever paddling on the exact same water molecules as he has ridden as snow earlier in the year. Either way, its pretty damn cool to continue to follow the snow as it melts its way down the mountain.

Hope you enjoyed the read. Till next time...