Squirt Boating Message Board

I had the pleasure of squeezing in a trip to Fascination Alley last Wednesday. I usually switch to plastic after Halloween, water temps start short circuiting my downtime appetite until spring. However, air 73 water 48, 700 cfs was good to go! End of the 2nd session I started looking for a ride to quit on.

My lefty backcuts weren't working as good as they usually do at the main drop so I started working the river left side. Jimi was already out of his boat and watching right above me. The door was surging, open or closed was a roll of the dice. I got lucky and charced in steep and close to the rock while it was wide open. Took my head 3-4 feet deep immediately, booya! I stirred around with my styk for ~5 seconds and 20 feet downstream, then WHAM got the double dip and went to 8-10 feet deep. Dropped my stick and kept the spin going with bare hands, locked deep in the layers. Dark tannic green water, a couple leaves floating, and the last of the daylight shimmering on the surface high above... After another ~10 seconds I was still down there and starting to think about how much O2 I had left. No way Tracy, keep milking it I thought. Gently the ride played out and I came back to the surface. Chased down my stick, whooping it up with a permagrin that lasted all the way home. The memory of that ride will get me through the winter if I don't get back in the glass until spring...

So my question to you all is: What was your last memorable ride?

Excellent story. Everyone seems to be in a winter slumber or perhaps their hands are too cold to type.

I'm not one to squirt in the middle of winter so in late summer and fall I get kind of anxious not knowing if a trip will be my last of the season. Usually I don't really know it was my last ride until a few weeks after the fact.

I always feel a sort of sense of “get your trips in quick” as the season transitions and am super conscious of all the little building clues.
It starts with that first day that you don't have the AC on during the drive.
Then there is the first day you roll your window up because the wind is chilly.
The first day you reach for the dial on the dash roll on a little floorboard heat in the car is a big one.
If I find myself taking off a jacket to put on my paddling gear I know in my heart of hearts that is probably going to be my last squirting session till warmer weather.

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Bottom line? No one wants to admit their summer is over and the last ride may have been had already. It's worth holding out for! I just got 3 great daze in at the Alley- my last ride was muy bueno- but before that happened- I got a weird ride- I dropped so hard and deep _lefty backcut from the center eddy) that I dropped into the eddy behind the Knock Rock so hard and fast I had to shunt off to the right (attainer's right) and hit the gap between the Knock Rock and the Boss Rock and I attained about 8' up that gap- all 6' underwater! I had to back downstream a bit lower my bow- grovel at the Boss's feet and plunge deeper to an unknown fate in the Waiting Room. My last ride though? Dropped in soft- but it felt juicy so I kept working it even though I was traveling- then that big seam in the middle gobbled me to the bottom of the Boss Rock where I was able to back away into the waiting Room and just relax in the freezy water and spin slowly into deeper deeper- watchin the bottom the whole time- getting my crush on more and more- and then I finally let it up just a bit- just as I was about to pass the takeout eddy- barely made it. Was it cold? Was it scary? No- it was sublime...

ps btw Joshua's ride was actually better than it sounds- it was really a top shelf ride- way gone- 15+ seconds for sure.