Teeth are always in style- Dr. Seuss

Hello girls and boys,

It is a perfect day to do the blog update I have been putting off for about four months. It was raining this morning and the funny thing is I cannot remember the last time it actually rained. Sure we had a few grey days and lots of foggy mornings but actual rain, its been awhile. For those of you who know the west coast, no rain is strange!

Time to blog!

There are two parts to this update. The first part is what I was up to this Spring (in the classroom and in the field) followed by my experience on the 2012 Pacific Northwest White Water Expedition.

SPRING

This spring may have been one of the most spectacular. I left Banff and headed straight back to the classroom to complete a couple of courses. I completed: Legal Liability & Risk Management, and Emergency Situation, Search & Rescue Management. Both courses were extremely interesting to me as it was extremely detail oriented and lots of logistic planning. The little details. However, there are a limited number of synonyms for risk, hazard, analysis, and mitigation, so I was all too happy to hand in the 30 page Risk Management and Emergency Response plans at the beginning of March and get out into the field.

Odo Chao case study- defined Legal Liability and Risk Management

Chris improving the shot-ski, making it worthy of celebrating two years of ADVG studies!

The shot-ski at work.

And it was the beginning, the beginning of my seven months straight of paddling.

The first course on the plate was Sea Kayak 2. The course all of us sea kayakers had been waiting for. It was time to head to Quadra Island for six days, five nights of paddling in currents and tidal rapids. Bring on Okisollo rapids, Surge and Seymour Narrows. Waves to surf, eddies to cross, and whirlpools to spin in. Two highlights for me were: the amazing visit to Rob and Laurie's homestead (working the garden in the sun, and philosophy) and being sucked into a whirlpool with Jessie (a rescue gone wrong? or perhaps right?).

Photos courtesy of Josiane Briggs.

The Sea Kayak 2 Group at our first campsite!

The view from the first campsite.

Rob and Laurie's homestead and the garden that a few of us turned. 

In true Adventure Studies style, a few of us, Gaddi, Jessie and I had a mere 12 hours to unpack sea kayak 2, wash clothes and gear, and pack for kayak 4. At some point unpacking and packing in 12 hours became second nature and I had enough time to catch the late viewing of Hunger Games with Travis that evening.

And we were off, five duckies (Jessie, Gaddi, Frank, Matt, and myself) with three instructors (Sharman, Ang, and Flo) for an epic five days of white-water paddling in Washington. We were joined by Chris Ryman from Endless Adventures and was a fantastic addition to the TRU instructors. Water levels were manageable and perfect for preparing ourselves for our L2, I2 CanoeKayakBC certification. Jessie and I wrote an incredible document about our kayak 4 experience. So I thought I would post just a few of the highlights of the course. By far one of the best courses of my TRU ADVG experience.

Photos courtesy of Chris Ryman, Endless Adventures.

Chilling on the Skykomish.

Ang during a mini surf lesson.

Not a bad classroom. Frank ferrying at the base of Mt. Index.

 The defining excerpts for kayak 4:

``By the time we are on the water it is 5pm and the snow has started to fall. The clinicing at the beginning was kept short and Sharman tried his best to keep things succinct.``

``After a very rainy night at the Turlo campsite we were all eager to leave that area behind. It was an 8 am departure time, we, the students, were in the van, buckled and ready to go at 7:45am, waiting patiently for the instructors to disassemble their camp. Not to mention, all the while listening to the grumbles about the rain...meow.``

``I just remember that we took off around 5:45pm and there were absolutely NO cars at the take out and we were not going to make our movie time.``

``The instructors had promised to be there to answer questions for us but instead went to a movie...meow. But do not fear, we second year students were resourceful and found the instructor manual and that helped us prepare the content for these presentations. However, it would have been nice to be eating buttered popcorn while sitting in a warm movie theatre! Meow.``

``Then it was time to run Powerline. No I did not keep my head dry in the rapid today but I GOT MY COMBAT ROLL IN THE MEAT OF THE RAPID! Hurrayyy!!!`` 

``I am greatly appreciative of all of the instructor’s patience and wisdom. Flo and Sharman have been with me from the beginning, Ang is fast becoming a huge part of my progression and on this course Chris was a much appreciated addition. I definitely wouldn’t have been able to accomplish what I have in white water kayaking without the above dedicated instructors. I can only hope that all students who have the pleasure of their wisdom and guidance appreciate as much. Further, the kayak 4 group has been awesome. These four people make boating fun and entertaining, teaching me a wide variety of lessons on and off the river. I am going to miss this group moving forward and away from TRU. All the best to you guys! I am excited for our five year reunion!``

Kayak 4 finished on the Skykomish, we then proceeded to drive back to Kamloops for 12 hours to unpack, wash gear, and re-pack. Then it was time to head back to Washington to assist on Kayak 2. Such a great experience. One last time to Cultus Lake campground and the Chilliwack followed by a day on the Stillaguamish and three days on the Skykomish. The kayak 2 group this year has some mad skills and I was well prepared for them to save me, instead of me saving them.

Photos courtesy of Ben Goossen.

Setting safety at Boulder Drop rapid on the Skykomish River.

Our absolutely positively most favourite kayak shelter in Gold Bar, WA.

The most important skill we learn in the kayak program at TRU is how to load  the trailer.

After kayak 2 a few of us got our first day off in 21 days and boy were we grateful.  Next up was the SRT Ropes course or to the Justice Institute of B.C., the Rope Team Member course. It was a fun course, all land based, and one I felt like I just went through the motions with. I do not gain pleasure in playing with ropes (those are rock climbers) and I was ready to be finished courses. But cert obtained, party on.

Next it was time off before the white-water expedition. This consisted of a trip to Vancouver, climbing in Skaha with Jessie, and packing up my life in Kamloops.

2012 PACIFIC NORTHWEST WHITE WATER EXPEDITION

Somewhere along my journey at TRU I became obsessed with white water kayaking. It was probably because I was amazingly terrible at it. Looking back to when Geoff had to hand-of-God me multiple times a day on kayak 1 back in Fall 2010 I never thought I would get back in a white-water kayak. Then after sea kayaking, I decided I had to get back in a white water boat and become a better boater. And I became driven. Giving into Sharman's (and TRU's) progression model, the 2012 white water expedition was the final piece of the pie. After completing all the TRU white water courses and an endless number of personal days, I would test what I had learned out on the 21-day expedition. Little did I expect how challenging it would be, but I am a better person and a better boater because of it.

The numbers:
03/05/2012- 25/05/2012
10 students (9 males: Kade, Kyle, Keiran, Ben, Connor, Russell, Rapha, Frank, Matty and 1 female: me)
2 instructors (Sharman and Ang)
3 states (Washington, Oregon, Idaho)
14 rivers (North Fork of the Santiam, Breitenbush, East Fork of the Lewis, Sandy, Clackamas, West Fork of the Hood River, Upper Wind River, South Fork of the Payette, Bladder Wave on the Main Payette, Swamp Creek, Marsh Creek, Middle Fork of the Salmon, Main Salmon, Lochsa)
Class III/III+/IV
20 swims
1 day with no swimming
2 waterfalls
10 campsites
2 hotels
6 poop tubes, 1 poop bag
1 bush plane flight
1 dented boat
1 blown out trailer tire
1 broken trailer wheel well
countless number of older women Connor hit on

What I remember:
- challenging my paddling skills the entire trip
- feeling like an improved paddler but never confident
- my mantra after day 3 of paddling was: "I can paddle"
- finding out just how determined I can be and that it takes a lot for me to give up
- learning about different styles of rivers and that each piece of white water has a different personality
- Hood River, Oregon is THE shit
- the Upper Wind River is an amazing piece of whitewater, even though it was well beyond my abilities and I swam almost every rapid
- experiencing the "float" culture on American rivers
- living the definition of "hucking" waterfalls
- that success feels amazing, failure is just another swim (sometimes it is more)
- swimming big water in flood is unpleasant
- paddling with amazing people and talented paddlers that have my back when I need it (which was a lot)

Finally, the title of my journal from the trip was "Confessions of a Class II Boater". I named it that, because in my mind, I was only completely confident in class II water, and I knew that I was about to be paddling with some very talented boaters. On our second day of paddling I was faced with my first class IV rapid and realized that I was going to have to dramatically change my mindset. I was no longer in my safe zone of class II/III water. At the time of the journal entry a little piece of wisdom from Geoff Price was going through my head. Most people do not associate wisdom with Geoff Price, but in this moment, he was wise.

His advice to me prior to the expedition was, "open your mind to new things." With that in mind this is what I learned in the face of a class IV rapid as a class II boater:
- forget about labels
- see it as a challenge instead of resigning yourself to failure
- go aggressively
- have confidence
- grow a pair


Photos courtesy of Ben Goossen, Sharman Learie and Francois Brassard.

Doing what TRU paddlers do best: letting the day warm up. Mill City, Oregon.

Rapha and Ang running the Niagara rapid on the North Santiam, Oregon. This is the section we were scouting with the above signs.

Team work at the Slot rapid on the Breitenbush River, Oregon.

Russell running Sunset Falls on the East Fork of the Lewis, Washington. Sunset was my first ever waterfall, I did it twice!

Ben running Sunset Falls.

Rapha doing what he does best on the East Fork of the Lewis. It was a lovely swim I took here.

Horseshoe Falls, East Fork of the Lewis. My third huck of the day.

There may have been a dance party on the van roof in Hood River prior to running the West Fork of the Hood River, Oregon.

One of many photos of Russell's beatdown in a hole on the Slalom rapid on the South Fork of the Payette, Idaho.

The blown out tire we sustained while driving to Stanley, Idaho to put onto the Middle Fork of the Salmon.

Last night prior to putting onto Swamp Creek to start our multi-day on the Middle Fork of the Salmon.

The first decent of Swamp Creek, Idaho. This led us to Marsh Creek and then onto the Middle Fork of the Salmon river. I don't think we could have gotten any closer to the source of the Salmon River.

Corn Creek, Idaho. A group photo after they got of the main Salmon after five days.

Rapha and Frank on the Lochsa, the last river of the expedition.

It was Ang's birthday! after a long day of driving and the realization we were not going  to make it back to Kamloops in a day we bought Ang an ice cream cake and added horses to it!

Back from expedition, gear all cleaned, it was time to face the music and do booty beers. After a touching speech from Frank, I did one booty beer to represent the 20 swims I took on expedition. The perfect ending to my Adventure Management Diploma.

This update has taken longer than expected, so summer and fall are going have to come at you in the "near" future when I have another day to dedicate to writing and photo arranging!

In short though, in the next month I am coming to a town near you. Guiding is pretty much over so its time to play. At the end of October I will be making my way back to the Canadian Rockies for the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival, so if you are in Vancouver or Kamloops or anywhere in between lets grab a beer.

Ciao,

K

Ode to the dirtbag through the wisdom of Shel Silverstein.

Hello boys and girls,

There is this great book called "Where the Sidewalk Ends". I would say a majority of us know of this book or at least Shel Silverstein as it was a household staple for many as a child. As I have grown up I have found that there is wisdom there for all ages. So as I was packing away my books once again I figured I should have a gander through it and see what I could find for this time in my life. Sure enough I came across this little gem which I feel is appropriate not only for me but for many around me. Thank you ADVG students (past, present and future) for the wonderful memories over the past two years and in advance for the many more to come!

The Dirtiest Man In The World
- Shel Silverstein

Oh I'm Dirty Dan, the world's dirtiest man,
I never have taken a shower.
I can't see my shirt -- it's so covered with dirt,
And my ears have enough to grow flowers.

But the water is either a little too hot,
Or else it's a little too cold.
I'm musty and dusty and patchy and scratchy
And mangy and covered with mold.
But the water is always a little too hot,
Or else it's a little too cold.

I live in a pen with five hogs and a hen
And three squizzly lizards who creep in
My bed, and they itch as I squirm, and I twitch
In the cruddy old sheets that I sleep in.

If you looked down my throat with a flashlight, you'd note
That my insides are coated with rust.
I creak when I walk and I squeak when I talk,
And each time I sneeze I blow dust.

The thought of a towel and some soap makes me howl,
And when people have something to tell me
They don't come and tell it -- they stand back and yell it.
I think they're afraid they might smell me.

The bedbugs that leap on me sing me to sleep,
And the garbage flies buzz me awake.
They're the best friend I've found and I fear they might drown
So I never go too near a lake.

Each evening at nine I sit down to dine
With the termites who live in my chair,
And I joke with the bats and have intimate chats
With the cooties who crawl through my hair.

I'd brighten my life if I just found a wife,
But I fear that that never will be
Until I can find a girl, gentle and kind,
With a beautiful face and a sensitive mind,
Who sparkles and twinkles and glistens and shines --
And who's almost as dirty as me.

Happy New Year: It's Update Time

Happy Holidays Girls and Boys,

I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday season. I know I sure did, full of family, friends and food! Oh and snow! Christmas day was nearly perfect, as it started to snow just as we were sitting down to Christmas brunch. This allowed for a sick couple of hours on the hill with fresh snow! Thats right, the Maas family had Christmas at Nana's in Banff again this year, how can a girl get so lucky? And I had a Christmas sister, her name is Josiane. Jo and I go to school together at TRU and decided on our 6 week break to move in with Nana, get jobs and enjoy the mountains as much as possible!

Christmas and New Years were good but 2012 so has been bitter sweet for the Stafford family. My uncle Barrie was diagnosed with multiple myeloma this past summer in July and subsequently went through tests and treatments in the following months concluding with a bone marrow transplant in early December. The bone marrow transplant is so far successful and Barrie surpassed a lot of people's expectations when he was released from the hospital shortly after 2012 started. He can now spend days and nights at home with no daily visits to the hospital for monitoring and tests. It's up to him now to regain his strength and enjoy life to the fullest. Barrie's body's response to multiple myeloma has been amazing and his determination to beat the disease is inspiring. Barrie is the sweet part.

On the morning of January 9th, my Uncle Alan was in a car accident. The call I got from my mom was the call that everybody dreads getting: serious accident, do not know any details, tell Nana, drive to Edmonton. The accident was serious but our family is extremely grateful and feel blessed that Alan did not sustain life threatening injuries. However, the spinal cord was compromised and he has sensation but no movement in his lower body. At this moment in time we do not know what the future has in store or if Al will walk again. He is determined to. The past few days were spent in Edmonton with the family and visiting Alan as much as possible. Life is forever changed for us. It was rough seeing him in the hospital, under the influence of drugs and banged up, this is not how I know my uncle who just two weeks before was playing hockey and snowboarding here in Banff. Its good to see his sense of humour has not been affected. Alan is the bitter part.

Uncle Al's car after.

In response to my two uncle's battles the Stafford family has shown just how strong we are yet again. We are there in the good times and the bad times with each other. Upon returning to Banff from Edmonton I hit the tattoo shop and got some new ink. It is in full view as a reminder and a tribute to my family's strength and laughter.

Okay now for the school update! The last update was way back in September at the end of kayak 3. What are the highlights. With my new flatwater instructor certificate that I received from kayak 3, I assisted with two sections of kayak 1, the intro course to white water for the first years. It was an awesome experience. I was definitely nervous at first, as I still didn't have my roll and every run down the river prior to kayak 1 had been ALL about my personal survival down the river. Now as an assistant, I had to be concerned with the survival of others. Assisting on kayak 1 made me fall in love with white water boating even more and made me want to continue to dedicate time to the activity. This led to me signing up for the white water kayak expedition. This will be similar to the sea kayak expedition I did last year, but it will be car camping and rivers! My goal is to be by the time I am finished at TRU comfortable and self-sufficient on class III waters.

After assisting on kayak 1, two of the Icelandic gentlemen in the program, Gaddi and Iggy, and I headed out to the west coast to explore all it has to offer. We got in a few days of sea kayaking, watched a surf comp, enjoyed the legion and consumed some delicious fish tacos.

Iggy and I outside the parrot rescue centre. Probably one of the top three highlights. Photo courtesy of Iggy.

Iggy's first experience with an Ochre Seastar on the Pacific Coast. Photo courtesy of Gaddi.

Gaddi and I on the trail that crosses Vargas Island. It was muddy, full of trees and required rubber boots.  The Icelanders were cursing me more than once for making them do it. Photo courtesy of Iggy.

After the nice trip to Tofino, it was back to Kamloops so that I could do my flatwater canoe instructor. My thoughts on this experience was: if it doesn't kill you, it makes you stronger.

After canoeing it was back to the classroom! Let the games begin. Due to my courses at the University of Calgary I was exempt from accounting so my two courses for the semester were The Business of Adventure and Marketing and Customer service. It turns out these courses are taught my two of my favourite teachers in the department, Ross and Dave respectively. Because I am intrigued by business and management the courses were very entertaining for me and I enjoyed them immensely. As part of the courses, each student had to create a business and draw up a marketing and business plan (including financials) for the business. The first ten days of December were rough as they were the ten days till the submission deadline for both plans. But at the end of ten days, where I sat on my butt, in front of the computer for eighteen hours a day, I felt super pumped and stoked on the results of the plans. Perhaps one day you will visit the Central Coast of BC and joing me at Bella Pacific Sea Kayak Adventures. Thank you Dave and Ross for amazing courses.

However, just because class was back in didn't mean the fun ended. No, adventure students do not know how to NOT have fun. Trying to create a tradition, nine of use headed to Banff at the beginning of November for the BMFF. This year I was fortunate enough to volunteer some of my time at the festival and I would highly recommend volunteering at the BMFF. Then there were a few cold days of paddling, and lots of kickboxing and yoga!

Jessie and I enjoying the unmanned booths at BMFF.

The 2011 BMFF gang! Lets just say fun was had by all!

The best Aunt Bea has ever looked, five kayaks, five people and gear! And props to Jess's green beast!

Thats right, we are tough, we survived a swim a piece!

Snow...pft...no big deal!

 On December 3, Josiane, Chris and I packed Aunt Bea up and headed east to the Rockies. As mentioned before Jo and I decided to keep Nana company for a few weeks, Chris just wanted a ride! Living in Banff has been fantastic but then again I knew it would be! Early season conditions made x-country skiing and snowboarding a pick and choose process but it was still awesome to be able to do both activities so easily! I got a job at Monod's Sports. It is a gear and apparel store on Banff Ave. If I have to work retail I will work there! The management and all the other staff are fantastic and a lot a lot of fun! I am glad I still have two more weeks of work. I think Nana appreciated having us here, it took a little while for her to get comfortable having people live in the house with her but it has worked out well! It is also nice to be close to Calgary. Yesterday was my first trip to the city but its so accessible to get there which I am stoked on for the next couple of weeks, as it gives me the opportunity to catch up with Calgary friends. I was even fortunate enough to have Jackie and Colin come pick me up for some ice climbing! Also, Janice made it home for Christmas and was kind enough to make the drive out to Banff two times to snowboard and keep with tradition in celebrating New Years in Banff!

Jo and I on our first x-country ski of the season!

Cautioning the HUGE hill below, haha, my favourite!

The little elves handing out presents.

Brotherly and sisterly love.

Heading out for  Christmas day ride.

Bear Spirit!

Jackie and Colin.

Nice and spread out.

Happy New Year!

So now what, well I have two more weeks in Banff before heading to Kamloops to start my final semester of the Adventure Management Diploma. Scary and exciting. I am lucky as I only have one classroom course this semester so lots of time for adventure and getting prepared for life outside of the program. This semester will be full of paddling both white water and ocean. It is going to be fantastic! I will try and update more frequently in the future!

Ta-ta for now,

K