First two photos by Ben Carter, all other photos shot by Colter Beereboom!

This story is a two weekend extravaganza!

Weekend 1:

It's 9:15 Thursday night, I just got off work, and I'm headed to Ben Carter's house because we have no idea what to do this weekend. I pull up, we grab beers, and we go to the computer to check flows. The original plan was to head to Crested Butte for some OBJ laps, but the flows were tanking. I tell Ben of this mythical place they call North Fork of the Crystal. I had been there the year before and my mind was blown. The North Fork is one of the most beautiful places in Colorado, and my favorite place in the world. In our crew the whole drainage has been dubbed the Enchanted Forest. Ben is little skeptical, but with his wife being out of town he is definitely in for an adventure. I convince Ben that his Tundra will get some unnecessary beating, and that we should just take Ol' Nelly!

Rigged to Flip!

Now contrary to popular belief not only is Ol' Nelly great on the off road it's highway capabilities are unbelievable. This machine can travel up any mountain pass at speeds exceeding 25 MPH. Morning rolls around and we load up the Jeep with 4 boats (2 creekers and 2 playboats), plenty of gear, shovels for snow, and a large dog named Odie.

We're off. We drive down highway 24 and head towards Buena Vista. We stop at good ol' CKS to see an old friend and then dart towards Independence Pass. As we were doing a little sight seeing we come upon a nice local cliff jumping pull out. We jump into the deep mini gorge and then head into Aspen. We stop at Cemetary Road and decide we have to run Slaughterhouse. Great run and you can always depend on locals to give you a ride back to the top. After Slaughterhouse we finally make it to Marble, Colorado. The sun is setting and we're headed up Lead King Basin! We cross the creek and everything is going good until a wrong turn turns everything that was going good into a class 5+ road. We went up Sheep Mountain. This road was covered with snow, wood, and mud. We make it up a respectable amount of this road thinking that this is the way to the NF, but we finally come upon a log in the road that is unmovable. We camp out on the road.

The morning sun comes and we decide to turn around and head out hoping to make it to the NF through the town of Crystal. On our way down Sheep Mountain I realize that I had made a wrong turn and we did a lot of work for no good reason. Our spirits are now high due to the fact that we believe that we're going to finally make it to the Enchanted Forest! We get there and we scout for wood. Everything looks good to go and we have another crew willing to set safety for us! As Ben and I gear up, Pablo Von Huene shows up out of nowhere ready to put on with us. Pablo goes first and we see him disappear around the entrance rock backwards. I look at Ben and say, "Well I guess I'd better go." The first slide goes great, but Pablo is no where to be found. I line up the second slide and boof. I land on my right edge and get throttled. I set up to roll and get completely rejected by the log in the eddy. At this point, I have no doubt where I am. I pop my knees out and reach for something to grab. I can see the tree I'm up against but I can not get my hands on top of it. My kayak hits me in the head and I go under again reaching and climbing up. Finally my head comes up and I'm grabbing onto something stable. My kayak is squeezing me between it and the tree and I'm starting to assess how dangerous the situation is. A rope goes over head and lands next to me, but I have no idea on how to use it. I take a deep breath and try to climb on top of the tree. This is when I realize my skirt is caught. I quickly leave one hand on a solid limb and go under with my face and other hand and get my skirt unhooked. By this time Pablo is out on the tree with me and I climb on top. Glad to be ok. The boat extraction and paddle extraction is easy and the only gear lost was a drain plug.

High water NF is no joke when there is a log in the eddy on the right. If there was no log the drop would be relatively inconsequential. Ben ran the last two drops solo, and Pablo and I waited to be safety on the log for the next crew. The next crew does great with no hang ups. I get out and run a redemption lap in which I ran Icing backwards, but stomp the rest of my lines. Ben and Pablo are happy with one full lap. After a few beers and some food Ben and I lap the bottom 8 footer a couple times for some practice. The next morning we lap the bottom 8 footer 3 more times and are satisfied with the weekend of high water North Fork. The hot springs at mile marker 55 just after Meat Grinder going north is a great place to eat lunch.

Weekend 2:

Chris Mack and I load gear around 12:30 on Friday and take off in Ol' Nellers again with plans for Crystal Mill Falls, the North Fork, and the South Fork Punch Bowls. We have an exciting drive getting there in the hot sun with no AC. It's dusk and the light is dwindling fast as we pull up to Crystal Mill Falls. As we gear up the rest of our crew pulls up. I get two laps in on the falls and Mack gets one, and we decide it's time to head towards the NF. When we get there it's completely dark. We light up the fire and party down in my favorite place in the world. We slowly wake up the next morning and start to get excited about the creek. We make some food and go for a walk to pick our lines. Colter Beereboom and I gear up and get in the first laps of the day. At lower water the creek is just as much fun, but much less stressful. Every one is firing up the creek all day providing great footage for the video.

Mat Helm on Icing

Mack on the Double Drop

Myself on the 8 footer

We make a huge bonfire and Justin takes his dirt bike to provide some beta on the Punch Bowls water level. Justin claims that the Punch Bowls are running on the high side. We get some sleep dream of the Punch Bowls. The next morning we load up and head towards the ominous Devils Punch Bowls.

I think the rapid under the snow bridge goes.

As soon as we get there, I decide that I'm ready for this drop. I put on my helmet and elbow pads and start walking up the hill. As soon as we had safety set, Justin helped me launch into the biggest drop I've run so far.

The Line:

• Balance boat on sketchy rock and snap your skirt on
• Have trustworthy friend slide your boat into position
• Say a prayer or whatever
• Tell your friend you're ready to send it
• Slide
• Hip check a rock
• Slide
  
• Lay a stompy boof
• Regain composure
  
• Line up the second drop moving left to right
• Lay a few strokes
• Fist Pump

Second up was Justin. He decides to pencil the first one. He lines it up and styles. Textbook! Josh Heise steps up and boofs! He works it out and styles! Jon Rezabek decides he wants to fire it up and has a roll at the bottom of both drops, but couldn't be happier. We leave the SF happy as could be.

Myself laying the funk

Justing Plugging the top

Justin firing up the goods


Heise in the Top

Josh Heise

Another short stop at Crystal Mill, and the weekend of kayaking is coming to an end. Until next time Enchanted Forest, until next time!

Josh Heise Styling the Mill

Wilkerson Pass
Photo: Chase Nobles

Unforgiveable?

This should be our New Sponsor

I can creek in some TUBES

Crusted Butt

Crested Butte has gone off this year!

Weekend 1:

Mack, Heise, and I show up late due to tha fact that I needed to pick up my new helmet from CKS cuz I broke my full face on the Green River Narrows.

On our way down Cottonwood Pass Mack gets pulled over going 47 in a 35. We immediately hide our beer cans and she lets us off with a warning. Props to Heise for beer patrol. We park at OBJ campground and after some discussion we decide to fire up OBJ first, drink beers first and a half, set up camp second, and then fire up Upper East. OBJ goes as planned Heise wasn't feeling good especially after a skirt implosion and a hole ride so he decides to walk from the big one down. Mack fires up the biggest drops he's ever run, and all is good. We go 2 campsites west of OBJ campground due to the crowd and lack of campsites. We set up camp and Mack and Heise spot a naked chick in the sun shower. These two lonely mtn biker girls are now reffered to as the Euros. Mack calms his chubby, grabs his boom stick, and we go to Upper East. We ran into the Durango Crew, Josh Mack, Eric, Robin, and company, and they are headed the same way. We put on Upper East. Erics paddle breaks before Midget Wrestler and he's out. We run Midget Wrestler and I get worked in an eddy on the left. Heise thanks for gettin me out! Heise and I are even after his skirt implosion and my eddy ride; we both saved each others asses. We run down and catch an eddy and we had no idea how far the take out was but with a big, "I GAAAAT IT" from Mack he leads the way. I pound into a hole and get flipped offside roll and paddle to the take out. We then walk back to the Jeep and all is good! On a side note Gothic, CO has HOT Chicas! Heise pulls out some Swisher Sweets, and we all are smoking on the drive back. Heise has his hand out the window and I with out thinking spit out the window into Heise's hand... "I Play For Keeps!" Sorry Heise. We go back to camp and find some firewood and the party begins! The fire starts up fast camp is primed and the cooler is full. Kyle from Golden comes over and brings the Jack Daniels. Great Idea! We all cook some dogs and drink and make the bottle chirp. Well I guess I never figured out the chirp, but I figured out how to drink it pretty fast. Lots of people come to our camp fire and the party is a full on rAger. We tried to keep it to a chubby, and not look like we were trying too hard, but the Jack Daniels made it a rAger that pounded for hours whiskey dick style! Kyle and Josh Mack disappear looking for fire wood and we can only see their head lamps far far away on the other side of the valley. Josh Mack comes back after 30 minutes empty handed for the most part. Kyle comes back an hour later with 3 full dead trees. We stoke the fire and ourselves and the party is back in overdrive. Some random Mississippi boys show up with a "Chandelier" and we are lovin life. Mack can't make words and can barely stand, but was happy as a JayBird. Kyle cuts off the Jack and we decide that we were gonna quad crown it the next day. The fire is dim, the camp is drunk, and the cooler weighs a lot less. Inevitably we decide to go to bed. Deciding to go to bed was much easier than walking to bed. Mack and I were supporting each other walking and we found Heise and jumped on him! We find our hammocks and the evening is officially over.

We wake up and slowly motivate for OBJ. One of the Euros leaves her tent door open facing Mack and I and begins to take her panties off.. I couldn't decide if that made my head feel better or worse either way, the top boof settles our stomachs. We all have great lines and style the run. Mack BOOFS the falls flat. I decide to run the bottom slides with some RCRE guys, and we hike to the car for some lunch.

Photo By Josh Mack

We fire up Daisy and Mack and I boof Big Wood flat with out scouting the lip. Juice Sauce! Heise goes super left, but did a great job catching eddys and leading the way down the creek. We run the Slate, and mack loses his paddle, but maintains and gets our river left, opposite of us. Due to a miscommunication he solo's the rest of the run. Although the rest of the run was flat water, he didn't know that. We go to Upper East, and I strap a roman candle to my helmet http://dl.dropbox.com/u/11200319/GOPR0894.MP4. All I could think of when I was peeling out of the eddy with flaming balls shooting off a piece of plastic on my head was Betsy Ross Sowing that American Flag. God Bless America. Get tossed into a bush on Midget Wrestler, and chase a boat the rest of the run. Heise goes past the take-out and Heroically saves the boat from Stupid Falls. The Quad Crown is over and we go back to the camp site party, at chub level, and go to sleep. We return home safe and sound the next day, 4th of July. Juice Sauce.

Weekend 2:

I run 11 mile with Ben of Friday at 527 CFS, and skin to wind it. The bottom 5 is meaty and scary at that level, but I managed to style. After that Ben went back to Co Spgs, and I went to Crested Butte. My transmission of my car goes ape shit on the drive up Cottonwood Pass, and I also realize my paddle is broken. The hardware store in CB is open until 9 PM so I got a fiberglass repair kit and fix my paddle in my car at OBJ campground. I set up my hammock just in time for a huge thunder storm. Good thing I brought my tarp. The lightning show was amazing and the beer was extra good that day. I retire to my hammock, also known as the cocoon of pleasure, and sleep peacefully listening to the soft patter of rain drops on the tarp and the rattling death shake of the thunder. At 4 AM Eddy and Pablo show up, wake me up at my request and drink a beer with me. Then we all go to sleep and dream of large boobs, I mean Boofs. We wake up and start hiking. We scout a little and put on at the 15 footer. All lines go relatively cleanly hmmmhmmm "Eddy." We paddle down and get to the falls eddy, and I see something that I didn't think existed. Eddy was pretty damn nervous. He rolled 3 times in the drops above and isn't feeling great in his new Jefe. I go off the drop and have an OK line and turn around to see Eddy, who I thought was walking, fire off the falls. Hell yeah, he plays for keeps. I saw a twinkle of Juice Sauce in his eyes as he was at the lip of the falls. Pablo fires up the falls and we hoot and holler and run the next slide. All clean lines. We stack our boats and head to camp for some grub. When we go back up the hill I realize the water is significantly higher. We drop the run, and I boof the falls flat! Same stoke level as the first lap, and we head to camp for some celebration. We cook some burgers and eat 'em. I dont think they were cooked all the way, but I decided that the beer would wash the E-Coli away. We party and all the boaters end up at our camp partying and chilling around our fire. Loving life we all share stories and talk of mystical creatures, and floppy beef curtains. As the night grew old we retired to our places of rest and fell asleep once again dreaming of the dawn patrol run we decided to do the next day. 5:30 rolled around and Eddy and I get cooking breakfast. It was pretty nasty, but we ate it anyways. Pablo was still in the tent complaining about lung pain. I hear a noise while interviewing Eddy and go around to see Pablo puking. Despite all of our upset stomachs and slight food poisoning, we decide to get hiking. Props to Pablo for his amazing demonstration of "Puke and Rally." His determination and heroism brought a tear to my eye. We hike up the mountain and run the top. We all feel like shit and decide to go down the hill and not run the bottom slides because we actually had to shit. We break down camp, say good bye to our new friends, and leave with OBJ in our rearview mirrors. Until next time Oh Be Joyful, until next time.......

Daisy Creek, Crested Butte Teaser

Satisfaction

11 Mile Canyon

I had a day to burn on my vacation before I headed to Crested Butte with Mack and Heise so I decided to hit up one of my favorite runs, 11 Mile. 11 Mile has 2 book end class 5 rapids one at the top and one at the bottom. The one at the bottom is much more stout that the top 5, but they are both awesome regardless. I threw this video together in about 5 minutes cuz Mack was rushin' me so "Drink it ya asshole."