Get Out: Low-carb(on) canoeing

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

By Henry Sweets

Jackson Hole, Wyo-If baseball is still our nation’s game, it won’t be so for long, because canoeing is more American than baseball.

And when I’m done with the sport, it will be more hip than Lil’ Wayne himself.
Canoeing was developed over thousands of years by the native people of the Americas, long before the first white person became bored enough to hit a ball with a stick.

Today, the members of generations X and Y are pioneering a lifestyle where they float around with different partners and value solo adventures over commitment to a team. They immerse themselves in the adventure they choose. And canoeing, not baseball, will teach them to navigate the flow of the river, and learn to be graceful in the flow of life. Heraclitus, the ancient Greek philosopher, said that (or would have if Greeks had had canoes.)

But canoeing has one major obstacle to overcome before it reaches its hip, hip fate: its carbon footprint. Shuttling cars to put-ins and take-outs burns a lot of fuel, and requires boring time alone in the car.

This Sunday, my canoe partner and I drove together to Deadman’s Bar boat launch, locked two bicycles to a tree, and continued to the Jackson Lake Dam, cutting our would-be fuel consumption in half.

It was sunny, but the wind in the dam parking lot made us cold and uncomfortable, and the air smelled of dead fish.

Soon that changed. The first two miles of river were slow, good to soak in sun and scenery. We saw a herd of elk - the wild, skittish type, not the type that stares unmoving as you jog past it in the Elk Refuge – and a flock of 25 or more pelicans that thundered away as we neared them.

Our favorite animals were the otters. First one, then two, then four of them poked their cute little heads and greasy-looking necks out of the water to look at us, then slapped their tails against the water to dive down, disappeared for a minute and then popped up behind our boat.

When we paddled past the Pacific Creek boat launch, the water quickened and navigation became more technical, but still straightforward, so we didn’t have to constantly communicate about our navigation strategy and were able to chat about life instead.

Then, just as the light waned on the river, we took out at Deadman’s, changed into the warm clothes in our dry bag, and hopped on our bikes.

On the ride back hundreds of elk lined the road, dozens at a time running alongside us, kicking dust up into the sun that set in-between peaks as we biked past them.
It took us an hour and a half to bike back to the car. We made it just before dark. PJH

The stretch from the Jackson Lake Dam to the Pacific Creek boat launch is ideal for beginning boaters, and in coming weeks should remain good for boating when the rest of the Snake is swollen, muddy and fast. Once Pacific Creek and other tributaries swell, the segment to Deadman’s and beyond will become more dangerous.

Photo by HENRY SWEETS
A canoe and bike trip in the northern reaches of GTNP.

PERMALINK:
Get Out: Low-carb(on) canoeing | Planet JH News Article: Sports & Recreation

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