Some North Fork Of The Little Wind Pictures

         Here's a few pictures from my recent trip down the North Fork of the Little Wind.  This run has some classic drops which are cleverly hidden within miles of heinous boulder mank.  Be leery of blogs that compare this run to Big Kimshew or Upper Cherry.  Still it was a good mission and fun was had by all.

Tom Janney running one of the top slides in style.

Xavier Engle in a slightly more typical rapid.

Tom Janney on Double Drop.

Tyson Titensor on Double Drop

Xavier Engle arriving at the put in after him and I got lost and bush wacked for several hours.

Kayaking

So far, this summer, freestyle kayaking has taken me to many places including,  Green River Wyoming, BV, Lyons, and Salida Colorado. Even with low water conditions, it has been a lot of fun and tough competition. I've gotten to meet lots of new people and experienced a lot of different features.  The first competition was in Green River. There, we got served breakfast,  lunch, and dinner on competition day. As far as the competition, I ended up fourth behind Brook, Sage Donnelly, and Lauren Burress. The second competition, in BV, I also came in fourth behind Sage Donnelly,  Rowan Stewart, and Lauren Burress.I got some very valuable help there from Claire O'Hara, Dustin Urban, and the Donnelly's. Before Lyons, Dustin Urban helped me out with a bunch of different things, which helped tremendously.  In Lyons, after the much needed help from Dustin, I came in fourth again behind the same three as in BV. By far though, Lyons was my best competition and I scored my first 100 point ride. In Salida, the water was extremely low and many people formed a rock wall so the water would channel, and make the feature better. When the wall was first made the hole ended up a bit trashy, but then a few more rocks were added, and it was as good as it was going to get. I first competed in the raft rodeo. The rodeo was a blast and a bunch of fun chaos. I then competed in the big trick competition, for only women, and for $100. Haley Mills ended up taking that with some very huge air. As far as freestyle, junior women again went straight to finals. Our rides were between heats of SUP cross, and again I ended up fourth behind the same three. It was a lot of fun and I almost got my loop. As for now, we are headed off to Missoula, Montana and then to Cascade, Idaho to finish off the tour. 

Green River

Buena Vista

BV

Lyons

Lyons

Lauren and Rowan and I in Lyons

Team Sages 

Team Sages and the Kellogg Show

Fibark

Fibark 

My dad filmed a edited a video of the Fibark Freestyle Finals.  Check it out.

Adam Barron SSV Creek scrape 'n' race 2012

Words by Kyle McCutchen

Photos by Tina Swan

A scorching hot 97 degree day melted away what was left of our plastic kayaks after we banged them down the Narrows section of South Saint Vrain Creek, just outside of Lyons, Colorado for the annual Lyons Outdoor Games' Adam Barron Memorial Creek Race on Saturday, June 9th. Despite depressingly low flows, the race still happened, and the wet rocks course provided an entirely new challenge to kayakers looking to cash in on some nice prizes. 

Dave Fusili exits the entrance rapids to the Narrows. Lot's of mank and low water pin potential influenced times in this upper section... not really the type of thing any of us would normally run. 

Seventeen year-old Spencer Huff made a proud showing as the only Lyons local to race. Shown here entering the crux section. 

And I gave it a go, executing two spectacular piton's on my first lap. Fortunately, I was pleased to pull things together my second lap and finish with a time I was pleased with, but damn those pros are fast!

Jeremy Laucks in the crux.

Dave Fusili negotiating one of the more interesting sections. 

EJ in route to a win. 

Craig Kleckner airs out one of the best drops of the run.

The same drop as seen from below. Paul Palmer was the only other Colorado local to race this year. 

The double drop can make or break a time. Clay Wright sticks it.

Brian Kirk finding the delicate balance between hitting the fast cross-current left line for a winning time, and pitoning his brains out, as a handful of us (myself included) did. 

And just when you think it's over, one must negotiate Jihad! Mike Patterson finds the low water line.

So... I know it looks like I just wrote my name in... pretty sure Kyle McKlusky from Wisconsin was actually me. And given the field of competitors that came out for the race, I'm pleased to claim a 9th place finish!