so retro....

happy holidays and merry merriment to all of you blog fans out there. i know....geez louise it has been ages since the last blog post...i know....i know.
i have a job now, the southeast is still in a drought. i could make excuses all day. i've actually got a green race post in the works. but that doesn't mean much to all of you content starved blog fans waiting for stories and photos to brighten your lonely nights.
the holiday season has inspired me to put together some photos from back in the day. all photos documenting the life and times of this blog star before the days of para la familia
you dedicated fans will recognize some of the same characters, engaging in the usual nonsense:
here's spencer 'spank the wet daddy' cooke. looking for trouble:

photo by mw

we'll start things off with a ol' classic: a little story i like to call, "two hooligans ditch their jobs for a western paddling adventure in a '91 Honda Civic"

photo by mw
no that photo (above) is no photoshop/cut-and-paste trick. i did actually drive my beloved scooter mobile west of the mississippi into the great state of colorado for a paddling adventure with my good friend amos 'the moose' shuman.
the story begins as all good paddling stories do with the main characters neglecting responsibility. in this case, amos was able to talk his way out of coming to work for a couple weeks while i successfully talked my way out of having a job for the summer all together. my boss, the legendary wally leoni of ocoee river fame, wasn't too happy with me when i called the day before i was supposed to show up for work in eastern tennessee to tell him that i was in Albuquerque headed in the wrong direction. oh well, amos and i had a whirl wind 10 day tour of the rivers of colorado. an experience i had never had before and will not soon forget.

amos and i drove straight to the vallecito river from asheville, north carolina (36 hours straight including some "minor" car trouble). this beautiful river is located just outside of durango, colorado.
here's my main man 'mos enjoying the rocky mountain scenery on his way to the river

photo by mw
you hike your way up the committing vallecito canyon, about two miles, then drop in to some crisp, clean colorado action.

'mos on vallecito at the rapid known as "fuzzy little bunny"

photo by mw

our first day in colorado, after three laps on the river, i begged amos to take a picture of me in my euphoric state of happiness.
the author. ear to ear baby.

photo by amos shuman

the next stop after we had our fill outside of durango, another classic near crested butte. a spot known as
oh be joyful

photo by mw

the author, fired, but not disappointed on colorado's classic oh-be-joyful creek

photo by amos shuman

amos at oh-be-joyful, enthusiastically avoiding a log jam

photo by mw

what a great trip. what great memories. what ever. once i got home to the blue ridge the fun didn't stop, because i was still unemployed.
the author collecting on some summer time gorilla:

photo by amos shuman

amos. summer greening as well.

photo by mw

here's amos on the same day at the green, taking it to a whole new level:

photo by mw

kayaking will sure make you a hungry, hungry, hippo:
amos, not taking any s*%& 'til he gets a sandwich

photo by mw

yonton mehler, taking on the challenge for greatest sandwich in human history:

photo by mw

yonton, enjoying the fruits of his labor:

photo by mw

again, mr. mehler, putting that energy to good use on a beautiful sunny, summer day on the ocoee river:

photo mw

see you again next issue. same blog time, same blog channel.

photo by amos shuman

home again. home again.

sorry for such a long wait for news and photos, but i have been enjoying my time in the blue ridge so much that i have been slacking on sharing my most recent adventures with all of you blog fans. this is by far and away my favorite time of year: the weather is cooling off and the trees are blowing up.

photo by mw

i have been playing my way around the mountains since i've been home with the usual cast of characters.
as a special birthday treat, i went playboating on an old classic with my family. i was joined by my siblings: maggy and philly as well as my auntie maria for a flash-black inducing paddle down the ocoee river. i was a raft guide on this river during my college summers and have been kayaking here since i was fifteen.
here's philly hamming it up on the ocoee:

photo by mw

September 22nd, 2007 was warm and sunny: better than a day at the beach.
philly again, enjoying the tropical southeast on the ocoee river:

photo by mw

the water level was a little higher than usual, and a little extra juice is always welcome on the ocoee.
here's my auntie maria throwing down at the last good surf spot on the river, "hell's hole":

photo by mw

most of my time has been spent in my favorite of cities: asheville, north carolina. where i've been with my friends and on the green river.
here's a sequence of my best buddy yonton styling his way through the rapid "go left.."



photos by mw

i made my way over to the ocoee a second time with another best buddy, robin betz. we are all very proud of robin for her well deserved win at the green race.
here she is shredding it up:

photo by mw

the author, also shredding:

photo by robin betz

the weather being so tropical and all, robin and i went swimming and took a nap on the side of the river part of the way down.
some pre-river nap excitement, robin's front flip:

photo by mw

the author, same:

photo by robin betz

the river was just a stop on our reunion tour for ryan allen and marianne walker's wedding in chattanooga.

many thanks to mark and debbie sue for being such gracious hosts to myself, robin, and john "bubba" roeder

photos by mw

the southeastern united states have been under a record breaking drought through the spring and summer months, but recently some rains have moved through and the kayaking community rejoiced.
here is amos shuman very thankful on the linville river ("the southeast's classic wilderness run"), with erik stritmatter looking on:

photo by mw

we hike in and out of this beautiful gorge, kayaking from where the babel tower trail meets the river down to our exit at the conley cove trail. we couldn't have asked for a nicer day. caleb coaplen refered to it as "the best day of the year."


photos by mw

amos again. thankful this time that his hiking is done for the day:

photo by mw


that's all for now. many happy trails to you all. mefford.

jeg snakke litt norske

hello everyone. welcome back.
things have been moving along swimmingly here in norway. some cooler weather and typical norwegian rain have moved in recently, adding a fresh dusting a snow among the higher elevations.

photo by mw

we've been cruising around with the usual crew: amos and i with the barefoot gypsies eden and jono. we'd all like to congratulate jono for finding a job. he'll be working offshore doing seismic measurements or some such. sounds like a big boy's job; so we're all real proud of him. in the meantime, we all enjoyed some of the usual adventures.

photo by eden sinclair


photo by eden sinclair

this time to the north and the hornidal river. here's the crew, all smiles as usual at the put-in. eden, amos, and jono (l to r):

photo by mw

some pretty nice ones on this run. here's amos resurfacing at one of the main attractions:

photo by mw

amos going far left at this gross one:

photo by mw

eden found an exciting route back into the river after that particular portage:

photo by mw

amos, same:

photo by mw

we found a real big one on the hornidal, a big ugly one. in amos' words, "death on a stick". here are amos and eden looking into the maw:

photo by mw

one of the uniquely delicious aspects of kayaking in norway are wild blueberries. seems as if every time we are out of our boats on the side of the river, there they are ripe for the picking.
amos and jono, snacking:

photo by mw

eden, same:

photo by mw

energized and back on the river for some more action; amos is in his element:

photo by mw

jono, same:

photo by mw

eden, a kiwi native to the west coast of the south island, in his element among some steep walls on the hornidalselva:

photo by mw

i recently raided eden sinclair's camera; so many thanks go to him for the following moments of excitement. eden carries around a small, waterproof digital point-and-shoot, and he has made good use of it.
the author on the lower myrkdalselva on the second step of the triple combo:

photo by eden sinclair

the author, again on the lower section of the myrkdalselva, lovin' it:

photo by eden sinclair

the crew down at the bottom, bathing in a mix of rain and waterfall mist. it's great for the skin as well as the spirit:

photo by eden sinclair

that's all for now. all the best to you blog fans.
mefford.

photo by eden sinclair