Kindly Old Dr. K’s Hydrosphere

This is Colin Kemp, World Kayak guru, formerly of Washington, DC, currently of Reno, NV, on Observation Deck Rapids near DC.  The guy with the tripod is Roy Sewall, a pro photographer who asked us to “pose” for photos for his photo art book about the Potomac.  This was fall of 06, I believe.  I’m not sure if the other photographers were working with him or tourists.  I just like the way this photo turned out. 

 One of the cool things about O-Deck is that it’s right below Great Falls.  Colin is looking upstream at an 80-foot high cascade right in front of him.  Intimidating and very impressive.

The white stuff on the rocks is a type of diatom that turns white when it dries out during certain seasons.  When it’s wet it’s green/brown and slick as ice.

I blitzed up to the ASCI whitewater course today, and had fun.  I got in some playing, got stuffed briefly under a raft, got spun silly in the surging whirlpools.  The main thing I went for was to try out the portage escalator, which wasn’t operating the last time I was there (also ‘cuz I ended up with a free season pass, but that’s another story.)  The conveyor was the kind of thing we used to fantasize about in the old days when we dreamed of whitewater becoming as big as skiing, but I never expected to really see one.  It’s bizarrely cool.

  As a bonus I ran into an old compadre whom I hadn’t seen in probably 20 years, Steve Draper.  Drapes is one of our finest slalom racers, coaches, and race organizers.  It’s always a great pleasure to see the old gang still representin’. 

 Drapes and I at ASCI

Going up the ramp

Queueing for the ramp