Some Old School Fun
13 02 2008I ran across a few more old photos and I thought I’d stick them up here just for fun.
Here’s me 34 years ago, modeling career already headed south. This is around 1974, when I worked for Appalachian Outfitters, an outdoor store and boat shop with several branches in the DC/Baltimore area. This was for a brochure on our paddling gear.
This is the Anglers Inn put-in for the Potomac in the winter of 1977. The river had gone up and down many times while the air temps stayed very cold. As a result, the edges of the river were covered with huge blocks of ice for miles up and down the Gorge. Getting in was easy, getting out…not so much.
Here is my old pal Al Jenkins on the Potomac in the winter of 1972, on Olmstead Island near Great Falls. Note the high-tech gear. I should point out that some of Al’s gear was outmoded even for the time. His Lettmann Mark IV boat was state-of-the-art, though, and it’s still a good boat.
Here’s another old paddling companion, Cal Smith, on the Middle Fork of the Tygart, West Virginia in about 1973. I’m not sure who that is running the drop. They don’t make boats like that anymore.
Bill - I always enjoy your posts and these old pics of the real pioneers of our sport. Keep ‘em coming
That is great Bill. How are things back on the Potomac?
RE: “it’s still a good boat”
Indeed. In fact, while I was looking for my Phoenix Isere (and having no luck), I was considering getting a Lettmann instead!
Great pictures Bill!
Wow! That looks like a “Flotherchok” lifejacket in the first pic. - That would be the new updated version with the foam blocks instead of the little air cells. State of the art!
And I liked Al’s jeans- been there dun that.
jim