Middle Fork Madness

Every once in awhile you get a day.  This day will come, and it can catch you by surprise, this day could be something you've only thought about, just imagined, or something you've dreamt about for years. It could remind you of what you do or don't have. It could make you thankful, it could make you realize you need to be ready for the next day, because this time you weren't.  These days will come, and imagining that any day could be this day, I think, makes your life seem like something you mean to be living.  I am constantly inspired by those around me whose lives are based on around knowing, and doing as much as they can when these days arrive. I'm inspired by those who spend their time perfecting things they love, and are enlivened by.  It is a cycle that perpetuates your soul I believe, where skill, challenge and ability converge, to require massive dedication and result in achievement, fueling the next idea of progression.  

Anyways apparently I had that thought in my head at midnight tonight, posting photos of guys who consistently take their own lives in their hands, and don't think twice about it, because the price you pay in regret, or boredom or doubt or fear through not doing it, is higher than the cost of risking really living and giving the one thing you spent on being the best; your life.  

This particular day, was a slow start to a sunny afternoon watching the Bombflow crew and friends charge down the Middle Fork of the Nooksack River, bushwacking a jungle ravine, dangling from a rappelling harness over a raging chasm of whitewater, hoping my self-tied anchor would hold and my camera wouldn't slip out of my outstretched hand.

The results were less than what I wanted, but a second trip is surely being schemed.

Thank you for reading this

and as always thank you for looking.  

rhys's life tips #48: Adventures are relative, they can be seconds, or years.  If you choose to set out on one, you can usually choose to end one too. Creating them makes more sense than finding them and you won't usually regret them.

-Rhys   

Raging 'Yakers Round 2

Excursion day two of hanging with the funky foursome that is team Bomb Flow may not have had any near death experiences, but was nonetheless killer.  Fred Norquist, Evan Garcia, Sam Freihofer and Ryan Lucas were all back in action for round two on the Nooksack, this time at the legendary middle fork.  With the guys putting in a few miles upriver I rallied Evan's man machine Subaru down river to the scouting point for an epic mossy forested gorge of middle-earth proportions, right below an aged and decaying dam fully equipped with rebar snags and concrete chunks.  Dropping the dam wasn't in the mix this afternoon, especially after Ryan's dealings with an unfortunate boat nose bonk on a rock during the trip down, putting a puncture wound and crack in his kayak that you could fit your finger into.  

I decided a single lane bridge overlooking the gorge from about 100 feet would suffice for capturing the guys running headlong into the gorge and out of sight that fine Friday June 10, 2011. 

If I could shoot every single day watching these guys slay rivers that I'd be afraid to even throw a fishing line on, I'd consider it a pretty good summer.

 The boys are now also looking forward to running the newly formed Freihofer Falls.  Fathered by Sir Sam Freihofer himself with the help of Mother Nooksack River, in epic effort to expel remnants of the previous nights bender.

NOTE: If you don't like projectile vomit pictures, scroll down quickly. Also, no animals or insects were harmed in the making of this blog post.

-Rhys

The boys looked forward to running the newly formed Freihofer Falls

Gnar Cars in action.

Ryan Lucas attaining ninja status and feeling the Chi.

Freihofer testing the theory, "Nothing some Gorilla Grip can't fix."Ninja's gotta focus.

Ryan not stoked after breaking his boat.

Fred surveying his pre-run repair job.