Hey Folks
Why 2 posts so close to one another? I just got an email from this fella, whom I met and hung with in Chile this last winter (their summer). We went down to the Baker River together, along with a bunch of crazy folks, and all had a good time. We were there for 4 days, but the trip took another 2 days traveltime. It was quite a mission. I hadn’t heard from Tim since he hit the road outta Futa, and I was wondering what he’d been up to. His email prompted my memory of this shot and I thought I’d post it for you.
After running the 3 main sections of the Baker, there was this massive play wave near the take-out. I was set up to shoot some action when Tim went for this cheesiest of cheesy move. I loved it! Classic! I was kinda hoping he’d lose his paddle and flip, then take a swim just for being such a cheeseball, but, alas, it wasn’t to be. His boat wasn’t the best for play moves, but some of the other guys did jump in a little ZG playboat, bought along specifically for this wave, and got to rockin’ and rollin’.
Tim’s heading over to Europe this summer for a huge sea kayaking adventure – I can’t remember where. I hope he remembers this moment, and pulls another classic rail grab, in honor of his days on the Rio Baker.
On a more serious note, the Rio Baker, or Baker River, is about to be damned by Endessa, a Spanish power company in Chile. It’s a horrible, horrible thing, to see such incredible places as the Baker River canyon destroyed like this. You can learn more about it here, or for those whose Espanol isn’t so hot, look over some of these links:
Definitely read up about it, and hopefully we can halt some, if not all, of these dams from going ahead.
And a big G’day to my mate Tim.
Cheers
Carl