The Stikine

After my first descent in 2010 the time had come to head back.

We were lucky enough to enjoy 2 trips down the river. We did the classic 3 day trip followed by the more unconventional 1 day descent. The one day descent was the most incredible day of kayaking I have ever done. We were blessed with great weather and perfect water flows (380cms trip 1, 320cms trip 2). The team consisted of myself (Ric Moxon), Benni Marr, Eric Parker, James Burd, Sam Rickettes and Ryan (Baby Bird) Lucas for the first trip and myself, Benni, Eric and Ryan for the second.

What I would like to share is the challenges associated with the mental preparation of such a trip. This for me is the biggest challenge. The mental preparation that goes into a river like the Stikine takes months to achieve. All season I spend training, analysing my abilities and enhancing my fitness. Then all of a sudden, almost out of nowhere I felt ready. A trip to the Stikine feels like a good idea. Rather than driving 20 hours, stressing about what is to come, for me there was genuine excitement, joking, good music and a super positive vibe! The mental strain I felt from this trip was putting back on for a second one day descent. There were a lot of thoughts going through your head. “Am I pushing my luck”, “What if I swim”, “Maybe this will be the trip I spend a few lonely nights on the canyon rim or worse”. Learning to settle all these thoughts and finding the courage and stoke to make such a day of kayaking happen is what class 5 kayaking as all about for me.

Thanks for the epic trip boys! It is awesome paddling with a team that is so passionate about kayaking.

My Large Burn yet again proved to be awesome, thanks Pyranha!

Enjoy the photos! Thanks for reading.