Three weeks ago I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to put on Stikine. I have never been so scared putting on any river and I really had no idea what I was in for.
After 30+ hours of driving we made it to the put in of the Stikine, as you can see EG is ravingly stoked!!!!!!
Really nice sunset,at the put in
We camped at the put in that night and put on the next day
The classic Stikine photo.We had such a sick crew. Stoked to put in with such a good bunch of my friends, who are all fired up!!!!
Benny Marr in the crux of 3 Goats.This is the first big one we scouted!!!
EG making his way down 3 Goats
When scouting the rapids they don't look too big from a distance, but once you are ballz deep in them, they feel a hell of a lot larger than expected!!!
Eric Parker making his way down 3 Goats, Fred is also in there somewhere!!!
This is the entrance rapid above Pass Fail. This is a pretty scary one! Punch a big V wave then book it back to the river right eddy. If you miss the eddy you will be running Pass Fail blind, which is one of the harder moves on the river. I got a little rocked in this one, took a roll, and just managed to catch the last chance eddy above the main rapid, rather scary!!!
Evan passing and Benny Failing
I decided to take the easy move and portaged the crux move of pass fail
(Imaged Evan Garcia)
Wason's Hole. Most of us took the easy option on this one and ran the hard right line. Benny and EG were on fire and ran the crux!!!
Day 1 camp
Site Z. This thing is so scary. Four big must make moves. I had a good scout of this beast of a rapid...and I could see a line for sure, but there was no way I was going to step up to it. Benny had that look in his eyes! After a long scout he came up to us and said (''I am going to give it ago, only if that's okay with you guys'') This shows Benny super laid back style and chill approach to everything...
Down stream view of the last 2 holes(site Z)
Benny Marr about to style the crux hole of site Z. I have never been so scared running safety for anyone. Was so stoked to see Benny style the move!!!
Benny stoked on life after the first decent of Site Zed. I felt like Benny was the man to step up to this rapid on the day, I totally knew he had that shit in the bag ha!!!!
They don't call it the Grand Canyon of the Stikine for nothing!!!
Evan and Benny making there way down one of the many huge Rapid's the Stikine has to offer!!
EG dropping in!!
The crew dropping into Wall 1 one of the many must run rapids, such a scary horizon line. So huge!!!
(Image Mikkel St. lean Duncan)
Day 2 Wolf Tracks camp.Always stoked to get to camp and relax!!!
Can you spot the fat chief, wolf tracks camp
(Image Mikkel St. lean Duncan)
Wolf tracks camp down stream view
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Erik Johnson running Wall 2
Erik J,Eric Parker and myself bombing in Scissors
(Image Mikkel St. Jean Duncan)
EG styling the hole that ate Chicago
So stoked that I got the opportunity to paddle the Stikine. It was the biggest most pushy whitewater I have ever paddled, definitely an eye opener. One of the best or if not the best ever river trip!!!! And it couldn't have gone any better! To top it all off, I think we had the best weather ever on a stikine trip warm and sunny.
Big up to Benny Marr who completed the first ever full descent, paddling every single rapid with style! There is a lot of epic stuff going down in the world of white water kayaking theses day!!!