Got to love a road trip.

Even if the trip was short, the roads were a tad snowy and the climax didn’t result in hiking, biking or paddling, I still had an excellent time in Arcata this past week.

Lisa Beckstead and I started the grueling drive from Reno to Arcata in the wee hours of the morning. Watching the sun rise Lisa and I enjoyed what we do best, talking, for the entire 7 hour drive. Our mission was to visit Kokatat and I threw in a side visit to Adventure’s Edge.

I had never been to Arcata or the Kokatat factory and the 24 hours of exploring left me only wanting more. I met the entire Kokatat family (some new faces, some old), enjoyed an educational tour of the factory and spent some time chatting it up with the design team. A few things you should know about Kokatat: they make all their products in house, they water test every drysuit before it goes out the door and the new outer core colors are awesome.

My visit to Adventure’s Edge was probably as educational for me as it was for the staff. I was there to talk about Jackson kayaks, but this team was full of paddling experts. It seems Arcata is a hot spot for outdoor activity and paddling is at the top of the list. Rivers running off the Klamath mountains and the ocean out their front door is just the beginning of the accessible paddling – lucky gang!

In a flash we were back in the car and gabbing our way back across the mountains.

Big thanks to Lisa, the entire crew at Kokatat and my new friends at Adventure’s Edge. Looking forward to spending more time in your backyard on my next visit!

With the passing of Title IX, Girls and Women in Sport Day was born to celebrate female participation in sport. At the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) this past weekend, the athletics department hosted a great event geared at girls under 12. 250 girls (and boys) broken into small groups visited stations set-up around the basketball court. Most of the stations were university teams, everything from cheerleading and basketball to rifle and swimming.

Representing the Truckee River Foundation (TRF) Sage Donnelly and I helped to promote women in kayaking. We had all the girls sit in a boat, learn about helmets and lifejackets and spoke with them about the Truckee River.

After visiting all the stations the girls were treated to watch the UNR Women’s Basketball team game against Utah State.

This was an awesome event to remind girls that there are many sports are available to them. I hope we inspired some of them to try kayaking!