Grand Canyon – Day 4, Part 2: Hance and Sockdolager

Our fourth day on the river had already seen some spectacular whitewater challenges. Now it was time for one of the biggest. According to trip leader Steve Mace, Hance would be the most technically challenging rapid we would encounter during our 12-day trip. I love the following description of Hance […]

Grand Canyon – And Google Maps!

I was asked to not share this news until today. If you’ve been following posts about my experience with Team River Runner’s Grand Canyon trip (The First Three Days and Day 4, Part 1), you may remember I mentioned we had a photo/video crew accompany us during our 12-day whitewater […]

Grand Canyon – Day 4, Part 1: A Swim

Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2018 Today was my most challenging day of kayaking; so far anyway. We awaken at Crash Canyon (mile 63) to the sound of someone trumpeting the conch shell, followed by the now-familiar “Good morning, Grand Canyon” echoing off the canyon wall, letting us know it’s time to […]

Grand Canyon – The First 3 Days

YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/gOZDYDI7tzw “For us, there is only the trying. The rest is not our business. ― T.S. Eliot Over the coming days I’m posting excerpts from the journal I kept during our recent Team River Runner Grand Canyon kayaking trip. I was honored to be chosen as one of the […]

News Coverage of our Grand Canyon Adventure

The Colorado Sun published a story about our Team River Runner trip, which included five blind military veterans kayaking the Grand Canyon. It offers good insights about our experience. At the end of the story there’s also a link to a heartfelt video by Iraq war vet Steve Baskis. “Post-traumatic […]

Team River Runner’s Wausau Whitewater Weekend 2018

Team River Runner‘s sixth annual Wausau Whitewater Weekend was a huge success this past weekend, with 128 vets, volunteers and family members. This was by far our best-organized Wausau weekend ever, thanks in large part to event organizers Tom Schrader, Linda “LT” Tomsevics and Craig Esposito. A big “thank you” […]

Adaptive Paddling with Team River Runner

The first time John Fritzell picked up a kayak paddle he was only 11 years old. Because of a rare neurological disorder, he was physically unable to hold a paddle for the next 39 years. Last Saturday at Canoecopia, the world’s largest paddlesports expo held annually in Madison, WI, John […]

Team River Runner’s Apostle Islands Trip

At the extreme northern tip of Wisconsin in Lake Superior, the beautiful Apostle Islands National Lakeshore are a sea kayaker’s paradise. Last week I had the honor and pleasure of leading a group of Team River Runner military veterans and volunteers on a sea kayaking trip to the Apostle Islands. […]