Colorado rivers prime for kayaking

By Stephen Hlawaty
Outdoors Columnist

The first time I went yaking wasn't at some college fraternity party; it was in the Yampa River in the middle of the spring runoff. And no, my yaking wasn't predicated upon any overindulgence of alcoholic beverages the night before.

It was the second week of May, and I was fresh off another 100-plus-day ski season, an overindulgence of another kind.

Feeling jazzed about another great ski season and looking forward to the upcoming mountain biking season, I thought kayaking might be a good way to bridge the muddy season in which I now found myself. With the tips I learned from having taken a kayaking class through Backdoor Sports, I "eddied-in" to the icy and swift moving waters of the Yampa.

I don't remember much of the day except for the uncontrollable chattering of my teeth and shivering of my bones from having to "swim" roughly 10 times. Underestimating the sport, I approached kayaking with a muscle-mentality, a mentality that relies on power and strength to overcome the sport's challenges. I neglected the more subtle skills that the sport demands: rhythm, relaxation and balance. As a result, I flipped my kayak numerous times, and not having mastered the Eskimo role, a maneuver that allows you to right yourself after capsizing without having to leave your kayak, had to bail by pulling up on my spray skirt and rolling forward out of the kayak.

The Eskimo role, along with the kayak, originated with the Inuit, the indigenous peoples living in the arctic regions of North America and Greenland. Because of a kayak's stealth in the water, the Inuit peoples primarily used their boats for hunting and fishing.

Since Inuit men were the ones who were generally responsible for supplying their families and villages with food, it's no surprise that the English word "kayak" was derived from the Inuit word for "man's boat" or "qujag." Built of driftwood and whalebone covered with seal lion skins waterproofed with whale fat, an Inuit kayak was typically built by the man who would use it. The man would use his forearm to measure the frame of his boat, and thus, get a perfect-fitting and custom-built boat. As a result, no two Inuit kayaks measured the same, which confounded early explorers who sought to reproduce the kayak design for their own interests.

While some Inuit continue to hunt with their kayaks, most notably those living in Nuuk, Greenland, these days kayaking is considered more a recreational than a utilitarian transport. English lawyer John MacGregor first introduced kayaking as a recreational sport after designing the Rob Roy in 1845. MacGregor built his boat based on sketches of Inuit kayaks and boated around Europe in it.

Nowadays, kayaking can be classified into two camps: white-water and flat-water kayaking. Designed for maneuverability, white-water kayaks are generally shorter and smaller than their flat-water cousins, which are designed for stability and touring.

Between April and June, the Poudre River offers some of this area's best white-water kayaking. The Poudre River includes all five of the different rapid rating classes, which means that kayakers of any ability will be able to find something to run. These classes include the following:

• Class I: Easy - swift-moving water with small ripples
• Class II: Novice - smaller rapids with wide, clear channels
• Class III: Intermediate - larger rapids with irregular waves
• Class IV: Advanced - large and powerful rapids requiring precise boat handling skills
• Class V: Expert - uninterrupted, obstructed, violent rapids demanding expert boat handling skills

In comparison, flat-water kayaking might more closely resemble a kayak's original purpose. Because of a kayak's streamlined design, flat-water kayakers, much like Inuit hunters, can float atop water with minimal disruption to the water's stillness. As such, flat-water kayaking offers a more serene and relaxing experience, which can be found in a variety of area reservoirs and high-mountain lakes. Also, flat-water kayaks make for an efficient means of travel when participating in multi-day tours down Class I and II rivers.

Although primarily seen as an individual sport, kayaking is very much a group effort, as was made clear by last month's story of a man rescued by his fellow Poudre River boaters after being pinned underwater for three to five minutes. As such, it's critical that first-time kayakers take a lesson from any one of the several kayaking outfitters in Fort Collins. These outfitters can also provide additional information on rentals, equipment and tours.