Little Kachess Lake

Wildlife sightings: Bard Owls echoed across the lake at night. A cocaphony of Bard Owls had some kind of altercation middle of the night. Family of Mergansers on Little Lake. Lake trout jumping in Big Lake. Canada Geese in Big Lake. No bugs.

Fiery red and orange Maples. Neon Yellow Larches. Huge old Fir trees. A gentle 30 foot waterfall cascading down into an underground channel. 

New skills covered:

1. Creek Crossing with loaded pack and hiking with loaded pack. We set up a fireman brigade to get packs over.  Students learned how critical it is to have poles for a creek crossing. 

2. Steep Bank exit and entry on the steep edge of the promontory just north of the island. 

3. Self-Rescue in a loaded boat - We practiced capsizing and righting a loaded boat and getting back in. 

4. Drafting 1.0 - get into lead boat's moving eddy. Drafting 2.0 - synchronizing your paddle strokes opposite sides of the lead boat to keep your bow glued to lead boat's stern. Drafting 3.0 - follow at an offset of 2-3 feet to the side to ride lead boat's eddy wave. V-formation for group drafting. Peeling off lead boater to rest. 

5. Boat Repair talk and expo - the 3 kinds of repairs: pinhole, larger hole, and gashes/tears. 
6. J-Stroke - can be useful when approaching a flotilla or dock or in a side wind
7. Lining boats in the channel between Little Lake and Big Lake, there was a drop in elevation of about 20 feet and a boulder garden with small ledge drops near the mouth we had fun with. 
8. Plank position to reduce draft in shallows and over wood
9. Packing the backpack evenly side to side and with all gear strapped down to prevent swaying. 
10. Packing the boat using columnar dry sacks. For one student it was their first time backpacking. Most students didn't own the column dry bags so this was a show and tell.  
11. Dry Suit Care - students had a lot of questions so we introduced Odo Bon, Pau Pilau, 303, and where to apply T-Zip lubricant - not on the teeth. 

Old skills reinforced

1. Forward Stroke - bringing the top hand across the face for a vertical paddle to increase forward vector force and less boat spinning from side vector force.  Engaging the core and using the large muscles.
2. Sculling - everyone improved over the 2 days. 
3. Draw Stroke - short stabbing motion, everyone thought sculling was easier. 
4. Back Paddling - 
5. Self re-entry in deep water. All but one student accomplished this. 

Day 1: Met in North Bend 8am. Started hiking from campground gate at about 9am. From the Little Kachess Trail trailhead we soon encountered a creek crossing that was steep bank and slippery rocks. Hiked 2 miles from gate to the island. Practiced the basic strokes.  Paddled to top of lake and scrambled to the waterfall at No Name Creek. Scouted the camping spots at the bottom of No Name Creek - there are only 3 or 4 flat spots, not suitable for larger groups. Practiced drafting 1.0. Practiced steep bank boat exit and entry on east wall near island. Got back to island around 4pm and set up camp on top of the island. We had 8 tents. There is room for 3 or 4 more. Nice scenic spot on the top of the island.  Group dinner at 6. Dark about 7:30.  Full moon lit up the night sky. 

Day 2: 8am group breakfast. Launch 9:30. Drafted while paddling to Bull Trout DFW project at bottom of Box Canyon Creek.  Paddled to channel. Lined boats and shallow paddled to Big Lake. Extremely deep much up the the thigh if going out of watercourse.  Paddled to Boat Launch. Practiced self-rescue.  

A good time was had by all.