Yours truly's favorite month is upon us again. I can barely keep my fingers from running off the keyboard.
We're blessed with perfect weather and three days of whitewater releases to get the month rolling. The coming fall colors are preceded by the technicolor gear of hundreds of paddlers aiming for the Breaks.
The Russell Fork is still a must see destination for whitewater paddlers from all over the country and many return year after year. Others will be here for the first time, quietly anxious to see if the stories are true, to learn if they belong.
The Fork has a well earned reputation for separating the class 3 beater from the class 5 carver.
On the last release weekend, after autumn has taken over the trees, the best kayakers from around the world will gather to challenge the river and one another in the Lord of the Fork race. It's a spectacle that has to be seen to be believed. And seeing it is not easy.
There are two ways to do it. One is to paddle in and park at Triple Drop or El Horrendo or Climax and watch. Notwithstanding the cost of equipment, years of practice, and potential for death, this is definitely the easiest way to get there.
The other way is to hike into the Breaks canyon. There are two or three ways to do this and none are for the squeamish.
I haven't made the hike to El Horrendo in years, so decided on a test mission last Sunday to see if I could handle the traditional route.
The traditional route is to start at Pool Point, cross the bridge, hike up the tracks through the State Line Tunnel, and on to El Horrendo, aka The Falls. You know you're there when you get to the old Domas coal tipple next to the tracks. It's about a two mile walk one way.
The hard part for me is the bridge. For others, it's the quarter mile long tunnel. For others, it's the steep hills at the beginning and end of the journey. But its a hike worth taking when boaters cover the Russell Fork. Pick a pretty weekend and go for it. Get there early.
I'd point out other things to do in Elkhorn besides go boating in the Breaks, but the town has quit trying to be a tourism destination. There isn't anything happening in EC designed to get some of those visitors into town. There's a lot of church services on the Elkhorn City events page, though.
It is encouraging to learn that Pikeville has gotten a sizeable ARC grant to study ways to work with the Breaks to bolster tourism. They'll be ready once the new road is finished and visitors can bypass Elkhorn altogether to get to the Breaks.
I will point out, Pikeville friends, we've got about fifteen years worth of research, planning and data pulled together from the 90s and the 00s, nearly every bit related to the Breaks. Heck, a good portion of it came from ARC grants, too.
You can save a bunch of that money. You can get all the plans you need right here, cheap. Nobody else is going to use them.