New and Used Kayak Sales

Colorado Trail Slideshow Premiere

Apryle — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 03:16:14 +0000

Thank you to Kurtis, Stan, and the Estes Park Library for putting together a great summer adventure series, “Our Wide World” and for letting us share our experiences! Thank you to Bill Manning from the Colorado Trail Foundation for the great handouts, video, and support at our slideshow tonight – hope it was worth the drive! And, of course we hope you all had a great night!

Thanks to everyone who attended – if you have any additional questions, feel free to email us at philandapryle@elevatedattitude.com.

Play hard!

~Apryle and Phil

EPIRB Search and Rescue Patterns: Part 2

Adam Bolonsky — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:09:00 +0000

Above: the that-morning patterns run by Coast Guard and Navy aircraft in their search for survivors of a Massachusetts commercial fishing boat whose EPIRB activated offshore in the dead of a New England winter. Note that the Coast Guard's dirft model sent them on a pattern that extends far southeast and east/northeast of where the EPIRB was initially spotted by an overflying Coast Guard jet. If

Kayaking at Okmulgee Lake

Thomas — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 02:15:00 +0000

Oklahoma was blessed with some relief from the Summer heat this week. Kayaking conditions are still too dry on the area rivers to enjoy much floating. Because the prospect of a cool morning was too inviting to pass up, I decided to enjoy some flatwater paddling at Okmulgee Lake. I hit the water at about 7am, but I really should have gotten there an earlier. The morning light was golden and lovely reflecting off the mists and water.

Okmulgee Lake is within Okmulgee State Park, so there are no additonal city fees to kayak on Okmulgee Lake. Paddling from the base of the Dripping Springs Lake dam down Salt Creek and taking out at the Boat Ramp at Hickory Point campground on Okmulgee Lake is a safe and shady flatwater trip.

I only stayed out paddling for a couple of hours this Saturday, but it was quite pleasant crossing the glassy waters while the early light came pouring through the trees. I was glad to see that I was not paddling the only kayak on Okmulgee Lake Saturday morning. When I returned to the Hickory Point boat ramp, I saw two more kayaks had just landed.

Hopefully, the Fall rains will come along soon and raise our rivers back up again.

In other Oklahoma paddling news...
Oklahoma City's ban on water skiing on Lake Hefner and the Oklahoma River was expanded to include banning tubing after the OKC city council members approved the change on Tuesday.

Kayak paddle upgrade choices.

EPIRB Rescue Search Patterns: Part 1

Adam Bolonsky — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 16:07:00 +0000

Above: Coastal New England (US). The first in a series of images illustrating the efforts Coast Guard units expend on search-and-rescue operations activated by EPIRBs, or emergency position indicating radio beacons. Search Amazon.com for personal locater beacons In order to develop a search plan, we take the crew's last known position, wind, wave and current sea states, and develop a

Colorado Trail Photos

Apryle — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 00:04:52 +0000

EPIRB Rescue Search Patterns: Part 1

Adam Bolonsky — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 12:22:00 +0000

Phil and Apryle’s Next Adventure

Apryle — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 15:15:58 +0000

We’ve been getting a lot of questions lately, “So what’s next?!” Here’s what we’ve been up to and what we’ve got up our sleeves…

Upon getting back from our Colorado Trail trip, I’ve been busy leading guided hikes in Rocky Mountain National Park for Kirk’s Flyshop and Mountain Adventures. I’ve had an awesome time – hiking almost every day – and helping people meet challenges and see the awesome scenery in Rocky Mountain National Park.

This fall, I was fortunate enough to be offered an internship with the National Park as an interpretive intern. Through my internship, I’ll be helping park visitors at the visitor center, trailheads, and on the trails throughout the park to understand the geology, flora, fauna, and interconnectedness of the ecosystem in Rocky. My internship begins on Monday, August 23 and runs through November 6 – come visit the park during elk rut and take one of my interpretive hikes! Next summer, I hope to work as a seasonal ranger in the National Park. I’ll still be doing some graphic design and web development, but not as regularly.

Phil is back at it at REI in Boulder. You can catch him in the footwear or camping department, helping people buy shoes that aren’t too small and shave pounds off their pack weight. No career changes planned for the foreseen future. Phil has also done some guiding this month, and during August we were both lucky enough to assist folks on their first summit of Longs Peak.

Our current project is backyard chicken keeping. We’re enjoying spending time together assembling materials for our coop, building, and choosing our chickens.

Much anticipated by Phil’s grandmother, this winter will hopefully see us planning our first book – a personal narrative of the Colorado Trail, interlaced with local natural history, mining and industry, current environmental issues, and flashback stories from the Inside Passage, Tetons, South America, and more. Look for it on bookshelves who-knows-when!

**So you want to know what adventure is up next??**

We’re not sure yet, ourselves, but we’re open to suggestions. Leave a comment or shoot us an email at philandapryle@elevatedattitude.com – we’d love to hear your ideas!

Google Earth: Monomoy Island, Cape Cod

Adam Bolonsky — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 10:55:00 +0000

To enlarge the image above, double-click on it. Monomoy Island off Chatham, Massachusetts (Cape Cod) is a worthy destination for anyone with a kayak or tin skiff or trailerable powerboat. The area is filled with challenges: shifting channels, wandering sandbars, frequent fogs and prevailing southwesterly winds that kick up lively chop during

Personal Locater Beacons (PLBs)

Adam Bolonsky — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 12:57:00 +0000

Above: the bottom face plate of the MicroFix personal locater beacon and the unit's lanyard. Personal locater beacons are an excellent alternative to bulkier and more expensive EPIRBs. The advantage of the Microfix is that in addition to your registered distress signal the unit relays your gps coordinates to search and rescue resources. I recently received a demo model of the MicroFix, a

EPIRB Rescue Search Patterns: Part 1

Adam Bolonsky — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 12:21:00 +0000