Animas River Days, Durango, CO

Don Beveridge styling the line at Fuzzy Bunny on Vallecito Creek–Durango, CO

Last weekend we hit up the Animas River Days down in Durango, CO. We drove over from Glenwood Springs Saturday morning and paddled the Upper Animas “on our way” to Durango. We had a wicked head wind, rain, hail, sleet, and even a little sunshine to round off the day. It was a cold but nice 26-mile float down the river, but a sad and cold 2.5 hour hitch hike for Don’s brother Bill in the pouring down rain at the end of the day! Needless to say, we were all stoked to get back to the civilization that is Durango for a nice dinner afterwards.

Bill and Don Beveridge running the lead-in to “Paddle Bitch” or “No Way Out” (depending if you’re old school or new school)

Sunday we checked out the events which included a downriver race, a kayak rodeo, and best of all, an inflatable rodeo–fun for everyone at the park!

After watching the fun we went to check out Vallecito Creek which the Colorado Rivers and Creeks calls “the best mile of whitewater in Colorado.” It truly is a little gem of a creek. There is some amazingly smooth granite down there—a rarity for Colorado. Although the run is only 1 mile, it’s packed with fun, and mostly clean, rapids. The fact that you are down in the bottom of pretty deep canyon with polished granite walls adds to the overall coolness of the day.

Looking back upstream on Vallecito.

Bill B. dropping entry falls–it’s his first test run of the Villain.

Don’s brother Bill is in town visiting and wanted to try out the Villain so Don lent him his Villain, I lent Don the Villain S, and I borrowed a different boat from a friend. Overall, Bill loves the boat! He psyched to get one of his own (and Don is psyched to get his boat back)…

Don and I are excited to bring the Villain and Villain S down to Ecuador next season. They will make really nice additions to our already “pimped out” fleet. I think our guests will enjoy them on Ecuador’s creeks which are characterized by fairly continuous boulder-garden rapids. The boats hold a line quite well, resurface easily and will do well on Ecuador’s classics such as the Oyacachi, Piatua, Misahualli, and Jondachi.

Next weekend we are off to Fibark to enjoy some more kayak rodeo. Plus, we are all really looking forward to the Hooligan Race—Fibark’s trademark event that always draws a huge local crowd.

AND…we have a June 15th winner! Della Rosa has won the Snap Dragon Spray Skirt! Congratulations.

Next week’s prize is a Jetboil Flash Cooking System. This little stove is perfect for self-support kayak trips. Go to our website to win!