This is my second time coming to Keeners and the Ottawa river. Leading up to this trip I was worried whether my freestyle skills would suffer too much considering I don't own my own playboat at home, and if I would make friends with all the new first-time Keeners that I'd never met. Luckily, my sense of insecurity was met with a tremendous sense of security once I impressed myself on the water and got to know all the great new people. The first two days everyone paddled the middle channel. Although I had paddled this river before, the INSANELY high water levels rendered the river unrecognizable and left plenty of amazing features for us to surf. The second day we ran elevator shaft, a line that didn't even have water going over it last time I ran the river. Wednesday and Thursday we ran the main channel and got the opportunity to surf the world famous Minibus wave at lower water.
I got chundered in Minibus and lost my paddle. That day I had to make it down the river using an uncomfortable pair of hand paddles which proved especially challenging at Coliseum, the biggest rapid I've ever paddled.
Friday, everyone competed in the weekly freestyle competition. I put up okay rides and felt like it was an appropriate way to end the week. I'm excited for the next two weeks to come and to watch myself progress. Regardless of what happens in the rest of my time her I know the Ottawa river will continue to amaze me.
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