In Your Dreams
Paddling Itineraries That Will Make You Drool

Patting yourself on the back for paddling every weekend last summer? Pat all you want&_that's still peanuts compared to the 1998 itineraries of the following not-so-rich and not-so-famous paddlers.

Eric "EJ" Jackson

Age: 35
Hometown: Glen Echo, Maryland-and wherever his RV is parked.
Days paddled: 340; with more than 100 two-session days.
Days home: I live in an RV at put-ins and take-outs.
Number of countries visited: 5
Number of rivers paddled: 46
Frequent flyer miles earned: I never remember to log them.
Most unique shuttle vehicle used: Riding a horse bareback for the Peralta section of Costa Rica's Reventazon. The ultimate, though, is having my house (RV) at the put-in and then waiting for me at the take-out.
Worst spanking traveling: In January with my new RV driving Hwy. 131 from the Wave Sport factory in Oak Creek, Colo., to Interstate 70. A storm rolled in; it was dark, with zero visibility and a cliff on my side of the road. We were stuck on a hill covered with black ice and two cars and a truck slid into us. Suffice it to say it took us eight hours to travel the 90 miles to I-70.
Worst spanking paddling: Getting stuffed under a log on Jones Creek. My gut was on the log, water was on my back, my stern was touching the bottom and my head was under water. I pulled up on the log, which freed my stern, and I finally slid under and hand-rolled up. Less than an hour later I got stuffed under a rock. Three pins in my life, two in one hour.
Favorite destination in 1998: New Zealand
Next on hit list: Around the world in five months in 1999.
1998 Itinerary: There were only 25 days Eric "EJ" Jackson didn't cram himself into a kayak-be it a slalom boat, creekboat or playboat-in 1998. And most of those were spent behind the wheel of a 1997 Coachman Mirada RV getting somewhere where he could.

Marking one of the most unique paddling itineraries in history, EJ sold his Washington, D.C., kayak school and sedentary possessions last year to pile his family-including wife, daughter and son-into a 31-foot-long RV to tour the country to kayak. With a double bed in back and beds in front for his children, the shuttle rig took his family across the country and back again several times. In all, he racked up 55,000 miles and two fender-benders in 15 months, all while home-schooling his kids on the road. "It worked out great," he says. "They got an education and I got to paddle."

Work-wise, EJ used the time to visit with reps, teach clinics and meet with sponsors. His main reason for turning road warrior, however, was to compete in rodeo and slalom events and log as much time on the water as humanly possible. At one time he was followed by a reporter from the LA Times doing an article about life on the road. "It was a playboater's dream," says Jackson. "I got to paddle all over the country with a bunch of great boaters and return every night to my house." EJ took advantage of his home-on-wheels by paddling 340 days, or 93 percent of the year. And when he wasn't pounding out miles on the pavement in search of paddling, he took to the air, squeezing in international trips to Spain, England, Costa Rica and New Zealand.

John Hart

Age: 29
Hometown: Ventura, California
Days paddled: 200
Days home: 62
Number of countries visited: 4
Number of rivers paddled: 100
Frequent flyer miles earned: 29,000
Most unique shuttle vehicle used: Skateboard
Worst spanking traveling: The third day into a month-long, self-support sea kayaking trip in the Bahamas I decided to get industrious and do some laundry. Afterwards, I draped the wet clothes inside-out on one of the few bushes on our island base camp. I later discovered the name of the bushes to be "poison wood" (a close cousin to poison ivy). Two days later, my body turned into a red-swollen-oozing-itchy-irritated rash. The only option was to ride it out; 20 days later it was gone.
Worst spanking paddling: During Gauley Fest I paddled ahead of two people videotaping from a Shredder. I thought I'd catch the Room of Doom eddy, peel out and amaze the crowd with stunts along Pillow Rock, but I got stuffed into the "closet." My paddle got caught in the sieve and I flipped a couple of times, barely rolling up. People on the rock lowered paddles for me to hold onto, but finally I was able to retrieve my paddle and push my way onto the pillow. But I flipped again, rolled, got hit by a raft, flipped, rolled, got flipped by VW rock, and rolled again just in time to get hit by a kayak. I flipped, rolled again and slinked off to the nearest eddy. That night everyone, including myself, either grimaced or laughed when footage of my display came up on the screen.
Favorite destination in 1998: Clark Fork of the Yellowstone, Wyoming.
Next on hit list: Devil's Post Pile, San Joaquin River, California.
1998 Itinerary: John Hart is the kind of guy Michelin or Goodyear would like to sponsor. Instead of a tire company paying his way, however, it's Patagonia, which lists him on the company docket as a traveling rep. The position takes him all over the country, and paddling is just part of the job.

After paddling the El Nino winter runs of California and paddling more than 25 rivers in Chile and Argentina to "proof a new guidebook," he returned to the U.S. in April to begin a seven-month, 41-state, 30,000-mile road trip to rodeos and river festivals across the country. He began out West, hitting events on the Kern, Merced, Bob's Hole and Canyon Creek before touring Idaho, Wyoming and Colorado. From there he repeated the circle, heading back to Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. His only three-day period away from water came in August at the Outdoor Retailer tradeshow in Salt Lake City. "After a couple days there, I couldn't wait to get back on the water," he says.

After a stop at the Gore Canyon race in Colorado and a run down the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, he headed east to the Wausau, Wis., rodeo before turning north for Ontario's Ottawa Rodeo. In September he crossed back into the U.S. for a boating tour of Maine-including a stop at a tidal rapid at Sheepscott-before touring Maryland and West Virginia. From there it was off for a little surf at the Outer Banks Surf Contest in Naggs Head, N.C., and Gauley Fest before competing in Alabama's Coosa and Tennessee's Ocoee rodeos. Next, it was back to New York and back south again to the Nantahala Outdoor Center for its Guest Appreciation Festival. "That marked the end of my tour," he says. "But then I drove back to Ventura and immediately flew to Japan for a squirt event at a surf break." What did he do when all was said and done? Hart promptly returned to Ventura in November and bought a surfboard.

Dan Gavere

Age: 29
Hometown: Salt Lake City, Utah
Days paddled: 200+
Days home: Not enough
Number of countries visited: 5
Number of rivers paddled: over 100
Frequent flyer miles earned: 15,000
Most unique shuttle vehicle used: In-line skates
Worst spanking traveling: When Chris Emerick, Ed Lucero and I got stranded on Colorado's Schofield Pass because the ignition coil on my RV died. It was about as far away from a service station or auto parts store as you could get. Five hours later we got her fixed and were on the road again.
Worst spanking paddling: I got caught in a hole on the Hospital Rock section of the Kawhea River that I thought I wouldn't get out of. To make things worse I was in a Stubby. Chris Emerick and Jimmy Blakeney had already walked the rapid and as I looked up at them they just screamed for me to hang on. After a couple of loops and power flips I managed to claw my way out.
Favorite destination in 1998: Rio Gol Gol, Chile.
Next on hit list: A river near you.
1998 Itinerary: Like many with unfathomable paddling itineraries, Salt Lake City's Dan Gavere began his 1998 season with a month-long trip to Chile, paddling 20 of 30 days. Upon returning to the U.S. it was road trip time. He fired up his age-old RV, grabbed some friends and headed to California for the Santa Cruz Surf Kayak Festival (which he affectionately calls the Santa Cruz "Heckle" fest). Afterwards, he parked his RV and flew west to Hawaii for two weeks of paddling, filming and surfing with partner Chris Emerick.

Back in California, fate kept him out of his boat for 10 days when he injured his ribs on the Merced. He wasn't down for long, though, and he soon headed north for the Oregon Cup and countless runs and rodeos in the Northwest. His RV took him through British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado before appeasing sponsors with a cameo appearance at the Outdoor Retailer tradeshow in his hometown of Salt Lake. From there he abandoned the RV and flew to Wisconsin for the Wausau rodeo, hitched a ride to Ontario for the Ottawa rodeo, then hooked up with some more paddlers who drove him to West Virginia for Gauley season. After Alabama's Coosa and Tennessee's Ocoee rodeos, he drove back to Salt Lake-tallying more than 100 different rivers and 200 days paddling for the year.

Jamie Simon

Age: 28
Hometown: Englewood, Colorado
Days paddled: 275
Number of countries visited: 2
Number of rivers paddled: 60
Frequent flyer miles earned: I don't keep track, usually I drive.
Number of days home: About 30; although I am "at home" whenever I'm with my dog, Jack.
Most unique shuttle vehicle used: Helicopter
Worst spanking traveling: When I crashed our RV in New Zealand.
Worst spanking paddling: Gore Canyon at 10,000 cfs between Gore rapid and Pyrite.
Favorite destination in 1998: South Island, New Zealand
Next on hit list: Nepal and lots of time in California.
1998 Itinerary: Jamie Simon isn't your normal elementary school substitute teacher-and one look at her paddling resume shows why.

Her 1998 itinerary began with paddling the El Ni-o-swollen rivers of California before heading north to British Columbia's Skookumchuck and other rivers of the Northwest. Even a bad twist of fate couldn't keep her from racking up paddling days. "My truck was stolen in Portland, but we still surfed at Bob's because they didn't steal our paddling gear," she says.

Simon settled down-if you can all it that-in February and March by pursuing her substitute teaching duties in Colorado, but when the rodeo season started in April, she was quickly lured back to California. She stayed there until June before working her way north again to Oregon and eventually back to Colorado. Then it was on to festivals in New York, Washington, D.C., Ontario, Connecticut and Massachusetts, before repeating the same multi-state circuit. After a two-month stint in the Southeast, she returned to California in November before heading to New Zealand for two months of competing, filming and what she calls, "having just too much fun." Final tally? Sixty rivers and 275 days paddling.

Clay Wright

Age: 32
Hometown: Rock Island, Tennessee
Days paddled: 200 + (I didn't record park n' play or Ocoee-type runs)
Days home: 50
Number of countries visited: 5
Number of rivers paddled: 75
Frequent flyer miles earned: Don't keep track.
Most unique shuttle vehicle used: Josh Lowry's ambulance in Chile. It looks like a 4WD Hearse, drives like the dead. The cow skull as a hood ornament seemed appropriate.
Worst spanking traveling: I arrived at the gate in Atlanta two hours early and got in line three times, but it was always another flight leaving from the same gate. Suddenly I'd missed the flight, but got transferred to another airline and was assured I could meet the connection to Chile. I got to the gate just as they were closing the ropes. Chest heaving and covered in sweat, I was told I had to go back to get the ticket stamped. The desk was 28 gates away and when I arrived it was closed. I spent 24 hours in the Miami airport before getting my apology. Then I lost my return ticket clearing customs in Santiago. Runner up: the 14 flat tires while traveling there.
Worst spanking paddling: Lost my boat in a sieve on California's San Joaquin River. Almost lost more. See Driftwood's Thirst video.
Favorite destination in 1998: Chile: The weather and rivers of California without the strip malls.
Next on hit list: Not telling. Too good to share...yet.
1998 Itinerary: Clay Wright's year didn't start off looking like a contender for a top paddling itinerary. In January, after dislocating (and relocating) his shoulder on Alabama's Johnie's Creek, he then trashed his back on Real Mann's Creek in West Virginia, forcing him to rethink travel plans to Chile. After several massages, numerous narcotics, and a doctor visit with X-rays, he canceled his ticket. "But then I tried a chiropractor and ordered a new ticket the next day," he says. That attitude set the stage for a whirlwind year. "Ninety-eight was a great paddling year for me," he says. "While I only took a couple of big trips, I racked in a lot of 'new' runs. There are no real borders anymore-just time, plane fare and customs checks between us all. Thanks, everyone, for all the floor space and showers."

After a raging month in Chile, he returned in March for rain-fed runs back East before hitting the rodeo and Class V scene in California and the Northwest. In June, his crew of Pyranha paddlers piled into a company RV and headed to Colorado before venturing back to California for numerous first descents and high-water hair. Fall brought him east again for the Gauley Festival before a rodeo clinic had him heading for Japan. From there it was back east again before heading to England for an actual five-day indoor workweek helping design Pyranha's new Zone series. He arrived back in the U.S. just in time for the last weekend of running the Tallulah Gorge. In all, he managed 75 different runs- including 49 personal first descents; four first descents; and 14 new waterfalls over 20 feet high. So how did Wright end the year? Just as you might expect...drying out with a Christmas in Cozumel, Mexico.

Corran Addison

Age: 30
Hometown: Montreal, Quebec
Days paddled: 200+
Days home: 100
Number of countries visited: 4
Number of rivers paddled: 48
Frequent flyer miles earned: No idea. I fly around the world on average four times a year.
Most unique shuttle vehicle used: Rollerblades, donkeys and a dog sled.
Worst spanking traveling: Got eaten alive by ticks and fleas in a backpackers' hostel in New Zealand at the Rodeo PreWorlds. I was itching and scratching for weeks.
Worst spanking paddling: Thunderball hole on the Lachines (45 seconds of high-speed cartwheels in a 007): the hole is as big as a two-story bus with 500,000 cfs going through it. Runner up: Mavericks in California-got busted up good in the surf.
Favorite destination in 1998: France
Next on hit list: Japan again
1998 Itinerary: Although boat designer Corran Addison is busy running his Riot Kayaks company in Montreal, that hasn't stopped him from racking up countless travel miles in search of places to test his wares. "I did waaaay too much traveling last year," he says. "This year I'm staying home as much as possible because I miss my girlfriend and my bed."

Addison began his 1998 season with a quick jaunt to Japan, doing some ocean surfing and attending various tradeshows and kayak clinics. February found him on the rivers of the Northwest before March brought him back to Montreal. He wasted no time, however, before heading west again in April. Destination: California-for rodeos, extreme paddling and clinics. "It was super high water," he says. "The locals called us idiots." In May it was back to the Northwest, followed by a road trip through Montana and Colorado for more rodeos and river running. "I spent a lot of time during those months working on the Glide," he says, attempting to justify his travel time.

He returned to Montreal in July to paddle the Lachines, refining the Glide design and working on big-water playing techniques. After a showing at the Outdoor Retailer tradeshow in August he was off to France for, "the best rodeo ever-the Rabioux. It featured nocturnal finals, a loud PA system, hot French chicks, disco, and big screen TVs showing the finals live." In September he returned to Montreal to train for the Rodeo PreWorld Championships, taking a break only in November when he swapped his kayaks for Riot-made snowboards. December saw him in New Zealand taking third at the Rodeo Pre Worlds, taping a new instructional video and rolling the occasional shuttle vehicle. Then it was right back to Montreal to prepare for another paddling trip to Japan and a three-week kayak tour of Greece. Not bad for a guy with a full-time job.

Arnd ScHaeftlein

Age: 33
Hometown: Mittelstetten, Bavaria
Days paddled: 300
Days home: 30
Number of countries visited: 18
Number of rivers paddled: lost count
Frequent flyer miles earned: Enough for free round-the-world ticket.
Most unique shuttle vehicle used: Joshua's ambulance in Chile.
Worst spanking traveling: Usually I only get spanked on the river. I always have a plan B.
Worst spanking paddling: Can't remember-there are too many.
Favorite destination in 1998: Tough one...Alps, Norway, New Zealand, California
Next on hit list: Chile, Nepal, Africa and more in Europe
1998 Itinerary: Bavaria's Arnd Schaeftlein doesn't bother subscribing to his home-town newspaper. Why should he, when in 1998 he was only home 30 days to read it? Perhaps the most traveled paddler in the world, Schaeftlein paddled in more than 18 countries last year, racking up a whopping 300 total on-water days.
The epic began with a two-month, multi-river trek to New Zealand, where he guided and ran rivers at every chance. By March he wrapped it up Down Under and headed for the U.S. to take advantage of El Ni-o in California. Two months and countless high water runs later, he headed back to Europe, hooking up with the legendary Kern brothers for a whirlwind, four-month kayaking rampage-using a motorhome the group rented from his parents-that took him to Corsica, Italy, France, Slovenia, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Wales, Norway and Sweden. After drying off from that road trip he headed back to the U.S. in September for Gauley season, and then traveled back to Europe in October to design the new Zwo playboat for Eskimo. Following an epic surf kayak trip to Hawaii, he ended the year the way it began-joining the migration of kayakers to the crystal clear waters of New Zealand for the Rodeo PreWorld Championships.

Scott Shipley

Age: 27
Hometown: Poulsbo, Washington
Days paddled: 346
Days home: 200
Number of countries visited: 9
Number of rivers paddled: 18
Frequent flyer miles earned: 18,000+
Most unique shuttle vehicle used: Police car (no boats involved).
Worst spanking traveling: After flying from Munich to Atlanta, I drove straight to Dagger to pick up a race boat and then sped to the Knoxville airport to fly to Portland for the Gorge Games. Upon arriving in Portland, I compounded my jet leg by waiting three hours for a ride that never showed.Then I saw a group of windsurfers walking by and I bummed a ride, stuffed in the back of a van where I could barely manage to dilute their pot smoke with van exhaust sucked though the vent. After they dropped me off at a hotel with a No Vacancy sign, I found a racer's car parked out front and tied my boat onto it, and then I snuck into the hotel behind a few late arrivals. I tried several options before ending up in the hotel laundry room on the first floor, where I made a bed out of sheets and towels. Three hours later I was awaken by someone yelling at me. Once he left, I ran out of the hotel with my three bags (no, I didn't steal a towel). Five hundred yards later, I ducked into a McDonalds to see if the Hobo Police were coming. Then I heard the same voice yelling at a person at the counter-turns out it was the same bum who ran me out of the hotel.
Worst spanking paddling: At the rock at the bottom of Oceana in Tallulah Gorge.
Favorite destination in 1998: Hood River, Ore.
Next on hit list: Spain
1998 Itinerary: "I was stuck in school full-time last year," says three-time World Cup Slalom Champion Scott Shipley, "so it wasn't such an impressive traveling schedule." If visiting nine countries and paddling 346 days a year isn't impressive, we'd hate to see what is.

Shipley's numbers stem largely from his training regime. He trains on the water 10 to 12 times a week in spring and summer before cutting down to a leisurely eight times per week in the winter. In conjunction with training, he also keeps an active traveling schedule. Shipley began his "unimpressive travel" year in Bakersfield, Calif., paddling on the Kern River and Pacific Ocean. By February he was down in Atlanta and North Carolina hitting such rivers as the Chatahoochee, Chattooga, Nantahala, and such low-volume runs as Soap and Rottonwood creeks. He stayed in Atlanta, studying and paddling, until heading north in May for the Team Trials on Wisconsin's St. Croix River. June saw his first international foray of the year as he trekked overseas to Europe, Slovakia and Slovenia for the first three World Cup events of 1998.

July was just as hectic, with various obligations taking him to Hood River, Ore., for the Gorge Games; Wausau, Wis., for World Cup #4; Pheonix, Ariz., for training; South Bend, Ind., for the Nationals; and Atlanta again for training. In August it was back to Europe to join an Australian training camp at Spain's La Seu D'urgell ("It gets me free coaching and free water," he says); a trip to France; and World Cup #5 back in Spain. Afterwards, he actually relaxed for four non-paddling days on the beach. October and November, believe it or not, were devoted to school in Atlanta (although he still trained) with December bringing him back to the Northwest to train with Canadians on the Chilliwack. "This year should be better," he says. "I'll probably travel 10 months and my frequent flyer miles should exceed 75,000."

Buffy Bailey

Age: 26
Hometown: Vero Beach, Florida
Days paddled: I don't keep count.
Days home: 39
Number of countries visited: 13
Number of rivers paddled: I don't keep track.
Frequent flyer miles earned: Enough for a free ticket around the world.
Most unique shuttle vehicle used: Riding on top of a local Nepali bus with our kayaks and a bunch of chickens.
Worst spanking traveling: I haven't been spanked traveling internationally, which means it's still coming!
Worst spanking paddling: I don't like to talk about my spankings.
Favorite destination in 1998: Nepal
Next on hit list: Zimbabwe, Africa
1998 Itinerary: Team Perception's Buffy Bailey began her year as would any normal international hair boater: with a trip to South America to paddle in Chile, Argentina and Bolivia. She returned home to Florida briefly in March before heading West for spring boating in California. This was interrupted by a flight overseas to Europe for the 1998 Teva Tour, which took her paddling in Germany, Corsica, Italy, Switzerland and Austria. To complete the circle, she returned to Germany for the European National Rodeo Championships on Augsburg's Eis Kanal. In September she flew to Nepal, guiding for Ultimate Descents on a variety of rivers through November. "I finally came home in December," says Bailey, who paddled in 13 countries in 1998. "It was great. I was home, happy and dry in Florida for Christmas."

Brennan Guth

Age: 29
Hometown: Missoula, Montana
Days paddled: 260
Days home: 80
Number of countries visited: 7
Number of rivers paddled: 45
Frequent flyer miles earned: 20,000
Most unique shuttle vehicle used: Jet Ranger Helicopter
Worst spanking traveling: Figuring out a way to convince an angry Corsican Nationalist not to push our shuttle vehicle into the Golo river with his bulldozer.
Worst spanking paddling: Missing a boof on the Ritzanaza river in Corsica and ending up in a small cave behind a slot waterfall. Not too bad for me, but I put my paddling buddies watching from shore in a bad place as I couldn't figure a way out for five minutes.
Favorite destination in 1998: Argentina
Next on hit list: If I told you I would have to kill you.
1998 Itinerary: Like many of his ilk, Brennan Guth, owner of Missoula, Mont.'s Tarkio Kayak Adventures, began 1998 in South America-guiding in Argentina and Chile and pulling off a couple of notable waterfall firsts, namely the Salto Los Alerces in Argentina and Salto del Indio in Chile. Returning in March, he immediately embarked on Teva Tour '98, taking him to Corsica, Italy and Germany. Back in the U.S., he spent the rest of the summer leading kayak trips in Montana and Idaho for Tarkio before heading to Alaska to run a first descent of the Bremner River in Wrangell St. Elias National Park-billed by some as "the last great problem" of North American whitewater. Not to waste any time that could be spent paddling elsewhere, Guth's group knocked off the supposed five-day descent in six hours. October and November saw him back in the Lower 48 running his kayak school before December brought him south again to Venezuela to paddle and scout new runs. In all, he notched 45 different rivers in several countries, racking up more than 260 paddle days.

Davey Hearn

Age: 40
Hometown: Bethesda, Maryland
Days paddled: 287 (400+ paddling sessions)
Days home: 246
Number of countries visited: 11
Number of rivers paddled: 25+
Frequent flyer miles earned: 27,220
Most unique shuttle vehicle used: Oxcart, Upper Pacuare River, Costa Rica. Runner up: Pullman Motorcoach Bus-boats fit underneath diagonally.
Worst spanking traveling: Picked up a parasite in Costa Rica diagnosed as blasto-systus hominus, which made me pretty weak for awhile. On the same trip, I also had my boat broken by an "unnamed" airline on the way home.
Worst spanking paddling: On the slalom course in Liptovsky, Slovakia, I flipped to my offside onto a rock and tore my paddling jacket. Still, that pales in comparison to getting arrested in 1996 for surfing the Potomac at flood and getting dumped in the parking lot upside down in my boat by the National Park police.
Favorite destination in 1998: Returning to the 1992 Olympic Whitewater course in La Seu d'Urgell, Spain.
Next on hit list: Sydney, Australia, for the 2000 Olympics.
1998 Itinerary: You can't get in more than 400 paddling sessions in one year without having a paddling itinerary that reduces your shoulders to rubber. Even though Olympic C-1er Davey Hearn notched the majority of these days near his home in Bethesda, Md., he definitely put in a few miles traveling. "It wasn't as big of a year as some-especially for air travel," he says. "But I still managed to get out a lot." The final days-paddled tally came after he sat down in April and filled out his tax forms. The total for 1998 came to 60 days on foreign trips and 52 days on domestic trips, with in-between days filled with training locally.

After training at home on the Potomac River through January, Hearn headed to Costa Rica's Rio Reventazon for the National Team Training Camp. From there it was back to the U.S. and the Southeast for the Nantahala Doubleheader and training on the Olympic course before rallying north to New England for a series of races. The pace continued in May with the U.S. Team Trials in Wisconsin, a downriver race on the Potomac and the Potomac Whitewater Festival. June saw training at home interrupted by a flight to Germany for the World Cup circuit. After driving to Augsburg to practice on the 1972 Olympic course, he headed to Slovakia for World Cup #1, Slovenia for World Cup #2 and back to Augsburg for World Cup #3. In between, he squeezed in a trip for "fun" on the Soca River.

July's routine of Potomac training was sidetracked by a drive to Wisconsin for World Cup #4, followed by a visit to South Bend, Ind., to win his record 16th National Championship. Naturally, he ran the Upper Yough on the way home. The harried itinerary resumed in September when he flew to Spain to train for the 1999 World Championships and final World Cup, before returning home for Gauley Fest-the first time in recent history he had been in the country to do so. Although the arrival of his first child, Jessie, in February might slow down his travel plans somewhat in 1999, he doesn't plan to let any grass grow under his wetsuit booties. "I should be real busy in 1999," he says. "Especially with the Olympics coming to Australia."

Dunbar Hardy

Age: 29
Hometown: Durango, Colorado
Days paddled: 215
Days home: 55
Number of countries visited: 6
Number of rivers paddled: 70
Frequent flyer miles earned: 50,000
Most unique shuttle vehicle used: Porters...we carried our own boats with self-support gear up Nepal's Modi Khola River for two days before hiring porters who strapped the boats onto their heads and took off barefooted.
Worst spanking traveling: While wearing sandals, I jumped onto a crowded bus and rode hunched-over in the aisle. At one stop people in back sprinted towards the exit and one guy stepped on my toe in combat boots. I got off a few stops later and saw that my toenail had been ripped off and was bleeding everywhere. Moral: ride on the roof.
Worst spanking paddling: I'm currently healing from breaking three vertebrae while running a 50-foot waterfall in Ecuador. I had to get carried out on a wooden bench, transported 6.5 hours to Quito in a 40-year-old, push-started ambulance with broken windows. I've now officially retired from running really big drops.
Favorite destination in 1998: Views of Annnapurna I and II while hiking into Nepal's Upper Modi Khola; and the whitewater of Nepal's Upper Marsyandi River.
Next on hit list: Canadian Rockies
1998 Itinerary: Seventy rivers and 50,000 frequent-flier miles in one year-that's a new river every 5.2 days and 136 airline miles every 24 hours. "Without a doubt it was a big year," says Dunbar Hardy, who traveled and paddled most of the year with accomplice Polly Green. "We definitely traveled and paddled a lot."

The odyssey began in January when Hardy headed south for a 25-river tour of New Zealand, many of which saw him guiding for up to 10 days at a time. He returned to Durango in March to train for slalom, but left for California soon afterwards for the rodeo circuit. From there it was just the usual: a tour through the Northwest that landed him in British Columbia for a photo shoot; a multi-river, multi-month jaunt through Idaho, Montana and Wyoming; a swing back through Idaho to teach and guide; and finally a 10-day paddling tour through Canada. He then returned to Montana to guide before drying off at Salt Lake City's Outdoor Retailer tradeshow. A teaching stint at the Nantahala Outdoor Center brought him east for six weeks of hair, rodeo and surf paddling and then it was off to Nepal for two months of multi-day trips (he ended the year by competing in the first-ever Bhote Khosi Rodeo). After laying-over in Thailand, he returned to the States Dec. 20-just in time to wash his clothes, buy a plane ticket and head down to Ecuador.
ying handles and eyelet straps, with backrest, rudder system, hatches, thigh straps and tank straps available as extras. "We don't just build what's convenient and then try to find a market," says Cobra president Warren Aitken. "We go into the field and find out what paddlers want and how we can help them have the ultimate good time."