It has been a busy year at work so I made up for it the last few weeks. During the Demo day at the outdoor retailer I paddled the Stellar 18. This is a new company and a new boat for me. Light at under 30 lbs. , fast ( I did not have a GPS to test but it felt very fast), nice smooth secondary stability, and enough rocker to maneuver ( I don't like boats that track too strong). The hull had enough design to handle rough water but speed seemed to be the primary objective in the design. The deck had nothing fancy but everything you need, the seat was comfortable but nothing fancy, the colors were slightly bland they need to boost the saturation a little, and the staff seemed very knowledgeable. At 198 lbs, (That's right Robert I am below 200 again) I was comfortable in the boat. The cockpit was roomy for a 21.5" beam boat that is very narrow at the water line. It seemed to have enough volume for multi day trips but you would need to leave the Dutch oven behind. The deck was higher than I would expect on a boat that was designed for speed, I personally like that feature. They clearly have a racing heritage and surf skis seem to be the primary focus of the company. I beleive that Seakayker is going to do a review in mid-winter. I really liked the boat for the 25 minutes I spent in it. Note the kayak in the picture is a NW Synergy not a Stellar 18. http://www.stellarkayaksusa.com/

I also picked up a new HD wide angle GOPro, It was too much fun watching the videos Reg has posted. As soon as I get through the learning curve I will post some stuff.

The day after the demo I headed to the Windrivers with my son that is headed off to college this year. That mountain range is so spectacular it even makes the 5% of Canadians that live where they can see mountains stand in awe. Thirty years and 35 pounds ago this was my favorite climbing playground. Now it was all I could do to haul a pack over the pass to the Cirque of Towers. This is a link to a short slide show.

Click to View Cirque of Towers
ProShow Producer Slideshow by scottbaxter

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http://www.photodex.com/share/scottbaxter/684m8mg4

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I spent last week paddling in BC with the kids. It is getting harder to coordinate trips as all but one is on their own now, it makes you grateful to be out with them when you never know when the last trip will be. I should have some more images done in a few days.