Last Saturday morning at Lady Bird Lake, I watched a guy struggle with every stroke, his knuckles constantly banging against his kayak's gunwales. His paddle was way too short. After 20 minutes, he paddled over to me, frustrated and asking why kayaking felt so difficult. That's when I realized how many paddlers are using the […]

The crack of glacier ice hitting water echoed across the bay like thunder. My paddle froze mid-stroke as a house-sized chunk of Aialik Glacier crashed into the sea, sending waves rippling toward my kayak. After two decades of paddling from Texas to Tasmania, nothing prepared me for the raw power of kayaking in Alaska. Last […]

Last spring, I found myself floating through a slot canyon on Lake Powell, my kayak dwarfed by 200-foot sandstone walls that glowed orange in the morning light. A great blue heron startled from a hidden alcove, its wings casting shadows on water so still it looked like glass. That's when it hit me – Utah […]

The first time I paddled into a Louisiana cypress swamp, I knew I'd found something special. It was early morning on Lake Martin, just outside Lafayette, and the mist was so thick I could barely see 20 feet ahead. Then, as if someone had pulled back a curtain, the fog lifted to reveal a cathedral […]

Last spring, I found myself completely lost in the maze-like channels of the Potholes at Indian River Bay. My GPS showed I was maybe 200 yards from my launch point, but with the winding waterways and identical-looking marsh grass, I might as well have been on another planet. Then a great blue heron lifted off […]

Last Saturday morning, I found myself standing knee-deep in the crystal-clear waters of the San Marcos River, watching my kayak drift lazily in the 72-degree current while a great blue heron eyed me suspiciously from a cypress branch. After 20 years of paddling Texas waters - from the muddy Brazos to the pristine Devils River […]

I'll never forget the morning I paddled through Three Sisters Swamp on the Black River. The ancient bald cypress trees, some over 2,000 years old, stood like sentinels in the tannic water. A great blue heron lifted off just 20 feet away, and for a moment, I felt like I'd paddled back in time. That's […]

Last summer, I paddled through a section of the Green River where the canyon walls rose 500 feet on either side, and the only sounds were my paddle strokes and the occasional cry of a golden eagle overhead. That's when I realized Wyoming had completely transformed my idea of what kayaking could be. From the […]

Last summer, I watched a family of otters playing in the crystal-clear waters of the Blue River while paddling through Southern Indiana's limestone country. That magical moment reminded me why Indiana's waterways are such hidden gems for kayakers. After spending the past decade exploring every navigable stream from Lake Michigan to the Ohio River, I've […]

Last summer, I found myself perched on a limestone cliff above the Snake River, watching the morning mist rise from Blue Heart Springs. My kayak bobbed gently below, tied to a weathered juniper branch. That's when it hit me – Idaho had ruined me for paddling anywhere else. After spending the last five years exploring […]