INTRODUCTION
Last week Donna and I attended a four-day whitewater kayaking camp run by Eric Jackson. In the unlikely event you don’t know who Eric Jackson (EJ) is, let me give you some background.
- Eric Jackson is a legendary kayaker who specializes in freestyle kayaking. He is a four-time World Freestyle Kayak Champion. He won the title in 1993, 2001, 2005, and 2007.
- Further, he was also the Pre-World Champion in both 2000 and 2004. Jackson has won a World Cup in Kayaking.
- Additionally, in October 2009, Eric Jackson finished second in the freestyle kayak world championships in Thun, Switzerland.
- Eric has also set a world record by remaining in the USA Kayak Team for 25 consecutive years. (1999-2014)
- In October 2003, Eric Jackson formed Jackson Kayak in Rock Island, Tennessee. Jackson Kayak became the best-selling brand worldwide in 2018 and stood was number one position in whitewater kayaks starting in 2007. In 2020, he started Apex Kayaks.
So, suffice to say, EJ knows something about kayaking! When the opportunity arose for us to participate in a camp with him, we jumped on it. What follows is a short description of our time at the camp. FYI – we found out about the camp by following his Facebook page, so if you are interested, you may want to do the same.
DAY 1
After a three and on-half drive from Georgia, we arrived in Walling, TN and checked into our rental VRBO. Although we could have stayed in one of Eric Jackson’s cabins, we chose not to because we brought one of our dogs, Boo Boo, with us. He has lymphoma and needs special attention, and we wanted to be sure that he got the attention required. Therefore, we hired a per sitter from Rover who has VET TECH experience.
The cabin was small but quite nice. This is the view we had.
After meeting with the pet sitter, we made our way to Eric’s home where, of course, we had our picture taken with him. He is a very down to earth person with no pretentiousness whatsoever. We felt completely at ease with him and his wife Kristine.
We then sat down to dinner, made by Eric’s wife, Kristine – two fantastic chilis- one white and one chili con carne. With us were two other campers – Pauline and Bob. Oh yeah – we had beer from Eric’s Kegerator. Kristine also provided cookies from a local bakery which, like everything else, were fantastic.
A highlight, if you will, of the dinner was all of our phones giving an alert signal at the same time. The alert? Tornado warning! We decided to get going and had to drive on unfamiliar, dark, twisty country roads in a monster downpour. The roads were illuminated, on occasion, by huge flashes of lighting.
We were happy to get to our cabin in one piece but, if have to say, sleeping was an issue. The downpour we so strong on the roof, and the thunder so loud, the sleeping was almost impossible.
DAY 2
The day started with an incredible breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, homemade biscuits and lots of other stuff (I was so stuffed I cannot remember what I ate). Donna and Eric then worked on outfitting Donna’s new Apex Ringer. For more information on the Ringer, follow this link: https://apexwatercraft.square.site/product/ringer-medium/3?cp=true&sa=false&sbp=false&q=false&category_id=3
For information on the ringer, go to this link: https://apexwatercraft.com/2023/09/06/who-is-the-apex-ringer-designed-for/
So, why did Donna get a ringer. I think these pictures say it all. The first picture shows the boats we took with us to the camp.
The Mamba weighs 43 pounds, and the Machno supposedly weighs 44 pounds. I can tell you that the Machno is more like 50 pounds. We love these boats, but getting them on top of our kayak rack was a real struggle for us, particularly since I had rotator cuff surgery 1 ½ years ago and have not recovered the strength in my shoulder (I probably never will, but that is another story).
The Ringer weighs 23 pounds, ½ of my Mamba, so that was attractive. Here is Donna posing with her new Ringer.
This is NOT something she would have been able to do with her Machno.
This is what we returned with.
Then we hit the river. This is what EJ said was going to be the set of rapids we were going to do on the very first day. When we balked, he said, “Hey. I thought you guys were experienced kayakers.”
Okay – I’m kidding. The rain was so heavy the night before (more than 5 inches) water was being released from the dam upstream. The CFS was 90,000.
Instead, we went to a flat-water area where we practiced strokes – forward, reverse, etc. We also practiced rolling. Note that I had not rolled in almost two years because of my shoulder issues, and had to relearn how to do it. More precisely, I had to learn how to roll using EJ’s techniques. When I first started rolling, I followed his techniques, but other instructors (who will go unnamed) changed everything I was doing. So, now, it was back to basics.
After that, we returned to EJ’s where we had lunch – excellent sandwiches made by Kristine. Then we went out for a second session, again practicing strokes and rolling. I hadn’t been on the water for almost two years, so this was particularly important to me. I think I was slightly better than a beginner, but not much.
Dinner was going to be at EJ’s again, but Donna and I were so tired (we are old, after all) that we just stayed in the cabin and had scrambled eggs.
DAY 2
Day 2 was a repeat of Day 1, except we only did one session and, as far as Donna and I were concerned, one was enough. The day started out warm, so I wore a dry top, but Donna wore a dry suit. She was the smart one.
After seeing Donna in her Ringer, I also purchased one. It is one of the smartest moves I have ever made. The kayak performs really well and is easy to paddle. PS: I took Donna’s boat, and she got a new, pink boat. Here we are posing with our boats (photo courtesy of Pauline Bray).
Dinner was at a local restaurant called the Foglight Foodhouse (https://foglightfoodhouse.com/). Once again, Donna and I crapped out. We were about 20 minutes from EJ’s and after getting back to the cabin and taking hot showers, we were beat, so we did not go to dinner. Scrambled eggs again!
PS: I had a beer when we returned to the cabin, and that drained the energy from me.
DAY 3
On the third day we got in to moving water. Here are the rapids we were going in.
Okay, kidding again. We actually put in a bit downstream from the rapids in the photo. The CFS was 22,000, so a lot of the features were washed out, but the water was moving fast enough to created eddy lines, so we were able to practice getting in and out of eddies, as well as crossing eddy lines. We also got to roll in the moving water.
However, because the water level was so high from the rains, the put in was a bit tricky. We had to walk down some boulders and then put in through some tree branches. Because the Ringer is so light, though, we were able to walk down the boulders with no issues.
Here I am carrying my kayak down to the water (photo courtesy of Paulin Bray). I would not have made it down those rocks with my Mamba.
It was a very tiring day.
After paddling for about four hours, we had dinner at EJ’s. Kristine made an entire side of filet, using a “sous vide” technique. Cooking steak sous-vide is a two-phase process. The first phase involves sealing the steak in a plastic bag using either a vacuum sealer or the water displacement method and cooking it to the desired final temperature in your sous-vide device. The second phase is to sear the meat to develop color, flavor, and textural contrast on its surfaces and to help render and soften its fat. The second phase, in this case, was EJ grilling the steak. The sous vide technique guarantees the steak (or whatever you are cooking) will have the correct internal temperature.
We also had shrimp, an incredible salad and baked potato.
We have been on kayaking trips where the food was great, but none that had food as great as the food we had on this trip.
DAY 4
We spent the last day of the camp on Spring Creek. Spring Creek is located along the Upper Cumberland Plateau near Cookeville. Like Blackburn Fork River it is a tributary of the Roaring River with no public canoe/kayak access points.
Although it has class 3 and 4 rapids, we spent most of the day on Class 2 rapids so we could continue to work on eddying out, peeling out, and reading the river.
Our last meal consisted of meat loaf sandwiches, the best I have ever had.
MISCELLANEOUS STUFF
Focusing on the positive
I hadn’t been in a whitewater kayak for almost two years because of my shoulder issues. Realistically, I had forgotten a lot of what I had learned. In the past, I never worried about how I sat in my kayak, how much I ached, and so on. On this trip, however, I focused on the following: how much my shoulder ached, how I did not like being “scrunched” into a whitewater kayak, and that I had a big fear of failure. At one point while we were on the water (first day), EJ said something to the effect: “I am focused on the moment, in tune with my surroundings, and not worrying about the negative. If you worry about the negative, it will only get worse.” I totally bought into this idea. We were in a beautiful spot, so I focused on that. My back pain went away, my dislike of being scrunched into the kayak went away, and, although my fear of failure did not go away, I just dealt with it. EJ’s attitude is a wonderful way to approach, not only kayaking, but life in general. I appreciate him giving us this advice.
Axe Throwing
Yes, axe throwing. EJ showed us how to throw axes and we all took a turn. The two photos below show Donna setting up to throw, and her just missing the bullseye in the tree stump.
THE APEX FACTORY
We dropped by the Apex factory to learn how the kayaks are made. The boxes contain Ringers, and the boats in the background are EJ’s fishing boats.
WATERFALLS
On the third day we saw numerous waterfalls and paddled under them. The water was brutally cold, but very refreshing.
SUMMARY
If you want excellent kayak instruction, consider going to one of EJ’s camps. He paid close attention to everything we were doing and provided constant feedback. It was one of the best instructional camps we have ever been to.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST
I changed my Facebook cover photo to reflect my current state of whitewater kayaking. I am ready to begin getting on the water again, albeit slowly.
For more great photos from the camp, visit Pauline Bray’s Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/pauline.o.bray.5
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