Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Tahoe Masochist Tour 2008: Part III

Lake Tahoe Masochist Tour 2008, wrapping it up and heading home:

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Photo: Sand, sun and fun- just another day on the lake.

P.net: So how long of a paddle was this circumnavigation?

Rich H: If you drive a car around the circumference of the lake you’ll tack on 72 miles. When you paddle, you don’t need to follow all of the bends and curves of the road – estimated guess of 55-60 miles…? Four days.

P.net: Do you think this trip could be done without a support boat?

Rich H: No.



Photo: Close your eyes and imagine paddling through this little scene- feel the glide, smell the pine? Stuff like this just gets me fired up to get out and on the road- you can stand up paddle anything!

P.net: Was there any one moment on the lake when you saw something that just blew your mind?

Rich H: At one point we were paddling across and looking down at the deepest spot of the 2nd deepest lake in North America- that's a mind blower!



Photo: Camp food bandit.

P.net: Now that you've finished your trip and your looking back at it, is there anything you'd do different next time? And how about board design, any ideas about how you could improve "touring type" stand up boards?

Rich H: If I did this trip again I'd be sure to drink more water. Also, I'd bring bee traps for the campsites. The yellow jackets run like crazy in the fall and get inside of everything. No design improvements, not any that I’m willing to share anyways…..paddle season is about to start again.

P.net: How was the boat traffic on the lake- were you constantly getting buzzed by jet skis and power boats?

Rich H: We paddled the lake in mid-September. Like most seasonal destinations, things really slow down in the basin after Labor Day.



Photo: Rocky landing, beautiful spot.

P.net: Where are you paddling next? Any paddle trips in the works right now?

Rich H: None at the moment, we're still trying to figure out if we’re going to compete in this year’s Catalina Challenge. Tyra and I have been very fortunate and had some great paddling moments in 2008 besides Lake Tahoe. It would be a pretty hard year to follow-up.

P.net: Anybody you'd like to thank for helping support the trip?

Rich H: Lots of people to thank for helping us out on this trip. George from Patagonia for styling us out (again), Alexa from DaKine, O’Neill Wetsuits, Mark from Stay Covered Surf Accessories, Kapitol Reef, and Steve Boehne of Infinity for making such a wonderful SUP craft. Steve got together with us before last year’s Catalina and cranked out an amazing 14’ SUP that’s been raced, battered, beaten, and transported all over the western states.

P.net: Thanks Rich- keep us posted on what's going on next!

Rich. H: No problem!



Photo: Masochists, all of 'em!

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rich & Tyra - Great trip ! I visited Tahoe for the first time this summer and was blown away by the beauty of the place. No sharks either, but boats and jet skiis can be worse sometimes. See you on the water.

Anonymous said...

Chris:

How's it? Thanks for the note, Tahoe is unreal. See you on the race scene.