Pumphouse Recreation Area – All metaphors aside, the remote Pumphouse Recreation Area spanning the banks of the upper Colorado River near Kremmling marks both the beginning and the end point of countless journeys.
From this inconspicuous patch of sand and sage administered by the Bureau of Land Management, thousands of boats are launched annually, drifting downstream on a wide-eyed voyage through a spectacular bedrock abyss known as Little Gore Canyon.
Considerably fewer boaters use the beach as a landing, completing a significantly more rigorous passage through the larger Gore Canyon upstream as they slip around the bend from the churning aquatic adrenaline generator and regain a toehold on terra firma.
There are harder runs than the Colorado River through Gore Canyon, but there might be no better proving ground in the state than the Class V whitewater crashing through the abrupt gorge, dropping an impressive 117 feet per mile at its crux. Gore’s rapids offer a stout test of skill for advanced whitewater kayakers preparing to push their abilities into the expert realm.
In contrast, the downstream Little Gore run typically serves the opposite end of the whitewater spectrum, its 14-feet-per-mile gradient assessing the aptitude of novice paddlers hoping to break through the Class II barrier. On rare occasions, the two ends actually meet, coming full circle to create a continuum that metaphor can no longer escape.
Such was the case late last week, when fourth-year kayaker Thatcher Bean of Colorado Springs underwent a graduation of sorts at this otherwise unassuming spot. The 20-year-old cancer survivor became the first camper from professional kayaker Brad Ludden’s Vail-based First Descents motivational adventure camp for young adults with cancer to return as an instructor and counselor. A day after leading about 15 current and former cancer patients down the same Class II whitewater he was indoctrinated on in 2004, Bean moved upstream to firm his resolve with a lap through Gore, the first Class V challenge in his home state.
“I remember sitting down here four years ago talking about Gore Canyon with Brad, and at that point it wasn’t even in my mind, being able to do it,” said Bean, who overcame non- Hodgkin’s lymphoma at age 9. “Sitting at the top of Pumphouse that first day in a kayak was the same feeling. I was just as nervous then as I was at the top of Gore Rapids today. And when I got done, I felt the same sense of accomplishment. It really feels like I finally came full circle.”
Early lessons still teach
Ludden has long recognized the power of the kayak as a metaphor for life. Beginning six years ago and hitting the 20-camp milestone this week, First Descents emphasizes goal-setting, self-discovery and support among a group of peers with similar experiences by using the challenges of whitewater kayaking as a parallel to the challenges of life.
What Ludden didn’t necessarily expect was how enduring those lessons would be.
“Starting the camp, you don’t look a lot further than the immediate effect of that one week, changing people’s lives for that short time by giving them a new challenge to overcome. You forget that those ripples are going to go a lot further, with the ability to change the course of someone’s entire life,” Ludden said. “Thatcher is a great example. He’s using what we gave him to change the lives of himself and other people.
“We’re all pretty honored as a staff to see these guys wanting to learn how to kayak so they can then use that to give back to their friends who are going through what they went through. I honestly never saw that coming.”
Led by Bean’s example, First Descents established an ambassador program this summer for former campers interested in developing their paddling skills more fully in order to return as counselors. Cancer survivors Mathew Hayne of Golden and Kelsey Wolfe of Boulder joined the program as “junior counselors” this summer with the aim of volunteering at all eight First Descents sessions in Colorado and Montana in 2008.
“It’s nice to start giving back to a program that has done so much for us,” said Hayne, 24. “I think it really helps to see your counselors as peers, not as a bunch of outsiders.”
“I think it’s more gratifying than the camp itself,” added Wolfe, a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of Colorado. “You know what you are helping people achieve because you’ve already experienced it.”
Perfect for paddling
All told, nine return campers are taking part in the ambassador program this summer, but none quite to the extent Bean has. His passion for the sport of kayaking, and the opportunity to teach it to others who have endured a battle with cancer, put him on the fast track. In an effort to improve his skills as quickly as possible, Bean took a year off from studies at CU last fall and moved to the banks of the White Nile River in Uganda to practice kayaking between shifts as a raft guide.
“I told Brad: ‘I really want to be a counselor, but my paddling skills aren’t up to speed. Where can I go to get good fast?’ He said, ‘Africa.’ Three days later, I got a plane ticket and two credit cards,” Bean said. “It’s kind of weird to say, but I’ve always said cancer is the best thing to ever happen to me – surviving cancer. You learn at a young age, or whenever you have it, that life can be super short and you don’t ever know what’s going to be thrown your way.”
With whitewater experience limited to the Class III section of the Colorado River through Glenwood Canyon (at water flows of about 1,500 cubic feet per second) and a single Class IV rapid on the Arkansas River through the Royal Gorge, Bean found all he could handle on the high-volume White Nile (with enormous daily flows of more than 56,000 cfs), and then some.
But just as he did while facing the run through Gore Canyon last week, Bean drew upon his experience as a cancer survivor learning to kayak at Pumphouse and managed to persevere.
“On my first day, I was just like all these kids today. I’d never done anything so super scary to me. But by the second day I just fell in love with it,” Bean said. “That’s the thing, I got into kayaking through First Descents, and I’d really like to get more kids doing this kind of stuff. I’m waving the First Descents flag and plan to keep pushing it.”
Staff writer Scott Willoughby can be reached at 303-954-1993 or swilloughby@denverpost.com.
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