Posted by Lisa Kincaid from Kokatat

Kokatat Ambassadors Charlie Center and Katie Scott run Tenaya Slide in Yosemite.

“On July 12th Katie Scott and myself drove down to Yosemite hoping to catch Tenaya slide with a good waterflow. We met Dan Simenc, Rush Sturges, Matt Baker, Benny Marr, and Ben Brown at Tuolumne Meadows at around 8 p.m. After trying to camp for the night along the road, we were informed by two rangers and a spot light that there was no camping, and the closest campsite was 30 miles away. We packed up all our stuff and drove blurry eyed to the closest campsite.

After a fitful night sleep we drove back to Tenaya and quickly got our gear together, paddling and hiking the two miles down to the slide. The water level turned out to be lower then when I had paddled it in the past, which meant the “smoother” right line was guarded by granite shelves. We decided to fire it up regardless, thinking that the pothole on the river left side was deep enough that a left run wouldn’t be the end of the world. Dan proved this by getting pushed left and boofing out over the pothole at the bottom. I followed suit, the impact upon hitting the bottom was enormous. Katie Scott became only the second female to run the slide, running farther right and spinning out at the bottom. Ben, Benny, and Rush followed.

After running the slide we sat and marveled at the view of Yosemite through the Tenaya valley. Slowly we made our way back to the car, and were quickly off to the next mission.” – Charlie Center