Cali-Burn Fest, Burnt Ranch Gorge

The day broke sunny with a fall chill in the air. Pulling up to the put-in, we expected to see carloads of people standing around waiting for the third annual Burnt Ranch Gorge race to begin. We pulled down the road only to realize that in standard fashion, the pre-race party had obviously raged a little harder than expected. Again. We stood alone in the dirt, soaking up the sun, and slowly, the haggard crowds rolled in. An hour and a half later, we hit the water.
Dustin and I paddled down before the racers to set safety at the finish line, Falls 2. We waited around for a bit, wondering how many people would get beat down this year at the finish line, and then began to see the racers coming though Falls 1, and headed our way.

Charlie Center styling the finish line boof in first place.
Alex Wolfgram, Brandon, and Nugs - 3,4,5.
Orion Meredith, getting ready for a wall-check face grind, 8th place.

Matt Porter on the left side of Numero Dos.Event Organizer, and all-around great guy, Paul Gamache.
View of the canyon downstream of the finish.
Upstream view of BRG with Falls 2 in foreground.
Party Time. All you can drink buffet, thanks to generous keg donations.

The BRG race has the potential to become the next big whitewater race event. The run down BRG is like a playground, courtesy of mother nature. Combined with the surf comp on Friday afternoon, this makes for a killer weekend. The surf this year was unfortunately small, but still fun. Will Parham through down hard, as usual ,and took first place out in the ocean. Hopefully this event will continue to grow more in the future. Thanks to Paul Gamache and Cali Product for putting on this race, and to Rita, Rocky and Rush for a rockin' party. Also, props to all the people and businesses who donated raffle prizes and of course, kegs.

Anyone interested in solar power in Africa? if so, check out the Sun Catchers Project at http://www.suncatchersproject.org/. This is a great non-profit organization that i working to bring solar power to many poverty stricken areas of Africa, many of which are paddling destianations as well. Thanks also goes out to the to Sun Catchers Project for helping put on this year's Cali Burn Fest.