The 4 Corners Riversports clinic in Durango was a huge success! We started the Saturday beginner clinic with wet exits in the pool behind the store. Our eight participants did great in the pool before we continued on to Lake Pastorius only about 20 minutes away. The view was amazing! Snow capped mountains in the distance and open fields surrounding us! We really worked on all of our strokes and paddling across the lake. After about an hour and a half of working out those skills we took a Luna Bar and Emergen-C break and practiced some yoga before hopping back in our boats to learn some more. The ladies all did a great job and we hope that they get back on the water more and more so they can use their new skills on all of those fantastic Colorado rivers.

Saturday night, Emily and I put on all of our matching Girls at Play gear and took part in the Animas River Parade. We had a blast paddling through the waves, smiling and waving at everyone. Durango, having a large rafting community, populated the river in large floating raft creations that day. The folks were all dressed up in cooky outfits hooting and hollering! We were by far the smallest of the participants in our red Dagger Kayaks but we had just as much fun as those large groups.

Sunday, for our intermediate group, we started the day at Smelter, the largest rapid on the Animas River through town. It is a class IV rapid with well defined features where we could discuss river anatomy and safety. The water was running super high at 2000 cfs, so the waves were roaring and experienced playboaters were showing off their skills. After checking all of this out, our group of 3 students headed to the 32nd street put-in and started going over stroke technique. The students wanted some bracing practiced, so Emily showed her some of her favorite warm ups for that. We then headed on down the river, catching eddies and waves on the fly. The women all did an outstanding job and we had a wonderful day on the water!

Thanks to Drew and all of the 4 Corners crew for hosting the Girls at Play Summer Tour. The women participants were all wonderful and we hope to see them all again in the future. We had a blast camping in the parking lot behind the store, just up from the river and meeting so many people in the kayaking community. We look forward to spending time Durango again next summer!

If you would like to join us for one of our other on water adventures check out our weekend clinics and wintertime Mexico adventures!