Sampson's dad

winter 04/05 Chile and Argentina photos

In the winter of 2005/2006 Sampson's friends Bryan and Matt went to Chile for a kayaking trip. Sampson was happy staying with Jen and Cleo in Denver as his boys traveled to the Southern Hemisphere. We traveled to Chile and met with friends from the US, South America, and Europe for some great rivers and great experiences!

Thanks to Matt, Jen, Mom, Dad, Larsen, Sampson, and many new friends for making this trip happen! During the winter months Sampson will showcase some of his crews best shots and stories from this trip as well as Colorado summer highlights...

The Black Canyon Project

Milo in first drop of "double trouble"




















Captain Black, early exploratory descent


















Portaging or "river viewing" is one of the many benefits of running the Black Canyon...

The Black Canyon of the Gunnison contains many unrunnable waterfalls, cataracts, and sieves...

Bryan on the 18 footer, Black Canyon, circa 2001

The Walls of the Black are 2,000 feet high and 20 feet wide in the Narrows, this combined with a steep gradient make the canyon a remarkable and spiritual place to paddle....

Sampson's crew likes to spend the night on the river and one of their favorites is the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Sampson's crew has been running it for years and have developed a devoted group of Jr. Black Rangers. Led by the fearless Captain Black, the JR Rangers continue to explore the inner canyon in their kayaks. Stay tuned for info on the Black Canyon Project, an educational video project about kayaking the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, in collaboration with Below Zero Digital.

photos: Chris Larsen and Bryan Owen

Escalante Canyon, Colorado

escalante canyon

sampson at escalante 

Sampson Goes to Escalante

Sampson (aka: Sampsonatrix, Ramone Escalante, Scampson) and his boys: Bryan, Meng, and Parker decided to take a weekend trip to the beautiful Escalante Canyon near Delta, CO in early May 2005. Escalante was medium-high and Sampson was a big fan of that. He likes the shit to be clean for his boys to run, and indeed it was. Sampson also likes hanging out in beautiful places and enjoys the abundance of small rodents and birds at Escalante. Sampson prefers Escalante due to the classic Colorado desert nature of the run as well as the high ammount of carcass there, in fact he was chewing on some animals vertebrae at the takeout. Stay tuned for photos and video from Sampson's Escalante trip...COMING SOON