Local adventurer Tom Potter reached out to us about a full moon Kayak adventure in Tumwater Canyon he was planning for August 21st and asked if we wanted to document. We kindly replied at 9:30pm that night that we would come out for some photography. When we arrived at the meeting location at 10pm we found neon lit glow stick men getting ready for a night ride into the Chaos Rapid stretch of the Wenatchee River with only the full moon to guide them. On the scene was the support crew that consisted of legends Jean-luc, Tiffany and Andy shooting film.

Rumor has it that Tom kayaked the Tumwater Canyon over 50 times this season and the team did a daytime scouting run earlier that day to get their lines dialed in. The all star team loaded up their gear and we headed out on Hwy 2 to drop them off at the put in. The duo disappeared into the forest at riverside and we headed down river to our shooting locations.

Now tripods are set and ready to shoot 30 second exposures in hopes of catching the neon light trails of the kayakers to show their path through the river. A few on and off flashes of the headlamp gave the river riders the signal that photographers were ready.

Tom’s accomplice for the mission was pro kayaker Brett Barton. The vibrant crew shuttled the rapid twice and we captured two long exposures of each run showing the neon lit path from the two shredders. The guys made it look easy and they wrapped up the adventure at midnight. Congrats to the boys for what we think is the first neon full Moon descent of this wild stretch of river.