Remembering Dale Barton

It was 1983. I was six years old. The Arkansas Canoe Club was doing a base camp at Five Points on the Arkansas River. This was long before the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area. At Five Points there was a place you could pull off on the river side, and drive under the road through a gigantic metal culvert to a sandy area on the uphill side of the road. Every day we went to paddle different sections of the Arkansas from the Numbers through the Royal Gorge.

Obviously, I was six, so I was not doing the Numbers or the Royal Gorge. Kenny Holmes was taking me down most of the runs in his 14' Avon Adventurer. This was the first time I ran Browns Canyon, in the front of Kenny Holmes raft.

On all of these runs, there was a guy paddling a red 16 foot Blue Hole OCA, the original ABS whitewater open canoe. ABS was the precursor to Royalex, a specific type of ABS. Even at six, I recognized, he was paddling exceptionally well.

The day everybody was going to run the Royal Gorge, at six, Kenny was not going to take me down the Gorge. There is a way to walk down into the Gorge just above Sunshine down an old jeep trail and walk a short distance down the railroad tracks to watch people run Sunshine. My mother and I walked down to watch everybody run Sunshine.

Even now, 43 years later, I can still clearly see Dale completely airing out all 16 feet of that red Blue Hole OCA at Sunshine. This is the old Sunshine, which few people even remember anymore. This is before the Air Force Academy wrapped a boat on the rock, and decided to use bridge piling moving equipment to pull the boat off from downstream, and, in the process, roll the rock downstream. Back then, the rock split the flow.

The line was to boof the right side of the rock. I can still clearly see Dale completely airing out that gigantic canoe, boofing all 16 feet of ABS...greasing the line at Sunshine. As a six year old standing there, I decided I wanted to be that good one day.

In subsequent years, I stubbornly paddled every chance I got. By the time I was 12, I was taking the Perception HD-1, a 13-foot ABS produced in the early 80's, into the middle hole in surfing rapid on the Big Piney, and sitting there as long as I could. Typically this was until the boat filled up with water and I swam.

Dale and my dad almost always were just standing on the beach talking and sipping beers. When I would inevitably swim, Dale would calmly hand my dad his beer, and toss a rope at me. Dale was quite possibly the best shot with a throw rope of anybody I have ever met. He could hit me in the head every time.

Even then, I felt a bit embarrassed to be fished out that much. Dale never acted like it was any big deal. Now, as a parent myself who is teaching kids to paddle, I suspect he viewed it as just part of nurturing the next generation. Somewhat hilariously, he was helping me along the way on my mission to become as good as he was.

Nearly 20 years later, I was guiding for Arkansas Valley Adventures (AVA). This is back when Duke Bradford (the owner) had less than 20 rafts and the only outpost was just south of Granite, Colorado, right above Pine Creek rapid. It was late in the season. The water was low. I was guiding on Pine Creek or Numbers every day, and paddling Pine Creek through 5.5 every night after work. By this time I was paddling a Perception Amp as a C1. This particular evening, I was leading a few kayakers down, showing them some fun boof lines down the left side up top.

After paddling that evening, I went into Buena Vista to get dinner. I was surprised to run into Dale and Pam in downtown. Dale mentioned they had stopped at the Pine Creek pullout, which is high above the river, and watched a few people run Pine Creek, including a C1. I laughed and told them that must have been me because I was the only regular C1 in the valley. Dale grinned and said, "Hell, I was thinking, damn, I wish I could be as good as that guy!" On this day, I received quite possibly the highest compliment from the very person who inspired me to become the caliber of paddler I evolved into.

Yesterday, Dale died, and I cried. There are endless anecdotes about what an amazing human being Dale was. They are all true. I have plenty of my own. Dale was a great human being, and he was also my hero, the reason I became a good whitewater canoeist.

I can count the people who I consider heroes on one hand. Dale is among them. Yesterday we lost him, and this makes me sad. We will miss you, Dale.