Dennis Squires missing in New Zealand

[hillman1]

Author of the two best New York Sate paddling guidebooks is missing on a kayak trip in NZ. They are still currently searching for him, and the main stories are posted over at www.npmb.com. I actually had the opportunity to paddle the hudson with this guy, he is pretty cool. I hope this just turns into another epic story he will be able to tell and he comes out OK. They found his paddle and an elbow pad downstream. The last time I saw him, he was sitting at his booth at moosefest signing copies of his books. He has run alot of stuff up in the ADKS that I doubt many others would ever even consider runnable.

[Glen L]

Hope he's found safe & sound

I have his "Vol. 1" & agree he runs stuff I'd never (ever) consider.
If his survival skills are anywhere as good as ww abilities he'll hopefully be fine.
I may have met you @ Seward trailhead before dawn on Jan 4 ? (although I didn't introduce myself) - you were late for rendezvous w/ a young lady who'd already started for CC path ?

[hillman1]

Yeah--that was me. Anyway, it looks like they have stopped searching, so it looks like he is probably not still alive. I wonder how bad the river was that he was paddling, I have to think it was some serious class 5.

[Death March]

Body recovered

Dennis' body was recovered on Jan 17th I believe. It is a sad day for outdoorsmen!

[redhawk]

Local ’whitewater outlaw’ drowns


From the Daily Star

"Local ’whitewater outlaw’ drowns
By Dana Cudmore
Staff Writer

A Margaretville native who traveled the world to whitewater kayak drowned Saturday beneath the rapids of a New Zealand river.

The body of Dennis Squires, 48, was recovered Wednesday after an extensive search, according to an online account from the New Zealand Press Association.
The Daily Star Online
Dennis Squires sits in his kayak along the East Branch of the Delaware River in Margaretville on Dec. 10, 2002, while holding his book.

Squires’ younger brother Bruce, 46, of Kingston, confirmed the reports Thursday.

He said Dennis’ body was cremated Wednesday in New Zealand with a Buddhist monk present. A fellow kayak enthusiast and longtime friend, Michael Feldman of Albany, had rushed to the island east of Australia to help with the search and was also at the service, according to Bruce.

Dennis’ mother, Barbara Fairbairn, lives in Margaretville, and the youngest Squires brother, 40-year-old Darren, resides in Fayetteville, N.C. An automated service answered the phone at his mother’s home Thursday.

"The family is spiritually strong," Bruce said. "Once we had all of the facts, we could get some peace."

Bruce asked friends of Dennis to honor his memory by lighting a candle each day through the end of the month.

A memorial service that the family will attend is being planned for May at a Greenville resort. Bruce said he believed there would be "numerous little ceremonies" around the country held by Dennis’ friends.

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"We will honor his last request by spreading his ashes out among the rivers that he loved," Bruce said.

Dennis "earned his living out of his kayak" since the early 1980s, his brother said, and his family knew the dangers of kayaking.

His older brother was an experienced, world-class kayaker, know variously as the "whitewater outlaw," or, Darren said, known more lovingly as "the goose."

Dennis was the author of two guidebooks on whitewater kayaking and had started work on a third, according to Bruce. The self-published guides were sold online at the "Whitewater Outlaw" website _ http://www.whitewateroutlaw.com _ and at kayaking and boating events.

"The last time we were all together was just after Thanksgiving," Bruce said. "We hiked to the head of the Westkill, a beautiful trail behind Hunter Mountain."

Dennis planned a two-month kayaking trip to New Zealand and left right after the holiday, his brother said.

Dennis disappeared around 3 p.m. Saturday in the rapids on the Waikaia River, about 45 miles north of the city of Gore on South Island.

According to the New Zealand Press account, he was kayaking with a friend from Japan, Makota Murato, who made it through the treacherous section of the river and waited in an eddy below.

When only Squires’ paddle and a kneepad washed down, Murato searched 30 minutes, climbing rocks and scouring the area before he found a fisherman able to call rescuers.

The search was delayed by heavy rain, and on Tuesday, a camera was lowered into a gorge where it was believed Dennis’ body was trapped.

On Wednesday, volunteers and police divers were flown to the rapids by helicopter and located the body at about 5:30 p.m. local time.

The NZPA said Squires was still in his submerged kayak; his body was recovered after a large tree was moved by a hand winch.

During the search, news items, prayers and tributes were posted online at a kayakers’ message board, Northeast Paddlers. Dennis was referred to by several as "an inspiration" and his book "a bible."

"He was half holy man, half Tarzan," Bruce said. "Big and strong, he was unassuming and humble _ those are rare qualities today."

Bruce said his brother was 6-foot-1, with broad shoulders, and always wore a beard. And, he said, "sometimes he needed a bath."

Dennis "quickly endeared himself to everyone around him," according to Bruce, and in New Zealand he became known as "man of the bush."

Dennis had a lifelong love affair with the water, Bruce said. As a student at the State University College of Technology at Delhi, he canoed the west branch of the Delaware River, and he competed in the General Clinton Canoe Regatta.

It wasn’t until the early 1980s that he developed his passion for kayaking.

In a 2002 interview with The Daily Star, Dennis said he and his brother tried whitewater canoeing.

"We really beat the canoe up, so we decided to try a kayak," Dennis told reporter Patricia Breakey. "It worked much better, and I was hooked."

Bruce said although Dennis traveled extensively for the sport, he always called Margaretville home.

"He was a Catskill native all of his life," Bruce said.""

The Michael Feldman listed in the article is not from Albany, he is from Benson. He is known on this forum as 'Riosacandaga'

Mike our condolences to you for the loss of your friend, and above all to Dennis's family

Hawk