Never heard of him (not a fan of heavy metal or hard rock). Glad he didn’t capsize in the then sewage-filled NY rivers. Kind of wondered about his experience level when he described “rowing” his kayak, Apparently good enough to stay upright.
One day many years ago a bus pulled into the parking lot of the outdoor coop that I worked at in Bellevue, WA. Members of Van Halen came into the store and wanted to buy some rock climbing gear and asked about where to go. Matt, helped them and told them about Index Town Wall. They asked if he would take them up there which he did. So he spent the day climbing with David, Eddie, Alex and David. A highlight of the '80’s for sure.
Thanks for the laughs! I can just visualize them sneaking through that fence. >:)
enjoyed that immensely, love his sense of adventure
In the sixties there were several rivers with sewage, flames and other things.
@Overstreet said:
In the sixties there were several rivers with sewage, flames and other things.
1969 the Cuyahoga River, which feeds in to Lake Erie, was on fire. Lake Erie still has horrible toxic algae blooms from runoff pollutants but nothing seems to be done about it. Not a lake I would want to paddle.
I think I’d like to paddle around the bass islands at annual get together some year
@Rookie said:
1969 the Cuyahoga River, which feeds in to Lake Erie, was on fire. Lake Erie still has horrible toxic algae blooms from runoff pollutants but nothing seems to be done about it. Not a lake I would want to paddle.
Burn on, big river, burn on
Burn on, big river, burn on
Now the Lord can make you tumble
And the Lord can make you turn
And the Lord can make you overflow
But the Lord can’t make you burn
Randy Newman
David Lee Roth came through Pittsburgh on a Van Halen tour in the early 80’s – Roth wanted to do aerial stage dives from a cable and his crew needed some gear and assistance in setting that rigging up. One of my fellow local wilderness outing club members, John Weinel, who was into rock climbing had gone from selling gear out of the trunk of his car at local climbing spots to setting up a nice business (Rock N Rescue) supplying search and rescue and fire crews with harnesses and evacuation paraphernalia and offering training in field techniques (including swiftwater rescue).
John got the call to help set up the concert staging. Roth was so impressed with John’s rigging expertise and his enthusiasm for rock climbing that a friendship was formed, John introduced him to the sport and equipped him and the two of them started doing ascents together as well as collaborating to design the apparatus for the stage flights. John died last Fall but his company and the products, many of them designed by him, live on.
Hey Rookie… you’d be surprised how clean the central and eastern basins of Lake Erie are. Unfortunatly, a good part is due to invasive species but the real deal comes from when the Cuyahoga River caught fire. It really started the Great Lakes Restoration Project. Now, you can see more than half the depth down and as the ODNR has said, this year will be the most outstanding year for 3 yr. old walleye ever… We are the walleye capitol of the world
Oh, and by the way, Lake Erie is more like a small ocean than a “lake I would’nt want to paddle”
@coronaboy said:
Oh, and by the way, Lake Erie is more like a small ocean than a “lake I would’nt want to paddle”
It’s good to know the central and eastern areas of Lake Erie aren’t suffering the same degradation as the western portion. I’m aware that the Cuyahoga River fire was the catalyst to start doing something about the pollution, which resulted in the Clean Water Act. And that last year the State of Ohio declared the western portion of Lake Erie as “impaired” under the Clean Water Act in an effort to do something about the runoff pollution that creates the toxic algae blooms on the lake. A good move. I wish those who pollute our rivers, lakes, and oceans would be criminally prosecuted and/or fined, be it from chemical run-off or tossing plastics in the water.
BTW, I live in northern Michigan, above the 45th parallel, so my paddling playground includes northern Lake Michigan and the Sturgeon Bay, Wilderness State Park areas. Up here we worry about Line 5.
First impression as I watched that video was “ADHD to the max!” Especially since my favorite Van Halen song “Dance the Night Away” kept running through my head, along with the memory of exactly where I was when I first heard it on a gloriously hot April day, and how it made me want to jump around and celebrate spring’s exuberance.
It dawned on me that a famous rocker would probably have his childhood background spelled out, so maybe I could confirm that strong impression. I did a search on “David Lee Roth ADHD” and—bingo!!!—there it was, clearly described by none other than the subject. Monkey Hour, indeed.