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Sunday, Oct 23: Bryce Canyon, Lees Ferry, Flagstaff – 3 days and 1350 miles later
Next Post: Day 0 – Arrive at the River
Previous Post: Drive to Central Utah
Today was a sunny, warm day. We made a short detour to visit Bryce Canyon National Park. Mildly interesting from the rim. Did you know it isn’t really a canyon? It’s an escarpment. Then we drove on, crossing the Colorado River by Lee’s Ferry. We will be back here tomorrow! Lots of cool places to check out in Southern Utah and Arizona, but we didn’t have time. Gotta get to Flagstaff. Got to the hotel by 4:00 and carried all of our gear to the room. In all the shuffle carrying gear I misplaced my wallet! It’s gotta be around here somewhere. I can’t get on the river without an ID! I’ll have to look for it later.
Followed Brother Craig to the airport to drop off his rental car. Everyone met in the lobby at 6:00 PM to go to dinner. Everyone was there right on time. That’s a good sign. Hopefully everything will go as well on the river. This is the first time we have all met. It looks like the leadership and hard work put into the planning and communications with the group to get us to this point have paid off. Now I should be able to relax a bit, enjoy the trip, and focus more on being Daddy for Ariel. Wow, is she ever excited!
Dinner at The Cracker Barrel. Afterwards we stopped to get some postcards to be mailed from Phantom Ranch that will be carried out by mule. Made some last-minute reorganizing of the gear. Bought extra skin lotion. (You can never have too much in the desert.) Found my wallet under the bed in the hotel room! Yea! Now I can sleep easier. Just need to send a few final emails and go online to renew the library books we have so they aren’t overdue when we get off the river. Shutting down the laptop and unplugging for 22 days! I will leave the laptop in the care of the front desk until we return in 3 weeks. The outfitter will be showing up tomorrow morning at 11:00 AM to pick up us and our gear and shuttle us to the river. I feel the bonds of civilization loosening already.
Visiting Bryce Canyon
Road to Bryce Canyon
Arizona border
House of rock built around a boulder
More boulders waiting for houses to be built around them
Meeting the group for the first time at dinner
From the other end of the table
Next Post: Day 0 – Arrive at the River
Previous Post: Drive to Central Utah
Saturday, October 22: Idaho, Utah & Malad Gorge State Park
Next Post: Bryce Canyon, Lees Ferry, Flagstaff
Previous Post: Leave Seattle
Sunday at 5:30 AM. Writing this journal entry in the morning while I lay in bed waiting for sunrise. Yesterday we covered a lot of miles. The best part of the day was when we passed a really cool place in Idaho where a river cut a gorge into the flat land: Malad Gorge State Park, a segment of Thousand Springs State Park. We pulled off the Interstate to check it out more closely. I’ll bet a lot of people drive right over this and never even notice. (See the aerial photo of the park with the Interstate highway in the top right corner ) It looks like a baby Grand Canyon. It made for a nice hike around the rim and a good break. Traveling this time of year is nice because the park was empty. The Malad River flows into the Snake River, another great river for whitewater expeditions like we will have on the Colorado R.
Enjoying Malad Gorge State Park, Oregon
Malad Gorge, Oregon
Sign at Malad Gorge
Lots of sunshine as we drove across Idaho and into Utah. Many miles of construction zones around Salt Lake City sure made for slow going. We must have wasted at least an hour. I’m learning to dislike Interstate driving. We made it all the way down to Scipio, UT, in the center of the state. Sleeping in the back of the truck again. Nice and warm in the sleeping bag, but there is frost on the inside of the windows! No surprise, we’re at about 5000′. Today we will meet the rest of the group in Flagstaff. Lots of cool things to see before we get there though. Southern Utah has some amazing sights. (Note: date stamp on Ariel’s camera got off by one day starting today.)
Don't be fooled by the posted speed limit. We were going about 15 mph around Salt Lake City.
Next Post: Bryce Canyon, Lees Ferry, Flagstaff
Previous Post: Leave Seattle
October 21, 2011: On the Road
Next Post: Central Utah
Previous Post: Final Preparations
October 21, 2011
It’s been a great day. It was a typical rainy day as we left Seattle this afternoon. Fortunately, it’s a “warm” rain and Snoqualmie Pass was just rain too, not snowing.
Leaving rainy Seattle
And as usual, get far enough over the mountains and the rain gives way to sunshine. The forests give way to windmill-laced plains. We made it as far as Deadman’s Pass, Oregon. Camping in the back of the truck tonight after moving some stuff up front to make room to sleep. No, it’s not all my gear. I have a lot of gear for others who are flying down. So far we haven’t thought of too many things we forgot.
Deadman's Pass, Oregon
Grand Canyon: Final Preparations are complete!
Next Post: On the Road
Previous Post: The Story Begins
Thursday evening, October 20.
All the gear is laid out and ready to be packed into the truck. We’re finally ready to start the adventure.
Gathering the gear
Actually this story began October 10, 2008. I was leaving to go on my first Grand Canyon adventure when my 9-year-old daughter begged to go with me. “No honey” I said, “not this time. I need to check it out before I bring you. But I promise I will take you the next time I go.” I had been on the waiting list for 12 years before I got my 2008 permit. That was the last year before the National Park Service switched to a lottery system for awarding permits. (You can apply for a permit too. See the National Park Service website for details: http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/whitewater-rafting.htm ) I had no idea I would win a permit through the lottery just 2 years later! Well, I promised Ariel I would take her the next time I went, so at age 12 she’s going to get the opportunity of a lifetime (and she will get out of school for 2 whole weeks!) I will be on the river for 3 weeks and away from home for a full month, but 2 weeks is long enough for her. She will take out near the halfway point, at Phantom Ranch, the only place where it is possible to hike out from the river once you’re in the Canyon. Her mother will take her home from there. I cleared it with the school the day after I won the permit. I will be working with her teachers to get as much of her work done beforehand as possible. The rest she will make up when she returns.
Though my October 25, 2011 launch date was awarded in February 2010, I couldn’t commit to going on this trip until April of this year. That left only 6 months to assemble a team of 14 more people (a permit is for 16 people), help them prepare for the trip, get the group equipment rented, the menu secured and a shuttle to/from the river with an outfitter, not to mention doing all the personal preparations for me AND Ariel.
The most important part of being a trip leader is selecting a good team. Having only 6 months to do it made building the team even more difficult. At least 6 people had committed to the trip only to have to cancel later. One person even had emergency surgery. The final members were added to the trip less than a month before the launch date. It’s going to be interesting. I would normally take more time and get to know everyone better before inviting them on an expedition like this. Group harmony and teamwork are critical to having a successful and enjoyable trip for everyone. Only one person from my first trip is able to go this time. No surprise. How many people can get 3+ weeks off from work, much less do it twice in 3 years? So I’m working with a whole new team. This time I am relying on the judgement of the members I already know to make good choices about the people they recommend. There was a lot of “well I have a friend who knows someone who might like to go…” But from the discussions I have had with everyone, I’m comfortable with the team.
It has been an intense 6 months, but I believe all of the planning and preparations are finally complete. The crew is set. The outfitter has received our final payment for the equipment rental (4 x 18′ rafts, kitchen equipment, groover, meals for 21 days for 16 people and other miscellaneous gear and shuttle service to/from the river.) The trip itinerary is complete with our target campsites and planned hikes while on the river. The emergency contact plan is set for all trip members. The truck is prepped and ready with a fresh oil change, new roof rack, and new stereo. Ariel’s gear is ready including new gaskets for her dry suit, a new sleeping bag, a hard case and a custom dry bag for her cello (yes her cello is going too!). I have a new dry box for my violin. My friend Steve, who plays violin for the Seattle Symphony and has rafted the Canyon 23 times(!) with a string quartet, even told me of all the best places to play our music, effectively an acoustical map of the Canyon. I borrowed a video camera (mine was damaged on the previous trip.) Logistics for hiking out to meet Ariel’s mother have been set. There will be no way to communicate with her once we set off from Lee’s Ferry until we are face-to-face at the South Rim trail head 9 days later. The refrigerator and pantry at home have been emptied of all perishable foods. I even got a haircut. There was much more to prepare the group and myself, but you get the idea. It’s not as simple as a weekend getaway with the wife and kids.
Tomorrow morning I will be giving a speech at Toastmasters, go to work to wrap up loose ends, then leave early to get Ariel after school and head out of town. Oh, wait. It’s 10:00 PM and I still have to load everything into the truck! Guess I’ll have to finish preparing for my speech while I load up. Tomorrow the rain is supposed to come. Looking forward to putting Seattle in the rear view mirror.
Loaded and ready to go!
Just returned from an amazing place where Social Media is totally irrelevant. The story begins…
Next Post: Final Preparations
Previous Post: Preface
I just returned from my adventure as trip leader, taking 16 people on a rafting expedition down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon; 21 days, 226 miles. It was an amazing journey that explored the geologic depths of the Earth exposed by The Canyon like a biology student examines the internal organs of a frog through a scalpel cut. Yet this expedition was as much about delving into personal introspection and group dynamics as it was about examining the physiology of the Earth. They always are.
An expedition is defined as a journey undertaken for a specific purpose, often exploratory or scientific in nature. While the intentions of these 16 people may have been purely for recreational purposes, the result was much more for everyone.
A rafting expedition through the Grand Canyon has many facets: the amazing scenery; the hikes through stunning side canyons; the remoteness and what I would call protection, rather than isolation, from the outside world; the simplified lifestyle; the camaraderie of living closely among friends; the quiet time for personal reflection and introspection; and hours of relaxing drifting on calm water with the occasional brief moment of Adrenalin anticipating the next big rapid just to remind you you’re alive. Then there are the elements that aren’t discussed so much: the risks off the river; the hard work; the conflicts; the dry skin; the group dynamics generated from living so closely with and depending on a small group of people for your survival. These are the elements that differentiate a Grand Canyon expedition from a vacation in Hawaii.
Many of my friends have asked me what is it like to go on such an adventure. They want to hear the stories and see lots of photographs. Most people envision such a trip as just a really long vacation spent sightseeing. For some who have actually visited the Grand Canyon and viewed it from the South Rim park, they think it is 21 days of views just like what they saw. The reality is that The Canyon is more like the backdrop for a movie and it is the action that takes place during the trip that makes the adventure. So for the next month I am dedicating this website to a daily account of our expedition to give a more accurate feeling of what it’s like to go on a rafting expedition through the Grand Canyon. Check back daily to get a recounting of the adventure in real time. The adventure begins now…
Going unplugged: Beyond the iPhone and beyond your imagination
Next Post: The Story Begins
(This is the first post regarding this Grand Canyon expedition)
iPhone 4s is about to become irrelevant.
Imagine a world without email or text messages. No spam or viruses or pop-up ads. No steady stream of status updates from Facebook or Twitter. No television with presidential debates and reality TV. No “who-shot-who” on the six o’clock news. Imagine a world without rush hour traffic or smog alerts. No sirens screaming in the night and no alarm clocks screaming in the morning. Imagine if you can, a world without cell phones or cable TV or Internet. A world where the only connections you have are made face-to-face with the people and environment around you.
Your evenings consist of hanging out on a secluded beach and maybe going for a hike to see amazingly beautiful natural formations of rock delicately sculpted by flowing water. Then you return to your beach where several of your friends stayed behind to prepare a gourmet dinner in an outdoor kitchen. After dinner, you sit around the campfire listening to someone play the guitar while others talk about the great things that happened that day. Then they talk with excitement about the amazing things they plan to see tomorrow. The air is mild and dry. As the sun sets you see Billions of stars in the sky. With nothing more than the light of the campfire and of the moon, you discover you really can see at night and in fact, bright lights would only blind you. Everything looks soft, subdued, restful.
Now imagine in this world, that you spent every night sleeping on that exclusive, secluded beach in a remote location with amazing views in every direction and bright, clear skies day after day, night after night.. You go to bed with only a dome of stars overhead for shelter. Yet that sky makes you feel much more safe, free, and secure than you had ever been before; when you slept indoors in a bed that was pushed up against a wall in a room with the door shut and the blinds closed. That cage is gone. Nothing more than the light of the stars in the night sky to capture your attention, focus your thoughts, and put everything into perspective before drifting off to sleep. Perhaps you wake up in the middle of the night and, without moving a muscle save the lifting of your eyelids, watch shooting stars trace lines in the black sky.
In the morning you are awakened by the gentle glow of the pre-dawn sky and are acutely aware of the absence of all noise save the constant flush of the river beside your camp and the musical melodies of songbirds greeting the rising sun. You pack up your bedding and load it into one of the rafts; eat breakfast with your friends as you discuss what exciting rapids are coming up today. The only stress in your world is the thrill as you blast through waves big enough to flip your 18′ raft end-over-end if you don’t run it just right. A few moments of Adrenalin sandwiched between long stretches of lazy, calm flat water carrying you downstream; parading you before colorful canyon walls over a mile high to either side. Those walls shield you, protect you like a citadel from the noise and chaos of the world beyond. Even a satellite phone would only get a few moments of connection while the satellite is high overhead between the canyon walls. As evening approaches, you find another beach, set up camp, and do it all over again. 21 days, 220 miles.
Welcome to the Grand Canyon.
My blog has been unusually quiet lately as I am busy planning and preparing to lead 16 of my friends on just such a trip for the second time . We launch from Lees Ferry October 25th. When we do, I will leave this wilderness behind and step into a far more civil and peaceful world. In fact, the moment I pull out of my driveway and start the drive to Flagstaff, the chaos will begin to fade and let the harmony shine through like the setting sun yields the night sky to the stars. Though it will last a fortnight, the trip will feel as fleeting as the night and returning as inevitable as the Sun will rise the next day.
iPhone 5 is about to become irrelevant for me anyway.
So what are YOU doing for the month of November?
Next Post: The Story Begins
(This is the first post regarding this Grand Canyon expedition)
The Notes Guy in Seattle 