The next 2 weeks...

... are going to be hectic. Not only has winter descended upon this amazing place:


It's also the last week of Mountain school, and I'm wrapping up my last session with kids here in mid-40 degree kinda rainy weather. The kids all had fun, we found mushrooms, ran amuck, hid behind trees and blind folded each other while trying to meet a tree.

but more importantly, we're getting ready to go floating down a river for 18 days.

I received a book today written by Edward Abbey which contained his journals from his last trip down the Grand. The quote on the back cover reads "Water topples upon us, filling the boat in an instant. The force of the river carries us through the first wave and into a second, deeper hole... I think I can almost see bedrock bottom. The third wave towers above us. Far above. The Great Wave. Heavily our water-loaded boat, askew, climbs up its face. Never makes it. As the wave hits us from the portside our dory turns over with the grave, solemn, inevitable certainty of disaster. No one says a word as we go under."

no, i'm not worried at all.

Yesterday, i also read an amazing post written by one of my friends that will also be joining us on this trip. You can read it here. But the quick summary is that he traveled to the source of the Colorado river to see the trickles of water that we would soon be paddling down.

I leave for Flagstaff on the evening of the 9th, and at 10am on the 10th, we are picked up by our outfitter and will be taken to Lee's Ferry. The day will be spent rigging rafts, meeting new people, hugging old friends and traveling to a nearby ranch for supper. We'll camp at the rafts at the put in site:



From there, we will set off on November 11th and travel 225ish miles down the Colorado river through the Canyon. We'll be picked up at Diamond Creek at 10am on November 30th


From there, we will be shuttled back to Flagstaff and then I fly back to Seattle on December 1st. Somewhere during that time, I'll go for hikes, look at rocks, get wet, go for runs, eat Thanksgiving dinner and miss my family. But it will be an amazing experience and I cannot wait.

With that being said, i'll be accepting guest posters for the blog now :)