"Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, and as vital to our lives as water and good bread." Ed Abbey
So we took off for a bit of wilderness. There were some nervous souls but on the whole everyone was excited.
Had some engine issues and our brightest minds quickly solved it. Wet spark plug... Thanks McGuinn and Shawn.
Once we got moving we could feel the wind in our hair. Cutty was hell bent on getting to Spanish Bottoms that night. So we did. 50 river miles!
Gigari takes in the white rim layer. What a great shot!
McGuinn takes over the motor boating duties and Cutty stretches his legs. Buzz enjoys some conversation.
So it was Greg, Cutty, Giles, Downing, Buzz, McGuinn and the DuHawks - Sammy, Jorge, Sawyer, Pedro and Shawn. 11 in all... Above the DuHawks take in the Doll's House.
Excellent photo taken by Pedro!
Fucking DuHawks...
We laid over at Brown Betty and horseshoes ensued.
If you are going to be in the peanut gallery might as well be at Brown Betty. Teams were formed and it became clear that the DuHawks were not brushed up on horseshoes, hence they spent a lot of time getting beat and watching. They also didn't bring sleeping bags! To be young.
The Utah Boys at sunset.
Where the DuHawks lacked in horseshoes skills they made up for it on the jam session that evening. Everyone grabbed a stick, fork, can, or board and we howled at the moon for several hours.
Dawn broke and Jorge drew the dish duty straw. Probably better than the biffy duty though...
Rapid day was tense. CFS around 45,000 and the biggest any of us had seen. I had the back oar and loved every minute of it. When Greg and Cutty gave the safety speech that morning it was a captive audience to say the least.
Like a meer cat troop it was heads up looking for potential danger. Lots of video of actual rapids on social media so check there for the action.
Having a moment in between rapids to look up.
The whole crew minus McGuinn. Pure freedom when you are in the canyon.
Some of the DuHawks take a dip. Buzz thinks better of it though and enjoys a cold one...
God damn the take out and the bridge warning.
Cutty almost got in a fist fight taking his time on the boat ramp. He was in strap land and had a bunch of "commercials" lined up behind him.
We got out of there though and enjoyed the drive up out of Powell, past the Henrry Mountains and into Green River. Had a good laugh when Downing was bitching about the keys not being where we specified... Cutty said "did you check under the floor mat" "of coarse I did" says Downing. "Check again" says Cutty.... "Oh, there they are..." classic!
A quick dinner at Ray's hit the spot. We found out that the Warrior's/Cav's series was going to game seven. Love coming off the river learning of ground breaking sports history...
Ended up at Swasey's outside of Green River. I had to call it early that night but the energy was off the charts. I was missing Ash and the kids...
DuHawks sleeping in the dirt. Nice spot to sleep in the dirt!
What a good mix of generations... Hopefully the DuHawks have an appreciation of life in the west (sleeping bags and all). I eluded to it in camp one night but it takes a ton of commitment to take on a trip like this. I tip my hat to everyone who made it. And to Cutty...! Who has lived the river life for years and accumulated a bevy of Cataract grade equipment, inspired me personally to buy a boat and live the life for myself.
Thanks,
Chris Giles
