Ava's Adventures

The Epic Desolation Canyon

2008-09-05T19:42:00.001-07:00

The Epic Deso trip all began when we were about a half hour out of Moab on our way to Duschene Utah near the put in about 5 hours away. Our tire blew out and Eric, our driver, fixed it Indi 500 pit style. We made it up to Duschene and when we went to pump gas, a man came outside and said "A transformer was hit by lightning and we have no power so you can't pump gas. We don't know when it will be back up." Luckily, we had enough gas in the tank to make it to the put in and back. Well, on the dirt road about a half hour away, we saw some water in the road. As we got closer, we realized that it was not just a little bit of water, but a raging flash flood that there was no way our truck and heavy trailer could make it through at least until it died down.

We ended up waiting there for 4 hours until after it got dark. in the mean time, we made the most of our journey and blew up a duckie to float the road rapids, the chocolaty white water.

Sam fell in the water...

This wave we called "the curler..."

You can see how it got bigger, not smaller as time went on...

We ate dinner while we waited and wondered if we were going to have time to rig the boats or if our trip would be delayed in anyway as the passengers were coming in the next morning very early on the plane. We actually had phone service at one point and talked to someone in Moab...they said that Moab was on fire and our trailers may need to be activated. Sammy was worried about her car.

moussy

When you have that much time...might as well take a lot of photos, eh? The crew from left to right was Ava, Jess, Sam, Kenna, and Danny. Our nicknames became Dave, Jesse, Samuel, Ken, and Danielle.

We finally made it through the road rapids and continued to the put in. Eric was definitely going to stay overnight. We rigged at midnight. We were exhausted, but it was kinda nice in the light of the yellow moon and with a lot less mosquitoes. Then the expedition began. 25 passengers 5 days on the Green.

On day 2 we saw a black bear during lunch. Luckily, it was not aggressive.

This was with a pretty good zoom, don't even worry...

On night 3 we played football on the beach, went on a great hike to a natural bridge, and made a delicious meal followed by rice krispie treats.

View of the Green in the background from on top of the bridge...

After desert, we had a nature show when 3 big horned sheep came down the rocky cliffs across from our camp to water.

The next day was our biggest rapids, and I loved rowing them. We had a beautiful rain and rainbow. I celebrated with chicken salad air!

We had a great time laughing and dancing on the boats.

Kenna has been doing this trip for 6 years now and she had heard of a side hike to some outlaw bones, but had never been there. We decided that since this was an EPIC trip that we might as well try to find the bones. The only problem was when we actually found them!!! It was crazy! As Jess would say "Bad river juju for 7 years at least..."

Well needless to say, that night when we got to camp a major gust of wind and one of the passenger's tents took flight and landed in the water and sunk. We could not retrieve the tent in time. The river juju caught up with us quickly. Another part of this story is that when Kenna went to her ammo can that evening, she opened it up and it had a bone in it. She was yelling AVA!!! AVA!!! then basically blackmailed Sammy out of her job if she did not tell her who put the bone in her ammo can and where it came from. It ended up that I (unfortunately) was not the culprit, that a passenger did it and it was a cow bone. Boy was it funny practical joke though. The last night we dressed up and had a talent show. It was great ending to an epic trip.

Daily Double

2008-07-01T12:51:00.000-07:00

Another Daily Double Sunset!
True life-changing stories

Another great group and lots of good fun. We made a mermaid,

which at the last second turned into a merman (compliments of peter...the boy on the right)...

Our lovely passengers

The dishes, river guide style

All tuckered out after a great trip! Notice the cute little nose hanging over edge of the back rest.

There's only One One One One One......LAGOON! It's where fun is!

2008-07-01T12:33:00.001-07:00

So, when I went up to Centerville to visit, we decided to celebrate our days off at Lagoon. We felt like 13 year olds and it was awesome!!

The white rollercoaster...my favorite!

One minor detail: when we got back from Lagoon, we must have done one too many loop-da-loops on Colossal because I had lost my keys out of my pocket. Miraculously, I had a spare in my car and a police man was nice enough to slim-jim it for free!

2 day 1 day

2008-06-29T20:02:00.000-07:00

The daily double is a 30 mile trip on the Colorado from the historic Dewey bridge to the Moab bridge. 14 miles of the trip is covered on the Moab daily, so much of the views and interp is the same. Here are a few pics of our trip. I am quickly becoming the queen of the daily double as I have gone on it four times now. It is great!
Haley, Brian, me, and Kristina just got done fishing with chicken between our toes. We would hold really still and let the fish nibble on our toes; it is all very scary!

Lindsey

"Kristina love" and Me

Bubble wand I found in the arts festival

Rapid day

Our great group!

Cody and me

Rugged or Nappy?

2008-06-18T15:57:00.000-07:00

So, I am lucky enough to be in an environment that has a gravitational field for great people. One of these is Matt Nielsen. I met him at the First Aid class, and we went on a few hikes shortly thereafter. We get along great, and I guess an outsider would call it dating...I would just call it spending time with a great person, doing great things, and having great conversations...so take it as you like...
Negro Bill Falls and Morning Glory Arch hike

the girl from ipanima

Glow in the dark Chacos

Matt and I at the wildlife preserve

Cataract Canyon

2008-06-11T09:15:00.000-07:00

We took a three day training trip down Cataract Canyon on three 36 foot "J-Rigs." They are made of 5 pontoons, metal frames and a motor. There are lots of flex points on the rigs and 9 bull-riding seats on the front to maximize the ride through the huge rapids.
It was a great trip that had "all the elements" (drama, suspense, seduction, just kidding not those elements)...hiking, camping, gourmet cheffing, entertainment around the fire, and excitement on the rapids including Niagara Falls, Satan's Gut, the Red Wall, and the Panic Button Hole. Enjoy some pics from the voyage.

Becky is the straight arrow, Scott is the star, and Brian is the petroglyph.

RED bear...

This is actually an ancient calendaring method and a nice deer displayed by Vanna aka Parker. Sweet hand prints of the ancients.

One of the goals of a river guide is to make the passengers laugh. As we all walked by this manganese covered petroglyph Scott practiced his story telling jokes and counted the number of smiles and laughs.

This is a picture of the hike "Doll House." (I apologize for the weed in front, but it is really a secret weapon, a little stinging arrow, to throw at passers by that sticks into polyester shirts.)

American Gothic: Mark and Jess (minus the pitch fork)

My friends John and Des.

Victory back flips and the grand finale...VICTORY CARTWHEEL!! Courtesy of Derek, Shadrack, and Brian!

Gourmet Dessert on the last day. Hurrah for river people!!

Work or Play?

2008-06-11T08:44:00.000-07:00

One of the best parts about this job is that I will work from 7am-3pm taking people down the river, and when all the guides get back from work to the trailers, we look at each other and say...do you want to float the river with me in a duckie (an inflatable kayak)? Then we all drive up the canyon to float the river again! This is when Des, Sammy, Kait and the jungle bum went.

"The Master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he's always doing both." -James A. Mishener

Wild Rapids of Westwater

2008-06-11T08:14:00.000-07:00

Westwater is a stretch of river that begins almost at the Colorado/Utah border. It is rated the #1 whitewater day trip in the Northern Hemisphere. The reason is because there is not only beautiful scenery and human history, but the canyon is made of Vishnu Schist, a dark black metamorphic rock that creates these great hydraulics and thus rapids. Powell named it "Vishnu" after a Hindu God meaning "creator-destroyer-preserver."

Well, we were lucky enough to go down the canyon twice a day for three days! I got to row it twice and I learned so much both times. I had a "FLOW" experience when my challenge met my skills at Skull rapid on the third day. Joselyn coached me through the canyon and I had a great experience! This canyon is not without risk, we had several swimmers (but no serious carnage) and it teaches me to respect the canyon. I loved Westwater!

Westwater Canyon

2008-05-25T17:35:00.000-07:00

Westwater is a great one day river trip beginning almost at the Colorado boarder. It drops 20 feet per mile and is a 17 mile stretch. It is a great place to learn how to row and quick! It has a stiff learning curve...row, T-up to the rapids, or get flipped! The canyon is great because it is made of the metamorphic rock called vishnu's schist which is a black, really hard rock. Little chunks of rock get caught in the side walls and spin around with the water to make this amazing fluted look. You have to come check it out; I think it looks like a Henri Moore sculpture. Nice!

There were some trainers on this trip who were not with us on Desolation. They are Tex, Mark, Joselyn, Josh, and Tony. It is great to get feedback from them and get to know them.
We were lucky enough to go down this canyon 7 times. I got to row it twice and I felt like I learned SO MUCH both times down the river. Westwater canyon it is very technical and I love it! Definitely

The Daily

2008-05-25T17:13:00.000-07:00

This stretch of the river is the most popular white water in Utah. It is the Moab Daily on the Colorado. We learned how to guide the paddle boats and will probably be spending a good chunk of time on this stretch over the summer.

One nice thing about this year is that we don't make lunch for our people, we take them to the Red Cliff's Lodge and they eat at the buffet.

The rapids are great this year running at really high water...you should come and go down the river with me!

Swift Water Rescue

2008-05-25T16:18:00.001-07:00

Swift Water Rescue training began the day after we got back from Deso. We got to learn some of the latest philosophies and techniques of rescue type situations. We got to have a little fun in there too.

We swam the rapids, practiced coiling throw bags and learned how to set up a "z" drag for a mechanical advantage if a boat gets stuck in the river. It was a great experience!

Desolation Canyon

2008-05-25T14:25:00.000-07:00

Here at Western River Expeditions, the month of May is set apart for training new guides. There are 15 of us. It is amazing how close you can get to these great people in this outdoor setting (ok, we are together 7 days a week, basically 24 hours a day, so that helps too), but it has been fun to get to know such great people. Along with the 15 new "trainees" and 2 Moab Adventure Staff, there were six trainers, each of which are inspiring and amazing people.
The trainers were Dina Merrill (left) and Brian Merrill (middle) have been running rivers since their youth. This trip marks Dina's 104th trip down Desolation Canyon and she is full of insight and likes to playfully hit the crashing whitewater just right. Brian is the all-around package. He is witty and easy going, skilled and thoughtful. These two make everyone be better people out here in the river.
Kelly Mcgettigan (spinning poi fire) is someone that I felt an automatic connections with from the beginning. She is real. She is really happy and nice all the time, yet super skilled and a great conversationalist. I'm happy to get to know her better! Below is a video of the last night when she is spinning fire poi balls. As you can tell by my commentary, I thought it was pretty neat.

Scottt Marshall, Carly Castle, and Carrie Lineback are all returning guides who have been in our shoes the last 2-3 years, so their insight was based on more recent personal experience.
Each of them had great insight into rowing and life on the river. They are all such talented and interesting people. I'm glad to be surrounded by such good company! Hurrah!

The Canyon is located about 40 miles south of the thriving metropolis of Duchane, Utah. The section of the Green that we rowed begins at Sandwash and goes 86 miles south through Desolation and Gray canyon ending near Green River, Utah. It is aptly named as it looks untouched by the civilized world. Powell's first expedition was in 1869 when he took 9 men and 4 wooden boats down the canyon.

We unloaded our gear the first night and set off rowing thirty miles of flat water the next day. We got to ride with different trainers who showed us their patented moves and power strokes. I really like rowing. It is neat because it is a full body exercise, rhythmic and can be almost a spiritual exercise. I feel like I have a long way to go yet, but it is amazing how quickly you can go from very awkward chicken elbows to improved long fluid strokes. Days 2, 3, and 4 were all full of great rapids, hurrah!

We took side tours of natural arches and petroglyph's done by the Fremont Indians. They were great. We got to stop and see many of the abandoned homes/habitats from the people who made their lives on the river and people who sold the fruit to Butch Cassidy when he made his "moonshine" elixir. It was fun to learn a little bit more about the geology, hydrology, and the human history of the area.

The nights in camp are especially fun. They are spent cooking meals, building campfires, singing, talking, playing games, and if you're lucky sleeping.
So, I've decided that a good river guide has to be pretty versatile. Good river guides have people skills, master chef skills, understanding of hydrology, first aid, geology, human history, and entertainers. I feel like I have a lot to improve about myself and hope that in time I can make a good one.

2008-05-11T21:32:00.000-07:00

Moved to Moab

2008-05-11T21:11:00.000-07:00

To keep in better touch this summer I have decided to start a blog. On April 24th, I finished my last academic semester for my undergraduate degree at BYU. I had a great semester doing Therapeutic Recreation research and doing working at the MTC. I now have a great opportunity to work in the great outdoors of Moab this summer river guiding for Western River Expeditions. I hope to document some of these adventures.