RMNP, Ouzel Falls

Sunday, 9/30

We wanted a slightly easier hike than yesterday's, so we chose the Ouzel Falls trail which climbed 950 feet over 2.7 miles (one way) past a series of waterfalls, up a rocky path through the woods.  Not as intense as yesterday, but still a great workout.  It was sunny and 57 on the drive to the trailhead (and it didn't get any warmer than that for the rest of the day).  Because it was Sunday, the parking lot  was full of cars, but it didn't feel too crowded on the trail, fortunately.  Lots of families with small children reminded us of all the Sunday walks in the woods we did with our own children as they were growing up.

Nils at Cascade Falls (see how baggy his jeans are? They would just plain fall right off without a belt).

At times it felt like we were in fairy tale woods, most of the time within earshot of the water crashing through the rocks.  The air was crisp and cool and fresh, and smelled of spruce  (which always reminds me of Christmas).

I couldn't resist a photo of these twisted, braided roots, spilling into the path.

Nils, in front of Ouzel Falls.  We didn't see any Ouzels, but the waterfall was beautiful.

Again, we retraced our steps back to the trailhead....2 hours 40 minutes all together.   Hearing--and seeing--the white water made it that much more enjoyable.   We did get a few sprinkles in the last mile, but they passed quickly.  

Whitewater is LOUD!

On the drive "home" we saw a huge field of bright yellow aspens with mountains in the distance.  The Rocky Mountains are just indescribably beautiful.

Snow and glaciers in the distance

You can just barely see the mountains in the distance on this picture too.

We came home, ate and were all excited to dip into the hot tub, but it was closed.  What a disappointment!  Consolation: football, Ryder Cup and the movie Singin' in the Rain on tv.  All sort of at the same time (there was a lot of channel changing back and forth).   Tomorrow will be our last full day in the Rockies (or in Colorado, for that matter)--the great schlepp eastward begins on Tuesday morning first thing.

Summit Hike in the Rocky Mountains

Saturday, 9/29

Nils said, "let's do a summit hike!".   There were 4 to choose from---we picked the Twin Sisters Peaks, consisting of a gain of 2338 feet in elevation over 3.7 miles, to a total summit elevation of 11,428 feet. This would be the highest hike with the most elevation gain we've done so far, and we were psyched.

The hike began in the Roosevelt (Teddy) National Forest, a series of gentle switchbacks through thick spruce woods, so thick that the sun could not penetrate.  The air was cool and crisp and smelled amazing.  The path was littered with, well, rocks (we ARE in the Rocky Mountains, after all) of all sizes but not so many that the footing was overly difficult.  As we climbed higher and higher, the dead trees at the sides of the path became more and more sculptural and beautiful, like a giant bonsai.  it really had the look of a beautiful Japanese rock garden at times.  Until we reached the treeline, we couldn't see into the distance at all, just trees, trees and more trees.  But then, glimpses of white capped mountains in the distance.  Above the tree line we hiked switchback paths through scree, a mess of boulders, rocks and gravel to the summit, where a breathtaking panorama awaited us.

Our reward: an amazing view

Smiling Lisa, at 11,428 feet

The rock I was sitting on had been warming in the sun...felt really good to rest there a few minutes

There were about 20 people at the top, having a little picnic and enjoying the view (also a hopeful chipmunk, on the lookout for crumbs).  We did not linger long...the way up had taken us 2 hours 20 minutes, the way down was going to take 2 hours for sure.  So---back we went, exactly the way we'd gone up.  By the final mile my feet were hurting, my leg muscles were sore.  But it was a good feeling of accomplishment....I could not have done this hike two months ago.  We definitely left some pounds behind on THAT trail.

There were MANY patches of snow along the upper section of the path.

We came home tired and hungry.  After a delicious lunch (tempeh-thai noodle-broccoli-peanut stir fry) we headed to the hot tub, one of the benefits of this fancy-schmancy RV park--felt great after all the strenuous climbing.  We watched a movie on tv (we have cable here too!) and slept very well.

Crossing the Continental Divide

Friday, 9/28

We had the RV all hitched up and ready to go before bed last night, so we could leave quickly and easily this morning, since we'll have a long driving day today.    The scenery along the way was just gorgeous....the Colorado River flowed next to the highway for our first two hours or so.  At many points, LOTS of white water and rocks and turbulence (which made me think of our kayaking expedition on a different portion of the Colorado River and gave me the heebie-jeebies).  Also, the highway was built on such a steep mountainside that the lanes for oncoming traffic were propped above us, like an overpass (except that we were parallel to each other).

This is taken from the higher level (westbound), and you can see the lower level closer to the river (from Google images).

By 9:30am we reached the "Schnappszahl" of 90,000 miles on the odometer, which means we've driven 7,265 miles so far.  Can you believe it?!

The mountains got higher and more majestic as we approached the Continental Divide....covered in dark green spruce trees with brilliant yellow clumps of aspens.  In the far distance--snow-covered peaks.  Our temperature started out close to freezing this am (there was thick frost on the windshield) and reached a "high" of 39.  As we approached Vail, we climbed up a LONG incline over the Vail Pass Summit of 10,603 feet.  Shortly thereafter, driving between--and in the shadows of--two very tall mountains the temperature descended briefly to 32!!  That's life at high altitude for you.

First snow cap sighting from the car (I took this through the side truck window)

We crossed the Continental Divide about 1/4th of the way through the 2-mile-long Eisenhower tunnel, traveling at high speed.   Kind of anti-climactic to cross it while driving in a tiled, level tunnel but pretty amazing from an engineering standpoint.

We left the highway to go north toward the Rocky Mountain National Park, up and up and up, through old gold-mining towns on winding roads.  The aspens had all turned mostly brilliant yellow with the very rare red-orange burst of color for contrast.  The yellow is every bit as beautiful as the maples in Deerfield, but I miss the orange/red and hope there will still be some to see when we get home.

The aspen looked even brighter yellow than in this photo, just like the maples in New England

Lots of political signs along the road, mostly Republican.  Although I did see this hand-painted sign in one teeny town: "Buddha for Commissioner".  That just cracked me up.

We finally got to the Spruce Lake RV Park in Estes Park by 2pm.  We decided to splurge on a place with LOTS of amenities for our final days in the national parks....it's cold at night, and we wanted full hook-ups so that we can stay warm and comfy at night.  The RV park is only about quarter full, but I suspect that will change in the next few hours.

Rifle Gap SP, Cherry Creek Trail

Thursday, 9/27

Well, you may have sensed from yesterday's post that I was a little down in the dumps.  Yup.  Had me a little melt-down (Nils was very supportive) and got it out of my system.

Today dawned sunny and clear, at least.  It was in the 40s around dawn....we waited a few hours for temps to rise to the mid-50s before commencing our chosen hike for the day,  the Cherry Creek Trail.  We get an elevation change (my fave!) rising from 6700 feet to 7800 feet in elevation over 1 mile.    The dirt path was steep and narrow, but not too steep, moist but not muddy.  In other words, perfect.  The colors and vistas were beautiful...oaks turning russet red and yellow with some leaves still bright chlorophyll green...and then some small patches of prickly pear cactus here and there, just to mess with our heads.

Beautiful Fall colors and  mountains in the distance

The vista from the top was so pretty, row upon row of mountains, bright green patchwork of fields below.

Here we are at the top, taking our own picture.  You can still see a lot of clouds, but we did not get rained on.  Yay!

We were the only ones on the trail, and practically the only ones on the road driving to and from the trailhead.  Just lovely.

Next stop: Rocky Mountain National Park, more specifically Estes Park, Colorado

In Rifle Gap

Wednesday, 9/26

On our way into town, we happened to look at the odometer....we've passed the 7000 mile mark! And there are still a lot more miles to go before we get home.

So you might have some questions about a town called "Rifle".  The answer is yes, it is full of hunters (and fishermen, and gun/ammo shops and etc.).  One of the motels in town is called the Winchester. ( Funny, we haven't found any vegetarian restaurants. ) "Nuff said.  It's a cute little town with a lot of cafes and boutiques....even has a sushi place (always a sign of civilization)!  The library looks very recently re-modeled and is quite lovely.  Although Nils and I have been noticing on our travels that the whole notion of libraries being quiet places for study and peaceful reading seems to be a thing of the past.  We need to bring earplugs, apparently.

We got to Rifle about 45 mins before the library opened, so we took a brisk stroll through "downtown".  Our street suddenly ascended a very high, long hill, so we hiked up and down twice for exercise.  A sign warned truckers of a 20% grade coming down.....that's steep for a residential street!  I was out of breath and glad for the exertion.

Nils is searching for our next camping spot, near the Continental Divide....Sylvan Lake was to be our next destination, but its campsites have no electric hook-ups, and with temps dipping into the high 30s at night at that altitude,  it would just be too durned cold. Nils just said to me that it's funny (ha) the way we assumed that we'd have no rain this whole trip....right now it continues to be cold, damp and dreary.  Clearly we've been spoiled by desert weather.  Time for a reality check.

East on I-70.....

Tuesday, 9/25

Last night it rained off an on for hours.  And it was cold.  Fortunately it stopped long enough for us to hitch up.  It was 43 degrees when we left our campsite on top of the canyon.  By the time we descended to Montrose, it was 53.  We found a tire guy who diagnosed the slow leak in one of the RV tires (nail) and repaired it for us, all in about 20 minutes, for $15.  What a deal.  In the town of Palisades (fruit and orchard central) we found a small library where Nils did travel research and I posted to the blog.  By late morning it was raining again.  We're on our way to Rifle Gap Reservoir State Park, where they have campsites with full hookups.  Stopped at Walmart on the way where Nils found a small inexpensive space heater to take the edge off of the very chilly nights/early mornings.  

The Reservoir water level is VERY low, besides, it's cold and damp, so not very enticing for kayaking.  Hopefully we'll find some good hiking tomorrow.

a STEEP hike down into the Black Canyon

Monday, 9/24

We went to the visitor's center to get back-country passes for ourselves to descend off-trail down into the canyon.  It rained a bit in the night, so we were expecting possibly slick and muddy conditions.  We were fully warned of the dangers and of the steepness (45degs in some spots) which sounds all well and good but my GOODNESS, it was steep.  Crazy steep.  Lots of firsts for this hike: black dirt on the path instead of sand or red rock.  Hard granite rock EVERYwhere.  Very, very VERY steep descent.  Oh, and fall colors.

Lisa on the autumnal trail (it wasn't steep yet at this point, as you can see)

At a certain point, I just wasn't having fun anymore on the steep and quite unmaintained trail (the bad footing was a little too reminiscent of when I fell and broke my wrist 8 summers ago).  Nils really wanted to check out "the chain", however, so he forged ahead a few more switchbacks til he found it.  It's 80 feet long, and you hold on for dear life, as the footing is quite difficult due to the steepness.  He LOVED it, and managed, of course, in his expert fashion, to position the camera to take a brief movie of what it was like:

Pretty crazy.  And great exercise!   I sat patiently on a rock waiting for him in the drizzle, and then we headed back up the canyon which was not easy, but at least more fun than coming down.  We were richly rewarded with a GORGEOUS rainbow!

Isn't it beautiful?!

It flashed in and out of focus/instensity....it was actually a double rainbow.

It felt like a very good omen.  We got home and made lunch and then hunkered down while it rained and thundered....we haven't been in a rainstorm for months!  The temps never climbed out of the 50s, it actually felt like November.

The rainstorms cleared away the haze and now we could see snow capped rocky mountains in the far distance....that's where we're headed next!

Goof-0ff Sunday at the Black Canyon

Sunday, 9/23

Last night we got up around 2am to look at the stars (from the comfort of our new reclining chairs).  Nils saw 7 shooting stars, I saw 4.   It was MAYBE 40 degrees out....cold and clear.  It's officially autumn, there's no escaping it.

Today was officially a Lazy Day.  No big, heroic, death-defying hikes or kayak adventures.  Just a little sight-seeing and then hanging out at "home".  We took a drive out along the rim in the morning sunshine and stopped at a number of viewpoints.  It's beautiful, and totally different from anything else we've seen so far.

Lisa and Nils at the Painted Wall (see below)

The "Painted Wall"

Lisa, in her Navajo turquoise jewelry (and weighing 14 pounds less than at the beginning of our trip--yay!)

We came back from our little drive just in time for football!  Nils really deserved to veg out in front of the tv for a few hours after all the thousands of miles he's driven.

On our way to the Black Canyon

Saturday, 9/22

We survived the winding treacherous road down to terra firma (aka Grand Junction), past F 1/2 Road again--and here's the photographic evidence:

For some reason, this just totally cracked me up.

Now that we're out of the desert, it's starting to feel like Fall all of a sudden.  I know, it's practically the end of September, but it still took me by surprise, a little.

We found a nice campsite with plenty of sun for our solar panels.  Downside: no internet.  Upside: TV reception with lots of sports channels.  We'd already decided that tomorrow would be a relaxing lazy day...Nils is looking forward to watching some professional football for the first time this season.   There was a family of deer grazing in our campsite when we arrived, two does and three little ones.  They came through again in the evening and one of them ventured within a few feet of where we were sitting, just checking us out.  There are lots of grey cottontail rabbits hopping around too.  Allegedly there are bears and mountain lions in the park.  No sign of them, though.

The Black Canyon really IS black, a combo of the dark grey granite walls and the fact that it's one of the steepest, narrowest (and darkest/most shadow-y) canyons in the whole US adds to the darkness.  We went for a short rim walk late in the afternoon to check it out....wow, there are TREES here!  Oaks, 12 feet tall!  By Deerfield standards, this is admittedly puny, but compared to desert flora, they're impressively enormous.  Here are some pictures at different points from behind the Visitor's Center

This is as far as we wanted to back up...sheer drop=off behind us

It looks pretty dark and dismal in this photo---see the whitewater at the bottom?  You could HEAR the water all the way up 2500 feet, too.  

As you can see, no more red sandstone anymore, which makes us a little sad---we miss it.  Hoping for good star-watching tonight.

Colorado National Monument

Friday, 9/21

We woke up to a sunny but cool morning---left around 9am to drive to the trailhead.  The drive alone was pretty hair-raising, ueber-switchback-y two-lane road hugging the canyon wall on one side.  The other side's minimalist "guard rail" of 18" high stone blocks was all that stood between us and, well, death.  We took it slow and easy and made it just fine.

Our hiking  trail descended almost immediately into a series of switchbacks and stairs hewn out of the rock by FDR's Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps (the C.C.C.), who were responsible for many of the trails and tunnels roads and Visitor's Centers we've enjoyed in the past 2 months.   They are treasures.

This is cryptobiotic soil, which represents decades of biological growth, and should NOT be stepped on, lest all that work go to waste (just so you know)...we see it all the time on our desert hikes.  And we do not step on it.

I'm about a third of the way down already.  There really is a trail  here somewhere!

 We had a great view of the "monuments" on our way down.

These are about 500 feet tall

We hiked down and then walked in the valley amidst all this amazing rock

A view from the bottom of the wall we just climbed down (really)

 We had the trail almost completely to ourselves for 2 1/2 hours.  Just lovely.

These are called the "Coke Ovens" (formerly the Haystacks).  I think they look even more like beehives.  Or clay bread ovens.

We practically flew back up the canyon path....we are rockstars!!   After a delicious meal, we headed into Grand Junction for a look at Cabela's (it's like LLBean but totally oriented toward hunting.  I've never seen so much camouflage, ammo, or taxidermified big game on display in my life....there must have been a hundred of them).  We found wonderful reclining ("zero gravity") fold-up chairs for relaxing outside....incredibly comfortable.  And on sale!  Then we even found a library with internet (which is where I'm typing at the moment).

Oh, on our way we passed some very interestingly named streets, such as  F 1/2 street.  "F" and a half?!  There were a lot of streets with "1/2" in their names, but this one was definitely the most unusual.



Tomorrow we leave for Black Canyon of the Gunnison.

Leaving Utah.....

Thursday, 9/20

Today we left Utah.   It's a little sad, as we've had such a great time in all of its magnificent national parks.  But not to fear, our next stop in Western Colorado is the Colorado National Monument National Park, and it is full of similar red rocks, sandstone, monoliths....it will make allow for a good transition as we ease our way into an Easterly direction.

The landscape got very sandy and desert-y as we traveled east, but then we spied red rocks again as we drove up and up and up (and through a few tunnels) to the top rim of a canyon....all of the "monuments" are nature made and took millions and millions of years to shape.  Just a few minute's walk from our campsite, we took a look (at sunset).

Up right on top of the wall of rock is the visitor's center. The town of Grand Junction in the  distant valley beyond, behind the Colorado River.

Many of these monoliths have names, like the Kissing Couple, or Praying Hands or Organ Pipes.

It's a beautiful, quiet spot with these spectacular monoliths in all shapes.  They come in extra-large, grande and stupendo sizes.   We're looking forward to our walk tomorrow where we'll do our favorite thing, namely, climbing down a series of impossible-seeming switchbacks to the bottom of the canyon, walking a mile or two, and then climbing back up (the climb back up is by far the best part!) (I'm not being sarcastic.  It really IS the best part).  

Canyonlands

Wednesday, 9/19

Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park

Today was our day to explore Canyonlands National Park, about 20 mins drive from our campsite.   It's a sprawling BIG canyon--actually two of them, formed by the Colorado River and the Green River which flows into it at a Y-confluence.  Red sandy rocks, arches, majestic castle-like structures, needles, domes and a few ancient Pueblo ruins as well.  We like a good strenuous hike, so we chose the Gooseberry Trail (doesn't that sound adorable?) down to the white rim road (there's a line of white about 1400 feet down from the top of the canyon, all the way around the winding perimeter).  

See the white rim along the top of the dark wall?

On our drive to the trailhead we stopped at Mesa Arch, one of the most photographed, picturesque places in the park.   It is just breathtaking....you can look through the arch to see the whole canyon stretched before you, with mountains in the far distance.  Unfortunately today was quite hazy due to smoke from forest fires in Idaho.  But it was still beautiful.  There was even a hot air balloon high in the sky.  

Then on to our hike.    We got the the trailhead, found a sign with an arrow pointing us in the right direction...but then we walked in circles for about 45 minutes at which point we realized we were headed toward the wrong trail.  As usual on these slickrock hikes, you have to follow a series of cairn markers to find your way (just as we did yesterday in Arches).  And sometimes it's hard to find the next one that you're supposed to find.  Finally we went back to the original sign and tried our luck again.  This time we found it easily, go figure.  We met two other groups of hikers along the way who had exactly the same experience of wandering around aimlessly before finding the trail.  So now we are all members of the Secret Gooseberry Hike Fraternity/Sorority, having all performed the same (frustrating) ritual.  

We quickly began a steep and mysterious descent on a series of short switchbacks that were ofent so camouflaged that you'd swear there was no path at all when you looked up behind you at the steep canyon-side. 

These were GOOD steps!

These "steps" were a little more questionable

 Parts were pretty easy---rocks were arranged as steps---and parts were quite slippery with sane/gravel and more than a little scary.  At one point Nils named them "Picasso Stairs," they looked way more artistic (with strewn rocks in weird arrangements) than structurally sound...then about a 50 foot length of the path looked as though a rock/sand slide had poured over it recently....it needed a good tidying up.  We just tried to make do, and descended about 1000 feet before turning around to come back up the same trail.   Climbing up might be more challenging aerobically, but it's MUCH easier, logistically.  Gravity makes your feet stick better to the rocks as you go up (while making you feel as though you might be pulled down, sliding, at any moment on the descent)....the going-up was lots more fun and some great exercise.

Yes, this actually is the trail.  Seriously.

We came home for a good lunch and a much-deserved restful afternoon.  Tomorrow morning we plan to pull up stakes and leave Utah for good.    It will be sad to leave the land of Red Rocks (and crazy Mormons) behind...

To ease the pain, Nils drank a Polygamy Porter....or did he have two?  What happens in Utah, stays in Utah......

Here's the famous Oscar--doesn't he look sad that we're leaving?

Gorgeous Colorado awaits!

Arches!

Tuesday, 9/18

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Point of clarification:  This blog is most definitely a team effort! While it's true that Lisa does all the writing, Nils takes 98% of the magnificent photos (if he's not in a picture, he probably took it), and I wanted him to have all the credit he so richly deserves!

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We've been having such a good time kayaking (really, it was a highlight of our trip so far), and just hanging out around Goose Island, but it was time today to visit Arches, esp since it's only a few miles away.   As soon as you drive into the entrance you are hit upside the head with incredible, unique views of all these enormous sculptural geological features, in every shape and size.

Castles? Primitive human renderings (back left)?

So=called rock fins

We decided on the Devil's Garden hike which took us past most of the arches in the park.  It's  7+ miles all together, and about 1/4th of it, we were warned, was a "primitive" trail.  They were not kidding, and it was not for the faint of heart.  First off, lots of deep sand at the beginning (JUST like being on the beach).  Then we had to climb up and around and over a lot of slickrock (red rounded sandstone which can get slippery when wet.  Or when dry, for that matter). 

Lisa in front of an natural arch

...and here's another one

 Here's a panoramic movie that gives you an idea of what you could see by just turning your head and looking across the horizon at one spot along the way:

We had a couple of hairy moments, first locating the trail (there were cairns--stacks of rocks--placed strategically along the way, but they weren't always easy to find and often involved continuing in a direction you'd really rather not go, because it went straight up, or straight down, or along the spine of one of those rock fins.....hiking poles helped a lot.  Also sitting down and sliding on your butt when necessary.

Brave Nils sitting high in an Arch

Inside the Navajo arch, one of my favorites...I'm sitting on a twisty log, of course

This one was tied in a knot, also in Navajo Arch

We started out at 8:45am in 62 degrees of cool, and by the end (around 1pm) it was a blazing hot and sunny 82....perfect timing.  I was expecting it to be much more strenuous....I guess we're in better shape than I thought, also we had to slow way down in the more dangerous, scrambly spots, so while it was a bit nervous-making, it wasn't really hard hiking.  

Delicate Arch which we saw both at the beginning and at the end.  As late as 1991, a big hunk of rock cracked off of the right underside, but the arch is still standing.  So beautiful.

Lisa at the intersection of two trees twisted together.

Our hike was FULL of twisty trees.  It was all I could do not to photograph them all (and there were scores of them, so you can be thankful for my prudence), but I couldn't resist this last one (actually two) which protrudes halfway into the path back to the parking lot.  It was just magnificent.

The famous "Balancing Rock" which we passed on the way out of the park

We were tired at the end of our long, hot hike, but stopped on the way out to gawk at the gigantic Balancing Rock (it's 128 feet tall all together.  The balancing rock on top is 55 feet tall).  Somehow it manages to stay up there without toppling.   What a wonderful day.

I keep thinking, every time we go to a new park, "c'mon, Lisa, you've seen it all by now, and this will be nice but couldn't possibly surpass the ones we've already visited".  And each time they are unique and eye-poppingly amazing.  You'd be correct in assuming that Nils and I say "WOW" a lot.  

"floating" down the Colorado

Monday 9/17

We had a great night's sleep and were ready at 9 when Bill came to pick up our kayaks with his jeep.  We followed him to the place where we parked our truck, and then all drove together to the drop-off point, for a 9 mile, ~3 hour adventure.

Or should I say adventure!!!!!!

Almost as soon as we got into the water, we hit our first rapids---which we heard well before we saw them.  Yikes!  Right away, a gallon or two of water sloshed into my kayak and we suddenly realized that this was not "just a float" down the Colorado (as Bill had called it).  We were in

Intrepid--and wet--kayaker Lisa, sitting in 2" of water (inside her kayak)

Here's a movie that Nils took of me going through our second (or was it our third?) set of big rapids.

And then we hit really REALLY big rapids.  With standing waves about 2 feet high.  I felt more like I was in a storm at sea.  Words like "roiling" and "boiling" came to mind.  I had just enough time to assess the situation and realize that there was no easy way to get around this mess.  So I plunged in.  Literally.  First I was hit in the face with about 5 gallons of river....seconds later, the kayak had so much water in it that I could hardly maneuver anymore, and I tipped over to my right.  I did not lose glasses, car key, hat, shoes, paddle or kayak.  And the water wasn't really even that cold.  Nils was ahead of me going through this particular gauntlet and therefore did not realize my predicament right away (of course he couldn't hear me yelling, the rapids make a LOT of noise).  Actually, a River tour raft getting out of the river at that point saw me dump and alerted Nils.  He was able to get to me (coming back into the rapids of course) and then towed me to the opposite shore to re-group.  Yee haw!  We came ashore briefly (into slippery rocks, actually), emptied gallons of water out of my kayak, and then were back at it again.

Naively, I thought that would be the worst we would go through.  Ha!  let's just say that I was wrong.  We had at least four more scary and exhilarating rides.  Everyone stayed in their kayaks for the rest of the trip.  We did have to stop two more times, once to dump out Nils's kayak and once to dump out mine again.   We would hear, from a distance, the rumbling of approaching rapids and wonder, "OMG is it going to be a WATERFALL this time?!?!?"  All of the rapids, big or small, wild or tame, sounded huge from a distance.  And sometimes they were huge.  I would start yelling at the river, "REALLY?!  THIS again?"  And then I would just start laughing uproariously.  What else could I do?  Cower, petrified in fear, or paddle for my life.  I chose the latter, and laughed a lot.   I really am amazed that I kept from being dumped a few more times....guess there WAS a learning curve.  Nils, expert that he was from his previous Colorado rafting experience, stayed in his boat the whole time, although we both were thoroughly soaked and I drank more than a bit of the River along the way.  We really felt like bad-ass adventurers, I can tell you.   These dinky little Old Town Otters really had NO business braving the mighty Colorado River (just as well we didn't know that ahead of time).  And yet they did and we did and everyone made it in one laughing piece.  And it was just wonderful.

Great scenery on the way home