Cateract Canyon

Most of you know that I took a trip down the Colorado River this summer. It was an all women's trip. Therefore, I was forced to go without any children or husband (I was all choked up about it . . . really. Okay, you caught me. HA!) It was such an excellent time I have decided that I will do this as often as I possibly can.

That first picture is of me, victorious after conquering the biggest rapids we went through (class 5) in a kayak with my new friend Kim. It was so great. I loved being so close to the water, almost like I was a part of the life of the river. It is a great feeling. It makes me feel very alive.
The next picture is of most of our women guides. They are all 18-25 years old. Most of them are students, some have graduated, but just can't give up this summer job. They are incredible. All very strong and capable girls. They guided and navigated us all through the canyon, cooked every awsome meal, set up camp every night, and took it down every morning. They really made our trip as comfy as possible.


Here I am taking a turn rowing. My appreciation for those girls is growing with every stroke. Two of our days were rowing only, no motor. Are you loving my hat? I didn't wear it all the time, but was really glad I had it. I'm very afraid of the sun, and I was able to come away my perfectly lily-white self.
Here I am at the top of the canyon during one of our hikes. It was great. I did have blisters on my heels that day, making the hike less than great. BTW, here's a tip. If you ever have bad blisters on your heels while hiking put a layer of moleskin on the blister, cover that with a bandaid and then cover the whole thing with a big piece of duct tape. I finally figured this out on the 3rd day. It was great! For some reason my water sandals were rubbing my feet badly and I was a little suffering from it.



The last picture is one of the great hikes we took to see petroglyphs on the canyon walls and graineries of the Anasazi. It was really cool.


This pictures were kinda bad because all I took was one of those disposable water cameras. But you get the main idea. I did have one scary incident. I started drifting downstream where the current was really strong and could not get back to shore. I thought I was a goner for a minute, but knew I was okay when I saw the guides laughing at me. That's all for now.