Dear Open Space friends, I recently returned from a rafting trip down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. It was, indeed, a grand experience filled with challenge, adventure, beauty and joy. I'm still learning from the journey and would like to share the open space lessons.
My husband, friends and I began our adventure by hiking nine miles from the rim of the Grand Canyon, descending 4380 feet to the to the Colorado River, which carved out this wonder of the world. It's a stunning view all the way down, finishing with a hot and challenging part of the trail aptly named the Devil's Corkscrew. By the time we reached the river to join up with the rafting company, I was already aware of having packed too much. Nothing like hauling stuff in a backpack to increase awareness of overconsumption. Next time I will be asking, what is one less thing to bring? Arizona Raft Adventures (AzRA) guided us on our 9 day paddle trip. This company is structured for safety and fun and to allow for maximum self-organization while on the river. The 85 river guides employed by the company post their preferences for which types of trips they would like to work on during the season. They are guided by passion and responsibility. Each trip is staffed by a different configuration of guides, each playing different roles than the last trip they worked. For instance, our trip leader, BJ, will be the paddle boat captain on his next trip and our head cook, Neil, will be the trip leader on his next trip. In this way, "No one is better than anyone else - we all do every job and we all respect each other." I had never paddled through rapids before and felt intimidated at first. But Derek, our paddle boat captain created a minimal structure that allowed for all of us to bring our strength and new skill to bear. In an almost casual way, he would describe what we could expect from the rapid. "There's a 26 foot drop, a big hole at first so you are going to get wet. We don't want to get caught in the eddy on the left. If the boat flips, hold onto your paddle and swim toward the right bank." We had an idea of what was coming. As we approached legendary Lava Falls, a class 10 rapid and one of the top 21 in the world, we were confident that the six of us paddling with Derek on oar could handle whatever emerged. He gave the command "Easy Forward" which means to get into a gentle rhythm of paddling together and then "All Forward" which told us to use our upper bodies to paddle as strongly as we could. In the middle of the rapid he yelled, "Right forward, left back" which turned our boat around and kept us from flipping. We were exhilarated as we reached the bottom of Lava Falls. After we touched our paddles in the air in a "high five" celebration, we heard what has become my new mantra: "Easy Forward". Warm wishes from a hot Phoenix morning, Christine Christine Whitney Sanchez, Partner Innovation Partners International Phoenix, AZ, USA +1.480.759.0262 www.innovationpartners.com
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