Wonderful story. Just 50 years ago this summer I took a similar raft/hiking trip. Thank you for the memories!
Gail On Mon, Jun 10, 2013 at 12:13 AM, Christine Whitney Sanchez < christ...@innovationpartners.com> wrote: > 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 > > > _______________________________________________ > OSList mailing list > To post send emails to OSList@lists.openspacetech.org > To unsubscribe send an email to oslist-le...@lists.openspacetech.org > To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: > http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org > > -- *Gail West, ICA* *3F, No. 12, Lane 5, Tien Mou W Rd Taipei, Taiwan 111 Ph) 8862) 2871-3150* email) icat...@gmail.com Skype) gwestica www.icatw.com
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