June '02 Newsletter

In some ways it is hard to fathom that we have been living in BCC for 4 months now but in other ways it seems we've always lived here. We're often asked but truthfully have to say we still haven't found anything we miss about taking care of the apartments or living in the big city. BCC almost always has some amount of breeze and since there is no heat island here, it cools off much more quickly at night and that alone is worth the price of admission.

Our split level home feels enormous, close to 2000 square feet of livable space, 9' ceilings in every room, with a large two car garage / work shop underneath the kitchen. The original owners built it themselves in stages and seem to have spared no expense. Both of us are thrilled with the Pella double pane windows throughout: they are oak trimmed with blinds that are inside the glass, so no dust! Some windows still need blinds added, but we are not planning to install any other window dressings. Every room is light, airy, and uplifting. The floors in all the main rooms are natural oak, the pantry and the three bathrooms are all tiled. Yes, it is true, we have absolutely no carpeting!! We have three all gas fireplaces, one in the kitchen, one in the living room and one in the master bedroom. Between the absence of dust from drapes, carpeting and the wood burning fireplace, Susan's allergies have almost disappeared. Our huge kitchen is also a family room that gets frequent use. It features hickory cabinets, a center island, 9 windows, and fancy appliances, including a dishwasher! We put a 24" TV in it so that we can actually use our dining room table and keep the salsa off the living room furniture.

Our single acre seems much larger due to the dry Agua Fria riverbed on two sides and BLM land to the south of us. Friends Mike and Marsha recently supplied us with 20 or so Agave pups from their desert yard. We've planted them along the perimeter behind us as a natural fence. If the javelina and rabbits leave them alone long enough for them to take hold they will create quite an impenetrable barrier. We have several fruit trees out front, a lemon (with a small branch of navel oranges grafted on), an apricot (which the Western Tanagers stripped before the fruit had a chance to ripen), and an apple that is loaded (the birds haven't touched it yet). One of the neighbors gave us a small fig tree and we are hoping it will survive to bear fruit next year. We also have three large pines that were the previous owners' living Christmas trees, a couple of small Aspen-like trees, a lilac, many mesquite, and a variety of cacti. AZ is experiencing the worst drought in years, so we have been trimming and watering to protect the house from fire. Did I mention that we have one enormous flowering Saguaro cactus out back? Plus either 7 or 9 small ones depending on the exact location of our property line. Susan's bird feeder has been a great source of entertainment. Not surprisingly the variety of birds has declined with the increase in heat but we still have lots of quail, cactus wrens, a pair of nuisance woodpeckers, and a variety of small birds we don't yet recognize.

We're accustomed to ongoing maintenance projects at the apartments but since we've been in the house the primary job has been remodeling and upgrading. None of what we've been doing here is familiar so a fair amount of learning has occurred. The garage had inadequate lighting so we ended up adding more lights and relocating switches. We had to learn about multiple switch circuits as some of the ones we had were incorrectly wired and some outdoor lighting was stuck on or off. The master bathroom has fine Kohler fixtures but was so impractical we didn't know where to put anything. Bob kept muttering about how he had to have someplace to put his toothbrush. After figuring out how to use a bidet (no, not as a drinking fountain), we decided it had to go if we were to install a linen cabinet and some drawers for toiletries. That got us into tile replacement and bordering on the new oak cabinet. Every room, including the garage, needed more shelves to store the tons of stuff we brought from the 4 storage rooms at the apartments. It is amazing but we managed to move from 1100 square feet of living space to practically twice that much space and we have already filled it. This has confirmed Bob's belief that all life forms eventually fill the space available to them.

While all this was going on Susan managed to lead her weekend dayhiking series for the cities and we've spent time each day exploring our new surroundings. We've hiked the Agua Fria downstream for close to 15 miles in a series of hikes, locating the best swimming holes along the way. We've also penetrated the low mountains to the west of us walking all of the washes and roads in every other day hikes. Since BCC is situated between two 5000-6000' mountain ranges on the east and west and the new Agua Fria National Monument on the north, it seems like we will need a fair amount of time to see it all. We've established both a biking loop and an hour plus foothills hike that allows us to continue alternating strenuous physical activities on a daily basis.

Earlier this spring the desert was fairly green but with the arrival of the oppressive summer heat the vegetation is rapidly drying out. We enjoyed a glorious flowering of cacti and desert trees but there were no wildflowers to speak of because it was so dry. This area of Arizona only gets 7 inches or so of rain each year, over half of that comes in the spring and we didn't get anything. The first impressive bloom was the Palo Verde trees. Their brilliant yellow flowers lasted for several weeks. The giant Saguaro cacti (our state flower) also had a great showing with dozens on each one of them. More recently the Ironwood trees have generated delicate lavender flowers. Each plant seems to have its own time to shine.

On the family front Bob's Mom is doing well in Phoenix. She was recently out here to visit our new home and much enjoyed her visit. She hadn't been out of town for awhile and kept remarking on how Phoenix had grown. Little does she know! Bob's son, Scott, graduated from University of Arizona with a Master's Degree in education a couple of weeks ago and his wife, Tennille, graduated at the same time with a Bachelor's Degree in special education. They immediately left for a loop tour of the US and Canada which proceeded through Georgia up the east coast, across to London, Ontario to visit family, across the plains farm belt to Montana for a short term work assignment, and then back to Tucson. We're sure both of them are trying to avoid the desert summer this year. The date of their return is uncertain but there has been some talk of further education for both.

Susan's family is doing well and she will be seeing them all soon. She is spending 4th of July week up north, joining in the 3rd of July Aurora parade, and attending her 30th class reunion with her girlfriends. Her brother is coming in from Nevada. Her niece Heidi and new Brazilian husband will also be in town visiting from Washington DC. Heidi just graduated from Georgetown with a Masters in Foreign Service and will soon start training to work in an embassy. Another niece Gina is pregnant with her second child and Susan is looking forward to visiting with her family. Gina's 2 year old boy Cooper is a riot. Susan's parents exercise regularly and seem to be quite healthy. She is looking forward to spending time with them and raiding her mom's jelly larder.

We returned to Arizona after our Middle Fork trip to find a big chunk of our state on fire. The Rodeo and Chedeski fires, two major fires that joined together on the Mogollon Rim have burned over 400,000 acres this past week. Several towns had to be evacuated and a number of the smaller ones burned to the ground. We have still had no rain to speak of since last October though there is talk of an early monsoon season this year. It will be a blessing and a curse since the rain is always accompanied by lightning, adding to the fire danger. We are keeping our trees watered and hoses and sprinklers close at hand to protect our house. Living on the edge of even a desert forest is wonderful but is not without perils.

2002 Trip Reports:

Snake Gulch-Kanab Creek Backpack (5/4/02-5/11/02):
     by Bob Inman (additions in italics by Susan Groth):

Thirteen of us met on schedule at Jacob Lake, AZ; generally known as the last stop with facilities when traveling to the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. The road continuing to the rim facilities was still closed for the winter and our driving route to the trailheads would take us 30 long dusty miles west to an area where there were no seasonal closures.

Our varied group came from 8 states across 4 time zones and included a retired policeman (from Littleton CO, retired just before Columbine), a private eye from South Jersey, a public defender from North Jersey, a physician from Atlanta, a dentist and his nurse wife from Salt Lake City, a physical therapist from Beaumont TX, a home builder from South Jersey and 5 varied and assorted others. I had hiked with our hike leaders Bob and Susan from Phoenix 4 times before and once again was in awe at the interesting and fun group of people they were able to attract. Saturday was primarily a rendezvous day. We left two of our six vehicles on pavement and took the long slow drive, leaving one vehicle at our projected end point and parking three at the Ranger Cabin departure point. The first night of a Bob and Susie trip usually offers lots of beer and wine, fresh vegetables in dinner burritos, and fresh pies for dessert. We were not to be disappointed. This excellent dinner was followed by a late-and-long, raucous game of hearts, won of course by the guy who "couldn't remember how to play"! That pre-trip evening is when many of us run through our equipment, inevitably throwing out just about any kind of warm clothing as it obviously isn't cold enough to be needed and is invariably too heavy to carry.

Leader Bob told us as we got together that major route changes were already necessitated by the drought conditions in Arizona. We planned to do a counter clockwise loop descending into Snake Gulch, following that down Kanab Creek and up Jumpup Creek to our hike out trail. However the springs were much more reliable on the tail end of that itinerary so it was decided to reverse the loop and do it clockwise. Then we would have lighter loads by late in the week and could carry more water for the less reliable section of the route. The first day was easy (but for my wedging a foot in a rock crevice and thinking I might need a crane to pull me out), finishing at a camp on mainly hard rock ledges where pools larger than bathtubs waited for us. Soaking was the order of the day and all was wonderful. Like all our wet camps to follow, we were serenaded by a bullfrog chorus; loud and very similar to sounds made by woodpeckers. You wonder how you possibly sleep through but eventually the frogs defer to our own serenades of sleep.

The 2nd day, took us deeper into that cut in the earth, until we were in the spectacular Jumpup Narrows - 15-20 feet across. Walls hundreds of feet high and curving in and out so at times you could not see the sky. Paul, our dentist, was carrying a GPS locator but in such tight canyons, it couldn't locate any satellites. Our water situation became very telling as the day wore on. We stopped for lunch at a little rain pocket, scummy and floating with bugs on top but actually quite clear under the surface (the trick is to cover the opening of your bottle as it passes across the surface).

After departing Jumpup Canyon and heading up Kanab Creek, we found our next water, which was up an amazing fissure in the canyon wall. Standing at the base of that cut was like standing in front of an open refrigerator door. Hidden behind a large choke stone (that took some tricky rock climbing for one person to get around) was a wonderfully cool, clean pool of water. There was no place to camp there so we dragged up canyon another 3-4 miles to a side canyon where there was supposed to be sure water and good camping. The good camping was apparent, but it took a long hike up that side canyon to find a little spring pocket about 3 feet by 8 inches by 5 inches deep and full of tadpoles. We drained that pool leaving the tadpoles high and dry (except for the ones that made it into our camp water and some eventually into our dinner.) One good soul made the hike back up that pocket the next morning and found it refreshed with another 2 gallons of water. The cook crew at that camp was delighted to learn that dish washing was cancelled for lack of water and we were each given a single paper towel to wipe our individual dishes.

The third day further up canyon turned up another waterless spring and we confirmed for certain from meeting one hiker and several cowboys (looking for lost cows) that there just would not be enough water to support a group of thirteen for the 4 more nights we were supposed to head in that direction. So a decision was made to turn around, start back the way we came with some variations and cut out one night on the trail so we could dayhike into Snake Gulch.

It is amazing how the water is so scarce most places and abundant in others. This is largely determined by the geological layer that you are on - some are much more porous than others. Where the rock is hardest, the water stays on the surface. Exactly halfway between where we had to search for water the night before and where we had to give up our itinerary for lack of water, there was a band of flowing creek, waist deep (we all had to get in to measure it). We had a happy wet camp and celebrated leader Bob's 62nd birthday. Dessert that night was blueberry cheesecake with candles on top. Susan circulated a birthday card and amazingly she had discovered a torn birthday balloon that day in the canyon (we almost never saw trash of any sort!)

The 4th day, Wednesday, was my downfall. I started energetically, powered by Cream of Wheat and was the 3rd hiker headed down the canyon looking once more for that refrigerator fissure and a big yawning side canyon to the left to turn up. The first 3 of us not only missed the spring, but incredibly also the side canyon. The 2 ahead of me fortunately encountered a threesome hiking up from the Colorado who pointed out that at the rate and direction we were headed; we might soon be there too! So we turned around, took an hour back to the side canyon and then another hour roundtrip to the spring (we were out of water).

Well that extra credit hiking as the sun caught the canyon full on just about did me in. By the time I caught the group lounging after a 2-hour lunch break waiting for us, I had lightly sprained my ankle and spent all my energy. Canyon hiking can be a lot of sandy or gravelly stuff but suddenly, you can be faced with a series of level changes where you need to be 4 to 10 feet straight up over boulders from the level you are at. Thinking of all the "I'd rather be…" license plate frames we see in town, I was thinking of putting a sign on my backpack, "I'd rather be in the office!" Just before camp that night, we had to climb 500 feet up trail-less boulder-lined Kwagunt Hollow, another gem that the canyon guards jealously with barricades and choke stones. I was death warmed over as I slumped into camp and stuck my feet in the water. I was supposed to be on the cook team that night but managed to trade for a later night. The leaders and participants were all very supportive and kept me as always in good humor. I slept perfectly even with a slab of sandstone for my bed.

The next day was not difficult but I was suffering from residual exhaustion. We gained the Esplanade level of the canyon and strolled along our first solid trail in days as we looked out over a maze of pinnacles and side canyons below us. Many of us stopped for an extended break in the shade of some mushroom shaped Supai ledges, refilling our water bottles in the Sowats Spring pools. However Carl, Jon, and John left immediately for an ambitious side hike to the top of Racehorse Knoll. The rest of us, relaxed awhile before contouring along the scenic ledges of Trail # 8 to the head of Mountain Sheep Canyon. A beautifully constructed trail section to the streambed made our day very pleasant. We had lunch under a shady ledge at the bottom and continued on to an ideal camp in the canyon where another idyllic series of wet terraces were well-watered by a fountain that poured out of a rock like a city water main. A tableau of Anasazi rock art crowned our kitchen area.

Having reached camp early, our little canyon sang with the sound of afternoon snores and paperback pages turning. That is until Doctor Susan lost her footing, fell 6 feet, and was found lying face down screaming in agony. When the bleeding stopped and she felt stable, we helped her back up to the main camp level. Paul with help from Nicole and John, stitched a gash through her eyebrow and a deep puncture in her cheek. Uneasy about stitching so close under her eye with large sutures intended for extremities, they left that gash for the pros to handle later. Looking and probably feeling somewhat like the bride of Frankenstein, Susan wisely declined to look in a mirror.

We all expected the worst but she managed to be up on her feet within minutes after the stitching trying to walk off a deep thigh bruise and saying that she could probably do the final 4 hour hike out to the cars the next morning. She was able to eat some soup for dinner and some yogurt for breakfast the next morning but her face was terribly swollen and she hadn't slept much, if at all. I recall that night laying awake and complaining to myself about pesky mosquitoes when a bat flew 20 inches above my face and reduced the bothersome pests by at least one.

Final day: We bade an early farewell to the foursome traveling in the car with our injured doctor. They wanted an hour head start. (We later learned that they made it out quickly and raced Susan to Las Vegas, rescheduling her Atlanta flight as they drove.) The rest of us leisurely made the climb out, enjoying to the fullest a cloudy sky over a vast canyon landscape as we emerged again for views from the Esplanade (that morning I actually moved my rain protection to the top of the backpack just in case). Joyfully for all of us, the top and cars finally materialized and the sodas that had sat in the cooler all week turned out to actually be cold! We ate our last lunch and made the impossibly dusty drive out to gather vehicles at Jacob Lake and say our goodbyes. I made the happy call from St. George, UT to tell Barbara and Leah that I would be one day early and was home by 1 AM. Carrying my sleeping daughter back to her room and slipping between the sheets of my familiar bed was an immeasurable delight.

Our accident victim arrived home, in Atlanta, by midnight and after her first look at herself in a mirror, she and her husband decided a visit to the ER was definitely in order. She was scheduled for surgery early the next morning but waiting didn't seem like such a great idea. The ER surgeons removed all of Paul's not-so-pretty, oversized stitches and added a host of their own. It turned out that Susan's eye orbit was also fractured and they had to drain a huge hematoma from her cheek. In her usual form, Susan was sounding normal and working in her garden when we talked to her two days later. She did however decide it probably wasn't prudent to go back to work for a week. Somehow, seeing patients looking like she did, didn't seem advisable.

How did I find the trip overall? I made a backpack of really only average difficulty into a real personal challenge by just not being appropriately physically conditioned. Water was a constant concern and although it could have still been much hotter, maybe my body just does not handle non-British Isles or non-Sierra Nevada temperatures and dryness so well as it once did. Age is hell! The scenery was fantastic but my trusty Pentax camera hit a 13-year jinx and failed me from the start (I'm not certain where I would have summoned the energy to really "do" photos anyhow). My other equipment served perfectly; the group was great; and the Colorado Plateau was glorious once again. I do retain some negative impressions of unpalatable, treated water masked with unpalatable drink mix flavor that I would love to exorcise. Most of my memories however center on wonderful luscious grottoes of pink stone and cool water resonating with birdsong, bullfrogs and happy voices.

Participants:

Dave Alexander, Craig Camp, Susan Groth, Monica Hess, Bob Inman, Bob Marley, Carl Muller, Susan Muller, Brian Plunkett, Nicole Schmutz, Paul Schmutz, John Stenton, & Jon Trahan.

Middle Fork of the Salmon Raft Trip (6/8/02-6/20/02):

After 4 hours loading the big Penske rental truck, we were out the door headed for SLC to rendezvous with Paul and Nicole the next day to help pack the perishable food they purchased. Our drive up was uneventful, although Bob drove along a mountainside Utah fire for 20-30 minutes during the night. We purposely missed the I-15 turn at Panguitch and ended up sleeping in the back of the truck in a small town a hundred miles or so south of SLC. Having navigated to there by the Big Dipper and the North Star, we had to ask for directions to get out of town the next morning. After a hearty breakfast at one of the Flying J Plazas, we took our time reaching Salt Lake. We arrived at Paul & Nicole's house in Bountiful by late afternoon and immediately went into the packing mode. Since Nicole didn't arrive home from work until almost 8 PM, Paul prepared a delicious chicken dinner for all of us.

Unfortunately, we learned that evening that one of the SLC couples that planned to accompany us on the trip were forced to drop out. They are close neighbors of the Elizabeth Smart family and did not feel right leaving their children or neighbors during the ordeal of her disappearance. We were sad to miss the opportunity to travel with them but delighted to meet another young couple, Kathleen and John, who were able to take their place at the last minute.

A good night's sleep in a real bed prepared us for the morning drive up to Idaho. This year we stopped in Hailey to visit Ronica, one of Susan's roommates from the early seventies. Ronica's husband was working out of town but 11-year-old Alex and their golden lab Opal entertained us. Opal, Bob, and Susan took a nice hike up behind Ronica's new home and saw some gorgeous wildflowers and an enormous herd of domestic sheep that was being moved to the high country. After another delicious dinner, the four of us retired to the elaborate family hot tub. Alex was the master controller of all jets and kept our every whim satisfied. We were all somewhat jelly-like after an hour or so. Susan and Ronica talked "old times" into the wee hours while Bob and Alex snored blissfully.

Great coffee and a wholesome breakfast prepared us for our day. We left by 10:00 AM and drove leisurely to Stanley. After a quick stop at the Stanley forest service office and the local mercantile, we drove out to Sheep Trail Camp, our designated meeting place. The Middle Fork was running 3.92 on the gauge, a favorable level that we were hoping would last. Susan had reserved the entire campground for us. Tom and Bev were already fighting off the mosquitoes there and waiting for the rest of us to arrive. We munched some lunch while chatting with them and the others who began trickling in. Five of the Arizona folks on the trip, including Darla the permit holder, had just finished a wonderful Rogue River trip in Oregon a couple of days earlier and came directly from there to Idaho. By late afternoon, all but the SLC quad had arrived and we set about catching up with old friends and staging dinner, not an easy feat since many desired items were underneath a ton of gear in the back of the Penske. We retired fairly early that night and it seemed extremely chilly after the Phoenix heat.

We awoke to crisp air, frigid hand wash buckets, and frozen hand soap that had been left out overnight. Three of our 5 Rogue River runners were feeling at least queasy and one of those three was ill to the extreme of having a hot love affair going with the outhouse and was unsure which end to plant on the throne or when to plant it. He looked like death warmed over and felt even worse for about 30 hours. It didn't help that he was one of the boatmen and had to rig and row. The only good thing was that we had one more day in hand before our launch.

Four vehicles with the boatmen, equipment, and personal gear headed for the put-in early that day with Bob while Susan and six other drivers lit out in the opposite direction to run the 120-mile shuttle to Salmon with the unneeded vehicles. The shuttle took 6-7 hours, as the roads are twisty and teaming with wildlife. We had arranged with John from Blackadar Boating (208-756-4452) to store our extra vehicles in his yard and to pick up our 5 vehicles at the put-in, store them until our take-out date and deliver them to Cache Bar. We found John extremely easy to deal with and our vehicles were all waiting safely for us when we got out.

Both of our groups were fortunate to see a pair of enormous Sand Hill Cranes and a few elk in a wildlife viewing area along the Boundary Creek Road. There was quite a crowd at the put-in and it took awhile to rig and launch our eight boats. By the time Susan and the car shuttlers arrived at the campsites, the boats were on the water and most of the gear had been ferried down to them. As usual, we seemed to be a disorganized rabble until we looked around at the rest of the groups pulling in. Our SLC quad arrived late in the afternoon with some kind of embarrassing vehicle problem story that they all remained mum about for nearly the entire trip. Darla, Paul Schmutz, and Duane parleyed with the rangers on our campsite schedule getting all of the requested sites subject to coin toss in the event of conflicts. Later another group challenged our one hot spring camp but fortunately Darla won the coin toss and we were able to keep it. Dinner came off pretty well in spite of frequent trips down to the boats for this, that, or some other thing that we needed and had already packed. A friend of a friend, David Luinstra, who we had only met via email, was in the campground a night early waiting for his group. He joined us for dinner and was quite entertaining.

Once all of the miscellaneous stuff had found homes on boats, we drove the remaining trucks up to the long term parking lot to await Blackadar's drivers, listened to the ranger talk, and escaped the shoreline before anyone else had a chance to challenge any more of our campsites. The water level had remained at 3.92, a good level for both Murphy's Hole and Velvet Falls. All of the boats were fine through or around Murphy's but one of our kayakers had an out of boat experience in that general area. She took a rather long swim and was stuck with a crummy place to empty and reenter her boat. At our scout of Velvet we were fortunate to watch a commercial group run. One of their paddle rafters went out of the boat up above the falls and was not reclaimed until the reversal at the bottom. We weren't sure how that came about. After an uneventful but rather anxious first day on the river, we were delighted to pull into our old favorite Big Bend camp. One of the blessings of the lower water level was the slower flow. In '99, at 6.62 on the gauge, we had found it to be a whirlwind of rowing and reading with little time to breathe and too few opportunities to pull over. Once in camp one of our kayakers, Stan, crossed the river and visited a hot spring slightly downstream. His upstream, eddy-paddling return was tough but he still thought it had been worthwhile so we decided to check it out the next morning.

Our efficient, self-starting group was well organized and quick to get on the river each day. We were thrilled with how well this large group of 24 got along with each other and worked together. After a quick stop at Stan's hot spring, we continued on and eventually lunched at Sheep Eater Hot Springs. Several people filled solar showers with the scalding water and had steamy if a little stinky showers up on the bench away from the pools and river. Along the banks, we enjoyed fields of flowering Lupine, Arnica, and Arrowleaf interspersed with stark barren areas of charred trees a testimony to the heat of the 2000 fire that devastated much of the Middle Fork's forest. Velvety green moss enveloped the branches of stately vanilla scented living Ponderosa pine as well as the blackened carcasses of their neighbors. We pulled in to our Big Snag camp rather early, as a number of our boatmen wanted to take a hike downriver to scout Pistol Creek and the new blow-down rapid from above. There is also a historic cabin with a special floor situated near Pistol that seemed worth a visit.

We ran the new rapid and Pistol the next morning without incident. Our Marble Creek camp was lovely with lots of wide-open campsites and an upstream shower bench. The little punchy rapid just below it was a great play spot for our kayakers, who were occasionally joined by kayakers from other groups who dropped in to play. A group of us gathered to watch, as some of these guys were very good. The next morning, one of our cook team members sent her husband to stand in for her at breakfast and the epidemic began! While we cleaned up our breakfast mess and started loading, another group came down and flipped a boat in our play spot. It was a snaky small boat eater that our group ran unscathed. By the time we stopped for lunch, several others in our party were feeling questionable. By the time we pulled into Shelf camp, the number of victims had risen significantly. Bob retired to his tent at 3:00 PM and wasn't seen until the next morning. Healthy Marge and Carolyn took an afternoon hike to the Loon Creek Hot Springs; others went after dinner for a short soak. The rest of us hung out and moaned. By dinnertime, 11 out of 24 were down with the grunge. The healthy had taken over the kitchen and all food handling duties. Hand washing and purifying systems were tightened up in hopes of arresting the bugs' spread.

By breakfast, a few had recovered but remained weak, while others actively suffered. At least half of the group dismissed the opportunity to hike up to Loon Creek Hot Springs and headed for the great campsite at Lower Grouse. Loon Creek was busy and those who made it to the springs enjoyed socializing with the other groups. When we pulled into the Lower Grouse Camp, a horse packer, his 12-year-old daughter and their two chubby Rottweilers were lounging on the beach. They had packed in from Salmon, staying in the cabin downstream for a few days, and decided to extend their stay when one of their dogs was not feeling up to par. The four SLC people went hiking but the rest of us collapsed on the beach and traded lies with our new friends while waiting for our healthy crew to arrive and tend to our needs. More of our crew was able to force down some lunch but many of them crawled to their tents, disgusted at the thought of food, and didn't emerge except for extreme need until breakfast the next morning. Dad and daughter joined us for lunch and dinner. They had lost some of their food on the way in and we had an illness caused food surplus.

A few spits of rain during the night alerted us to a not so welcome weather change. Most of us were well on the way to recovery but one of our kayakers was now sick as a dog. And to make it worse, he was our birthday boy. We gave him funny cards but knew he was too ill to really care about celebrating his special day. It was cold and windy on the boats and it looked to Susan like snow was imminent. By the time we got into camp at Driftwood, our kayaker was hypothermic and bee lining for the tent, so we held back on the birthday cake and song for another day. A rain shelter was quickly erected over the kitchen and we settled in for our only rainy cold evening. We cracked out both of John Lupo's "Campfire in a Cans" and had our only trip campfire.

By morning the rain had ceased but it was still chilly and no one seemed in a rush to get on the water. We had a number of bigger rapids to run and no one was looking forward to a swim on a cold morning. Fortunately that didn't happen except to one of our kayakers. We haven't figured out what it is about those kayakers but we've noticed that they are a lot less whiny about swimming than big boaters. We were at our Tumble campsite before we knew it. It featured healthy stands of poison ivy near the river and a steep carry to the kitchen but turned out to be a decent camp. We especially thought so after seeing the alternative high water camps downstream. Our birthday boy was finally able to enjoy a party so Darla baked a Dutch oven of brownies and another of poppy seed cake. Three of our more talented crew sang him a rousing birthday song, he blew out his candles, and we dug into the sugar feast.

Up early, ready to rock and roll to the take-out, we stopped to scout Rubber, passing much of the ramp competition there, although a sweep boat and two paddle rafts continued through without scouting. The latter group were almost finished loading when we reached Cache Bar. Our exit from the river was pretty orderly and most of our stuff ended up in the proper piles for its various destinations. We had a wonderful trip despite our battles with the flu-like virus we passed around. People got along well, we had no injuries other than the occasional blow to someone's pride, and we had no swimmers except an over-zealous kayaker here or there. We enjoyed great weather except for the one cold rainy day and we couldn't have asked for a better water level.

Our group was off the river and loaded by a little after noon. After dumping our groovers and some garbage at the scat machine and bins, we reconvened at Blackadar Boating to pick up our vehicles and say our goodbyes. The Penske left Salmon at 3:00 PM headed south. Susan started driving when we hit the freeway section near Idaho Falls and continued into the twilight hours. Around 10:00 PM, south of Provo, Bob took over and drove us down through central Utah and to the Cameron Trading Post before dragging himself in the back for a short snooze around 5:00 AM. After a couple of hours of much needed shut-eye, we ate a hearty breakfast at the Trading Post and continued on home. Almost a week later, we are still working our way through the mess but expect to be done today, so Susan can pack to leave for Minnesota tomorrow.

Participants:

Carolyn Balliet, Ted Bruning, Paul Doyle, Darla Ekbom, Susan Groth, Bev Hannon, Tom Hannon, Dave Kehs, Bob Kerry, Lynn Kerry, John Lupo, Susan Lupo, Neal Manning, Bob Marley, Scott McCollough, Denise Mead, Stan Mish, Marge Padgett, Duane Phinney, John Rich, Kathleen Rich, Nicole Schmutz, Paul Schmutz, & Kay Threlkeld.

Future Trip Information:

White Rim Van and Bike Trip (9/14/02-9/21/02):

There is still space on our fall White Rim trip in Canyonlands National Park. This trip has something for everyone. There will be excellent photographic opportunities, a couple of thousand foot climbs to the Island-in-the-Sky on old mining trails, and a 100 mile ride for those who wish to bike a few hours each day. If you wish to simply kick back and take it easy, but still see this country, some drivers are needed for the vehicles and there will be limited passenger space. Permits are difficult to obtain from the National Park Service for this trip, so if this trip is something you've always wanted to experience, come and join us this year.

General Trip Information:

We must receive your deposit and a completed Q/AR form, for you to be considered for inclusion on one of our trips. If you are planning to join a future trip and you haven't done this yet, please do it now. If a trip is popular enough to require a waitlist, we will use five criteria to determine who goes. Initial preference will be given to those who have a current mailing application on file, have paid any required trip deposit, and have promptly returned the necessary Q/AR. If this isn't sufficient, we then compare trip deposit dates and lastly Q/AR postmark dates.

We continue to send information to travel friends using email. If you want to be the first to know what's happening, be sure to send us your email address and keep it current. We'll also continue to communicate unique travel opportunities by 'special mailings' to those who travel with us frequently and who have a mailing application on file.

Best of luck in your adventures, whatever they are, and wherever they may be. We look forward to traveling with you sometime soon.

Susan & Bob

Our page URL: http://www.kwagunt.net/

Updated on Friday, June 28, 2002 @ 21:30 MST © 1995-2002 by Robert R. Marley

Email address: themarleys@kwagunt.net