To be a Grand Canyon River Guide ....

I think it's hard to explain to people exactly what I do, so I'm going to show you a little of what goes into a trip.

The night before we rig, we have to get ourselves down to Fredonia, Arizona, which is about 5 hours away from Salt Lake. Luckily there's a bunch of people that live in SL or Orem so we can carpool, or else that commute would kill me. Most everyone goes home in between trips, because unlike Moab, there's not that much to do in Fredonia. Well, I take that back, Zion is only like 45 minutes away (I'm there now) but most everyone is married or has stuff to do at home, so they all go home, and it's so hot. Anyway, we get to the warehouse the day before then start rigging the next day.

We get all the food boxes and coolers out and load them with ice that will last 8 or 9 days, and all the food for 28 people.

Then we load 4 frames, and boats into the truck on one half, then all the food and gear in the other half. Luckily we have a winch to help us out, because everything is super heavy. It takes two people to carry the coolers even when they're empty. It's like playing Tetris trying to get everything to fit in the truck, and everything has a spot.

Then we drive to Lee's Ferry, about 90 miles, and get out all the rubber, put on frames and blow them up. Then we back the truck down the river and one at a time, unload everything from the truck to the boats. It takes about 4 hours at each end. We then hang out and do all the finishing touches, and bathe. And let me tell you about this bath. The water is beautifully clear, unlike up in Cataract Canyon because it is all coming out of the bottom of the Glenn Canyon Dam. However because of that it's a freezing 47 degrees. No matter how hot it is, it still takes your breath away and gives me a brain freeze by the time I get the conditioner out of my hair. It takes some serious bargaining every time:

"OK, it's time for a bath..."

"But it's so cold! I don't want to" said in an extremely whiny voice.

"I know, but it's worth it, you'll feel so much better after, and you'll sleep better, and let's be honest... you stink"

"We'll you're right, but, but..."and at that point I just have to jump in off the back, no wading in, just jump. It sucks but really is totally worth it.

Anyway, we go to dinner somewhere at Marble Canyon, then sleep on the boats. The next morning, the people fly in to a little landing strip, and we meet them there after we've eaten breakfast and had our last couple minutes of hang time for the next 8 or 9 days. Go down to the boats, everyone loads dry bags, asks 100 dumb questions, gets life jackets and we get loaded on the boats and head down stream. Now the river trip has begun. It feels so good once we get on the river finally. We camp anywhere on the sides of the river and do side hikes to cool waterfalls and up really neat canyons along the way. Here are some of our main stops:

Red Wall Cavern

Nakoweep

The Little Colorado

Deer Creek Falls
(and check out this video of Deer Creek from last summer, it changed things so much between my two trips I did down there.)

and everyone looks forward most to Havasu.

Here's the pumpkin

But, the main part why the Grand has been a good step up is the rapids....

This is Horn Creek and the video is Hermit

They're hard to get good video or pictures of, but they are so fun. I'm learning how to drive them, and my TL this week says he's going to let me drive most everything. I'm pretty stoked/nervous!

So, after all that excitement, one of my main jobs is the set up the toilets. They're the best lou with a view ever. These spots aren't the best ones, but you get the idea. We set up one indoor and one outdoor every night.

After that and the kitchen get set up we have to keep working really hard when we pull into camp (Ben really is working hard, putting the second motor on the boat to go across Lake Mead, but not too much I can do but sit in the water that by the end of the trip has warmed just enough to want to hang out in it like this for about 10 minutes) We do get a little break from the peeps in between the boats and cooking and camp. I guess I don't really have pictures of us cooking, but we do a lot of it.

Then, after 6 or 7 days we dress up on the last night, (sadly, I can't find this dress from last year) and serve shrimp cocktail. The next day is the hardest for me, because those people helicopter out and new people fly in for another three day trip, and we have to be all excited and new and sharp for them. I just usually need at least 10 minutes, (or preferably a couple hours) to drive the boat and regroup a little. We do another couple days with them, and the last morning a jet boat comes and picks them up and takes them the last 40 miles on a jet boat across Lake Mead, because even with two motors it takes us another three hours. We get the boats ready, play around a little of course, pull up to South Cove where the semi truck is waiting for us to do everything in reverse. After a bath in the now 80 degree water, three people pile in the cab of the semi (there's a bed back there) for the 8 hour drive home and the other 5 guides fly back to Fredonia. The next morning we open the truck, take loads of stuff out, spray all the food boxes with a high pressure washer, clean out the toilets (definitely not the fun part) and put everything back where it should go for next week.

The rig and derig and the exchange day suck, and some trips can feel really long depending on the crowd, but for the most part, it's really great and I love it. I'm tired all the time and I just want to sleep when I'm off the river, but it's worth it. Here's a picture from just one of many great morning scenes. (and check out my new ditch boots that I love! I really hate getting my feet wet in the mornings, and these have been amazing!) So, there it is ... I actually do work.

Yosemite x 2

It was up in the air for a bit, but we went to Yosemite again, and it was awesome. I loved being there again. It was different this time, because I wasn't the TL (trip leader ... not that I really was, but it's funny to call it that) so it was nice to have someone else make the decision and decide what to do.

There was a group of 10 of us and it was cool being there with that group of friends. We did a 15 pitch route called Royal Arches. I had a problem with some of my pictures, so I'll hopefully get more from other people, but here's Cody and Beth just about to head down the first rappel. It took about 7 raps to get down and here I am about half way down. There was a sweet waterfall in the background. It was a good, but long day because we had to wait for some other slow parties in front of us, but it was so good to be up off the Valley floor all day.

The next day, we took a rest day, and went to this huge swing at the base of El Cap. It was so fun. There's two fixed lines, one shorter than the other, and it wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it was going to be. You have to run and the ground drops out from under you and you just swing out and it's pretty much like slow motion after that. It was really cool. The bigger one was even better. The best way to show you is a couple videos

Here's me doing it, but my friend, Garrett, figured the best way and here's him:

It was a really good time until he tried to get a little crazy, and tripped and cut his head open. It scared us all pretty bad, and it sucked, but to be honest, it was kinda cool for me, because I got to clean it out and check it out and give the diagnosis that he needed to go to the hospital. I watched as they gave him 11 staples. It put a damper on the rest of his trip, but more because he kinda twisted his ankle too, and crack climbing is hard on healthy ankles.

So, after that fiasco, we hung in camp that night and the next day did a 3 pitch climb called Commitment. It was really fun. Here's the view from the top. It was a great trip and to top it all off I met a really cool guy, Johnny from New Zealand that'll give me a place to stay when I go there (notice I said when, not if. From everything I've heard that is the place to be). We drove home through Sacramento again and stayed with Tony's sister. Too short of a visit to see anyone of my friends, but it was a great last trip of my spring.

California has more than beaches

YOSEMITE

I love road trips. I haven't been on one longer than down to Moab for a long time and it was fun to go on a long one.

Our trip started because of looking into a Tegan and Sara concert. They weren't playing in Utah, (but I found out, since that they are playing at Thanksgiving Point with Death Cab for Cutie so you should go!) so we ended up finding one in Davis, which is just outside Sacramento, which is where I served my mission. So, after buying those tickets we decided to make a real trip of it, and go to Yosemite as well. I had been when I was 8 but neither of the other two had been there before.

We left Thursday, in Harriett packed and stoked for her first trip. I got on a roll and drove the whole 13 hours into Yosemite. It was good that it was dark because I'm sure it would have taken way longer had I been able to enjoy the scenery. The road into the valley was closed so we pulled off the road somewhere and set up our tent. Luckily we got out of there in the morning soon enough that we didn't get busted.

The next morning, we found Camp 4, set up camp, and then found 'The Manure Pile'. It's close to the base of El Capitan (and for those of you who don't hablo Espanol, that's Spanish for The Captain) and we did a 6 pitch route called After Six. (Just an FYI ... a pitch means length of a the rope. Like, one pitch I climb up, get to a belay spot, belay from there, then the next person climbs up to me, and we keep going, and do that six or however many times). Molly has done a couple multi-pitch things, but Jess never has, and it was my first time being the one leading all the pitches, and setting up all the anchors. So, it was an adventure, but I gotta be honest (and a little bragy) and say it was great and everything went really smooth. The first couple pitches took forever because it was all teaching and checking and double checking everything, and getting all the kinks of climbing with three worked out, but then we all got the hang of it and it was so fun. We stopped in the middle to have a PB&J lunch. The view from the top was great, and it was awesome to have done it.

The next day we relaxed in camp for a bit and then started a hike to Upper Yosemite Falls. It was a rough hike with steep switch backs at the beginning and at the end. It was only 3.5 miles but it took us just under 2 hours. It was steep but totally worth it. We had great views of Half Dome the whole way up. I couldn't believe how close we could get the the falls at the top and close to the edge. There was so much spray and wind at the top it was It was awesome. Such a great view of the valley and it was a great time to be there because there was so much water flowing. It was rough on the thighs on the way down . We hung in camp for a bit, then tried to motivate. We looked through the climbing book and tried to find a couple different spots, but couldn't find them, so ... I'm a little hesitant to admit this but we climbed in the back of Harriett, put the seat down, and watched Juno on my laptop. I know, I know, it's supposed to be this "hard core climbing trip", but we enjoyed taking some rest time, and told ourselves it was a "girl's trip" also.

The next morning, we cleaned up camp, then went to do Mungenella, a three pitch route by the Lower Yosemite Falls. There were great views of Half Dome throughout the whole route. We did it in two pitches. As with all the climbs, the hike down was more sketchy than the actual climb.

We drove in to Sacramento, and found my friend, Heather's house. She was one of the last people I taught on my mission, and it's been a while since I've seen her, so it was so good to see her again. We drove around Downtown Sacramento and Old Sac, and did a little shopping. I didn't ever see a lot of it while I was out there, sadly enough. We drove up to El Dorado Hills, my first area, and visited a family and an older couple that took good care of me while I was out there. It was good to be back there, and I was amazed that I was able to find their houses. That night we went to the concert. They put on such a great show. They're Canadian twins, and so fun to listen to. They have such great banter, and I love their music. I think musicians that can change up their music, so that the concert songs are different than the CDs are great and they did that, and it was awesome. Here's a couple more pictures for good measure.

Over all it was such a great trip. I love climbing trips and this one was awesome because it was so much fun, and great to do it with just girls. Molly and Jess are leaving on missions in a month and a half and I'm really sad to see them go, and getting pretty bummed to be loosing two of my best friends right now! But I know they'll be great missionaries and I am stoked for the people the get to teach and I'm jealous of their companions (Not the being on a mission again part, but the getting to hang out with them all the time part). Good luck girls!

The Swell

Welcome to the San Rafael Swell. Here we are just about to drive through the reef.

I don't have too much time to write now, so I'll just throw a few pictures on here from my trip to the Swell last weekend with my dad. (I know what you're thinking, yeah right, like Grace can just say a few words, but really I will) I was going to go climb some routes that I've wanted to do forever with my friend Scott but he ended up having to work and my dad was going to go with one of his friends who got the dates wrong, so we ended up going just the two of us. That was the most time I've spent with just my dad in a long time and it was really great to spend 3 days just hanging and wandering through the desert with him. I love the San Rafael Swell too, it's great.

These are both from Little Wild Horse CanyonIt was pretty cold the first night. A lot windier and colder than we thought it'd be.

This one is from Crack Canyon

I love the old, Juniper skeletons.

So, basically, it was a great weekend and I had a fantastic time with my dad in the desert!

I hate being sick!

I've been fighting it for like two weeks. Just waking up with a sore throat or a little stuffy nose, but it's gone by noon or so, but the last couple days, I have been sick. Body aches, head ache, ab-working out cough, unbelievable amount of snot coming from my sinuses sick. I don't like taking medication. I never have, and I try not to even take Ibuprofen if I can help it, but eating dinner at my parents last night I was miserable, and I took some "Vitamin I" and even though I was stuff stuffy and coughing, I wasn't achy and miserable. Then today at work, after sneezing and coughing into my mask all day at work, and having snot run down my face because there's nothing I can do about it, I had the doctor I work with hook me up with a prescription for some drugs, and I gotta say, I'm feeling pretty good about taking them. So, it's 10:30 and in bed, which for is a change for sure, and I'm going to bed, and going to be feeling great about working another 12 hour shift tomorrow.

And, just for fun, I bet you may have seen this but if not, check it.

(Here's the details about it, because on the site they are in Espanol:
Several years ago this woman found a sick, malnourished lion cub in the jungle. She took the cub home and fed him and brought him up until he was too big to keep anymore. Then she made arrangements with a zoo in Colombia to take the lion. Here's a video of what happened when she went to visit him in the zoo for the first time)

Good night, hope you all are healthy and well!

Check your pockets!

It's April, and I still need my fat skis! The last time I went up to Snowbird, like two weeks ago, I thought I'd snowboard because I hadn't in a while and sometimes I miss it, but it was a miserable day. It had snowed like 8 inches on top of totally hard cement. And it was cold and with a snowboard, that was the worst day I could have chosen. So, with the nice weather, I haven't been thinking about skiing much any more, but with the last storm we got, I decided to go up yesterday, and it was amazing! It was still a little hard underneath, but the foot of new snow on top was great. Many more face shots than what I'd expect in April, and it was great.

(This picture was taken the day before I went, but it was still that good!)

I ran into a couple of the McQueens up there, and they're great skiers and it was so fun to keep up with them. It was pretty cloudy and sometimes I'd look around and couldn't see anything! Just white everywhere. So, on my last run, we went through the upper gate of Silver Fox, and I thought I was going to go off this little rock but ended up going pretty fast off about a 12 foot cliff not even expecting it. Needless to say, I wrecked pretty bad, and my neck is so sore today! When I got up and tried to get snow out of everywhere and pull myself together I noticed my pocket was open and my keys were gone. With Fiona, I'd just leave the keys on the floor and leave the door open, and it's been a change for me to actually lock the car and have to carry my keys. So, somewhere up in the Macaroni Shoot is my brand new car's key and clicker (a new thing for me also) my house key and my Front membership card. Luckily, I bought a magnetic thing, but unluckily, the other key didn't fit in it, so it wasn't attached to the outside, but luckily, it was in the car. Public Safety broke in in like 5 seconds and my key was in there, so a major tragedy had been averted.

So, the point of the story is don't ski with your pockets open, or just leave your keys in the car.

Jackson

I think the first time I went to Jackson was when my mom and her friend Alicia took 8 of my friends and me there for our eighth grade graduation. It was so fun. We stayed in a nice place and did the canyon section of the Snake (my first memorable river experience) and went on some other great hikes. I have been to Jackson quite a few times since then, but not for a while, and it was great to get up there this weekend. My friend, Mark was signed up for the Pole Pedal Paddle race up there, and I went up to do support for him.

We went to the pre-event meeting, and it's so funny to see that group of people. At the Moab half-marathon, there was a huge variety of people: big, skinny, real runners in tight clothes for aerodynamcity (is that a word? I'm not sure, but I like it) others in sweats. Old, young, business men, and hoodlums. But at this event, pretty much everybody was the same. Everyone was wearing down or fleece, usually a beanie, with sunglasses on top (I had all of these). Most had goggle tans and / or beards, carharts or ski pants. Luckily we had Mark's Subaru (that looked pretty sweet with a kayak, bike and three pairs of skis on top) because we fit right in with all the other 4-wheel drive cars, trucks and other burly vehicles that reside in Jackson. (I did see one Ford Taurs wagon up there and I was stoked!) People always talk about the stigma in Utah to have to be better than your neighbor, and have to always be happy and have it all together but I really don't feel like I get sucked into that, but I do like feeling at home with a group of outdoor enthusiasts. If you know me, you know I have a bit of a problem with having and wanting too much gear. It's so great to have just the right jacket or piece of equipment for whatever fun things I'm doing outside. So to be in a group of other people that I imagine have the same issue makes me feel right at home. But it is amusing being in that group, looking around and pretty much seeing a different version of all the same person. I usually don't like being one of many, but in that group of people, I'm OK with it. They make me feel more motivated to push myself harder and spend more time outside. However, this isn't the point of this entry...

This race is great, and I really want to do it sometime. I'd love to do it all myself if I knew it was going to be warm, but it would be so fun to do it in a team. It's awesome that Mark did it on his own without much training, he just wanted to do it, and did so well. It starts at the top of Jackson Hole resort where you have to ski down through gates, then run 200 yards, put on skate or cross-country skis and ski a 10 K, then trade out to bike stuff and bike 20 miles. At the end of that, you get off your bike, and get into a kayak and paddle 9 miles downstream on the Snake River. We got Mark's kayak dropped off the night before, and in the morning I dropped him off and helped him leave his skate skis and bike. (He had never skate skied before, except for a test run around a field the night before but he caught on really quick)



I like the above picture, because you can't really tell, but he's wearing tele boots, has skate skis on his shoulder, and he's walking his bike. It shows the diversity of the race, not to mention the sweet sunrise going on in the background!

(My camera was just about out of batteries so the pictures I took were either from my phone or taken super quick as I turned it on, before it realized it didn't have enough life, and turned off)

I went up Cache Creek and cross country skied a 10K of my own, but was glad I didn't have to get on a bike and ride 20 miles, because it had started snowing. I saw Mark on the bike section, and helped him trade out to his kayak.

His whole bike was crusted with muddy ice, and when he got out of his kayak at the end, this life jacket was coated with ice. He said he wasn't too cold, just his hands.

I would've been freezing, but it's great he did it all, and enjoyed it. We ate good Mexican food and hot chocolate at the event and had an amazing home-made s'more at the Brewery. We stopped at Lava Hot Springs on the way home and it was a perfect end to a fun weekend. Good job, Mark!