240 Miles in 12 Days - Kayaking the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River
By Nancy Pietrowski
It took me awhile to sit down and write this story. Oh, we talked about it, gushed about it incessantly, gave endless slide shows to our patient family and friends. Anyone who’s been there knows what we experienced, what we saw, smelled, heard, tasted, felt, in every fiber of our being, and every muscle, tendon and bone of our bodies, because we kayaked almost the entire length of the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon in 12 days, from Lees Ferry to Lake Mead. This averages to 20 miles per day. With hikes thrown in. Without a layover day.
The Church Lady on the Middle Fork of the Salmon
by John Montgomery, WA
I just got back from Idaho a few days ago and I think there's still a smile plastered on my face from all the fun I had over the past two weeks. Idaho has some of the most incredibly beautiful rivers I've ever seen and warm, sunny weather that leaves you begging to be in the water. It's definitely a paddler's paradise! The main purpose of the trip was a six-day, fully catered run down the Middle Fork of the Salmon River with Phil and Mary DeRiemer.
Te Miraré En Los Rios De Ecuador
(I'll see you on the rivers in Ecuador)
by Kay Mattson
More than a year ago while sitting in my kayak, in what probably was a cold rainy soaked Oregon river, I said to myself there must be more than this! I'm happy to write there is! In late January I cashed in some frequent flyer miles, grabbed my summer kayak gear, my paddle, passport, water proof camera and the recommended Pepto Bismol pills and headed down to South America for an adventure. So, O.K. it wasn't quite that easy; just ask my friends. I agonized for months - should I go, can I hack the class IV- rivers, will I be O.K. a solo woman traveler, will my minimal Spanish skills get me by, should I or should I not take malaria pills?
Reminiscences of the Middle Fork
by Bob Chamberlain, raft-support camp trip first-timer
Most vivid memories or feelings...
......total confidence even after I twice upended on the last day including the infamous Devil's Tooth (believe the expression is flossed :-)
......amazement that I could be totally out of touch with the newspaper, news, and traffic reports with no idea of what was happening in the world and it didn't matter
Paddling at the Center of the Earth
By Nancy Pietroski
We never really solved the Great Toilet Mystery and didn’t catch the Southern Cross in the night skies, but we did witness an egg balancing on its pointy end. Where can you observe this ovoid phenomenon? At the Equator, the center of the Earth. Our journey to latitude zero first took its roots on our Grand Canyon trip in August. Phil and Mary (DeRiemer Adventure Kayaking) mentioned that they had run trips in Ecuador for over 10 years.
How Long Is The Rogue River Trip?
By Scott Zagarino, CA
When I really think about it, there isn't any beginning or end to the Rogue trip, just a whole lot of middle that keeps expanding. So here is the stream-of-consciousness version of a trip write-up. I got so much great instruction that I just tried to soak it in and use what I could then and save what I couldn't for later...The eagles, otters, bears and deer...Watching Phil take a deep breath at both ends of Rainey Falls, showing us what you can do if you pay attention...Watching Mary surf and laugh like a little girl...Getting to be with so many different people who had no common ground only to find that after four days, the ground isn't all it's cracked up to be.