Being a raft guide doesn’t seem nearly as daunting as
it did a few weeks ago. I’ve been
told I’ve already got the “look” of a guide down. And looks are everything, right? So, I should be good to go. But seriously, here’s what I’ve been doing so far…
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| The "raft guide look" with Elise and Jeanne Marie |
After a marathon day of grocery shopping and packing
I left Johnstown, CO on April 28th along with the Anderson’s. I don’t think I’ve ever been a part of
a $1000 grocery run before, but now I can add that to my resume. We arrived in Texas Creek several hours
later and began the not-so-small task of cleaning and organizing. Within the next few days we were joined
by Steve, the Soniat sisters, Dwight and Justin Grant (Dwight is the founder of
VFH), and Josh Shannon. I didn’t
take any ‘before’ pictures of the office and boat house, but you can trust me
when I say great improvements were made by way of elbow grease from the whole
crew!
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| View of VFH from the road (the office is behind this building) |
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| Office (front) and Boathouse/Staff area (behind) |
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| Inside the Office (it's still being organized, but you get the idea) |
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| Picnic area (white and blue building on left is the back side of the office) |
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| Inside the prep room/staff area |
On May 2nd seven of us left Texas Creek,
CO for the Green River in Utah.
I’d never been to Utah and I’d never been on a raft trip so new
experiences all around! We drove
for nearly 12 hours when we finally made it to the put-in. We were all rather tired after a long
day in the van so we rolled out our sleeping bags and slept under the
stars.
The next morning we woke up bright and early, packed
up the boats and said goodbye to civilization and hello to Desolation Canyon. We wanted to cover about 30 miles the
first day, but only ended up going about 26. We rowed and rowed and ROWED for what seemed to be forever until
we reached our campsite. Tired,
cranky, and sore are three words that come to mind from that first day. However, we all felt better after
eating some food and playing a highly competitive game of Bocce Ball.
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| On the Green River |
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| Getting ready to leave our campsite |
The second day was a lot like the first, long and
tiring, but VERY pretty. The views
in the canyon were spectacular.
The next 4 days were quite a bit easier because we only covered 3-10
miles per day.
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| Right before a wave drenches the boat |
We were able to do some hiking in the canyon. One hike was to an old prospectors
cabin and another was to the top of a high point in Grey’s Canyon. For the most part, though, we stayed near
the river. But that wasn’t hard
because every campsite was home to some of the best beach sand I’ve ever
seen! It was so nice to be able to
get off the river, kick your shoes off and walk around in the warm sand. But, there was a drawback… Sand got EVERYWHERE! I’m still trying to clean the sand out
of my sleeping bag, toothbrush and camera.
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| Hiking in Desolation Canyon |
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| Josh trying to stand up in the prospectors cabin |
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| View from the high point in Grey's Canyon |
Another thing about river trips is… you can’t relieve
yourself on shore. By that I mean
if you need to go (which you do multiple times during a 6 day trip) you need to
go in the river. And if you need
to take a poo you get to use what’s known as a groover. Basically an old ammo can with a toilet
seat on top of it. I’m trying to
come up with a points system for the groover, but it’s much harder to come up
with that a point system for BIFFing.
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| Using the "facilities" |
I ended up hurting my elbow after the first day of
the trip, so I haven’t been paddling since then. It’s my left elbow and it feels like tennis elbow. Mark and I decided that it would be
better if I skipped out on rowing for these past few weeks rather than become
more seriously injured and being out for the summer. So, I don’t have too much experience under my belt yet but I
will in the near future.
Since we got back from the Green River trip we’ve
been further organizing and cleaning the office and boat house. We’ve also been practicing backing up
the trailers with 15-passenger vans.
I’ve gotten quite good at that.
The other newbies have been learning how to guide a paddle boat down the
Arkansas River, and because of my elbow I have been learning how to shuttle and
take rafting pictures. We've also become quite good at mouse extermination. We've caught 9 since getting back from the Green River and have removed a nest from Jeanne Marie's car. And by we I mean Josh.
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| Training on the Arkansas |
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| Josh taking care of a mouse nest |
Overall, I’ve been having a good time and am about 10
shades darker than 3 weeks ago. I
cannot wait to start paddling again and I’m hoping and praying that my elbow
can take it! Currently I’m in Fort
Collins, CO with Jeanne Marie and Elise.
We’re staying with they’re older sister Gina. We will be heading back down to Texas Creek on Monday night
to officially begin staff training on Tuesday. And… just so y’all know I don’t have cell phone service
where I am and currently I don’t have internet access either. Steve is working on getting us some wi-fi,
but in the meantime, if I don’t answer you back for a week it’s because I
literally cannot.
If you’d like to send me snail-mail here’s the
address:
Elise Holmstrom
27077
Highway 50 Suite 4
Texas Creek, CO 81223
Mark and Sarah are still trying to purchase a house down by
VFH. They have one that they want
that would be practically perfect for them and their 5 kids. They put in a bid, but so far no
dice. If you could be praying for
them, I would greatly appreciate it.
