Category Archive: rafting

1. A Mama in Quarantine

   May 11, 2020 7:33 pm Comments Off on A Mama in Quarantine

   A friend of mine who edits a publication for river guides asked me to write about what it’s like being a mama (and river guide) in quarantine. I sure appreciate her request because it’s allowed me a moment to sit down and drink a whole glass of wine (ok, glasses) and reflect on where I am in my life in the midst of this pandemic without interruption. They say we are fighting a war against an invisible enemy and I wonder who’s the bigger enemy, the Virus, or being faced with Uncertainty.

   I like how the Buddhists put it, “invite your greatest fear to tea”. I decided to picture a steaming English teapot laid out on a table between me and Uncertainty.  I recognized that it was actually the lure of Uncertainty that led me out to Flagstaff, Arizona for no reason at the age of 23. I gave Uncertainty a piggyback ride when I rowed my first boat through Grand Canyon and again on the Middle Fork of the Salmon. And certainly, if you’ve ever paddled a ducky or a stand up paddleboard you have succumbed to Uncertainty (and are haughtily enjoying it). After years of guiding with all the pleasures and pains that accompany that choice of lifestyle, I actually learned to maybe not relish uncertainty, but at least accept it. And hell, maybe even try to embrace it. However, the idea of that makes me squeamish, not to mention It’s a slippery little devil. Not but two seasons ago I was still working full-time when I found myself invited to tea with motherhood. Motherhood is a synonym for Uncertainty, just ask around. With gusto, I said, “sure thing Uncertainty!” and here I am some months later with a job before me that is monumentally, fundamentally, all-encompassing and exquisite. Ok, wine told me to be honest, the task at hand is also terrifying.  But I love this job more than I’ve ever loved a job. Yep, sorry river guiding. This chubby-cheeked cherub bumped you from numero uno.

   In my personal experience, a mama in quarantine is just a mama. I was already a stay-at-home-work-from-home mama with all the frustrations and delights that entails. I am, however, brimming with gratitude. Most people I know and love are still healthy. I am lucky enough to live in a gorgeous and mostly-rural Moab. Jeep Week was canceled. As I said, I’m filled with gratitude. But I’m antsy. Because I’m a lucky duck, I want to help. I’m desperate to. So I’m doing little things like delivering groceries, organizing volunteers, washing my hands like mad, and wearing a mask. (Gosh ya’ll I hope masks don’t become a fashion craze after this is all said and done because frankly it rides up into my eyes, makes me want to touch my face even more, and adding insult to injury, we can’t even see each other’s smiles. Ok, I digress).  The local hospital where my son was born asked for people with Wilderness First Responder certification to help out if this thing blows up in our tiny town. I’ve put my name down but God willing and the creek don’t rise they won’t call. Daily, I send my love to all those mamas in high rises in New York and hot zones all over the world where I can’t even comprehend what they are going through.

   Anyway. This mama in quarantine is just a mama. But I’d like to use this “platform” as it were to pay tribute to all my fellow guides. Some people may kinda scratch their heads in wonderment at those of us who choose to live the guiding life. But in crisis just as this, this is where guides shine the brightest. We are resourceful, upbeat, reliable, resilient, tough-as-shit, encouraging, multi-faceted, capable, and community-minded. No doubt we are helping out where we can and big admiration and thanks to all those many guides who moonlight as nurses too. There are many of you and you make our community proud.
   I’m proud to be a member of this community. Stay well out there and help where you can. We’ll be back on the river soon showing people the time of their lives.  And when that time comes, they will need it more than ever.

2. Salmon River Meditation

   April 15, 2020 9:06 pm Comments Off on Salmon River Meditation

   I want to share with you a meditation on the Salmon River. Whether you are a returning Canyons guest or looking forward to your first trip this season, the possibility that your trip will be delayed can feel disheartening. As a river guide, I feel the same way too.

    

   This moment in time is an interesting one. A moment that is filled with trepidation, a mix of fear and hope and waiting. At this moment, there isn’t one of us who isn’t waiting to see what will happen next, to all of us, collectively. Many of us are spending much of our time at home just venturing out into our local territory for walks in the sunshine and distant waves to our neighbors. This is the perfect moment for taking a pause, for dreaming of our great escape if only in our mind’s eye.  I offer the following meditation in the hopes that it will create within you a deep feeling of ease, relaxation, groundedness, and peace.

    

   Find a comfortable position. Close your eyes. Rest. Breathe deeply.

    

   Imagine yourself standing. Dappled sunlight sifting down through the tall pines above, warming your face, arms, back, legs and feet. Barefoot, you feel sand underfoot, still cool from the quiet night. Just in front of you, the green Salmon River rushing by. Clear and cold, the water splashes over rocks worn smooth by the millennia of currents. A fish flashes by quickly in the sunlight. Breathing deeply, you take in the smell of the river. It smells like a combination of rain, damp earth and something else, something indescribable. Looking up at the bright morning sky you see distant cumulus clouds from last night’s storm dissipating with the brilliant sunrise. An osprey, black and white wings with feathers like fingertips soars high on warm thermals. You watch until she slowly disappears behind the grass and pine-covered mountains. Time becomes irrelevant as the day wears on. Walking slowly up the steep slope behind camp, to the rocky outcrop at its pinnacle. Gazing out into the wilderness you notice mountains beyond mountains. Snow still lingering on distant slopes. Looking down into the river corridor, you recognize the hot springs you enjoyed yesterday, sitting vacant in the now dwindling light of day. Still. Silent. Except for drifting clouds. A multitude of animals who call this place home, are here but just out of your view. Quiet lives lived in this vast expanse.

    

   Breathe deep. Exhale. Imagine the distant Salmon River, still lapping against its banks, vacant from river runners. Velvet Falls ceaselessly cascading over the ledge. The worn mountain path, untrodden for now, allows for the Syringa to blossom it’s fragrant blooms more fully. Here is a chance for the wilderness to reclaim itself, if just for a moment. To regenerate. To breathe. To be still and quiet. The animals are resting in the quiet.

    

   We will return to the Salmon River soon enough and she will be there waiting for us. When we return with our friends smiling, may we return with an even deeper appreciation of the wilderness and the vital role it plays in our lives whether we are deeply immersed in it, or meditating on it from far away.

    

   Wishing each of you good health. We are filled with anticipation for our next meeting. All the best!

3. Offbeat Interview Series with Jen

   April 8, 2020 11:35 pm Comments Off on Offbeat Interview Series with Jen

   Jen ‘Scoop’ Cook

    

   Jen loves rivers and loves rafting. It all started when her parents took her rafting on the Kern River in California when she was 21 She was hooked. Jen attended a guide school in 2006 and has been rafting ever since trying to get on as many rivers as possible. Rafting has been her “gateway activity” to many other outdoor passions such as skiing, kayaking, rock climbing, and mountain biking. In 2013, Jen joined the USA women’s raft racing team, which opened the door to find six of her best girlfriends and lead her to compete on rivers around the world.  

   Jen moved to Idaho in 2015 to attend nursing school through Boise State University. She found herself craving to explore Idaho rivers in the summer and in turn, found Canyons River Company. Chasing rivers in places like California, Arizona, and Colorado, Jen met some amazing people who happened to also be guides for Canyons River Company. After talking with the Canyons owner and outfitter, Greg McFadden, she felt like family immediately and knew that she wanted to be a part of Team Canyons.

   In her own words: “The best thing about rivers, are the people you meet. And then you meet them again on other rivers in other states or other countries. Canyons has reconnected me with friends, whom I have guided with over the years in California, Colorado, Arizona, and Chile. It is great to find a company and a river to call home.”    

   The Interview

   If you could be a river superhero, what would you be?   Everyone becomes a river superhero when we all put on our PFD’s and helmets and step into our rafts, duckies or kayaks!  However, I would want my river superpower to be able to single-handedly unstick the Canyons sweep boat off of rocks, secretly turn into a river otter, and successfully execute a kayak roll every time! 

   What is your favorite dress up theme?   Disco and glitter. 

   What is your ‘go-to’ crazy hat night creation?   Any hat! As long as it has an awesome wig underneath, preferably a pink wig. 

   What brought you to Canyons?   For years, I listened to a dear friend of mine and fellow Canyons guide, Kelli O’Keefe, talk about these awesome adventures and good times she had been having with this so-called  “Team Canyons”. Finally having moved to Idaho, I was able to get hired and experience this amazing company that I always hoped to be a part of! 

   How many years have you worked here?   I have worked for Canyons for one awesome season (2019) and am looking forward to another one. 

   What is your favorite thing about Canyons?   Too many to list, but my top 3 are my fellow guides and canyons staff, the food (especially Stacy Cakes) and being Mama Duck on the river with our rainbow duckie fleet.  

   If you could describe Canyons in 3 words?   Inclusive, colorful and avocados. 

   When you hear the word Idaho, what comes to mind?   When I hear the word Idaho, images that come to mind are of course wild and scenic! I have made Boise my home for the past 4 years and have been slowly growing roots throughout Idaho. It has been wonderful to explore the Frank Church Wilderness while rafting down the Salmon rivers and also making great friendships along the way.  

   What are your top three favorite camps?   Elkhorn Bar Camp and Lower Grouse Camp on the Middle Fork & California Beach on the Main Salmon.

   Your favorite hike?   I enjoy hiking up any creek drainage coming into the Salmon rivers particularly Loon and Camas Creeks on the Middle Fork & Bargamin Creek on the Main Salmon. 

   Top three favorite rapids?   Top three favorite rapids would be Velvet Falls and the Tappan Rapids on the Middle Fork & Black Creek Rapid on the Main Salmon. 

   Currently, what is your nemesis rapid?   Devil’s Tooth Rapid on the Middle Fork of the Salmon. 

   What river do you want to run that you haven’t yet?   I would love to run the Zambezi River in Africa before a dam is constructed.

   What do you consider a ‘real’ job?   A “real” job is whatever job allows you to do what you love, whether it is while you are at work or those days off from work. 

   If you could only have one kayak in your quiver, what would it be and why?   With my intermediate and progressing kayaking skill, I love my Jackson Zen that I am currently paddling, however my goal this summer is to hop into a playboat and learn how to surf! 

   What is your favorite thing to cook on the river?   Tiramisu and COFFEE

   If you could take a musician or band down the river today, who would it be?   Lizzo or The Rolling Stones. 

   What is your most memorable swim in a river?   Clavey Falls on the Tuolumne River in California. It was the deepest and darkest swim ever. I was happy to see the light and come up for air. 

   What is one of your river rituals or superstitions?   I always put a little bit of river water on the back of my neck before entering a big rapid. 

   What is your most-valued non-river-related item that you bring with you on every trip?   My most valued non-river related item would be my coffee cup and lavender essential oil. 

   What is your favorite groover spot?   Marble Left, or any groover spot above a rapid. It really speeds up the morning line wait time. 

4. TEAM CANYONS + HUPPYBAR

   March 30, 2020 5:11 pm Comments Off on TEAM CANYONS + HUPPYBAR

   Partners in Adventure

    

   Team Canyons has a history of going deep into the heart of adventure. In the 1980s, Canyons Founders and avid river runners Les Bechdel and his wife Susan became national leaders and educators in on-river safety. Current owner Greg McFadden and Canyons Manager Ariana Lowe are skilled kayakers who have kayaked many rivers the world over. They aspire to keep the tradition alive at Canyons by encouraging guides to increase their proficiency and hone in their skills in all kinds of boats, on all classes of rivers. Canyons guides bring their experience and high level of stoke on every trip.

   Greg and several other guides at Canyons also guide commercially with Arizona Rafting Adventures in Grand Canyon where they run through the muddy, towering waves of the Colorado River. There among the high canyon walls, they have run into a fellow adventurer, Lyndsay Hupp, aka Huppy. In a canyon full of characters, this gregarious gal has made a name for herself. She has rowed, motored and kayaked through Grand Canyons over a hundred times. She has hiked hundreds of miles across the terrain and canyoneered through its most isolated gorges. Most recently, she was part of an elite team of athletes who attempted to break the downriver speed record in Grand Canyon by rowing all 277 miles in under 34 hours. Needless to say, her adventures in Grand Canyon make her hungry. After over a decade of eating GORP (good ole’ raisins and peanuts), Huppy decided she desperately needed a new snack to keep her fueled and created the Huppybar, an organic, nutritious and delicious alternative to the bland snack bars and handfuls of GORP.

   After hanging out with Huppy, Canyons felt there was an obvious connection that had to be taken advantage of! We have teamed up with her to offer Huppybars on our river trips for the 2020 season. We cracked a beer and sat down with Huppy to discuss our partnership. Here are excerpts of our conversation.

    

   With all the varied adventures you do, what is it about multi-day river trips that keep you coming back for more?

   The more time you can allow yourself to be immersed in a place and an experience, the more you will reap the benefits it has to offer. Multi-day river trips are one of the best ways to tap into the pulse of a place and draw a real connection to the outside, natural world. Not to mention the connection you will form with the people around you; living day in and day out with each other on the river allows people a certain amount of surrender to just be and let be and it can really bring out the best in us. Life is pretty simple on the river and I think we can all agree that the more you can get of that, the better!

    

   Your favorite river experience recently and why?

   I was recently on a river trip (with 7 teammates, on a 40’ cataraft with 6 oar stations– that made an attempt at breaking the river speed record through Grand Canyon of less than 34 hours and 2 minutes. It was a trip unlike any other in a place I had been well over 100 times before. Because we were moving non-stop downstream for well over 30 hours, night and day, it–among many other things–allowed me to sort of see the Grand Canyon again for the first time, making it a truly remarkable, epically challenging, and one of the most impactful trips I have ever done.

    

   Have you run the Middle Fork, Main Salmon, or other rivers in ID?

   I’ve never set foot in Idaho! Which is terrible!! I need to fix that!!

    

   What’s the reason you’d like to see your Huppybars get on Canyons trips? What attracts you to doing business with us?

   Huppybars were born on the river. Although they were born in the Grand Canyon, they do not discriminate against what river they are on. In fact, they love going down ALL rivers! So, as owner and creator of Huppybar, it is part of my duty to see that Huppybars get to experience as many rivers, trails, mountains, deserts, oceans, and lakes as they possibly can! As a huge bonus, the people on those journeys get to enjoy delicious Huppybars. It’s a win-win! To carry the Huppybar-love on these journeys, I like to find the outfitters that are doing it right and having the most fun. Canyons is exactly that and Huppybar is so excited to be going downriver with them this season!

    

    

   TEAM Canyons is excited to do business with you Huppy and we look forward to getting you up North for an Idaho-fix!

5. Capture the Canyons Magic

   February 27, 2020 6:54 pm Comments Off on Capture the Canyons Magic

   The Power and Magic of a Canyons River Trip

   Aiden Chambers wrote in ‘This is All: The Pillow Book of Cordelia Kenn’:

   “I thought how lovely and how strange a river is. A river is a river, always there, and yet the water flowing through it is never the same water and is never still. It’s always changing and is always on the move. And over time the river itself changes too. It widens and deepens as it rubs and scours, gnaws and kneads, eats and bores its way through the land. Even the greatest rivers…must have been no more than trickles and flickering streams before they grew into mighty rivers.”

   This is the Magic of Canyons. While one may be fortunate enough to return for the “same” trip: it is never the same. The river itself is different, the runs are different, the guides, while still amazing, are different; however, so much more changes than the obvious. Each time I have returned to the Salmon, I have been the same, yet entirely different. I long to return at every stage.

    

   When setting out to try to capture this magic, I initially was going to discuss the ability the river and Canyons have for taking you away from reality. My first trip with Canyons, my mom was very ill. However, when we were on the river, it was all about fun and adventure. This compartmentalization is sometimes imperative to reset in order to move forward once you are back in reality. I cried when we were loading the bus at the end of the trip. Was I mourning the end of our amazing time? Definitely. Was I also a young girl mourning the return to a reality she was afraid to face? Most definitely. 

    

   Upon return to the Salmon, the same but different, I was stronger. My mom had since passed away. We were starting our trip at the usual put-in but on foot. The river was low, and we would be meeting everyone else downstream after a 3-day hike. I have since run a marathon without training and have had two children. This 3-day hike remains one of the hardest things I’ve done physically and emotionally. With over 100 degree weather, little to no shade, and challenging terrain, my pack was proving possibly too large for my adolescent frame. This challenge paired with the rapids on the river taught me that I am capable of more than I realize. Each rapid must be faced head-on. You cannot stop paddling if you want to successfully get through. Stronger still. 

    

   Just as the river “gnaws and kneads, eats and bores”, so does life. The last time returning to the river was for mourning as well as a celebration of the life of a beloved uncle. I was stronger than before but softer, more perceptive, older. The cleansing power of the river was felt. The presence of my uncle and my mom was so felt being surrounded and immersed in nature. This is the Magic of Canyons. The river is peace. You are surrounded by the overwhelming beauty of nature and can, momentarily, forget about all that is gnawing and kneading, changing you. For a moment, you only can focus on the “lovely” and “strange”, ever-flowing river. 

    

   Written by Michele Rich, Canyons Guest 1999

6. All you need is Canyons LOVE!

   February 14, 2020 4:22 am Comments Off on All you need is Canyons LOVE!

   Experience the Canyons LOVE on our River Trips!

   Because we have…

   Love for the place. A place where clear cool water snakes through high, remote mountains. A place where natural hot springs beg you to stop, relax and stay awhile. Where brown bears peer through huckleberry vines into rushing streams filled with silver-flecked salmon moving against all odds towards familiar eddies. Where blossoming syringa beguiles the senses and peaceful nights are blanketed with stars. A place where body and mind fill with anticipation and wonder as the river disappears around the next bend.

    

   Passion for people. Team Canyons strives to create community through acceptance, respect and genuine delight in connecting people to place. We believe the Salmon River provides the perfect setting for people to come together and experience something that will move them, that will change them for a lifetime. When you run the river with us, you become a member of our family. Our tribe. You experience first hand the Canyons LOVE.

    

   Desire to create the best possible experience. Canyons leads the industry in our focus on safety and training for our guides for whom this is more than just a job. It’s a career. One of the top priorities for Team Canyons is to facilitate a phenomenal experience from the first email to the final rapid. We desire to conduct our business according to our values of offering good food from organic and sustainable sources and continually monitors our practices to reduce our carbon footprint and our impact on the river’s environment.

    

   Respect for all things living, all walks of life, all choices and all ways to be uniquely you.

   The Beatles said it best…

   “There’s nothing you can do but learn how to be you in time.

   There’s nowhere you can be that isn’t where you’re meant to be.”

   “It’s easy.”

   Love is all you need.

    

7. Natural or Synthetic Clothing?

   January 20, 2020 2:48 pm Comments Off on Natural or Synthetic Clothing?

   

   What to wear on your Salmon river adventure!

   When considering what clothes to bring on your Salmon river adventure, you may be wondering what is the difference between natural or synthetic fibers? Which is most comfortable on the river?

   First, consider that you’ll need to pack river clothes and camp clothes. Please see our webpage here for details on exactly what you’ll need to bring.

   Synthetic Clothing on the River

   Synthetic fibers are more durable than most natural fibers and can offer you functions like sun protection, quick-drying, stretchy, flexible, “waterproof” and stain-resistant material like this shirt. Synthetic materials you may want to throw in your bag include Capilene, polypropylene, and good ole’ fashioned fleece. You’ll frequently be wet on the river and synthetic fibers dry quickly to keep you warm and comfortable. Especially consider long quick-dry pants in the summer. They will dry quickly and you do not want to experience “boatman’s butt” on your trip. Just ask your river guide and watch them cringe as they explain the embarrassing horrors that a continuously wet rear-end can give you!

   Natural Clothing in Camp

   Evenings, nights and mornings are when it’s most comfortable to be in natural fibers. It also gives your skin a chance to dry out and air out which your fellow river runners will be appreciative of. Hanging out constantly in non-breathing synthetics can keep your new friends at bay! Nothing feels better than getting out of a hot spring on a cool evening and slipping into some cotton and wool layers before happy hour. Of course, you’ll always want to have rain gear and heavyweight gear like fleece handy just in case!

   Award-Winning Versatility of Wool

   Wool is also an excellent option on the river and in camp. Heavy to mid-weight wool in June can keep you warm even when it gets wet. In warmer months, lightweight wool is comfortable and offers great protection from the sun.

   If you have sensitive skin like me, you’ll find that high-quality wool-like companies such as Smartwool and Icebreaker offer, does not irritate the skin as some starchy feeling synthetics can.

   Happy packing and happy shopping! Don’t hesitate to call Canyons if you want to discuss the viability of the contents of your suitcase!

8. Canyons ‘Capture the Magic’ contest

   January 14, 2020 12:37 am Comments Off on Canyons ‘Capture the Magic’ contest

   The Canyon and Her Moon 

   The fire crackled, and the Salmon River rushed. I didn‘t know what time it was, but time didn’t seem to exist in the Canyon. Andy, a man who I had met only two days before, was there with his sister, Amy, mother, Sue, and brother-in-law, Paul. Andy was one of the best people we’ve met on these trips and by far the funniest. He gave off the cool-uncle vibe to all of the younger people on the trip. Not a day went by without Andy quoting ‘So I Married an Axe Murderer‘ as the group sat and talked around the fire. 

   This was my favorite campsite of the trip. Covered in trees, right off the water. We played bocce ball about an hour before the sun went down, but it was hard with the sandhill that went up, and the rocks that would bounce the ball straight into the mighty river. The sun went behind the canyon wall early, cooling us off quickly, to the point where everyone had a sweatshirt on, their hoods up, and a blanket over their legs. The sunsets were always beautiful by the river. The orange and pink slightly glinted off the water, making it look softer than it really was.

   It‘s nice to get lost in a moment. A moment where you‘re comfortable with your surroundings, where you are completely at peace. The people and nature around you completely encompass you, making you feel safe. The only thing keeping me awake was the small, uncomfortable chairs that would sink into the sand the moment you sat down. The sand was always cold, but it was especially bitter at nighttime. And I never wore shoes once we got to camp- my own mistake. But the sand felt like silk between my toes.

   The group slowly trickled off to bed as it got later into the night. Sleeping in the canyon is always the best part of a trip down the Salmon River- as long as you’re bundled up. My dad, cousin, brother, and I slept side by side on the sand–covered pads and sleeping bags that the company provided. We didn’t sleep in tents for most of the trip since there was no need to. The only animals that strayed into camp during our stay the previous year were deer, but they hadn’t come into camp this trip so far. I enjoyed seeing the stars at night. But with seeing the stars, comes dealing with the cold. The cold wasn‘t terrible as I fell asleep that night, my grey fleece blanket inside of my zipped up sleeping bag, and my hood up with the strings tied to make sure it stayed in place. I fell asleep without a problem, listening to the river rush and the small group still awake talking quietly by the fire.

   I woke up to the sound of the river roaring downstream, as we had camped right next to a rapid. The feeling of waking up in the canyon is surreal. You wake up cold, yet warm at the same time. I wondered why I had woken up, as it had to have been around three or four in the morning, as everyone was quiet, including my brother and our friends, and I heard multiple people snoring. But I could never really tell what time it was.

   I took a deep breath in and opened my eyes completely. The first thing I saw was my dad asleep with his black, “light-blocking” eye mask on. I laughed a little at him and rolled onto my back, pulling my grey blanket along with me to look up at the sky. The stars shone differently out in the canyon, as there was, and hopefully would never be, ever enough light pollution to dull them out. The moon smiled down at me from her place in the sky. She watched over my family, friends, and me as we slept, keeping us safe and reminding us that a new day will be here soon. 

   I decided to get up and go to the bathroom, another odd experience in the canyon. I started walking down the small path that was in between the two sides of the camp. I followed this path, shivering as the wind nipped at my exposed legs, all the way to the bathroom area they set up. I didn‘t use my phone‘s flashlight, as the moonlight showed me the way. On the walk back to my bed I heard a twig snap behind me and froze immediately. My first reaction was fear, so I slowly turned around to check behind me. I calmed down when I realized it was just Nadia moving in her sleeping bag. I sighed in relief, my breath came out white in front of me.

   I laid back down, snuggling into the warmth of my sleeping bag, and mumbled, “goodnight, Moon. I‘ll see you tomorrow.” 

   Written by Olivia Corbett

   Olivia and her family have joined Canyons on the Main Salmon River in 2018 and 2019 and will be exploring the Middle Fork of the Salmon River with Canyons in 2020.

    

9. The Watermark – Musings on Rivers, Wilderness and Humanity

   January 11, 2020 1:43 am Comments Off on The Watermark – Musings on Rivers, Wilderness and Humanity

   January

   A new year. A new decade.

   I walk with my son down the chilly shaded path. The winter sun doesn’t warm the canyon like it does in spring and summer. It’s light just playing with the highest of the sandstone cliffs where once verdant dripping springs wait in icy hibernation for spring.

   My son is 6 months old. The back of his head presses against my chest as he watches a magnificent and ancient cottonwood reach it’s leafless arms bravely towards the distant cobalt sky. The path is sandy and damp and there is a creek babbling towards the river it’s music muffled by encroaching ice.

   Stepping on stones to the creek, I try to invoke the agility and stealth of a lithe mountain lion that I am sure at some point has crossed this way too. In the middle of the creek crossing a familiar smell reaches my nose, and I hope, my son’s nose too. It smells like winter. Like cold water. Like damp leaves. Like good memories. It smells like rivers I know. I pause. My heart fills with warmth in this cold silent canyon. I’m instantly transported back to the banks of the Salmon River. The babbling of this desert creek reminding me of the many creeks that babble and laugh and vigorously spill their waters across rounded stones into the mighty mainstem of the Salmon. The River joyously gathers all these creeks into its’ main flow as if to say, “the more the merrier!”

   I can’t help but smile. Walking through this winter sandstone, I am remembering summer smiles, warm nights gathered with dear friends new and old on moonlit beaches, and swimming like salmon, shiny scales flashing and eyes open in clear water eddies.

   This is the power of the river. Once you’ve been there, once you’ve experienced it, the feeling never leaves you. No matter how far away you are. None of us get to live on the banks of the Salmon River in the middle of the Land of No Return and yet after just one experience there, the power of deep wilderness connects you to something bigger. And, it connects you to the people who were there with you, sharing in the experience. Those people have become your tribe. They too are somewhere off in their own worlds remembering running the river with you; sharing this one singularly spectacular experience that has seeped into the core of you.

   My foot slips on a stepping stone and cold water splashes into my boot. I chuckle to myself over my wet shoe and pant leg. It was inevitable. It’s just like when cold river water somehow finds is way between the gaskets of your “waterproof” jacket and onto your skin. The feeling is uncomfortable, but somehow a welcome reprieve from the discomforts we feel in our everyday world. Traffic, schedules, noise. Suddenly, cold water on the skin feels more like a wake up call back to reality. A more primal, ancient, authentic aliveness.

   I exhale, hugging my son closer in the cold. We need this aliveness. We need this connectedness. My wish is not just for my son but for all of us to not only have the opportunity but take the opportunity to carve out time for ourselves and our families to journey into the wild places. Be silent. Be joyous. Let loose. Create community with our fellow seekers of authenticity, originality, adventure. Reconnect to our true nature, our animal selves. I believe the only way to truly reconnect is by visiting the backcountry and extended stays are the best. My wish for this new year is that each of us creates the space to have experiences that connect us with the real world and remind us of what is important. That way, once we inevitably return to our everyday worlds we will have a deep knowing of what is important and passionately strive to protect the places we love. They are disappearing.

   Nearing the mouth of the canyon again, we step into the sunlight. Instinctually, my little boy turns towards it, eyes closed. Did I just see a smile cross his face? Being outside is soothing to him and I like to imagine that these winter canyons are his happy places. I marvel that even the youngest of us understand we cannot and should not ever be too far removed from our natural habitat, our wild world.

   With these thoughts, I wish all of you a new year of authentic experiences shared with loving communities. And I wish you a renewed interest and vigor in raising your voice to protect wilderness.

   See you on the river.