When we acquired a permit for a river trip down the Green River through Desolation Canyon we were thrilled! We quickly invited family and friends and shared our excitement with them. "They would love it!" we told them, "The perfect family trip!" Darren had guided on this section of the Green 6 or 7 times about 14 years ago. We knew the bugs could be bad down there, but we are, after all, experienced roughing it kind of people. "Bad" now has a completely new meaning for us. Even if we had been told how bad, I don't think it would have registered with us, being something totally out of our realm of experience. SWARMS would be more like it. Swat your leg and kill 50 mosquitos bad. At the put - in the ranger said they let up 26 miles down. 26 miles in a day with kids? On flat water? Unheard of! Well after an hour of getting eaten alive even while on the river we set our sight for Jacks Creek rapid 26 miles downstream and made it quite handily. We still had mosquitos for days, but not nearly as bad. I now know if I don't make it to heaven I'll be doomed to Sand Wash, UT! Lest you think the whole trip was doomed I have to say it turned out great! Beautiful scenery, great rapids, fun beaches and great company! We just didn't notice, or even care for that matter, about any of these things until the mosquitos dissipated!
Justin rowing the girl boat. He can read the river really well and could row almost everything on this river. His only hinderance is his size, he simply doesn't weigh enough to make the pulls out of some of those eddys!
View from the cliffs above. Darren scrambled (I held my breath) up these cliffs to check out some ruins we thought we could see from below. We're talking sheer cliffs, shimmying up chimneys, but he's a mountain goat.
An Indian grainery. Darren had to sit flat to fit into this spot. His foot shows the size. How cool to think these were made so long ago! He's several hundred feet up. How did these people raise kids in this canyon?
Darren and Brady kayaked almost the entire river. I was so impressed with Brady's tenacity and skills. Beware all swirly monsters! You can't keep Brady down, even in his "miniature kayak", as some of the kids were calling it.
I had lots of help rowing.
Paige holding up a catfish, itching mosquito bites and smiling all at the same time - talented girl!
Sand fun.
Paige's legs after the first day. That's just her legs, the rest of her body was just as bad.
On every trip we go on Darren and I end up with lots of kids on our boat. This picture is typical of what we looked like, but ususlly Darren was in the kayak with Brady. My shoulders are still sore! Maybe I shouldn't bring candy on my boat anymore! Actually it is really fun to hear the silly songs, jokes and stories the kids come up with. We spent our time renaming the cliffs and valleys, boy are they creative!
Darren has his legs inside his spray skirt, no skin exposed meant no mosquito bites. (Sometimes)
My 10 year old hero.
There was a point on this trip when we hit melt down time. Paige was screaming, "I want to go home" over and over, (I didn't blame her), her other favorite was "I'm going to die!" (as everyone on the trip can attest to hearing) everyone was itchy, irritated and tired. The thing is, the only way home was to keep going, whether the bugs were going to let up or not. There are always going to be mosquitos in our lives. People who are rude, illness, tough classes, deadlines, accidents, deaths, friend problems, job stress..... the test is how we deal with it. These days we have such nice lives, so many conveniences, that when we come across bumps in the road do our kids really know how to deal with it? Do we? I had a lot of time to think of these things while lying awake scratching and scratching, and scratching (and listening for bears) Maybe the mosquitos were a blessing, it forced us to have to deal with something hard and miserable, there was no choice, no way out but through it. The next time we hit a difficult spot in the road ,with no sure end in sight, we can say to ourselves, "I can do hard things!" And the take out will come, sooner or later.
Justin rowing the girl boat. He can read the river really well and could row almost everything on this river. His only hinderance is his size, he simply doesn't weigh enough to make the pulls out of some of those eddys!
View from the cliffs above. Darren scrambled (I held my breath) up these cliffs to check out some ruins we thought we could see from below. We're talking sheer cliffs, shimmying up chimneys, but he's a mountain goat.
An Indian grainery. Darren had to sit flat to fit into this spot. His foot shows the size. How cool to think these were made so long ago! He's several hundred feet up. How did these people raise kids in this canyon?
Darren and Brady kayaked almost the entire river. I was so impressed with Brady's tenacity and skills. Beware all swirly monsters! You can't keep Brady down, even in his "miniature kayak", as some of the kids were calling it.
I had lots of help rowing.
Paige holding up a catfish, itching mosquito bites and smiling all at the same time - talented girl!
Sand fun.
Paige's legs after the first day. That's just her legs, the rest of her body was just as bad.
On every trip we go on Darren and I end up with lots of kids on our boat. This picture is typical of what we looked like, but ususlly Darren was in the kayak with Brady. My shoulders are still sore! Maybe I shouldn't bring candy on my boat anymore! Actually it is really fun to hear the silly songs, jokes and stories the kids come up with. We spent our time renaming the cliffs and valleys, boy are they creative!
Darren has his legs inside his spray skirt, no skin exposed meant no mosquito bites. (Sometimes)
My 10 year old hero.
There was a point on this trip when we hit melt down time. Paige was screaming, "I want to go home" over and over, (I didn't blame her), her other favorite was "I'm going to die!" (as everyone on the trip can attest to hearing) everyone was itchy, irritated and tired. The thing is, the only way home was to keep going, whether the bugs were going to let up or not. There are always going to be mosquitos in our lives. People who are rude, illness, tough classes, deadlines, accidents, deaths, friend problems, job stress..... the test is how we deal with it. These days we have such nice lives, so many conveniences, that when we come across bumps in the road do our kids really know how to deal with it? Do we? I had a lot of time to think of these things while lying awake scratching and scratching, and scratching (and listening for bears) Maybe the mosquitos were a blessing, it forced us to have to deal with something hard and miserable, there was no choice, no way out but through it. The next time we hit a difficult spot in the road ,with no sure end in sight, we can say to ourselves, "I can do hard things!" And the take out will come, sooner or later.
