| Pacific Northwest Exposure log (2005-06-23 -> 2005-07-13)
Leaders: Tommy Gavigan and Maggie Gavigan
Students: Stephen Manker, William Barksdale, Leigh Wright, Sarah Baccich, Rob Belk, Laurens Bujold, Adam Novack, Scott Jospin, Margaret Cheatham Williams
Greetings from PNW 1, who have just completed their 3-day rock climbing adventure at Smith Rock in Oregon. We just wanted to touch base with everyone with some words from the first leg of our trip:
After our arrival at Smith Rock, we spent a few days rock climbing. We set up camp and got fitted with our climbing gear. We learned the basics of knot tying, belaying and climbing. Our first day at Smith Rock was devoted to fairly easy climbs to get everyone adjusted. Our second day was slightly more challenging. Stephen proved to be our best climber and earning the nickname "little monkey" with Rob in close second. Sarah was a quiet leader who persevered in all she did. William is a funny kid and he could scramble up most any kind of terrain put in front of him. Adam made some funny, funny comments and also held his own throughout the hike. Scotty made a pretty cute banana (he had on all yellow), coordinating well with Stephen, who has worn all green for the past couple days. Laurens also did well with the climbing, in spite of a small knee issue on our first day out. Leigh did a great job leading the family vocally and pushing the others to do their best.
By Margaret Cheatham Williams, who is currently our lovable, caring "Mom" as Rob Belk likes to say.
Today (day 3 of climbing) was AWESOME! We hiked to the Monkey's Face (the 40 foot traverse in mid air and 150 foot repel) by way of the grueling 'Misery Ridge' and quickly learned why the hike earned its name. But everyone gave it their all and did a magnificent job. The real fun started when we reached the top, where we traversed into the Monkey's mouth (the rock actually looks like the face of a monkey and has a mouth, eye sockets and a nose that juts out) and rapelled down. Our climbing guides, Erin and Gabe, were great, great guys and really made it fun to be there. We had a challenging day, but it was also exhilarating and so much fun. My favorite part of the last three days was that everyone has really bonded with one another and everyone really makes an effort to help out the group...which I think is "way sick" (aka awesome) as Stephen Manker would say. Anyway, our past 3 days of climbing have been wonderful and I am already psyched about rafting with them all.
...love, Laurens Bujold
Thursday, June 30
After a great rock climbing section at Smith Rock, we headed out to take on the Deschutes River rapids. Armed with 2 rafts, a gear boat, 3 guides and our "oars" (as Maggie likes to say), we took on 50 miles of the river. Tom, the guide, and Tommy our leader, headed up one raft on day 1, and instigated a little bit of a water fight, despite squeals from Maggie and especially high pitched screams from Stephen.
Margaret Cheatham and Sarah rocked matching aviator sunglasses and coordinating John Deere hats that Tommy got for them. After 30 miles on the river, we made camp on the bank for the night. Dinner was great...burritos... and I think we all slept well despite the plague of moths and loud trains. I'm sure everyone appreciated a break from the sun when we took advantage of the ice cold water by jumping off a cliff on day one. We played the categories game and Scotty managed to spit out Lamborghini while jumping through the air and before hitting the water. On day 2, Tommy, Maggie, Manker, Leigh, Laurens, William, and Margaret Cheatham booked it across the river to bob feet first down "buck-skin Mary" rapids. Sarah and Adam hung in the rafts to "ride the bull" on the front of the rafts. Rob was a little prankster, constantly cracking jokes, playing with wheat, and soaking us all. On day 2, after a fun action-packed section of the Deschutes, we unloaded boats and made a picnic lunch. We packed up, dried off, and said good-byes and thank yous to our guides. We are now headed to pack and prep for our backpacking section and I can speak for all of us in saying how excited we are!!
Friday, July 8th
Today was the final day of our 7-day backpacking section. We hiked the 31 mile loop of the Rainbow Loop Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail. To begin hiking, we first endured a 4-hour ride on the Lady of the Lake Ferry up to our trail head. I think I can speak for all of us in saying that backpacking proved to be a truly fun experience. All of us incurred huge amounts of personal growth, especially Adam, who found out he could do a lot more than he ever thought he could. We all pushed each other; and everyone, including Laurens, Leigh and Margaret Cheatham, were very vocal cheerleaders for the group. Manker and William sped ahead each day and discussed money and business tactics along the way. William really knows what he is talking about. Sarah and Laurens made it out alive, despite humorous stumbles on the trail. Rob was a huge help every day...on the trail and at camp, by leading a hand anywhere it was needed. He also proved, as always, to be a funny, funny guy. Scotty, Stephen and William played the role of explorers when they found huge "staffs" and followed the rapids of the beautiful Steheiken creek. Maggie's wilderness adventure proved to be a good one, and as always, Tommy led with experience and knowledge.
-by Margaret Cheatham Williams
And here is a short creative summary William Barksdale came up with:
Today we celebrated the conclusion of our backpacking trip with warm showers and non-iodized water. The section as action packed and full of surprises. We had to endure 8-mile hikes, encounters with bears, and attacks by nearby deer. Our first day was a rigorous uphill hike. The second day was much the same but we had a minor squeamish with mosquitoes. The next day was boring until we set up a base camp at 6 mile. Stephen, Scott and I explored the nearby ice cold water. Later that night a tragedy happened...Sarah dropped her Nalgene water bottle into the river while filling it up...forcing Tommy to go running after it. Legend has it that Tommy ran 30 miles that evening in search of the ever elusive water bottle. As he went, he had to wrestle several bears and a cougar. Unfortunately, just when Tommy thought he had it, it disappeared under the sea foam rapids. The next day, a wee little bear wandered into our campsite and was chased away by Maggie and her clanging pots. The days past and at the end of the trail, we stopped by a delicious bakery.
July 12, 2005
Over the past couple of days, we have all shared wonderful experiences in the San Juan Islands. We road the ferry over to Lopez Island where we camped and met our awesome Outdoor Adventure guides the next morning. Bucky, Blair and Cathy met us with loads of energy and great attitudes and we were pumped about sea kayaking. A couple of kayaking lessons later, we were all paired off, 2 people in 3-person kayaks and we were off to Jones Island. Everyone was eager and excited to see the wildlife- Bald Eagles, seals, purple and orange star fish, kelp, etc. After the nine-miles in a kayak and 5 hours later, we were all ready to relax and enjoy the wonderful meal Outdoor Adventure (OA) was to prepare for us. The next day, everyone made the mutual decision to hang out on the State Park Island and go with the OA guides around exploring. Maggie, William, Stephen, and Margaret Cheatham were all courageous enough to purposely sting themselves with a native plant called 'Stinging Needle' knowing that the neutralizer plant grows right next to it called 'Horsetail'. Laurens and Sarah accidentally experienced this plant while on a late night bathroom trip!
While exploring the island, we came across a large set of rocks jutting out into the water with small pools in it. Everyone had fun turning the smaller rocks over to see what we could find. Stephen and William ventured into the shallow water and picked up jellyfish, star-fish and other cool marine life. One of the guides, Blair, suited up in a wetsuit from head to toe (humans can't last very long in the freezing water without one) to dive down and bring us cool underwater things to show us. One of which was a big red and purple Sea Urchin, which he then cut up so that we could all try the freshest sushi possible- Sea Urchin eggs directly from the insides of the Sea Urchin. After all of us took little nibbles, Adam happily finished the rest off for us! Under a couple of rocks, we found some bright orange Sea Cucumber which sqirted at us when it was frightened. Leigh took on the task of catching an extremely slippery eel that didn't want to stay in her hands!
We all took a nap after lunch when it started raining and the rest was much needed!
Later that night, we took another short hike that was followed by an 'all out' game of Ultimate Frisbee. Everyone enjoyed stretching their legs when running around.
Back on the water the next day, Rob and Tommy engaged in a seaweed fight and Scotty J. was constantly attacking Laurens with water. We've all had our fair share of enjoying the water guns (water pumps) that OA provided for us. As of now, we are waiting for the ferry back to Anacortes, where we will organize and clean the van and uhaul, do some laundry, find a thrift shop to buy outfits for our banquet tonight and meet Hayes for dinner.
This trip has been an amazing experience for everyone and we have all grown individually and as a group. Tonight and tomorrow will be bittersweet as we say our good-byes and part our separate ways. But now we know what we are made of and that none of us will ever forget what an amazing summer at Moondance this has been."
-Written by Sarah Baccich and Scott Jospin
7-15-2005
During the last three weeks our trip has taken us through some of North America’s most stirring and beautiful terrain. From the crags of Smith Rock to the rapids of the Deschutes to the untouched beauty of Lake Chelan and finally to the wild San Juan Islands; we dared the elements with the help of each other. Maggie and I witnessed the transformation of a group of individuals to the cohesive love of a Family.
Smith Rock provided an opportunity for everyone to get to know each other and push there physical limits. Our guides from First Ascent, Gabe and Aaron, asked us how long we had been out because everyone got along so well. That is quite a statement for a group that had been together for just a few days. On the final day of rock climbing, our group challenged the Monkey's Face and finished before lunch. Gabe said, "that was the most organized and determined group we have ever seen."
The Deschutes River gave us a little time to relax and rest up for the daunting backpacking in the North Cascades. We arrived just 45 minutes from Smith Rock to one of the most incredible landscapes I have ever seen at Mecca Flats. We were to meet the rafting guides the next morning to begin our section. The dry, arid desert landscape of Mecca Flats was a perfect place for us to witness one of the most beautiful sunsets of our trips. We had a nice game of frisbee going when a little 10 year old kid named Sam came up on his bike and hung out with us. It was awesome to see how our Moondance group so easily interacted with the kid and made him feel right at home. He quickly took to everyone's attention but he especially loved William and wanted to give him punches in the arm. Although the rapids were few, the rafts were a great place to tell stories and solve riddles.
Leaving Maupin City we moved North into Washington and Lake Chelan for the backpacking section of the Exposure. The Lady of the Lake took us to the Stiekhen Ranger Station where we started our loop. The first day was full of switchbacks and waterfalls. Taking us from 500 ft to about 1600 ft, all along the rainbow creek. We continued our climb to McAlster pass and the highest point of our hiking section. From the pass we had a great view of the Mountain ranges and the foliage characteristic of the great north cascades. In our following days the wildlife of the area showed itself as a greeting to their home. A little black bear visited us at 6 mile camp and the following night a few deer welcomed us to the fireweed camp. Returning to the ferry on day seven of backpacking was a little bit of a relief and an unwelcome return to the frontlines of society. We were a little smelly but happy about our time away together. We really grew as a family like only time in the backcountry can do.
The final element of the Pacific Northwest was the sea kayaking. Our incredible guides, Blair , Kathy and Bucky, took us through the cold but fantastic waters that surround the San Juans. We saw Bald Eagles, Falcons, Harbour Seals and Otters around Jones Island where we set up camp. Blair introduced us to Sea Urchin eggs (a sushi delicacy) which everyone tried. Our final day of paddling took us through Friday harbor, which is a cute little island community. Back at Spencer's Spit, the guide's prepared a great grill out which happened to be a great way to finish our activities in the Northwest. The last days together, we shopped around Anacortes and shed a few tears. The trip was a great success. Maggie and I will miss them all. Good night and God bless.
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