| Pacific Northwest Exposure log (2005-06-23 -> 2005-07-13)
Leaders: Chris Barnes and Michaelyn Koss
Students: Lee Anne Parr, Grace Foerster, Ivey London, William Brody, Stuart Derse, Walker Clement, Morgan Cox, Douglas Stuart, Aylin Tumer, Pat Morgan
Monday, June 27
Our group is fitting together like the pieces of a puzzle. It is amazing to see these friendships developing. We have now finished our sea kayaking section with the wonderful Outdoor Adventures family and I think we all feel like we've been together for weeks rather than a few days. Sea kayaking proved to be a challenging, yet in Douglas Stuart's words, "an invigorating experience." Our muscles are sore, our bodies are tired, but our hearts and minds are full of pride and new memories. After only 30 minutes kayaking the first day, we quickly discovered that Aylin and Douglas (who we affectionately call "Doogles") were our dynamic paddling duo. They set the pace for the rest of our group the entire fist day. We paddled 14 miles to Jones Island, which truly deserves it's title of being one of the top 10 places to camp in the U.S. Dressed in her pink, Grace helped everyone set up their tents on the first night, overlooking a cove spotted with the rays of the setting sun and a perfect view of the Canadian shoreline in the distance. That night at Moonup on Jones Island, Ivey laughed and admitted that she and Stuart (Stu) were "terrible kayakers," but that she still had a great time and was proud of how far they'd come. Stu then surprised everyone by saying, "There's nowhere I'd rather be right now." When someone asked him if he was sure he wouldn't rather be playing golf, he replied," I can play golf anytime. Being here and doing something like this is the chance of a lifetime. And even though it was hard and I'm really tired, it feels really good to know that I accomplished something really big today." Every single one of us nodded in agreement.
After a delicious breakfast of french toast, the Outdoor Adventure guides led us to the other side of Jones Island where low tide had uncovered some of the most unique marine life we'd ever seen. Sea cucumbers, crabs, and bright purple starfish as big as our heads sprinkled the algae-covered rocks. Everyone took turns posing for photos with their favorite sea creature. Next we all braved the 48 degree water and learned how to do wet (and COLD!) exits from our kayaks. Grace and Pat, (who have become fast friends and love picking on each other similar to a brother and sister) volunteered to be one of the first groups to flip and although we could see how cold the water was from the shock on their faces, they certainly helped motivate all of us to get in the water.
Lee Ann and Walker did a great job as our Leaders of the Day yesterday by helping everyone persevere through our last day of kayaking. The wind was strong and the clouds covered the sun, but Lee Ann and Walker, who were both in the back of their kayaks steering, helped re-remind everyone to keep going. Lee Ann and Ivey said in Moonup that it didn't matter what place they came in as they reached the shore, they were just glad to feel the pride of finishing and to enjoy relaxing in the beautiful San Juans. William bounced around the shore after he and Chris beat every other boat into the beach and proudly showed off his t-shirt prize from Outdoor Adventures. Morgan smiled as she reached the shore in a kayak with expert guide Blair, who told her all the interesting history of the San Juan Islands.
We are now on our way to begin backpacking and can't wait to see what unfolds in our next adventure. We've all realized that we are extremely fortunate to be able to visit these amazing places, but we are even luckier to be a part of this amazing team of people...THE LIGERS!!! Raaaaarrrrrrrrrrrr!
July 8, 2005
Greetings from the Ligers! After some serious culture shock from returning to civilization after our backpacking excursion, we are happy to say that we are all in one piece and had a blast! Not quite sure where to begin in summarizing our six day adventure because enough exciting things happened to fill a novel. The first day we took the water taxi up Ross Lake to Hozemeen, where we had our first taste of the backcountry. Ivey decided the ride on the lake reminded her of a scene from "Jurassic Park" with the enormous mountains leading right up to the lake and everyone hummed the theme song for her. The next day we embarked on our first full day of hiking with backpacks that took two people to lift! We were all so proud of Grace for making it through the trip and staying strong (given the fact that she just had knee surgery 2 weeks before the trip!). She wondered if she would be able to make it the whole way that first day, but by the end she proved to be one of our strongest hikers. And speaking of strong hikers, we soon discovered that Lee Anne Parr is the original backpacking guru. Not only did she NEVER complain, Lee Anne led the group every single day and found that she is a natural hiker. She was definitely an inspiration to all of us. William and Pat, who are now joined at the hip, brought up the rear with Walker almost every day and were proud to do so. They took turns volunteering to carry various gear and always checked in with everyone to make sure the group was happy and healthy. Walker was an especially good sport when one of his trekking poles fell off the Rainbow Point dock into Ross Lake and laughed as our group tried to brainstorm about how to get it back. Everyone loved when Doogles was Leader of the Day because he always started Moonup with a positive, funny, and witty summarization of the day's events. And we all have to give Doogles a huge pat on the back for making the hardest decision of all on our backpacking section. After an exhausting and rewarding day climbing Desolation Peak, we came to a fork in the road about a mile from our campsite. Everyone was desperate to get to camp to rest and eat, but no one could decide which way was the correct way back to camp. As Leader of the Day, Doogles patiently listened to everyone's opinions (which were all different!), evaluated the map, and then made his decision. Ten minutes later we came to a beautiful and very familiar waterfall and all thanked Doogles for taking charge and getting us home!
Morgan and Pat are the King and Queen of telling stories and continuously kept us entertained while backpacking and whitewater rafting on the Deschutes River. I think we all feel like we personally know Morgan's entire family and Morgan decided that whitewater rafting has been her favorite part of our adventure and kept a smile on her face the entire time (even when she got tossed in the water twice!). As for Pat's stories, he entertained all of us at one Moonup with a 15 minute story about "his time in 'Nam" (Vietnam) and his travels of the world. We've all decided that Pat should go into stand-up comedy because he had our stomachs hurting from laughing so hard. It is hard to believe that Pat was the boy who didn't say a word for the first day and a half of our trip because he is now one of the most outgoing and hilarious members of our Liger tribe.
Aylin was another tough backpacker and kept everyone motivated and in good spirits on the hike up to Desolation Peak. She and Walker even endured one of Michaelyn's terrible 10-minute jokes that lasted for an entire mile uphill without complaining!
We all have to say that Stu was the biggest motivator on the hike up to Desolation and continued to remind everyone that although it was challenging, it was certainly beautiful and nice not to have our full backpacks!
Now we're off to Smith Rock for the last section of our journey together (sniff). We cannot believe how fast the days have gone by since we first met. Until next time, just think of all of us riding along, singing "Eye of the Liger" at the top of our lungs and smiling as big as we can!
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