| Pacific Northwest Exposure log (2006-07-14 -> 2006-08-03)
Leaders: Jack Matthews and Julie Megler
Students: Laura Kinzey, Kristin Oslin, Ross Anderson, Neil Johnson, Olivia Coble, Giovanni Gaja, Laura Gordon Thomas, Farrell Murphy, Harry Cochran, Sheldon Taylor
7/19/06
Our Pacific Northwest adventure started with a long day of travel. The last member of our group arrived around six in the evening, after which we drove two hours to catch the 9 pm ferry to Lopez Island. But we made it, and met our Outdoor Adventures guides, Blair and Kathy, early on the morning of the 15th. Although we couldn't travel too far from Lopez Island due to weather, Blair and Kathy met us with lots of challenges and new experiences during our time with them. Our first day of kayaking we picked up paddling skills, mastering more advanced techniques such as the high and low braces as well as basic skills. The highlight of the day, however not the warmest, was practicing our wet water exits into the fifty two degree water. This involved flipping the boat over, and while suspended upside down underwater freeing yourself from the boat, swimming up, reentering the boat, and then pumping all the excess water out. Ross, Laura Kenzie, and Giovanni were the first brave three to try it out. They had the disadvantage of being the guinea pigs, but made it back into their boat at an impressive speed setting an incredible example for the rest of us.
Day two started early with a beautiful paddle around a small neighbor of Lopez Island. Then in the afternoon we paddled a long four miles to and four miles back from James Island. Farrel and Sheldon rose above, proving to have some of the strongest paddling skills in our group. Their boat raced ahead of the rest, keeping up with the guides. Once on James Island we all spent some time soothing our sore bodies by lying on the warm sun baked pebbles on the beach. Harry and Neil fearlessly decided that the wet water exit they practiced the previous day wasn't enough, and went for another swim in the brisk water. After a reenergizing lunch, Blair led us on a marine life hike around the island. While playing in a few tide pools Laura Gordan Thomas fulfilled her enthusiasm for star fish, getting to play with three or four different species. Around five we put our bodies back to work for the return trip to Lopez. Olivia and Kristen rocked out the paddling with Jack as "Team Irish" (they were all coincidentally dressed in green to match their green colored kayak). They arrived on the shores a solid twenty minutes before the rest of the group. We brought the boats back up from shore, and turned in for bed early after an exhausting couple of days.
On day three we all arose slightly disappointed to find out that the high winds would prevent us from paddling at all that day. However, it allowed us to fully explore the beautiful Lopez Island and allowed for time to pick Blair and Kathy's brains. Our two guides know an incredible amount about the water, tides, currents, paddling, sea life, you name it you can learn it from them. So we spent the day exploring the south side of the island, and then finishing up with most of ours first clamming experience. 12 of us running around the beach looking for little holes in the sand to start digging around was quite the scene. We were after the big ones, horse clams, which meant a team effort. After digging six inches down, a brave soul had to reach out and grab the neck of the clam, and struggle to hold on while two or three others dug for the shell another six to eight inches down. After a yummy beachside bar-b-que at sunset we said our good byes to Blair and Kathy so that we could rise early the next day and start the next leg of our adventures...backpacking.
Backpacking in the North Cascades 7/19-25
Hello out there! Jack here, shouting out from the beautiful Pacific Northwest. Our group has made it out of the backpacking section alive and with smiles from ear to ear. We are on the road right now headed down to the state of Oregon to grab some paddles and tackle the whitewater.
The backpacking section started out last week with great enthusiasm as the students were ready to transition from the ocean to the backcountry. We started our journey by hopping aboard the glorious "Lady of the Lake" ferry on Lake Chelan for a beautiful shuttle up to the remote town of Stehekin, located right on the border of the North Cascades Nat'l Park. Once we arrived, we strapped on our boots and set off into the unknown a little after midday. Neil and Sheldon were eager to hop in the front of the line and lead the group up the first hills and away from civilization. Our first day proved to be tremendously tough as we hiked 6 miles uphill with our heaviest packs of the trip. Every member of the group pushed themselves up the mountain and we arrived at Bench Creek camp in the evening with tired bodies and sore feet. Laura K., Olivia, Harry, and Farrell were quick to make us an awesome dinner consisting of pesto pasta with chicken. Giovanni, our Italian critic, was very pleased! We all fell into a well deserved deep slumber that night at Bench Creek.
The next day proved to be physically demanding as we hiked another 5 miles up and over McAlister Pass and into the next valley. Ross and Harry had huge smiles as they summited the pass and knew that they had conquered the major uphill section of the trip. Everyone enjoyed chocolate treats at the top. We made camp at McAlister Lake that evening and took a short swim before dinner. Laura Gordon, Neil, and Sheldon whipped up some chicken quesadillas and then we crawled in our sleeping bags under the stars.
The group woke the next morning in a cloud of angry mosquitoes and decided to break camp quickly, gobble down some warm oats, and hit the trail. What a glorious day! All down hill! We cruised down to Fireweed camp with ease and had time to swim all afternoon in a neighboring creek. Jambalaya for dinner. It was beautiful! What more could we ask for out of a day?
The group slept well at Fireweed until the heat of the morning woke everyone. Kristin took charge as a leader of the day and persuaded everyone to get hiking early towards 6 mile camp in order avoid the hottest part of the afternoon. A ranger told us it might have reached over 100 degrees F. Once at 6 mile creek everyone swam, and swam, and swam some more, loving every minute of the cold mountain water.
The following day was taken as a much needed rest day and the group continued to do some swimming. These kids LOVE water!!! The final two days of our backpacking section consisted of the prettiest views. Our now wilderness experts cruised back to Stehekin with style. Although tired, everyone was glowing from ear to ear as we reached the village. We hopped on the return ferry and waved goodbye to the Nat'l Park. After a short road trip south, the group is psyched up for rafting on the Deschutes!!!!!
Until next time...
Whitewater Rafting the Deschutes River, 7/27-28
Well Hello Hello...coming to you from the high desert of Oregon. It's a scorcher out here, and we just finished our rafting section on the Deschutes River. What a beautiful adventure!!! The rays were intense but the refreshing water kept us nice and cool as we floated one of the most scenic rivers in all of the Pacific Northwest.
The night before our river section was set to begin, we met our guides and made camp along side the water. Everyone in the group enjoyed the cool air that an evening in the desert brings and slept soundly with the music of moving current in the background. We rose early the next morning, grabbed some grub, and packed our bags for what was sure to be an exciting adventure. Harry and Ross were excited to jump into the rafts and battle the rapids down stream. After a quick safety and paddle talk and a loading of the gear boat, everyone hopped in a boat and we headed out. Farrell had a smile from ear to ear as she had been waiting eagerly for this section of the trip, and took a seat in front. Neil and Sheldon also grabbed seats in the front as they were looking for a face full of water. The morning consisted of constant water wars, a "floating" lunch, and many osprey sightings.
After lunch, everyone in the group was ready for the whitewater!!! If there is one thing that really defines this group, it is the desire to be in the water swimming. Swimming sessions lasted all day everyday on the river. It was fantastic! Giovanni was really excited after the boats made it through Whitehorse Rapid safely, as he had never been rafting and it was a real thrill.
We pulled into a camp along side the river that night and the group and the guides whipped up a gourmet meal of chicken and cous-cous topped with a ragu and veggie sauce. It was delicious.
The next day we woke up early and headed down river. Today was a day filled with fun whitewater. Everyone was soaking wet by 8:45am and ready to tackle the day. Laura K. couldn't stop laughing as we plunged through wave after wave, and Olivia and Kristin kept us all entertained with brain busters and jokes throughout the day along with fun filled swimming parties. What an amazing group. It has been awesome for Julie and I to experience such a fun expedition.
The final and biggest rapid of the day was called "Boxcar" and everyone was excited to run it. Both boats nailed it and everyone made it through safely, but Laura Gordon got to see it from a different perspective! She ended up out of the boat as the raft crashed into the big wave at the end. She was pulled in immediately and described it as a total adrenaline rush! Overall rafting was great and the group is pumped to get out on the crags at Smith Rock.
This is Jack signing off until next time...
August 2nd update
WOOOOOOEEEEEE! What an awesome section for us to end on. Our three days at Smith Rock were incredible and full of crazy adventures. Our climbing guides, Dean, Fitz, and Charlie taught us the ropes and we all practiced our basic climbing skills to prepare ourselves for the reward of conquering the "Monkey's Face." On day one of climbing we started learning top rope belaying techniques, and threw ourselves up some 5.7 routes (climbing is rated on a 5.5-5.15 scale). Kristen and Farrell were natural climbers from the beginning. Kristen quickly earned the nickname "cruiser" from the guides for flying up routes. Farrell was probably our strongest climber of the group, easily making it up even the toughest climbs. We all enjoyed hanging out with Hayes for a little bit. He came by to say hello to the group and snap some "sick" pictures before he headed off to Mt. Rainier. Our tough first day came to an end with the best meal of the trip, chilli. Laura Kinzey was the master mind behind the meal, dicing up veggies, adding spices, and mixing it all together with beans and meat to over fill all of our bellies. Day two of climbing was even better than the first. We all practiced our rappels with anticipation of the 200 foot rappel we would be doing the following day. Giovanni overcame his fear of heights, as Dean helped him make his way climbing up to the top of the practice rappel. Harry and Ross both discovered new loves in life. Climbing seemed to be their favorite part of the trip, and they both excelled, mastering "crimp" finger holds, and "knobby" foot holds. Spiderman Buttress was where we spent our second day, with a beautiful yet intimidating view of the "Monkey's Face" towering over us. After the day's climb we decided to cool off from the desert heat and go do a few cliff jumps into the Crooked River at Steelhead Falls. Neil jumped over and over again with no fear into the freezing cold water, as some of us screamed like small children on an airplane. Olivia seems to be our girl of many talents. She's always helping out, cooks well, climbs well, and makes friends with everyone.
We went to bed early and rose at 6 a.m. on Tuesday morning in order to start our treacherous hike up to the traverse on "Monkey's Face." Everyone confronted fears of heights, only a handful of tears were shed from nervousness, and we all enjoyed the view during the rappel down. Sheldon and Laura Gordon were the heroes of the day. Sheldon was the guinea pig, and went first, while Laura Gordon had to sit in anticipation for hours in order to be the last student to go. It was an incredible experience for us all. I wanted to give a special shout out to the entire group. One of our guides got mildly injured (an accident involving a knife and his finger...don’t worry it's still attached), and even though everyone was exhausted everyone pitched in to help carry some heavy gear down from the "Monkey's Face" for him.
We all grabbed our last scoop of huckleberry ice cream from Colin and started our drive back towards Seattle. Our trip has reached its end, which is sad for everyone, but I think everyone is excited to get back, finish summer reading, and start a new school year.
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