2022 Canyonlands 3

See you later, Canyonlands!

July 27, 2022

Hello from Canyonlands Session 3 for the last time!

Per usual with this group, we really made the most out of our last two days together. When we arrived to our campsite after rafting, the group got going right away with organizing their duffels to prepare for their trip home. Jude helped Sydney unload the duffels from the U-Haul and quickly lined them up for everyone, which may or may not have been motivated by being able to queue some songs over the speaker, but was nonetheless appreciated. Wood was the first to finish his duffel shuffle, and starting to help prep for our tie dying session. Once everyone finished with their duffels, including a very inventive method of taping/tying up a sleeping pad by Quinn, the whole group was preparing to tie dye when Maude yelled out “sunset!” This was all it took for everyone in the group to look up at the sky, see its beautiful oranges and pinks developing, and simultaneously run to the top of the hill nearby for a better view. Everyone gleefully ran around and marveled at the beauty before returning for some dinner prepared by James and Thomas. After everyone finished up dinner and made some marvelous tie dye patterns, LODs Gray and Thomas cleaned dishes with Jude and Palmer and then were rewarded with some evening guitar playing by James until Moonup. We then hit the ground tarp one last time for our second to last sleep under the stars, featuring some bedtime stories by Quinn, Abby, Kennedy, and Sydney about the different creative uses of our beloved Dr. Bronner’s soap.

LODs Jude, Jack, Maude, and Wood got the group moving fast the next morning with Park City and showers in their sights. We quickly packed up camp, had some good ol’ oatmeal, and hit the road, with most of the group finishing out their sleep cycles during the drive. We then arrived to the carwash, did a nice van cleanup and vacuum, where we found some long lost items such as Thomas’ original Nalgene, mismatched socks, and some day one snacks. Once the van was as good as new, we booked it over to the Park City Rec Center for some well-earned showers. Abby was thrilled to wash her braids that had been holding up for hours on their own even after losing the hair ties to them, Kate relayed how exciting it was to brush her teeth in a sink and not use Dr. Bronners soap for anything, and Quinn kept marveling at the softness of his own hair and invited others to also marvel at it. It really is the little things, isn’t it?

Once we were fresh and clean, the crew was enthused to hit the town for a bit. We got to roam Main Street in Park City for a few hours, indulging in some local food and shopping around. Some notable purchases included Quinn’s soft flannel “to protect him in the night,” Jude’s new Lulu Lemon shorts, Wood’s UNC socks (he stays loyal to his home even across the country), and Kate’s bag of tea. Once everyone showed off their shopping hauls, we hopped into the van and hit up the thrift store. To say everyone went above and beyond would be an understatement. Jack transformed into a cross-country bicyclist, Georgia sported an all-orange and Reese’s Cups themed outfit, Quinn strutted in some youth or perhaps doll-sized heels, Kennedy was ready for a homecoming dance from about two decades ago, and Palmer was ready to shred it up at the nearest skatepark. Everyone else fit somewhere between those looks and was equally as impressive and multi-themed in their outfits. After a delicious dinner at Squatter’s Grill, we returned to Main Street for some ice cream from the Java Cow to celebrate a wonderful last day and amazing trip of a lifetime together. We then returned to our campsite for the night, got to appreciate some chilly air for a change, and had a tender last Moonup with the heaviest Nug Jug yet and a plethora of hugs. Airport day went as smooth as possible, but was still hard and full of see-you-laters that we wish could be delayed a bit longer. We hung out for a few hours and one by one sent everyone on their separate ways, starting with Quinn, Georgia, and Wood and closing out with Kate and Maude.

Canyonlands Session 3 was truly a resilient, flexible, adventure-seeking, and joyful group that put smiles on our faces every single day. We cannot thank y’all enough for ending our summer on such a high note. We will miss each and every one of you so much!

Signing off for the last time (and continuing to be humbled by nature),

Syd and James

The Saddest Good-bye!

July 27, 2022

Hello from Canyonlands Session 3 for the last time!

Signing off for the last time (and continuing to be humbled by nature),

Syd and James

We are off the river!

July 26, 2022

We are off the river! What a four days it has been – full of white water, boat naps, delicious food, ammo can tug of war, and all around just a blast. Since y’all last heard from us, we departed from our campsite in Moab for good and met up with our rafting guides from Mild to Wild and got prepped for Cataract Canyon. Once we arrived at the boat ramp and the beginning of our rafting section, we met our guides and loaded up on our barged boat that would be taking us down the Colorado River in luxury for the next two days. Our flotilla was comprised of four boats: two gear boats with Bimini tops and two paddle boats with a motor on the back gear boat. There were a few of us who rushed to find a spot in the shade to avoid some of those sun rays, but Jude and Gray immediately found spots on the paddle boats to help settle their argument of who was the most tan. After a long day of competitive napping, book club, and several swim breaks we arrived at our first riverside campsite. The kids were all very impressed and surprised when the guides began bringing out appetizers… Mild to Wild does not mess around. After wolfing down some of those delicious appetizers, Maude, Kennedy, and Wood accompanied Sydney and James on a very cool hike up to some granaries from the indigenous people from that area around 700 years ago! This also brought on a sweeping view of the campsite below and all of the greenery behind it going all the way back to a curve in the canyon wall. Once returning, everyone hung out, read, and/or journaled and before we knew it, the raft guides brought out some Alfredo pasta accompanied with a delicious salad. We knew that we were in for some good eating on the river.

Our second day on the river began with some always delicious breakfast burritos prepared by our amazing raft guides then got us set heading down river on the flotilla. The book clubs and boat naps began almost immediately. Book club must’ve gotten pretty intense because during one of our swim breaks, a gust of wind came through and blew about fifteen pages out of Abby’s book and into the other boats and water. However, thankfully Abby had already read those pages much to the relief of the other book club members. As passionate stewards of the Earth, Palmer and Wood grabbed these loose pages so that they could enforce Leave No Trace principle 3. Soon after, we came upon a very cool hike opportunity over a saddle in the canyon near a bend in the river. Along the saddle, the group was able to see where the river bent around this canyon and got a great birds eye view of the river. On our way down the other side of the canyon, the group was able to see some petroglyphs dated at least a thousand years old. Thomas pointed out that these very fascinating and ancient pieces of history looked like a coat rack…and he wasn’t wrong. At the bottom of the saddle, there were the boats along with a yummy lunch waiting for us. We were digging into the sandwiches and chips when Quinn informed the group that he could easily eat more hot cheetos than Joey Chesnut can eat hotdogs because he can eat “thousands”. Everyone felt satisfied with that answer. Towards the end of flotilla day, the group arrived to the confluence of the Green and Colorado River and into Cataract Canyon and got to have a nice swim break in the slight current. We then pulled over next to the warning sign for the intense rapids and our LODs Kate and Palmer signed into the campsite that we were planning to stay the next night, while the most daring of the group blew up the duckies. Those daring enough for the first ducky runs were Palmer and Wood in one boat and Jack and Jude in the other. Although it was just one rapid before we arrived at camp, it was not without action, when the duckies came through only one came out the other end right side up. Jack and Jude went into rapid number one sideways and flipped their boat right over. However, they were able to quickly flip it back over, get back in, and row to the safety of the beach that was our second campsite. Having a beach for a campsite is awesome for many reasons, mainly being the abundance of room for games. As soon as we unloaded the boats, games of bocci, football, and water games broke out resulting in many smiles and a ton of fun. Quinn, Thomas, and Sydney began just by floating in the water by the beach, and then Quinn suggested trying form tackling. From there, Gray, Georgia, Wood, and Abby joined and spent hours perfecting their form tacking and having contests seeing who could jump the furthest from the beach. Spectators Palmer, Kate, Maude, and Kennedy all watched while wearing their matching Lazy Ones nightgowns (a necessity for multiple nights on a river). With never a moment without adventure, the crew was awoken in the middle of the night to some unexpected rain and had to run to set up tents with the help of the raft guides. Special shoutout to Wood for being the last one to get into a tent and help until no more help was needed, and Thomas who simply slept through the rain and slept outside the whole time along with Sydney and James.

Day three on the river means only one thing: rapid day! After our pancake breakfast, which Thomas raved about for the rest of our time on the river, we divided up into the paddle boats and duckies. In the duckies to start we had Sydney and Quinn in one and James and Kate in the other. Kate was nervous at first, but after the first rapid she said that her zipper pants gave her power and she was ready for the next five. Rapid after rapid every boat came out the other end more or less unscathed and full of smiling faces. The next round of ducky teams included two more boats without incident: Palmer and Gray in one with Jack and Abby in the other. Those ducky teams rode them until we came across the Big Drops and were forced to deflate and roll them up. The Big Drops, very deserving of their name, are the only class four rapids we come across in Cataract Canyon and inspire laughs, screams, and a lot of row commands. After our trials with the Big Drops, it was time to ride the bull. Riding the bull is a method of going down the rapid sitting on the front of the boat and hanging on the bow line with one hand with your other hand in the air like a bull rider, hence the name riding the bull. On our second rapid riding the bull, Georgia and Quinn were taking their turn on respective boats and had almost made it through before we hit a pretty big hole and lost them both. Thankfully we were able to pull them back into the boat to safety before they had to swim too far. Once back into the boat, Quinn remarked that that was the fastest thing that’s ever happened in his life, resulting in laughter and cheers for our captains of the Colorado River swim team. Needless to say that our rapid day was one for the books, but it was not complete yet. We made it back into some flat water and rebuilt the flotilla and began motoring to our final campsite. However, as soon as the flotilla had been launched we were forced to endure a little bit of desert rain. Jack and James attempted to stay under the deflated ducky while the rest of the group hunkered down under lifejackets and friends. As you can guess, life jackets and deflated duckies don’t do too much to keep you dry so the group quickly gave up on staying dry and began singing in the rain instead. All the girls busted out everything they knew, with the occasional chime in by Quinn, Jack, and Jude. The rain concert lasted for nearly an hour with everyone taking turns leading off songs from the Ronald McDonald Song to Let it Be and everything in between. It was certainly quite the entertainment for our raft guides, who rewarded the showmanship and awesome day of rowing with a steak dinner.

Our last day on the river was another flotilla filled with some more book club and some well deserved napping due to the twenty plus miles of paddling we accomplished yesterday. However, would the last day on the river truly be complete without a mud bath during our lunch stop? Jack’s answer to this would be no as he led those in need to a mud puddle that resembled the mud puddle that Shrek and Fiona bathe in. After the mud was washed off, we loaded back on the flotilla and headed to North Wash for our take-out and reunion with the van. It was a hard goodbye to our fabulous raft guides and Colorado River, but now we’ve got Park City in our sights!

Talk to you on the other side of the showers!

Sydney and James

P.S. here are some thank yous the kids wanted to include!

Thanks Mom and Dad for sending me here. I love you! – Palmer

Thank you mom and dad for sending me on this amazing trip I love you guys! -Quinn

Thank you Sydney for being so positive and hardworking in the toughest and most stressful times. When we needed a leader you were one. Thank you! – Thomas

Thank you mom and dad for pushing me do this trip. Love y’all! -Kate

Thank you x a million Mom, Dad and Bebe for this trip! It’s been the most fun. I love y’all!! -Maude

Thank you so much Mom and Dad for this amazing trip! it’s been so much fun! love y’all! -Kennedy

Thank y’all for letting me go in this trip it’s a great alternative to Seagull. I hope y’all are doing great and I love y’all. -Jack

Thank you Mom and Dad for the opportunity to go on this awesome trip. Im having a great time and I am very grateful for this. Love you guys -Wood

Thank you Mom and Dad for making an effort to put me in this trip. I appreciate all you do for me and i can’t wait to tell y’all everything! Love you guys! -Georgia

Thank you mom and dad for the opportunity to go on this awesome trip. I had the absolute best time! I could not be more grateful. Love y’all to the moon and back! -Grayson

Thanks so much mom and dad for letting me go on this crazy experience. Without y’all, i wouldn’t be able to make new friends, explore the world, and see all the cool things Utah has to offer. Love you guys! -Abby

Thank you so much mom and dad for putting me on this trip, as much as I doubted it I ended up having an incredible experience. Love you guys! -Jude

Happy, Healthy and Hopeful!

July 22, 2022

Hello from our Canyonlands team!

This section of the trip took a turn and really put us on our toes by testing our tolerance for adversity! Some of our group members were a bit under the weather and needed to take time to heal before continuing on our grand adventure! No worries though, because Edwin the super-leader met up with us and took charge with the remaining healthy group members and they’ve been having a grand old time. Here’s a rundown:

The Wood, Jack and James played more games of Clue than they could have ever imagined, and Jack whipped out his slide guitar skills once James showed him the ropes and got him started. Wood was just happy to be entertained by these music sessions, and was also able to whip up some magic tricks with the deck of cards. Talk about a talented bunch! Palmer, Georgia and Gray played Uno and chatted snacks to keep their energy (and electrolytes) up! Georgia led the way in taking daily strolls and they got to see the sights of the canyons surrounding the neighborhood.

Leader Edwin, or Eddie as the kids called him, adventured solo with the rest of the kids for about 48 hours and had nothing but a plethora of good things to say about their responsibility and adaptivity to the situation (and excitement for new experiences, of course). During climbing on the first morning at Moab, Jude climbed every route multiple times and crushed each and every one of them. Thomas led the way in attempting the more difficult route and did amazing at it, inspiring others to try. Kennedy was hesitant a little at first but then ended up getting up all the routes with ease. Everyone then celebrated a solid morning of climbing and went to the grocery store, where they bought supplies for lunch and an iron chef cook-off that night. After lunch, the only option was to go swimming in the Colorado River section by our campsite. Always seeking more adventure, Quinn naturally covered himself in clay from the river. After much time spent swimming, Iron chef then commenced. Though it was a close battle, it ended in Kate, Maude, Thomas, and Jude’s team winning (but everyone got celebratory Icees the next day because all of the food was delicious).

The next morning was full of canyon wall hopping and roping and exploring. Abby and Quinn crushed the ninja warrior section of canyoneering, jumping between rock walls like Spider-Man without even breaking a sweat. As one should be, everyone was a little nervous about the rappel at the end but proceeded to send it full force with no problem. The gang then hit the Moab Diner for a local food stop, the Mill Creek swimming hole for an afternoon cool-off, and performed picked up the now healthy patients! Everyone was amped to see Gray and Georgia again, and got even more excited to see the rest of the group the next morning. We traveled to Dead Horse Point and feasted over Ramen and Veggie bombs while the sky lit up in all sorts of oranges for an epic sunset.

The next morning, everyone got up quickly and had a wonderful breakfast of hash browns and bacon (“cooked to varying degrees depending on people’s palette” -Quinn) thanks to LODs Quinn and Kennedy. With everyone’s spirits high and health up, the group reunited. The group got to hit the town for a few hours, snagging some souvenirs and other fun gear. We then headed back to our home base, swam for a few hours, and prepped for rafting. To finish the night, a solid chef team of Kennedy, Jack, and Quinn all made some mean fried rice to fill our bellies for the night and fuel us for our first day on the river!

Cheers to good health!

Sydney and James (and Edwin!)

P.S. here are some shoutouts the kids wanted to make:

Shoutout to mom and dad for sending me on this trip. Love y’all! Hope you are having fun with your only child of right now! -Kennedy

Shoutout to my awesome mom and dad for sending me to the best experience of my life. Love y’all! -Grayson

Shoutout to my mom for supplying me with a mosquito head net! -Kate

Shoutout to the Howards for letting my family know about this awesome trip! -Thomas

Shoutout to my family for letting me come on this trip -Wood

Shoutout to my family. I miss y’all! -Palmer

Shoutout to my parents for sending me here I love you guys! (and the Moab Diner for having awesome cheeseburgers) -Quinn

Shoutout to my family for sending me here last minute. I appreciate how hard y’all work for me! -Georgia

Shoutout to my mom and my dad, love you guys -Jack

Shoutout to my mom dad for sending me on this trip, thank you -Jude

Shoutout to my mom and dad. Lots of fun. No full moon! Love y’all -Maude

Shoutout to my mom and dad. Even though y’all are in Turks and Caicos, thanks for sending me to Utah to have tons of fun! -Abby

Chilling in the Canyonlands!

July 19, 2022

Greetings from Moab!

Canyonlands Session 3 has been a hit so far, with everyone already getting along and into the swing of things. Airport day felt like any other day of the trip with everyone getting along so well so fast. Kate and Maude were the first to arrive and nearly everyone else soon followed. We ended up taking a brief excursion from the airport to see the high school that High School Musical was filmed at and to play at Sugarhouse Park for a bit. Quinn got everyone together to play a brief game of football, with Grayson scoring the sole touchdown, and then Thomas instigated a game of freeze tag. Once we were all worn out, we headed back to the airport to grab our last team member, Georgia, and headed out. We made a pizza stop in a little town called Fillmore, Utah and had a nice park picnic. We then finished the rest of the drive and arrived at our site near Bryce Canyon. Everyone learned or helped teach tent set-up (shoutout to Palmer, Jack, and Quinn) in the dark, which the team made seem like a piece of cake with all of their easy teamwork. After a long day of travel, we had Moonup in slightly drizzly rain and hit the hay.

Our first full day together started with everyone waking up and seeing our beautiful campsite in the light. We then had a nice breakfast of breakfast sandwiches which LODs Thomas and Palmer helped craft. Soon after, we drove on over to Bryce Canyon and went to some lookout spots to see miles of Hoodoos and canyons. We then drove up a bit and went on a scenic hike to see some more of what Bryce had to offer. In an attempt to beat the rain, we then headed back to our campsite and crafted up some Mediterranean pita pockets for lunch – and just in time, because the rain started to come down right as everyone settled into tents for some card games. The second the rain subsided, Wood and Jack rallied a few people to play some Spikeball and before we knew it, everyone was in an intense game of campsite manhunt. Once everyone wore out from that, Quinn kicked off some entertaining games of Mafia. Maude, Kate, and Kennedy also started off the trip’s first book club session for the sake of their summer reading. Later in the evening, the LODs surprised everyone with a trip to the rodeo where Georgia and Palmer won a race and got free t-shirts! They really brought some pride to the Canyonlands group name. We then headed home and cooked up some delicious quesadillas after a hard day’s work.

The next morning we had to pack up and say goodbye to our campsite, with a beautiful Bryce Canyon hike along the Navajo Loop to start off the day. Jude, Wood, and Jack took on the challenge of running up the intense switchbacks at the end of the hike to get to the lookout points faster! After, we took a pit stop at the Ruby’s Inn General Store to browse for some fun souvenirs and headed out to Zion for our night’s campground. The girls all helped to prepare our dinner of fajita bowls and guacamole and everyone devoured them soon after, with Jude happily eating the leftovers to decrease food waste. Quite the steward of the Earth! We then hit the hay for our first night sleeping under the stars under the beautiful Zion sky.

We woke up bright and early to prep for our big day of hiking in the famous Narrows. With a chance of rain on the horizon, the crew quickly got up to make our pancake and bacon breakfast before the rain hit, with Quinn as the pro pancake cooker and Maude cheffing up the bacon like there was no tomorrow. Once we packed up, we took the scenic trolley to the hike and embarked into the rushing cool water of the Narrows. Wood took the lead in jumping off the big rock into a deep section of the water, and everyone else soon followed. We then hiked a bit more and stopped off on a nice shady rock for some lunch and then headed back. Palmer took the prize home for best dip in the water when she plopped in with her backpack still on. After our hike back, we headed to our next campsite for the night where we put our skills to the test in tent setup and dinner cooking as some threatening rain clouds rolled in and eventually opened up. Maude and Kate helped Sydney make some english muffin pizzas, also assisted by Thomas who was running back and forth between the kitchen and tent area to help everyone. Jude was quick on his feet in protecting everyone’s duffels with a tarp – not a single thing got wet! The rain soon left and we settled in for the night with some nice and cool temperatures to accompany our rest.

The group enjoyed their slow (and rain-free) next morning while LODs Kate and Abby helped to chef up our feast of cheese grits, hash browns, and eggs. We then embarked on our long drive to Moab, stopping off to eat lunch by a canyon in a little place called Orangeville. After lunch, the group got involved in a makeshift game of baseball with hackey sacks and water bottles. Then, everyone got the pleasure of being serenaded by Quinn as he sang a variety of songs in the backseat. Once completing our drive, we took a hike over to a local park to have dinner from a yummy local pizza place, Canyon Pizza Co. The group then headed on over to our new campsite to get some rest before our day of climbing tomorrow!

Until next time,

Sydney, James + Edwin

Safely in Salt Lake City!

July 14, 2022

Hello Canyonlands Families!

We just heard from our leaders that the group has landed safely in Salt Lake City. The trip is off to a great start, and we cannot wait to hear more stories from their adventure.

Please remember our leaders and students will be unplugged during their trips but we will be posting up to three trip updates throughout the next couple of weeks! This will allow you to follow along with the trip and the students will also give a special shout out mid-way through! You can also follow us on Instagram, @moondanceadventures, to see more of what we are up to this summer!

-Moondance HQ

Trip Updates

Canyonlands 3 • July 14-July 27, 2022