Checking in from Canyonlands
July 24, 2025
It has been 6 days since our last trip update; our hair is sandy, cloths are sweaty, but our souls have been filled. We have been through some of the biggest whitewater in the west, seen some of the brightest stars eyes can find, climbed unforgettable sandstone pitches, and much more. Without further ado, welcome to Canyonlands 3 trip update 2!
To pick up where we left off, we woke up in Arches National Park to a cotton candy sunrise. After some bacon and eggs, the crew drove to the nearby Delicate Arch trailhead and departed for one of the most iconic scenes of the American Southwest. After a quick coffee break and photo shoot, we made our way back down and into Moab. If you ever get the chance to visit Moab, there is a custom t shirt you’d be a fool to skip out on; we did not make this mistake to say the least. After getting our new Moab swag, everyone went to get some ice cream and load back into the car for some much needed showers. After some fresh cloths and our first non smelly van ride in a while, we got to our campsite in the nearby La Sal mountain range. Once we arrived, the boys and girls competed in a head to head iron chef competition with all of the extra food we had; Wood and Walt even caught some trout in a nearby lake for Winn to cook up as an appetizer. Oliver and JJ made some chocolate crepes for dessert, and all of the boys came together to make burritos for the main dish. On the other side of the table, Mary Parker and Eilis made some main course Mac and Cheese, Grace and Marianne worked up a picturesque fruit arrangement, while Sutton and Reed worked on some churros made from pancake mix. After a moonup and cleanup, we went to bed before an early morning of rafting.
The next day was an early one. We got to the rafting place around 7 before hitting the water on two different boat teams and floating downstream all day towards camp. We stopped at a beach for lunch and the Cataract Canyon Football Series was born. Walt, Winn, and Wood faced off in a best of 7 football series against JJ, Oliver and myself – it was all born right then and there at lunch. The first three games over the next two days all went to the three W’s, but JJ, Oliver and myself figured out our defensive scheme and took the next three games after that. More to come on this later. After we ate and floated for a few more hours, we set up on a beach once again and ate a feast of BBQ chicken and potatoes before going to sleep for the morning to come.
Our amazing raft guides woke us up with coffee, tea, and hot chocolate to go with a toasted bagel breakfast. We ate, took down camp, and floated downstream for another 20 miles or so (with a beautiful hike in between) and finally hit our first rapids of the trip. After tackling the first 10 (myself almost falling out on the last one), we arrived safely to camp. An untimely hatch of mayflies cut our late night shenanigans short, but we still held our nightly moonup after Reed, Marianne, Eilis, Grace, Sutton, and Mary Parker floated down the river nest to our campsite a few times.
The next day was early but full of excitement: we took down camp and hit the rest of our rapids in the canyon. While the first ones were a bit tamer, the three big drops came soon. We made it through the pummeling of waves from Big Drop 1, squeezed down the right chute in Big Drop 2, and crashed through the fall at the end of Big Drop 3. We hit about 10 or so more rapids before making it out of Gypsum, another one of the biggest rapids of the day. Our guides let us float down the last rapid, and the 34 rapids of Cataract Canyon were complete. We floated down to camp and enjoyed a well earned spaghetti dinner to remember. Oh yeah, and remember that football series I was talking about earlier? Walt caught a full field bomb from Wood to give their (and their star player, Winns) team a walk off victory against their opponents. Oliver, JJ and I head our heads high and closed out the day in one more riverside moonup.
The day to come was a much needed slow paced day compared to the nonstop action of rafting. We got off the river after an on boat lunch and drove 3 hours back to Moab. After getting some groceries for tabletop nachos, we all drove to Dead Horse Point to watch the sunset over the recently rafted Colorado River and close out in Moonup.
And that brings us to today! We woke up before the sun and met our climbing guides bright and early before they drove us to their favorite spot. Reed conquered her fear of heights, while JJ, Wood, Walt and Winn all climbed the toughest route. Everyone made it up at least two different routes, and Walt set the daily speed record up one. After wearing ourselves out on the rocks, Sydney and I suprised the kids by taking them out to lunch at Milts – Moab’s oldest burger joint! We refueled on some burgers, fries, and shakes and drove to a nearby cliff jumping spot to waste the afternoon away swimming and jumping in a local watering hole. After we couldn’t jump any longer, the group came back to dead horse, ate a family style feast fit for kings, and closed out the day in Moonup.
Session 3 has been sure not to disappoint! Once again, thank you all for sharing such amazing kids with us – we are beyond blessed to have the opportunity to lead such fine people and I cannot wait for the trip to come. Signing off, Canyonlands 3!!!
Sincerely, Spencer and Sydney
Shoutouts:
Wood – Thank for letting me come on this trip and I love you dad!
Eilis – I’m almost home, miss you guys and love yall. Thank you for taking me on the trip!
Walt – I love you mom and dad! This has been such an amazing experience and I want to do it next year!
Sutton – Hey guys, what’s poppin – I’ll tell you what; thank you for letting me come on this trip! Love yall and miss you and see you soon
Mary Parker – I had the best trip, thank you so much for sending me here. I love you! See you in a day
Grace – Hey guys, I love you all and I’ll see you tomorrow! Thank you for sending me on this trip
Reed – Hey pookies, thank you so much for sending me on this trip! I’ll see you tomorrow and I’m having so much fun
Marianne – Hi family, thanks for sending me on this trip. Love you!
Winn – Thank you guys so much, love yall and see you tomorrow
JJ – Thank you for letting me come on this trip and for making me have such a good time!
Oliver – See you tomorrow!
Cheers from Canyonlands!
July 18, 2025
8:37am on July 13th, our first student arrived to Salt Lake City. 10 students later and this session was underway! I’m beyond thrilled to announce that this group has had such a strong start to our final session of the summer. I cannot thank each and every one of you enough for sharing your amazing kids with us; the energy, respect, and upbeat attitude that persists within here is unmatched. To begin our first day, we picked up all of the students up from the airport and departed to buy fishing licenses for the group at the local Scheeles. Noah from HQ (hey Noah!!) also flew in, and we were lucky enough for him to join us for the first part of our trip. From there, the group all drove down to a pizza place yet to be tried by anyone (Sydney or myself included) and were pleasantly surprised how good it was. Who knew south-central Utah has such a strong pizza scene! Afterwords, we departed to our first campground of the trip, where a late arrival led to an in the dark tent lesson and our first Moonup to end the inaugural day.We woke up the next morning bright and early to ensure we had time to make breakfast sandwiches before early morning fly fishing at a nearby lake. Shoutout to JJ, Winn, and Mary Parker for an amazing first breakfast! After that, Winn, Walt, Wood, Oliver, Marianne, Reed, Noah, and Eilis were all rewarded with a trout during our morning of fly fishing. Then, we tracked through Bryce Canyon’s iconic sandstone Hoodoo and arch formations until we decided to call it a day and swim at the lake. Winn caught a fish with his hands amid the chaos! We concluded with a taco dinner and Moonup to end a successful day two.We were all delighted to sleep in for the first time on our trip the next morning! After a relaxed morning of Nutella pancakes and bacon made by JJ and Oliver, we packed up camp and drove to the iconic Zion National Park. Not one voice dared to break the awe that filled the van as it was swallowed by the sandstone behemoths of cliffs that surrounded us. We soaked in one of the prettiest drives that exist and made camp in some scolding midday heat. Some pizza pockets and a quick camp setup later and we were off to swim in the Virgin River to cool off! The cold waters made for the perfect place to regain drained energy while the boys slid down rapids and the girls explored upstream. We tracked back to camp and enjoyed a burger cookout thanks to Walt, Winn, and Wood or the three W’s, as they’ve been coined. The day cooled off and we had Moonup at the iconic Canyon Overlook trail (a sight to behold)!An early morning ensured the next day as we rose to hike the Narrows. For those of you unfamiliar with the Narrows, the hike meanders in and out of the Virgin River while it weaves in between thousand foot sandstone cliffs – a must do for all avid hikers. Eilis and Grace made sure to climb every rock the found, Oliver and Mary Parker swam in every hole we came across, and Sutton was there to photograph the entire thing (a common theme on the trip). We made it back to camp at around 3 and spent most of the afternoon swimming in the same hole we resided in the day prior. JJ, Marianne, Reed, and Oliver made the group Greek bowls for dinner and we sat around singing guitar songs for hours after concluding Moonup (and witnessing a can’t miss dance show out of Walt and Winn).Today, July 16th, marked our last day in Zion. Coffee and hot chocolate woke us up as we broke camp and said goodbye to Noah. We can’t thank him enough, Noah made such a special impact on the kids and Sydney and I. He is absolutely welcomed back whenever he would like to make an appearance! After that, we hit the road and drove 7 hours across the state to Moab. Our drive was, however, broken up with a midday Costa Vita and Mavericks stop to boost morale. We got to Moab, set up camp in the otherworldly Arches National Park and explored the towering red rock outcroppings (as well as played a quick game of football) before Sydney, Grace and JJ cooked up a pasta dinner and we wrapped up with a moonup over our campfire!That’s where we are, more excited than ever for the trip to come. I can’t thank you all enough for sharing such amazing kids with us and I hope you all are having a fun summer – I know we sure are. Excited to check back in soon and share our next adventures!Sincerely, Spencer and Sydney
oli- Hi mom and dad I’m having fun and it’s really cool! Bye!
jj- Mummy and Babs, I’m having a lot of fun and seeing lots of cool places!
eilish- Hi guys! i’m seeing lots of cool things and I’m having so much fun! Love yall!
reed- Hi mom and dad! Thank you so much for sending me on this trip! Its so cool and im having so much fun! Love you!!!
marianne- Hi mom, and dad I am having a lot of fun and seeing cool things. Love you!
Grace-
Hi mom and dad and lilla! This trip is so fun! I miss yall but I am having a blast! Love you lots!
MP- hey everyone! I’m having so much fun! Miss you guys and love you tons! See you soon!
Sutton-
hey! I’m having a blast! I miss y’all so much! Love y’all and see you soon!
wood- hey dad, hope you’re having fun in Colorado having a blast here! love you
winn- Hey mom and dad, I am having the time of my life out here!! Many many more friends that live in North Carolina!! I miss y’all, and love y’all so much! Tell G that I miss her and can’t wait to see her! See y’all soon!
walt- hey mom and dad I’m having a lot of fun and dad I can’t my first five fish! Tell jt this is Rod and honestly he should consider going. Love y’all and PS got a new friend in South Carolina and he’s rad Love y’all.
Safe Arrival!
July 12, 2025
Hello Canyonlands Families!
We 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 trip updates throughout the next week! This will allow you to follow along with the trip. You can also follow us on Instagram, @moondanceadventures, to see more of what we are up to!
-Moondance HQ
