The Final Morning on the River

We actually woke up in plenty of time for the breakfast call, which was at 6:45 am. We enjoyed another awesome meal of blueberry pancakes and bacon. The river guides really were chefs as well. After a quick dip in the pool and a brief spritzer beneath the waterfall we began to pack up all of our gear. I did not stay under the waterfalls for as long because it was early morning and the sun had not had time to heat the water so it was much cooler than it had been the day before. It was still really relaxing and peaceful regardless of the temperature. Brad and I have become pretty efficient at setting up and breaking down camp so we were done and ready to go in no time. We all got our boats packed up and our belongings tied down and were ready to paddle off into the sunset. The very first river-paddling task was a tricky one. We had to paddle away from a current to avoid a large rock with a nasty undertow. The previous day Brad and I had been able to easily swim this so we did not think it would be any trouble at all. Well that is what we get for thinking we hit the rock. I believe we were the only group to actually hit the rock. There were a few groups that went backwards and one group that managed a 360 in the current but they all were able to steer clear of the rock, that is all except the Brad and Rebekah team. We were able to correct ourselves quickly and easily enough and we paddled with no other problems. To top it off we had the most picture perfect textbook eddy out ever. The groups that had already gone we too far down river to see the rock incident and they all though we were awesome. They all said how awesome our strokes and teamwork was. So we let them know that we had just hit the rock and the balance was restored. Slave Dave on the other hand was in the rear and could not see our landing but got a front row view of our rock smashing. He rated everyone on a 10-point scale and at a 3.5 Brad and I came in last. I was under the impression that if you stuck the landing you could make up for most mistakes during the routine. After regrouping Alan read a passage written by a Native American in regards to the odd idea of buying and selling land. The strange idea that one can own a river or a tree. It was written beautifully and read with conviction. The passage touched on taking care of the land for it can never truly be any ones but is everyone’s. He then asked us to paddle the next section in silence. We were to listen to the sound of the water and the animals that call it home. I am glad that he had us do this because although hit is fun to play and to socialize it was wonderful to be able to relax and just enjoy what we were really out there doing. That is enjoying nature and getting a unique and naturalistic feel for the Gunnison River. We were lucky enough to watch a blue heron go from standing perfectly still to expanding her enormous wing span and take off. We paddled by some intense bluffs and cliff walls with natural indentions that were big enough for someone to live in them. Thy actually reminded me of a natural cliff dwelling. I wonder if that is where the cliff dwellers got the idea? There were a few bumpy sections but mostly calm waters. Although we traveled further on the first day there was more paddling on the last day and it seemed to take longer because the river did not seem as swift. We stopped at a muddy beach for lunch. When I say muddy I mean when you step in the mud your foot gets completely sucked up and you have to fight with the ground for each step forward. Luckily the area we ate lunch was not muddy. Instead it was rather nice with a large tree to offer shade and a few logs to provide natural seating. We all began to chat about where our travels were going to take us next or where they had taken us so far. At this lunch they opened up a can of black olives. Now if you know me you know that this fact alone made my heart sing. There were also Oreo cookies. Now if you know Brad then you know that his heart was singing as well. You could tell that everyone was really getting along and that we wanted to hang out with each other. But at the same time everyone wanted a real shower and in a way wanted to be off the river. I could have stayed a few more nights. I really did enjoy the company and the activities so very much. After passing by a few of the prettiest cliff walls of the trip I felt something on my foot and did a quick reflex kick before I even looked down. Upon looking down I noticed a snake crawling in the canoe at my feet. After kicking I must have startled him because he started to coil up and assume striking position. I was not about the get bitten by a snake so before even thinking about it I jumped up onto my seat. This was a no no as far as the rules go for canoeing. I never felt unbalanced and was able to stand on my seat in a hunched over position. Dave yells from the rear for me to sit down and my reply was, "There is a snake in my boat and I am not trying to hang out with it." I managed to keep my composure for the most part. Besides jumping into my seat I had little to no reaction. I did not scream. Dave said it looked like I was just going to jump out. Guide Dean said he had no idea what was going on because there were no screams. He assumed Brad had said something really mean to upset me =). We managed to get to the shore with a little help and I was out of that boat pretty quickly if you can imagine. At this point I could not see the snake because it had gone behind the bags. After beaching the canoe and causing a scene I was just hoping that there was really a snake in my boat and it was not just a trick played on me with my eyes. If they pulled a stick out of the boat I would have been pretty mortified. Luckily once Super Dave moved some of our bags around he too jumped back because he thought it was a rattlesnake. Upon closer inspection it was not a rattlesnake but it was a snake none the less and snakes are not welcome in a canoe with me. Super Dave managed to quickly pull the snake out and throw it in the water before it was able to bite anyone. He said the snake was in perfect striking position. We watched as the snake slithered away across the river. Dave redeemed his name as Super Dave in this way! This is him - Dean said that there is a first time for everything because he had never seen a snake actually in a canoe. I am glad we were unaware of each other for a while and that I did not get bit as soon as I placed my feet in the canoe. It was really strange to feel the slithery skin slide across my feet. So that was my exciting Snake in the boat moment. If I remember the movie Snakes on the Plane was kind of a flop. Maybe Snakes on the Canoe will be better. We continued on the journey snake free paddling down the river. As we were waiting to pull out I taught some of the other paddlers including Dorian, one of the boys, how to whistle and make duck sounds with grass. I think because of this they though I was cooler! We had to go to the take out site in pairs due to the narrow nature of the site. Once it was our turn we paddled pretty well and expertly parked the boat using our new skills on last time. It took a while and a group effort to coordinate getting the boats and all the gear from the beach up to the small gravel parking area. The good thing was we had used a lot of the food and the waters were all empty are close to empty so they were a good deal lighter than they had been while loading the boats just a few days ago. The drivers of the cars at the "secure" take out site grouped together to walk back to get our cars and come back to pick up our gears and whatever passengers we had. We walked over the bridge and towards the cars.

I heart the Millers -

I heart the Campbells