The chal l enge ofs eei ng whatyou coul df i twasr eal l ycool .I t ’ sj us t an amaz i ng f eel i ng hav i ng ev er yt hi ng you need f ort hat amountoft i me i n yourkayak.
Ihad t wo r ealbi g chal l enges . Ev er ymor ni ng Iwaswonder i ng how t he hel lIgotal lt hi ss t uf fi nt o my kayakt he daybef or e,buti twoul d notf i tnow?
The s econd pr obl em,whi ch mayhav e cr eat ed t he f i r s tpr obl em,was how t o getenough beeri nt he boat f ora t woweekf l oat ?
Iwasl i ke “ oh s hi ther e we go agai n t hi si sgoi ng t o be bad. ”
Then… Iwat ched herr ol lup! Ial mos tcr i ed i n ex ci t ement . I twasone oft he cool es tt hi ngs t hathappened f orme on t hatt r i p.
One ni ght ,Iwast aki ng a pi ct ur e ofcamp atni ghthi gh up on t he cl i f f ,and asIs t ar t ed mydes cent backt o camp Ir eal i z ed Ihad s aton a cact us . So mygood f r i endshad t o pi ckcact usoutofmycact as sf ora whi l et hatni ght .
Runni ng t he Gr and Canyon s el f s uppor t ed i sa bi tmor e r ewar di ng t o me.
It hi nki tf eel sa bi t badas s ! I tgav e me s t r engt h, and If eelmor e accompl i s hed.
I twasan amaz i ng ex per i ence doi ng a s el f s uppor tt r i p wi t h my s i bl i ngs !The Gr and Canyon i t s el fi shar dt o puti nt o wor dsf orme. To s ee t hei rf acesand t o ex per i ence s uch an amaz i ng pl ace ast he Gr and Canyon wi t h your f ami l yi ss omet hi ng we al lwi s h we coul d do. I ’ mj us tt hankf ult o hav e af ami l ys uch ast he one Ihav e.Theyki cked as s ! Dad’ snex t !
We had an amazi ng gr oup wi t h us! Cr ai g Kl ecknerwasourt ourgui de.Mat tAngerand Cl ayLucast i ed f or t he mostst oked peopl ei nt he gr oup.Jer emyLaucks( JDog)wast he per mi thol derand al so won t he awar d f orbestf ood on t he t r i p.TommyPeni ckwasourphot ogr apher .Gr aham Nat i on Sei l erwasourcomi cr el i ef ! Rob Fusi l l ia. k. a.Ref er ee Rob wasal waysl ooki ng outf orusal l .AndyKi r bywaseat i ng but t erbyt he st i ckt o getasmanycal or i esaspossi bl e.TyCal dwel lr an mor e r api dst wi ce on t he Canyon t hatanyone ofus. PaulBut l erwon bestdr essed. Jessi ca Yur t i nus waswonder i ng how t he hel lshe ended up on a 14daykayakt r i p wi t h Demshi t z? We can be a bi tr i di cul ousatt i mes‌. . oral lt he t i me?
Asbr ot herRob s ai d and Iquot e,“ Manyt i mesout t her e you coul dn’ thel p but f eell i ke r eal l i f e“ Gooni es , ”j us t a packofki dswander i ng about hi ki ng up cr eekbeds ,cl i mbi ng up wat er f al l s ,and j umpi ng of fcl i f f s .Thi s s ame f eel i ng i sa bi gr eas on whyIt hi nk s o manyofuscont i nue t o kayakand ex pl or et he out door s . ”It hi nkt hatquot er eal l yput st he Canyon i nt o per s pect i v e and r emi ndsme ofa wor d Ius ea l ot …. Dems hi t z .