Launch Dates, a Warm River in Winter, and the Endless Prep

It's a beautiful day in Tucson, about 70 degrees under clear blue skies. It has been full too- the kind of day you plan on spending in a lawn chair and end up on your feet and jotting numbers until your brain hurts from breakfast 'til dinner. Still, that usually makes dinner taste better.

I am in Tucson at the NOLS Southwest base after having worked a wonderful course on the Rio Grande in west Texas. I had never paddled the Rio before but was excited to do so- in the winter months when most other classic rivers are covered with ice and snow, the Rio is 70 degrees and running well. We had a strong student group, fair weather and good flow, all this in February. Here are a few shots from the course:



Pretty spectacular. There were semi-wild cattle and gun-toting Border Patrol about as well, but nothing we had to worry about.

Next up is 14 hour drive north to Utah and a course on the Green River in Desolation and Gray Canyons. After the warmth and sun of the Chihuahuan Desert, Utah in March is surely going to be a doozey. Racing ice flows through whitewater has its charm, however.

Things are coming together on the ARE, dates are firming up, food is being purchased and support arranged. With the close of the Desolation Canyon expedition, I fly to Portland, OR on March 31st, and after a few days of prep in the city, I launch in the early afternoon on Sunday, April 5. If you are in the Portland area, there is going to be a little send-off party on Saturday, and the launch of course on Sunday.

On a final note, we are excited to partner with Bell Canoe & Cooke Custom Sewing for the expedition- more on that soon.

Scouting from On High

I once saw a tourist in a Starter jacket gaze carefully over the edge of the 90 foot cliffs that make up Class V Rip Gorge (on the West Branch of the Penobscot in Maine) and casually remark: "Honey, isn't Class V the biggest? It doesn't look too bad from here." She had a fanny pack and everything. Too easy.

It demonstrates a point though. It is never a great idea to scout from on high. Looking down on a rapid from an elevated position flattens out it's hydrological features and might goad you into a poor decision. It's a spatial trick of the eye to lose the depth of field proportional to the distance from the object.

Sometimes, of course, you have no choice but to clamber over rocks and up to some promontory to see around the next bend or get a better angle on an OK-but-not-quite-good chute on the other side of the river. Still, scouting is best done from river level and then complimented with an overview later.

* * *

So, just now I was looking at satellite images of Sheep Creek Rapid in Hells Canyon on the Snake River and thinking to myself; "Well now, it doesn't look too bad at all... I bet I could sneak up river right no problem..." The sat image showed the river to be about 2 inches wide with a few tiny, blurry comet-shaped white splotches depicting the Class IV/V monster; the point of view was probably 1000 feet up.

I reached down into my fanny pack for my chap stick, grimacing and clicking over to the next sat image.


All text Copyright Alexander Martin 2009

Welcome

This is an expedition journal detailing an attempt to cross the North American continent by canoe from West to East by paddle and portage.