My student teaching provided me with many opportunities, but none better than the trip that we took on the Green River. We met at school early on Monday morning to begin our drive out to Green River, Utah to start the river trip. I got to drive one gr
oup of kids and Scott drove the other. So after loading up the vehicles, we began the long day's drive. It was good although, I did not get long listening to my music before the Joe, who is in the front seat, took over the controls. We began the slow climb up the passes and the roads were good, so it was no problem. Then the big event occurred that kind of left a shadow on the trip. I was pulling in to our bathroom stop in Vail, when Scott backed up real quick right into a pole. It is always surreal when something like that occurs. Scott was a bit worried about it, but we had nothing to do but to continue the trip and worry about it when we came back. We drove about six hours when we made our first stop at the John Wesley Powell Museum in Green River.
It was a good idea to break up the day a bit. We saw a film and checked out the exhibits. Then we were off to our campsite where I tried to sleep under a tree while the kids played pirates until late in the night. The next day we were up early and had to make a drive down a dirt road to where we would launch at Ruby Ranch. A company from Moab met us out there and we were launching the boats in no time. It did not take us long to get ourselves moving. The kids all decided to paddle like crazy and it was fun to see the beginners all get going. Chris and Connor could not stop paddling, even sitting in the front of the boat. I chilled out with Scott, which was nice for me.
I got the hang of it rather quick and it was sure a lot easier to paddle a canoe than a kayak. After a stop for lunch, the kids slowed down a bit. They got back to their pirate games, which both Scott and I questioned whether the seniors should be playing pirate games.
There was some time for teaching as we read to the kid's from John Wesley Powell's book when we got to certain spots, such as Trin Alcove. Scott and I were involved in finding a camp and after striking out our first attempt, we finally found a spot that seemed to fit for the evening.
We made ourselves some grub and that the evening got interesting. We began a karaoke contest around the campfire. It was hilarious and all of the kids were having a good time with it. We sang serious songs and funny songs including Chris' performance of "Shoes" that rocked the campsite. Before too long, I was off to my secret campsite away from the kids to enjoy that ever so perfect river sleep. We awoke and after a hearty breakfast, we went off on our float down the river today. On this day, the kids were really taking it easy, which was fine with us. I chilled with Scott in the boat.
Our big destination on this day, was to go to Bowknot Bend where you can see both sides of the river from the top of a point. We made it there in the late afternoon. We had to climb a rather steep hill to get to the top. Most every one of the kids made it to the top.
We hiked over to a place near the top called the library and left our names on some flat rocks for posterity. (This was encouraged there) Then we had a rock throwing contest where I am happy to report that I was the only one to get a rock into the river from that height. We headed back down and I felt like a wuss as Gee, an eighth grader, ran by me with ease. We were back to our float where we made our camp at what we thought was Horseshoe Canyon. After thorough inspection, though, Scott decided that it was instead Two Mile Canyon.
This was where we would have our layover day. The kids really wanted to just have a day to chill out. We spent it eating and drinking lemonade. We did a hike up Two Mile Canyon and we got to nurse a couple of sick people back to health. We did some educational activities, but the best idea of the day was the mudslide.
We found this great patch of gooey mud and we all went sliding. We had a great time with it. I mean, some people would say this is not education, but getting kids out here is half the battle. Once they are there, they start to appreciate what they could be missing. It is not just enough to read Edward Abbey, but it is necessary to see what he saw with their own eyes. The last day of the trip was a long one. We had to wake up nice and early to paddle fast. We had to get the boats to the takeout point and get them unloaded by the time the person who we rented our rafts to got there to load up. We hauled and made great time. We got to take this crazy road out, which to me driving did not seem bad because I was in control, but to the kids they were a bit weary.
I figured out that I had driven that road before. After that it was a long haul back to civilization and Lakewood, CO.
The kids got to sleep, but I drove all the way over the passes. It turned out to not be too bad. We got ourselves unpacked and the kids back to their parental units. The next day was when all hell broke loose for me. I was on my way to workout, running from the park near my house when coming up a hill, I stepped halfway on the sidewalk and halfway off. I felt my ankle go. I had to hobble the one and a half miles back to my truck and then try to drive with a probably broken ankle. I got home and kept my weight off of it, but it still looked like hell wh
en the weekend was through. I was a little afraid about starting my backcountry job, but I knew that it was my only choice to go ahead and go for it with an ankle that looked like this.
oup of kids and Scott drove the other. So after loading up the vehicles, we began the long day's drive. It was good although, I did not get long listening to my music before the Joe, who is in the front seat, took over the controls. We began the slow climb up the passes and the roads were good, so it was no problem. Then the big event occurred that kind of left a shadow on the trip. I was pulling in to our bathroom stop in Vail, when Scott backed up real quick right into a pole. It is always surreal when something like that occurs. Scott was a bit worried about it, but we had nothing to do but to continue the trip and worry about it when we came back. We drove about six hours when we made our first stop at the John Wesley Powell Museum in Green River.
It was a good idea to break up the day a bit. We saw a film and checked out the exhibits. Then we were off to our campsite where I tried to sleep under a tree while the kids played pirates until late in the night. The next day we were up early and had to make a drive down a dirt road to where we would launch at Ruby Ranch. A company from Moab met us out there and we were launching the boats in no time. It did not take us long to get ourselves moving. The kids all decided to paddle like crazy and it was fun to see the beginners all get going. Chris and Connor could not stop paddling, even sitting in the front of the boat. I chilled out with Scott, which was nice for me.
I got the hang of it rather quick and it was sure a lot easier to paddle a canoe than a kayak. After a stop for lunch, the kids slowed down a bit. They got back to their pirate games, which both Scott and I questioned whether the seniors should be playing pirate games.
There was some time for teaching as we read to the kid's from John Wesley Powell's book when we got to certain spots, such as Trin Alcove. Scott and I were involved in finding a camp and after striking out our first attempt, we finally found a spot that seemed to fit for the evening.
We made ourselves some grub and that the evening got interesting. We began a karaoke contest around the campfire. It was hilarious and all of the kids were having a good time with it. We sang serious songs and funny songs including Chris' performance of "Shoes" that rocked the campsite. Before too long, I was off to my secret campsite away from the kids to enjoy that ever so perfect river sleep. We awoke and after a hearty breakfast, we went off on our float down the river today. On this day, the kids were really taking it easy, which was fine with us. I chilled with Scott in the boat.
Our big destination on this day, was to go to Bowknot Bend where you can see both sides of the river from the top of a point. We made it there in the late afternoon. We had to climb a rather steep hill to get to the top. Most every one of the kids made it to the top.
We hiked over to a place near the top called the library and left our names on some flat rocks for posterity. (This was encouraged there) Then we had a rock throwing contest where I am happy to report that I was the only one to get a rock into the river from that height. We headed back down and I felt like a wuss as Gee, an eighth grader, ran by me with ease. We were back to our float where we made our camp at what we thought was Horseshoe Canyon. After thorough inspection, though, Scott decided that it was instead Two Mile Canyon.
This was where we would have our layover day. The kids really wanted to just have a day to chill out. We spent it eating and drinking lemonade. We did a hike up Two Mile Canyon and we got to nurse a couple of sick people back to health. We did some educational activities, but the best idea of the day was the mudslide.
We found this great patch of gooey mud and we all went sliding. We had a great time with it. I mean, some people would say this is not education, but getting kids out here is half the battle. Once they are there, they start to appreciate what they could be missing. It is not just enough to read Edward Abbey, but it is necessary to see what he saw with their own eyes. The last day of the trip was a long one. We had to wake up nice and early to paddle fast. We had to get the boats to the takeout point and get them unloaded by the time the person who we rented our rafts to got there to load up. We hauled and made great time. We got to take this crazy road out, which to me driving did not seem bad because I was in control, but to the kids they were a bit weary.
I figured out that I had driven that road before. After that it was a long haul back to civilization and Lakewood, CO.
The kids got to sleep, but I drove all the way over the passes. It turned out to not be too bad. We got ourselves unpacked and the kids back to their parental units. The next day was when all hell broke loose for me. I was on my way to workout, running from the park near my house when coming up a hill, I stepped halfway on the sidewalk and halfway off. I felt my ankle go. I had to hobble the one and a half miles back to my truck and then try to drive with a probably broken ankle. I got home and kept my weight off of it, but it still looked like hell wh
en the weekend was through. I was a little afraid about starting my backcountry job, but I knew that it was my only choice to go ahead and go for it with an ankle that looked like this.
