Last week Max’s class went on our fall overnight to the Colorado River. On the first day we had driven six hours to the Gunnison Visitor Center and gotten a look at the beautiful canyon. Trust me it is a HUGE drop, something you might want to throw your little sister off of. After that we spent most of the first day just getting everything ready for our trip. This included packing duffels into dry bags (a bag where you must stuff everything in and roll it all up and then buckle it down so that it’s waterproof), and stuff like that. When we finally went to bed at 10 PM nobody could fall asleep.
When we were woken up at five in the morning the next day, no one was very happy. Mel, Katie, Max, and Rip told us that we couldn’t canoe down the Gunnison. It had rained too much and it was flowing at 3200 cubic feet per second, four times its normal speed. Finally we decided that we would go and try to canoe on the Colorado River. So we went and packed up all the canoes and everything else up again, and then we went on our merry ways off on the buses to the Colorado River. After the drive we all got together with our canoe partners and Rip and Dave (Dave was our other awesomely cool guide) gave us the safety lecture and taught us some more strokes. After that we got into our awesome canoes that were completely packed down with all the stuff we needed (Dry bags *shudder*, coolers, water jugs, and backpacks. Never fear, these were all tied down securely so that if the boat tipped over we would still have all of our food) and set off. It took some of us a little while to get the hang of canoeing, several of us bumped into the edge a couple times; we all were having the time of our life. Once we got to our first campsite we all had to carry everything up the shore and set up our tents, after that we had free time. Then we had dinner and desert around the campfire. After dessert we then promptly went to our tents and fell asleep in our sleeping bags.
The next morning we were allowed to wake up at seven (most people were grateful that it wasn’t five) to the smells and sounds of breakfast being made) and stay in our sleeping bags for a while. After we had breakfast and packed everything into the canoes we set off again. The day went pretty normal while canoeing, nobody tipped over or anything and we didn’t loose anything really necessary. After we had canoed for about 3 to 4 hours we pulled up at our second campsite. Once and again we unloaded everything from the canoes and set up camp. After setting up and settling down a little we went to the main Cottonwood to do some team building exercises. After playing those games we were allowed to drift down a small part of the river with our swimsuits and life jackets on (it was absolutely freezing cold), before having some more free time. After having relaxed for a while it was time for dinner and after dinner we relaxed around we campfire, then went to bed.
On the fourth day we woke up bright and early and once again did our traditional morning schedule (breakfast, pack up, leave on canoes). This canoe day was basically the same except that we were going to go through some small rapids. The rapids caused us little if any trouble and we arrived at the last campsite. We all did our routine (unpack canoes, set up tents, etc.) and then got free time. This free time some of us had to set things up for Elizabeth’s birthday. After relaxing we got to drift/play in the river again. Then we climbed out and had dinner and dessert then went to bed (after sitting round the camp fire).
We woke up early the next morning and once and again did our traditional morning schedule. Then we set off on our last day of canoeing. This day was simple and easy and we made it to the docking place with extra time. Once there we promptly unloaded everything and headed to take a shower at out hotel, Quality Inn. Once we got to the inn we all took showers and went out to dinner at Chilies. Then we came back and went to bed.
The last day of the trip we woke up and went out to put everything into the buses. Then we had breakfast and drove home. We were relieved, but at the same time, glad that we would be back in our nice comfy beds. We couldn't wait to tell everyone we knew, all about, the fall 2007, Max's Class overnight to the Colorado River.
Written by Margaret
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