The Green River

The Teachers and Priests in our ward (the Elliot Ward) went on a high adventure trip in June down the Green River. These are the T-shirts they all wore.







They got an early start on Monday morning at 6 am. Dan is at the far left, and Bryce and his cousin Zach are at the far right. The timing worked out for Zach to join the group for the trip, and he fit right in.

They drove all day to Utah and camped that evening near the river. In the morning the majority of the group played 9 holes of golf at the public course on the river's edge while a few others transported the canoes and equipment to the launch site. It was a great way to keep everyone busy - and it was fun too. Here are Zach and Bryce on the course.

Soon it was time to launch. Here are Zach, Bryce and Dan after golf, getting ready to start their journey down the river.

That's a lot of canoes!

Here is a shot from Dan's motorboat. He took the boat in case they needed to evacuate someone for medical reasons. There is no cell service - or any other kind of service on the trip. It is almost 70 miles of wilderness. Check out the muddy water. They started out with rolling hills around and slowly descended into Labrinth Canyon.

Dan had made this trip once before with the young men from the Sabino Canyon Ward in Tucson. It turns out this is the same spot he pitched his tent on that trip over 10 years ago. This time Zach and Bryce set up camp here. Ask Bryce about the mosquitoes!

This is Dan's cockpit for the expedition.

Here is Dan steering his craft. Sometimes people would come up and hang on to the boat for a free ride and a visit. Occasionally the majority of the group would hang on and they would call it the "party barge".

You can see how they have descended into the canyon. Here is Bryce and Zach's tent for the second night. What you can't see are the mosquitoes.

Sometimes they used their oars and sometimes they just floated. Sometimes they used their paddles for water wars - and a few prepared people brought water cannons.

The group on an outcropping of rocks in the river. The water is still muddy. Everything came home (people included) with a fine layer of sand from the river.

Bryce and his hat in the sunshine.

Every morning and evening they had a "fireside". Being out in nature is a great time to touch on spiritual things when you are so close to God's creations.

Zach and Bryce paddling for the lead.

Beautiful scenery.

Dan and the river.

The group nears the end of their journey.

The end of the line - Mineral Bottom.

Zach and Bryce leave the river at Mineral Bottom.

The steep road out.

Bryce and Dan survived the journey.

The whole group - plus a couple tourists that wanted to join the picture (on the right).

Home at last. Now all that is left is to unload in the Arizona heat. See all the white buckets? Those were their "dry bags" that they used to keep their gear dry in case of a capsizing event - and there were a few.

Here is Dan with his week of beard growth. It didn't take him long to shave it off once he got home.