Rafting the Grand Canyon on the Colorado River

Wow, this was a big time bucket list item. It all started late 2023 when my longtime friend Lee Hunnicutt called Sara and me and invited us to join he and his wife Susan on a commercial rafting trip down the Grand Canyon. He had a bunch of friends in Salida, Colorado who were putting this trip together and there were still a few slots available. Lee and I were college roommates at the Citadel after we had both returned from Viet Nam. That was fifty four years ago so our friendship is long and wonderful.

The only rafting experience we had was a two hour ride down the Arkansas river where Lee lives in Salida, CO.  We were in Lee’s fourteen foot raft which he oared; it was very mellow and had no major rapids at all. The Colorado river would be very different. It has some of the biggest whitewater in North America so needless to say we were a little reluctant and nervous about signing up for a seven day trip. 

We thought we would regret not joining this wonderful adventure, so we decided to say "Yes, we’re in!".  We were also able to invite our good friend Karen Bilder (known as KB to her friends) who is one of our skydiving buddies. 

The trip was hosted by Arizona River Runners which is the premier rafting company for the Grand Canyon. We had a group of twenty eight, mostly people from Salida and California who were family members or friends. We were on two commercial thirty five foot motorized inflatable rafts with a driver and one assistant on each raft. Our crew was phenomenal. The man in charge was Brian Dierker. Brian is a legend on the Colorado river and down in the Grand Canyon. He grew up in the area and was on the river when he was thirteen and has spent 50 years rafting in the Grand Canyon. Every single rafter we encountered on the river knew Brian. His assistant was Walt, who was equally experienced taking people down the Colorado. He had been guiding for twenty seven years and his geological knowledge of the canyon was endless. 

Our other boat was captained by Page. She was an awesome young lady with seven years of experience on the Colorado and two years driving the big commercial rafts. She is also a professional Ultimate Frisby player and plays on the Arizona Sidewinders. Her assistant was Phil. This was Phil’s first time down the Colorado on a big commercial raft. He was in his twenties and lives in Telluride, CO where he's a mountain guide, speed flyer, and paragliding pilot. He was a friend of Page’s and was considering a career in commercial rafting.

The rafts were huge, thirty five feet long and about twelve to fourteen feet wide with an outboard motor. In the middle of the boat was an aluminum frame with metal storage boxes and place to strap on all our gear. The rafts carried all our bags, tents, cots, chairs, food, water, drinks and snacks, including an extra motor and plenty of extra propellers. You are truly in wildness with no options to resupply or stop at a gear store, so you must take everything needed for the seven days. We covered one hundred and eighty seven miles on the river, easily doing do thirty to fifty miles a day.

The trip started on Monday May 6th when Sara, KB and myself flew to Las Vegas the night before our trip started. Early the next morning we met many of the trip participants and boarded the bus to the Boulder City airport. We flew in a Cessna Caravan to Marble Canyon enjoying a great view of the area from the sky. Here we met our crew and connected with Lee and Susan and the rest of our group who had driven from Salida, Colorado. We had time for breakfast, and a briefing of what to expect for the start of the trip. Then took a short shuttle ride to Lee’s Ferry which is just south of Glen Canyon Dam. Here we  packed our gear into a large water proof bag to be loaded into the middle of the boat and a small waterproof bag accessible during the day. We were ready to start our journey down the Colorado river!

Sara and I made the mistake of getting on the boat last which put us at the front of the boat. As we started going through rapids we got completely soaked even though we had our waterproof jackets well buttoned up. The temperature of the river water was 50 degrees and the wind was blowing that day. We were soaked and got really cold to the point of shaking. Of course we were thinking “ holy cow we have six more days of this”. Finally we got to our first campsite, changed into dry clothes and warmed up.  Everyone on the boat was very supportive and everyone rotated so we could sit at the very back of the boat the next day. 

The campsites were on the sandy shores of the Colorado river. They were all incredible, with amazing views of the canyons and river. We really enjoyed relaxing in camp, chatting to people over dinner, listening to the singing birds and watching the bats flying around at dusk. Everyone had a different strategy for finding a spot that met their needs, some chose close to the boats so they didn't have to carry their gear too far. Others opted for more seclusion which meant carrying gear bags, tents and cots further up the river side. Of the six nights we camped we put our tent up twice, mainly because it was so windy the sand was getting everywhere. It was wonderfully relaxing and fun to sleep under the stars. Being down in a deep canyon with no lights around meant the night sky and stars were out and bright. I was able to setup my camera right next to my cot so I could take night photos without getting up.

Each day started at 5:30 with a loud yell from Brian with a thunderous “Coffee, Coffeeeeee“. We climbed out of our sleeping bags and started the process of getting dressed for the day and stowing our sleeping bag in our big dry bag along with other personal stuff like our clothes and toilet articles. As we were breaking camp Brian and his staff were cooking a fabulous hot breakfast for all of us. It could be eggs, sausage, hash browns or oatmeal or pancakes. It was always plentiful and very tasty. Once breakfast was over we started the process of bringing all our bags, cots, chairs, and tents close to the boats where we formed a double line from the bags to the boats. That’s when we started the “duffle shuffle“ passing everything from the shore back on to the boats. This was not easy. Some of the bags could weigh fifty pounds or more. On top of that, all the kitchen equipment had to be passed onboard - chairs, tables, cooking stoves, pots, pans etc.

And then there was “the Groover“! Everybody knew before they signed up for the trip that all urine had to go in the river, not a drop on the land. Poop had to go in the Groover. The Groover was an aluminum box with two handles and a toilet seat. The box was replaced every day with a new one. The Groover was set up each night in a discreet place out of sight from everybody, typically with a nice view of the river. 

Everybody got very comfortable and nonchalant about peeing in the river. Usually the girls would go on one side of the boats and men on the other side. At night everyone had a small personal pee bucket to avoid stumbling around in the dark trying to find your way to the river. Before the trip I was a little nervous about the peeing and pooping situation. Turned out it was a non- issue. When they instructed us on how the Groover worked I asked how it got it’s name. Brian explained the original Groover was a 20mm military ammo can with no toilet seat so when you sat on it you got two groves on your butt, hence “the Groover”.

Each day after we got the boats loaded and everything strapped down and secured we would start our journey down the river. During our 187 miles trip down the Colorado we passed through about 100 rapids. The rapids on the Colorado river are rated on a 1-10 point system. 1 is very mellow and 10 is a serious violent rapid where you better be holding on with both hands. Each day we passed through rapids that were exciting and definitely got us wet. It wasn’t until the third day that we faced a 9 rated rapid. It was definitely more exciting and huge walls of water but was also a confidence builder since we had two more 9 rated rapids to get through.

We would stop somewhere on the river for lunch, usually a place of geological interest or a good location for a hiking excursion. Lunch was simple and easy to fix like sandwiches but always tasty. We all quickly got into the routine of each day, and became a team that helped each other out when needed. A number of people had been river guides and others had rafted extensively which meant they knew what to expect on a 7 day trip. Brian jokingly told us the second night that we were all much better in person than we looked on paper. We think he looked at the list before the trip started, noticed the overall age of the group and thought "oh goodness this could be a rough trip"! 

We would motor on down the river and stop around 5pm in the afternoon to set up camp and have dinner. The meals were incredible, great fish or meat, fresh vegetables/salad, with rice or potatoes and always a desert. It was amazing what the crew could cook on the side of the river, we were particularly impressed by the lasagna made from scratch and a birthday cake! We all quickly got into the habit of washing our hands, and then washing all our plates and cutlery in each of the four water basins. The final rinse included a mild chlorine solution; it was critical with 32 people in the middle of wilderness that we all stayed healthy. 

After dinner we would gather and put our chairs in a circle for music provided by several of our group. On most nights Brian would bring a couple of tiki lights and give us an interesting little lecture on some of the history, folklore, or wildlife of the Grand Canyon. As we traveled down the river all of our guides explained the geology of the canyon. I distinctly remember sitting in the boat one day looking at a very tall canyon wall and hearing one of the guides tell us we were looking at rock formations that were 1.7 billon years old. It was truly amazing.

We rode with Brian and Walt on the first three days and then finished the last days on Page and Phil’s boat. On the fourth or fifth day we went through our second 9 rated rapid - Crystal rapid. They never told us too much about what to expect but on this rapid Brian and Page pulled our boats to the shore. They walked over to the rapid to scout and discuss their route and strategy. It was pretty violent with walls of water falling on us but not too terrifying. When we got through the rapid we heard Page say “ABC“.  Somebody asked Page what that meant and she said "Alive Below Crystal". Apparently Crystal has more boats turn over and accidents then any other rapid on the Colorado river. 

Here's a video of our trip, it's about 11 minutes long and is best viewed in full screen mode: Click here to view the video.  

Our final day there was great anticipation for our last big rapid. The mother of them all - Lava Falls. When we got to this one Page stopped the boat in the middle of the river and walked around the boat and inspected all our hand holds. That day Sara and I had ended up sitting on the front right of the boat, mainly because there were no other volunteers. Sara was in the front right position and had been getting soaked all day. When Page got to us she tightened the straps and told us that our position was going to get it, Big Time!! I was next to Sara in the number two position. The girl sitting next to me had been through Lava Falls before and told me it was terrifying - thanks Nicole!  

So we got our grips and entered the rapid. It was violent and we could only see a wall of water that encapsulated us. Several seconds into the rapid I thought to myself, this isn’t too bad. Then the boat heaved and I lost one of my grips and I thought oh shit this is very serious. We made it through and everybody was laughing, yelling, and very happy to survive Lava Falls. Phil stood up and announced we had just gone through the biggest, most bad ass rapid in North America. Finally that day we made it to our last campsite called Whitmore Wash. Brian wanted to get us there because the next morning a helicopter was going to come and take us to the Bar Ten ranch where we would fly back to Las Vegas.

Our last night was joyous for everybody. We had all bonded on this extraordinary adventure and gained many new wonderful friends. It was our last meal and they saved the best for last with a delicious steak dinner cooked on a big charcoal fire. What a trip. The memories of being down in the Grand Canyon looking up at thousands of feet of rock walls some of which were unbelievably old will never leave our minds. Big time bucket list. When we got home it took awhile to come down from the wonder of this fabulous trip.

Click here to see the photos!

Iceland - Western Shores

On Tuesday, March 12th we woke to a snow covered campground. Temperature in the van was 28F, so we started as usual with Sara shuffling to the front of the van to turn on the heater. We stayed in our sleeping bags talking about the day's plans until the van heated up to a balmy 50F. The heater was excellent and kept us warm the whole trip. We had extravagantly brought a portable blender with us, and enjoyed a fresh fruit smoothie to start the day.

We were still in the north and were treated to beautiful views of snow capped mountains. Driving was tough at times with complete white out conditions on the passes, alternating with great sunny weather. We were amazed how quickly road conditions could change, Icelanders are used to checking the national road conditions before any trip as high winds and snow can quickly turn a road impassable. 

By the evening we were in Iceland's west region and our last few days. We enjoyed dinner at the local restaurant which included an excellent mushroom soup made with wild mushrooms the owner picked during the summer! The campground was one of our favorites, with the bathroom and cooking facilities inside a converted greenhouse. There were only three other camper vans which made it delightfully quiet. 

In the morning we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, and then drove 20 minutes to a spectacular location with two very different waterfalls. The first, Hraunfossar is a wide series of trickling waterfalls, coming directly out of lava rock. A short walk up the trail is Barnafoss, a narrow, twisting waterfall hurtling out of a deep ravine. We spent several hours taking photos and then drove 160km to our final waterfall destination. Kirkjufell is a large free standing mountain with several waterfalls in the foreground. It is a popular location due to being used in Game of Thrones, much of which was filmed in Iceland. The weather was pretty atrocious, with a bitterly cold wind and there were a number of photo groups trying to take shots on the narrow slippery path. We both got a little cranky, but stopped at a lovely café for coffee, hot chocolate and cake which restored our spirits. 

It was a very windy drive to the camp ground and we arrived cold and worn out. We joined the rest of campers in the kitchen area and soon warmed up with a large dinner. We saw the Australians we'd met several days earlier, and also the couple from Vermont and enjoyed catching up with them all. We also had a fascinating geo political conversation with a couple from Germany. 

Thursday the 14th was our last full day of adventure. We stopped in the small town of Akranses to look at an old abandoned boat, and then drove into Reykjavik for lunch. We had an incredible meal at Old Icelandic Restaurant and then stopped in the Icewear store to buy some more clothes. Our final treat of the evening was a soak in the hot waters of Sky Lagoon a perfect end to our Iceland experiences.

Our campground for the evening was close to the airport and Happy Campers where we had to return the van in the morning. We arrived late after relaxing at Sky Lagoon and climbed into our sleeping bags for our last night in the van. In the morning we ate breakfast in the small camp kitchen and chatted to the couple from Vermont again, who we had also seen at the Old Icelandic Restaurant. We all laughed at how relative strangers kept meeting. After returning the van we spend a relaxing afternoon at a hotel before flying home the next day.

Here are John's final thoughts on Iceland. It’s a beautiful interesting country. It’s smaller than we realized, about the same size as the state of Kentucky so we were able to get from one destination to another quicker than we expected. The country's population is around 370,000, with about 1.7million tourists visiting mostly in the summer. Since it's an island situated in the North Atlantic ocean the weather is erratic and unpredictable which we knew that before we left America. Unfortunately, we never saw any Northern Lights because of overcast skies. When we were in the south it rained every day, which was hard for me because I don’t usually do photography in the rain.

Our camper van worked like a champ and was a fun little adventure driving it all the way around the country on the Ring road. The water falls were amazing and plentiful. Sara’s time at the horse farm was a great time for both of us, I’m so glad we pulled that off. A big highlight that was a bit of a surprise were the four hot thermal baths. The two famous ones, Blue Lagoon and Sky Lagoon are both near Reykjavik. Vox Baths was one of our favorites, it was on a lake just out of the town of Egilsstadir in eastern Iceland. It was beautiful and very enjoyable. Our other favorite was near Akureyri which is the biggest city in the north. It was called Forrest Lagoon and was up above the city next to a forest, it was really special and after a couple of beers pretty darn romantic.

All the people we met were very nice and all spoke English so communicating was easy. It was a great adventure and very memorable. One more bucket list item checked off.

All in all it was an incredible trip!

Click here to see the photos and videos

Iceland - Horses and Henges

Saturday the 9th we left the southern beaches and drove up the east coast, an area of Iceland we enjoyed a lot. The east region is much less crowed and undeveloped compared to the south, and full of dramatic fjords and soaring cliffs. We took our time on the drive, stopping a few times and arrived at the small town of Egilsstaoir late afternoon in time for a soak in Vox baths. This beautiful geo thermal pool is on the side of Lake Urriðavatn and exactly what we needed to warm up after getting chilled over the last few days. To follow Icelandic bathing tradition we experienced a quick dip in the freezing lake - yep it was cold! It was a beautiful evening and we enjoyed relaxing, a few local Icelandic beers and chatting to people.

The campsite we stayed at that night was one of our favorites. It had a large, warm kitchen and dining area, so we cooked a meal and used the laundry facilities. We had noticed we were by far the oldest people at the campsites and it was always fun talking to young enthusiastic people from around the world.

The next morning we were eating breakfast in the camp kitchen and noticed some advertising for horse riding. Horses are a big part of Sara's life since she had horses as a teenager and used to compete in show jumping and cross country. One of her bucket list items for this trip was to ride an Icelandic horse. Sara called the farm to see what options were available that morning. Yes, 11am is perfect, and no problem to be going out with the local children! It was an amazing, unforgettable experience, and Sara loved meeting Helga and Siggi the owners, as well as the local children who joined the hour long ride along the river. The horse she rode reminded her of her childhood horse - similar color and just as feisty.

The Icelandic horses are known for the special gait called a Tolt - a very smooth pace between a walk and a trot. It was very comfortable. After much discussion with her husband Helga gave Sara a horse who had a very good Tolt, and who also went into it very easily. He was an amazing horse, willing, and tolerant of miscues since she's not used to 5 gaits! Afterwards Helga wanted Sara to experience riding another horse, and let her ride Helga's horse on her own for a while, which was quite the gift and privilege!  As John commented Sara was happy all day long!

After a late lunch we left town and drove a dirt road to Stuðlagil canyon, full of basalt columns and frozen waterfalls. We continued driving east, now fully in the north region of spectacular frozen mountains and high road passes. We took a side road to check out Dettifoss, which is Europe's most powerful waterfall. The road had some areas of snow and ice and was slow driving, so we didn't arrive until 6:30pm. Since the viewpoint was at least a 30 minute hike each way on deep snow we decided not to risk a night time hike in freezing temperatures and after checking the road conditions realized the road north was impassable. So we drove back down the icy road and spent the night at a small campground near Lake Myvatn. We enjoyed a great pizza and beer right next to the camp site and chatted to some Australian's who were physical therapists temporarily working in the UK.

Monday the 11th was John's day for a bucket list item - the Arctic Henge. We checked the Icelandic road conditions national site which is excellent, and determined there were some open roads, so off we went. We drove north all the way to the very top of Iceland to a small town called Raufarhofn. It's just below the arctic circle and John has been fascinated with visiting since we started our trip planning. It's similar to Stonehenge in terms of concept, an arctic version built in the last 30 years inspired by the Norse poem Völuspá (Prophecy of the Seeress). Something related to the history of Norse gods, dragons and dwarfs. The weather cleared and we enjoyed a few hours walking around the stones and imagining Norse legends!   Click here for a video update from John! You will need to turn on the sound to listen as the video always started muted. 

On the way to our evening campsite we stopped at Godafoss, a magnificent circular waterfall, and then drove to Akureyri the largest town in the North. It was our longest day, driving 370km and arriving into town around 8pm we  realized we had time to visit Forest Lagoon. We spent a romantic few hours warming up in the hot waters, with a beer and admiring the night view of the town and the forest surroundings. We met a young couple from Vermont on a similar drive around the ring road and enjoyed chatting to them. The hot lagoons were fantastic for many reasons. We were getting pretty chilled being outside in the winter, and since we were camping showers took a lot of effort and typically required a wait. The lagoons all had excellent, clean shower facilities, so we could increase our core body temperatures with a soak, leave clean (with the required pre and post shower) and have an amazing experience. Vox Baths and Forest Lagoon were our two favorites for sure! We were exhausted by the time we stopped for the night so ate pickled herring (surprisingly good) and chocolate biscuits for dinner and crawled into our sleeping bags.

Click here for the photos and videos

Iceland - Southern Beaches & Glaciers

Thursday 7th March was the start of a few days of beaches and glaciers. We stopped in the town of Vik for groceries and diesel. It had rained off and on most of the morning so we popped into the Lava café for a snack and then went to the Icewear store so Sara could buy a belt. Oh dear!  Several hours later we left with a large credit card charge, an excellent pair of wool lined pants for Sara (which she wore for the rest of the trip), a beautiful sweater for John and two hand knitted warm hats - and oh yes a belt! Icewear started in 1972 as a local knitting company with the slogan" Be Warm be well" 

We got a break from the heavy rain and stopped at Reynisfjara Black Sand beach, which has impressive cliffs and sea views. The beach is also known for "sneaker waves" which often push further up the beach than expected. The offshore rip currents are infamous for their strength and ability to drag helpless people out into the freezing cold open ocean.

We carefully took photos, keeping an eye on the waves and the people who were getting knocked down by the sneaky waves. As we were leaving the beach we momentarily took our eyes of the sea and yes, got soaked over our ankles by a sneaker wave! Luckily we stayed on our feet and sloshed back to the van to change into dry boots. The second beach we visited was calmer and more enjoyable! We drove on 150km to Skaftafell National Park which was a great camp ground and enjoyed an excellent long warm shower after the cold wet day.

Friday we were treated to a cold but dry sunny morning and a magnificent view of snow capped mountains. We left the campground and quickly found an excellent view of Skaftafell glacier and stopped for photos, a drone flight and a quick hike. Our next stop was Jokulsarlon glacier lagoon and Diamond beach, and potentially a visit to an ice cave in the glacier. We parked by the beach and walked to the glacier lagoon, enjoying the views of floating icebergs and seals. The ice cave tour was closed due to raising water so we returned to the van and heated up a hot soup lunch, feeling a bit sorry for the people outside in the pouring rain eating their sandwiches. Yes, it was cold, wet and windy a lot in this area!

We got a bit of a break in the rain and explored Diamond beach which has huge pieces of ice from the glacier that reach the sea via the river and have been deposited on the beach. The icebergs are polished by the sea waves to look like incredibly large diamonds lying on the black sand. Enjoy the videos with the sound turned on to hear the waves.

We ended the day at another beautiful ocean beach area next to Mount Vestahorn. We had hoped to see the northern lights over such a spectacular scenery, but the weather wasn't cooperative with clouds and rain. So instead Sara made what John said was the best grilled cheese sandwich he had ever had. Amazing what you can do on a single camp stove inside a van.

Click here to see the photos and videos!

 

Iceland Expedition 2024

We arrived in Iceland late Sunday March 3th after a day and a half of travel, ready for 2 weeks of fun exploring the land of fire and ice! The next day we picked up our camper van and headed into Reykjavik, spending the afternoon wandering the streets and sights along the sea front. The city has interesting architecture and loads of good places to eat; we had an excellent lunch at the Bastard Grill. 

Tuesday the 5th we spent several hours in the hot waters of Blue Lagoon. Quite a unique experience with blue waters, rising steam and white silica face masks. The lagoon had been closed for a few days due to volcanic activity just 10 km away, and we were lucky it reopened. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience and continued to stop at hot springs for the rest of the trip.

After a stop for groceries, diesel and water for the van we headed to our first stop in Thingvellir National Park. We arrived at dusk in wet and windy conditions, something that was repeated for most of the week. Since it is winter most camp sites have basic facilities and we just parked the camper van in the parking lot with the other campers, had a quick snack and crawled into our sleeping bags. The camper van is a Volkswagen Transporter 4x4, converted to sleep two in the back, and a small area with a sink and camping stove. It worked amazingly well for the trip. 

The next day we drove what is called the Golden Circle - an area with stunning mountains, and waterfalls, including Gullfoss and Seljalandsfoss - two very large water falls. It was wet and very windy all day - good thing we had full "foul-weather" gear! We stopped to see some Icelandic horses, who are very friendly and very furry with their thick winter coats. 

We had lunch at a very cool restaurant that is inside the largest indoor tomato farm. Fridheimer's had amazing tomato soup and bread, and we took a delicious olive loaf with us to enjoy in the van. Iceland has huge heated and lighted greenhouses to grow their vegetables inside since the growing season is so short, with cold and dark winters. Energy in Iceland is very cheap, with 73% coming from hydro power and 27% from geo thermal, they lead the world in renewable energy.

We spent the night at Skogafoss campground, right next to the waterfall and were treated to a magnificent view in the morning (Thursday 7th). The weather is very changeable and by the time we had finished breakfast and made the short walk to the falls it started to rain. This was a pattern to be repeated most of the trip. Luckily by the time we got back to the van, rather damp and a little irritable, the weather cleared and John was able to get an excellent photo!

Click here for the photos and videos!  

Burning Man 2023 - The Mud Apocalypse

When we woke up Friday we had lots of plans. We'd been taking it fairly easy Wednesday and Thursday, knowing Friday through Sunday would be very late nights. We started getting ready to visit the Foam villege for the foaming/cleaning event and were excited for the experience - and not needing to put up our own shower and evaporation pond was a plus. Our friend Rob had mentioned the previous day to keep an eye on the weather; since he was out at the airport they had access to regular forecasts. As we prepared to ride our bikes out we felt a few spots of rain, normally something to be ignored. However Sara turned on the radio and tuned into to hear what Burning Man Information Radio (BMIR) was broadcasting. Good thing we did, the advice was a weather event is coming, with up to .8 inch of rain and high winds - shelter in place, conserve water and food and to take care of your neighbours. 

Burning Man is held in the Nevada desert on a dried lake bed. Normally it is very dusty, a fine alkaline talcum powder like dust that gets everywhere. When it rains the surface turns into a thick clay mud, which makes driving a vehicle or riding a bike impossible. The clay builds up on your feet creating large platform like shoes. So when you're told to shelter in place it is best to listen!  For the rest of Friday we rested in the RV, occasionally opening the door and looking out at the rain and strong winds. We were treated to a magnificent double rainbow Friday afternoon and hoped the rain was over and the normal winds and heat would dry out the playa surface and our fun could resume. 

Burning Man 2023 will be known as the Mud apocalypse which hit the international news with dire reports of 70,000 people trapped and running out of food and water. The more outrageous reports included an Ebola outbreak, an active shooter, cannibalism and anarchy. In reality the majority of people made the best of the situation, shared supplies with people who had planned to leave earlier, took care of each other and made mud sculptures. It did rain off and on for three days which prevented the playa from drying out fully until Monday. Some people walked out the six miles to the tarmac road and Burning Man had buses available to take people the 100 miles to Reno. Traffic into and out of Burning Man was officially closed since vehicles were quickly getting stuck. 

Saturday we needed to get out of the RV, so we fashioned booties out of the plastic and tape we'd taken to protect the inside of the RV. We had a lovely afternoon sitting under the now rain shade and chatting with our neighbor Margot and enjoying pancakes Sara made for everyone. It was Margot's first Burn and she was part of a group of fire dancers who were going to dance at the now delayed Man burn, she was really fun to hang with. We took a walk to the porta potties and were amazed to find the pump trucks had managed to get out to service the potties. Everyone we spoke to was positive and embracing the experience, even if they were flooded out in areas of their camps. 

Sunday was more of the same and we continued hanging out, reading and listening to the radio. Three emergency cell towers had been delivered in the city and some limited internet was available. We were all touched about how many people reached out to check on us. The weather resulted in some magnificent skies and sunsets and the music continued nonstop. Burning Man did an excellent job dealing with an ever-changing situation, here's an interesting update of how they were addressing the situation: Burning Man Wet Playa News.  We enjoyed a short firework show Sunday night as a preview for Monday - maybe the pyrotechnics folks were getting bored and needed something to do!

The radio kept us up to date and entertained with some very funny public service announcements. The one that amused us the most was how the message about road closures changed. Starting with gate road is closed and no in or out is allowed, changing to no one is preventing you from leaving, however be aware you will likely get stuck and will impede emergency vehicle access. The final statement was if you do get stuck leaving against our advice you will be towed out last - always consequences for poor decisions.  

Finally the weather cleared and the sun and wind started to dry out the playa. The Burn was back on for Monday night now that the ground was dry enough for the fire trucks to move. Although Burning Man is portrayed as a free for all there are a lot of rules and regulations needed to keep a city of 70,000 safe, one of these is fire trucks when you are setting off large explosions and fires around people!

We had always planned to stay through Monday morning, so our main disappointment had been missing three nights of exploring and seeing the art. Sara said "I'm not leaving until I see something Burn", so we agreed we would leave early Tuesday.  Exodus officially started Monday afternoon, this is the term given to the official departure process and many people started to leave. We packed up camp and then prepared for the night event. 

Tha Man burn is always magnificent, and this year is was particularly spectacular. The fireworks were the best we've ever seen and the overall atmosphere was festive and joyous. All the mutant vehicles circled the Man, inside people were walking around and dancing. Check out the videos in the album - the show went on for much longer than the videos!

We left at 4am Tuesday morning, it only took four hours to get from our camp to the road which isn't bad at all. There were eight lanes of vehicles on gate road that had to be funneled on to a small 2 lane road. We were treated to an amazing sun rise and spectacular views of the mountains. As we left we checked in on our friend Matt who wisely said "We get the Burn we need". This must have been the universe telling everyone to slow down and enjoy the moment and catch up on sleep! 

We've been home three weeks now, the dust is cleaned off most items and the plastic bins are back in the attic. We found a cool aerial view of the city taken with 600 drone shots and were able to find our camp. Check it out and be sure to zoom in: BRC Aerial View. There are still people on the playa ending their month of MOOP removal (matter out of place), a requirement of the special permit granted by the Bureau of Land Management. This is an interesting read about how Burning Man's principle of Leave not Trace is handled: Playa Restoration 

Overall our fourth Burning Man experience was amazing, and we are talking about when we will go back again - The Man Burns in 335 days! 

Click here to see the photos and videos

Burning Man 2023

This was our fourth time to attend Burning Man and as usual it was epic and extraordinary. To build a temporary city in the middle of the Black Rock desert in Nevada and to have over 70,000 people come from around the world and stay for a week is no easy task. It is hard to explain to people exactly what Burning Man is, and there are many incorrect perceptions typically based on sensationalized themes of drug fueled crazy partying and rich tech attendees. This year a weather event caused Burning Man to hit the global news with some really outlandish reporting - more on that later! 

In reality Burning Man is a global nonprofit supported by a network of humans inspired by the 10 Principles, and united in the pursuit of a more creative and connected life. The global ecosystem of artists, makers, and community organizers co-create art, events, and local initiatives around the world. Most recognizably, tens of thousands of Burners gather annually to build Black Rock City, a participative temporary metropolis in the Nevada desert.

It is amazing the myriad of emotions you go through to attend this event, it is not easy to say the least. A core principle of Burning Man is radical self-reliance, you must have your own shelter, food and water for a week in a harsh unpredictable environment. There is usually months of preparation; you need to plan your transportation out and back, building a shade structure to protect from the harsh sun, plus enough food & water for the week, and of course costumes and bikes. The only thing you can buy during the week is ice, no restaurants or shops to support a forgotten item.

The environment is extreme, there are usually dust storms every day and this year we had major rains. The dust is like a fine talcum powder so when it combines with rain it makes a sticky mud that prevents all movement by cars, bikes, and extremely difficult walking. It is critical to make sure you read the Survival Guide published by the organization to be fully prepared!

This year we elected to rent an RV which turned out to be a really great idea! Dallas to Black Rock City is 3,800 miles round trip and it took us four days to get there and three days to get back. We stopped in Colorado to pick up our good buddy Phil Huff who has attended all the Burning Man events with us and finally we arrived late Tuesday.

We spent Wednesday and Thursday getting settled in, talking to our neighbors, and starting to explore the playa, the area of desert which has 100's of amazing art structures which light up at night. Burning Man is so huge it is impossible to see all the art or take in a lot of the activities of the theme camps. There are hundreds and hundreds of theme camps that have yoga, food, drinks, music, dancing, and everything else imaginable. We always plan to visit some camps and attend talks and in four visits have always got distracted with other things. The music is mostly techno, loud, and 24/7. It makes it a little hard to sleep at night but ear plugs help. The party goes all night for sure.

Every night we were out cycling the playa taking in the sights and mutant vehicles. Often getting back to our camp around 1am. One morning Sara cycled out to the walk in camping area and made it to the trash fence that encloses the whole area (about 7 square miles). She managed to text our friend Rob Dubin who was working at the temporary airport, providing him our location (2:42 & H) and Rob amazingly found us!

The Burning Man organization comes to the playa a month before everybody shows up and lays out the city streets and builds two structures - the Man and the Temple. The atmosphere around the Man is joyous, excitement, and festive. The atmosphere around the Temple is exactly the opposite. It is very quiet and reverent, people come to the Temple and bring pictures of loved ones and friends that have passed away. A lot of people write notes of love on the walls. These people gather inside and sit quietly or mediate. Sometimes there is chanting or singing.

Some highlights from our first two days were:

• A drone show in the dark sky
• El Pulpo - a flaming octopus we first saw in 2011
• A morning ride out to the trash fence and a view of the city
• The Burning Philharmonic orchestra and a wedding
• The flaming Pegasus and some incredible fire dancing

Thursday evening very late we amazingly found our friend Matt Foglia who we met at Burning Man in 2011. Matt was volunteering at Zendo camp which provides mental health counseling during the event. It was wonderful to chat to him after so many years and he told us about the adjacent camp, the Psychedelic Foam Village sponsored by Dr. David Bronner and his infamous Bronner soaps. The Foam camp gifts participants with an opportunity to clean up with a group foaming which we excitedly planned for Friday afternoon. There are no showers at Burning Man so you have to setup one and have a plan to remove the water so this is quite the gift! Sadly as we prepared to ride over the camp on Friday the rains started and we were very disappointed to miss this experience - next time! A second post is coming but for now enjoy this album of photos and videos.

Click here to see the photos & videos

Exploring for Lights

Thursday March 23rd was the start of three nights of exploring for lights on our own. We set off with plenty of warm clothes, a flask of hot tea and the phone number of a towing company just in case we got stranded. We started with a drive on the local ice road to the small community of Dettah just 6.5 km on the frozen Great Slave lake or 23 km by road in the summer. 

We stopped several times on the side and John persuaded Sara to lie down in the middle of the road for a photo which turned out really great. 

The next three nights followed a similar pattern. We bundled up in multiple layers and warm boots and drove out of town and up the Ingraham trail. The road is paved for about 65 km then becomes the world's longest ice road going 600 km north to three diamond mines. The ice road has to be constructed each year and is only open for 8-9 weeks. There is a lot of traffic on both roads, as the mines try to get all their fuel and supplies shipped while the road is available.  We decided to stay within cell range given we were out until 3am and -20F temperatures and only drove 30 km north. There are many tankers and trucks on the narrow road and everyone is told to only stop at the official parking areas. 

We checked out a number of the snow covered campgrounds and decided we liked Pontoon Lake the best. So for the next three nights we parked on the frozen lake and for 3+ hours were treated to amazing views of northern lights. They are different every time and never get boring! John had fun with all his cameras, and was able to also get a good time lapse video. (First video in the album) Sara enjoyed walking around on the frozen lake and staring up at the lights that were right over us.  A few times we got really cold and sat in the car with the heater full blast to warm up. No warming huts for this part of the trip! Luckily we had no problems with the car starting and didn't need the towing service.

We spent a few hours each afternoon exploring the town of Yellowknife. John had hoped to photo some great grey owls, but after a drive on the only road going south we weren't able to spot any. We did find some very cute ptarmigan birds, little fluffy snow quail that were very entertaining. 

One afternoon we visited the snow castle - an annual event with snow carvings from artists from around the world. It was a fun afternoon, and we got to meet the "snow  king" the local man who has led the effort for over 25 years. It was a lovely sunny day and we were amused to hear the snow king shout at a local child "put your shoes on" since she was running around in just socks!

We were incredibly lucky to see stunning lights every night. There were a lot of solar flares the week we were in Yellowknife and it was certainly worth the effort to bundle up each night and venture out until the early morning hours. Hope you enjoy the photos!

Click here for the photos

 

 

Dog Sledding Fun

Wednesday March 22nd we had a dog sledding adventure. We were picked up at the house and driven to the kennels where about 50 dogs are cared for and trained to pull different types of dog sleds.

We chose North of 60 Adventures a family owned business. They offer different tours to share the cultural traditions and teachings they learned from their grandparents. The young men running the sledding were a lot of fun and took great care of us.

We had enjoyed the Norwegian dog sledding experience so much we decided to select the 'you drive' option again. This time John had a more comfortable sled with a few cushions, although it was still on the bumpy side. Sara was "Musher Girl" again!

We had a wonderful time cruising over the frozen lakes and through the forest. Luckily the dogs were kind to the rookie musher and kept to the trail. We got some cool video from the GoPros. One fell off right at the start after a big bump, but the lead guy kindly picked up and took some excellent video from his snowmobile. Here's Sara's first video editing attempt: Click for Dog Sledding Video. 

After the dog sledding we warmed up in a cabin and enjoyed some hot drinks and bannocks (Canadian like scones). It was really a wonderful experience!

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Fantastic Yellowknife Auroras

We enjoyed last year's Finland aurora experience so much we wanted to take another northern lights trip. John researched and found Yellowknife, Canada in the Northwest Territories is a prime location with visible lights over 240 nights a year. Yellowknife has crystal-clear skies, ultra-low humidity, and is in a perfect location beneath the "Auroral oval", a band of maximal Auroral activity.

Sunday March 19th we flew north almost 3,000 miles to start our adventure! We rented a small house which was perfect as we were up until 3am most nights and could enjoy the peace and quiet during the mornings. Monday we started with the grocery shopping for the week and then took a quick drive to explore and enjoy the sunny day. Yellowknife is next to the huge Great Slave lake, and there are smaller lakes everywhere. All currently frozen, and many with temporary roads connecting the one main road to cabins in the back country. We drove down one of them in anticipation of our time alone later in the week.

Monday evening we started our three evenings at the Aurora Village, a local Aboriginal-owned location providing five viewing hills located throughout their wilderness property. They also provide traditional teepees with wood stoves and hot drinks when the -10F temperatures become too much!

Each night we bundled up and walked a block to the bus pickup point at 10pm. We were driven 30 minutes out of town to the village where we stayed until 2:30am. Most nights we stayed out taking photos until 1am, and then popped into a teepee to warm up and get a hot drink. Then back out to catch some more lights. We were very lucky that each night was clear and the aurora was out in full force for most of the 3 hours we were at the village.

It was brutally cold every night. John got excited the first night and was changing cameras and lens, which meant he had his gloves off for far too long. He ended up with frostbite on five fingers, three of them pretty bad. Change of approach for the rest of the week. No camera lens changes and a trip to the local outfitting store to buy some electric heated glove liners which worked great. 

We saw incredible lights every night at the Aurora village. Very vivid and on many occasions we were mesmerized to see the curtains of lights moving across the sky - something we didn't seen in Scandinavia. To the naked eye the lights are a very light green, almost white with the occasional red hue. The camera however picks up the vivid colors, and the altitude the solar particles collide with the atmosphere determines the green, red, pink or occasionally purple colors. 

John recently won a camera modification from a virtual Night Sky Photography conference he attended and was excited to use the camera that can now see Hydrogen Alpha (H- Alpha) wavelengths. This camera now sees red colors much better and the results were spectacular.

Click here to see the photos!