Seven years ago...

Seven years ago, after we had been dating 3-4 months, Scott asked me to go on a 5 day river rafting trip on the San Juan River with him and some of his buddies.  I first had to look up "San Juan River" on Google to make sure he wasn't pranking me because I had never heard of it.  After confirming that it is indeed a real river, I immediately said yes.

The trip began in Mexican Hat, Utah, located approximately 5 hours northeast of Phoenix in roughly the middle of nowhere.  I also had to look this up to confirm Scott was not playing some sort of joke on me.  We were set to raft from Mexican Hat to Clay Hills Crossing, just upstream of  Lake Powell.

 

Prior to him asking me to join him on this trip, I had been camping all of....once.  For one night.  No more than 30 miles away from Phoenix.  With my boss and a group of her friends.  Never more than a mile away from the car.  And with plenty of booze to ease my fears and hide my discomfort.

I asked friends to help me stock up on the gear I would need to make it look like I knew what I was doing on this trip.  Thankfully I had a friend who worked at REI to guide me through the process and save me some serious $$$.


We hiked the Honaker Trail, which goes up to the canyon rim 1,200 feet above the river.  From there you look out over the Goosenecks section of the river and the landscape beyond is Monument Valley-ish (I'm not sure what you're actually seeing depending on which way you look, but go ahead and imagine that it looks like Monument Valley).  This hike required Scott and I to bond a bit as it was not my cup of tea.  Very steep and rocky terrain with a LOT of exposure.  At one point there is an option to jump across a gap in the rocks out to a ledge for an extra amazing view --- my hands are sweating just recalling that gap --- but I opted to keep my feet on the ground where they belong.

Second night camping on the river.  Soup in my old school Ukrop's kiddie cup and Jack Daniels in a Nalgene bottle (i.e. large scale camping-suitable flask).  As I recall, this was right after I had to learn to shower in my swimsuit in the river.  Hence why I look like I'm freezing.

Although the trip was only 7 years ago, digital cameras were still delicate and expensive.  So sadly, there isn't much photo documentation of what an amazing trip this was.  The food (grilled salmon... really?  I was expecting a whole lot of PB&J), the group of people floating with us, the cold mystery beers from the drag bags (mesh bags hanging off the side of the boat in the cold water with no labels because the high silt content of the river rubbed the ink off the cans), my new boyfriend, the breathtaking scenery -- everything was completely amazing.

Senor Hayes, Captain of the Party Boat

On one of the last days, the group had the option to take another day to explore the canyons or to head directly to the take out spot as planned.  Scott and I were both ready to take the extra day and stay - I even wrote a letter to have sent to my boss (no cell phone coverage in the area) explaining that I knew I didn't have enough vacation days to cover the trip...and I realized that not returning knew I might lose my job.  In my 23-year old mind, it was worth the risk.  We ended up not staying the extra day because we carpooled from Phoenix with a friend of Scott's who had to get home to his family as originally planned.

The one action picture we do have makes it look like I'm not doing any work...which is quite incorrect. I pulled more than my weight for sure on this trip - which in retrospect - I'm sure was a dating test.