Getting There

While in the hotel winding down after finishing my 4 and a half month journey on the Appalachian trail, I got a message from my friend Aaron inviting me on a rafting trip down the Grand Canyon in January!  At first it seemed a little overwhelming to make that big of a decision simply because I just got off of an epic adventure and signing up for another the day after I completed it seemed a bit rash... So I waited about 3 hours, talked to my parents, who told me that I was right and this was an opportunity that I couldn't pass up.  I then messaged Aaron back telling him that I was in.  I now had 3 months to prepare for this next amazing trip that I had somehow been invited to join in on.

One major thing that I had going for me on this was that Aaron and Spencer, who had drawn the permit, were doing all of the logistical planning for this one, all I had to do was get my gear and get myself to Flagstaff on January 9th.  This may seem like a simple thing to do, but there is one thing about the rafting the Grand Canyon in January... its cold!!  So the gear that I needed included lots of base layers, a dry suit and a life jacket.  Luckily, I had an old friend, Rush Sturges, who helped me acquire all of these things!

So by Thanksgiving I had almost everything that I needed and was able to focus on saving up by working 2 jobs, around 70 hours a week until it was time to go... It was an exhausting couple of months but it was so worth it in the end!

I worked my last shift at the coffee shop on January 8th, then got a ride down to the Seattle airport the morning of the 9th, and had a quick flight down to Flagstaff.  In Flagstaff I was met by Aaron at the airport and taken back to the hotel where we met up with 3 of the others, Spencer, Gary, and Kate.  This was my first time meeting Spencer, second time meeting Kate, and first time seeing Gary in around 3 years.  It was a great night getting reacquainted with old friends and getting to know Spencer, whom I would be spending the next month with!