Another Middle Fork trip in the books! It was so nice to get out on the River again. I love, love, love being on the Middle Fork; there is no place like it in the lower 48.
After the events on the Snake a week ago, it wasn't certain that anyone other than Adam was going but at the last moment, Matt Nelson (you haven't met him) agreed to come. Matt has been a guide and because he was a great oarsman, the girls all agreed to come. In addition to being a good oarsman, Matt is a great guy.
I forget how technical the first hour on the river is. Once you put in, it's constant pressure on the oars to keep the boat safe. Before when we've gone, the water levels have been under 2 feet, on this trip levels were right at three feet. As a result, we didn't get hung up at all but I had to move the boat around a ton.
Getting out of camp the first day was eventful; Sariah locked the keys in the suburban and my oar got broke as I came off the slide into the water. We couldn't figure out how to unlock the car after about 3 hours of trying so we took tent stakes and put a hole in the windshield to get at the locking mechanism.
This year we rented boats from the U and from Terran rafts in SLC. The Terran boat was nice but the U boat was garbage. Rich Brady had that boat and Adam and Daniel were on that boat with him... After the first day, we completely re-rigged the oar system setup because it was so bad.
Within about 30 minutes on the river, Rich's boat got wrapped on a rock (Adam wasn't oaring at the time) and got flipped. So Adam, Daniel and the rest of the passengers stood on a rock and watched the boat slowly flip. We were down river and hiked back up and helped right the boat and get everything in order. It was an adventure... the kind I love.
This year was fun because Mom, Manna, and Riah took turns reading the map and watching the river. The entire time they were observing the river and keeping me out of trouble. "There's a wet loaf on the right and a growler on the left..." every time a rapid would come up, the anxiety would ratchet up a notch and they would offer suggestions on getting through the rapid. It was fun.
I remember with you that I would try to hit rocks in the river to get you guys to stay alert and have fun. I think the fun threshold for the girls was at max all week so I rowed pretty conservatively.
Sydney got off my boat and spent the week on Matt Nelson's boat. He was so good to her.
Anyway, it will be interesting to see if the girls come again. Mom will consider flying into Indian Creek so she misses the first day but she doesn't want to do the first day. I'm not sure Sydney will ever go again. She was a mess all week. I'm glad she went and I think she had fun but she needs to work through some of her emotions before she attempts the Middle again.
Anyway, The week was great. I thought a lot about you and I hope you are having a great time. Make the most of you missions, they will be over before you realize it.
I love you both,
Dad
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