INTERESTING TIMES

Just finished this book by Annette McGivney.  I ran across it because of a review in the Boatman's Quarterly, and got it from the local library.  It tells three parallel stories which all intersect: that of a young Japanese woman who was murdered, a young Havasupai man who killed her, and the author's story.  What brings the three stories together, aside from the murder, is a history of trauma.  Annette gives a rich and sympathetic review of the horrific history of indigenous tribes in the US and lands at the end on generational trauma which impacts the modern culture of all of our tribes.  She is respectful of Japanese culture and the drivers that brought the young woman into contact with the landscapes and people's of North America.  And she is honest in telling her own tale, superficially at first then deeper as her memories return of her own childhood abuse.  This is a worthwhile read for all those who enjoy broad cultural perspectives and those wishing to grasp the origins of violence in our culture today, and specifically that of the tribes.

The previous post about big water rowing strategy for small water boaters has been helpful to a lot of non-boatmen tasked with rowing. Friends have asked me to write more about rowing skills, so here we go. It took me years to get comfortable with the basics because I was only occasionally on the oars. When I finally got control of my boat angle in turbulent water I started having better lines. Moving the boat forward and going for the meat got easier, but any finer points were lost on me. I've ridden with boatmen who row every day for months and years on end, and they knew things that you have to learn by doing. I've never rowed for a living, so I'm an amateur. Still, I've had some seasons when I rowed enough that light bulbs went off in my head. Here are three lessons that made a big difference for me.

Lesson 1: Push More (You Don't Have Pull out of Every Corner)
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Over the Edge: Death in the Grand Canyon
by Tom Myers and Michael Ghiglieri

This book logs all the mistakes you can make at the Grand Canyon.  There's an interview with the authors here.  There have been some changes since the first edition.  There are more environmental deaths, climbing deaths down in the canyon, and suicides than when the book was written. There are fewer deaths overall and fewer falls from the top of the canyon. Perhaps the park has improved safety and access to cliff tops to cause this change.

Q: What are common risk factors for death at the Canyon?

A: "Men, we have a problem," Ghiglieri said to an audience at NAU's Cline Library this winter, displaying a graphic with a skull and crossbones.

Being male, and young, is a tremendous risk factor, he and Myers found.

Of 55 who have accidentally fallen from the rim of the canyon, 39 were male. Eight of those guys were hopping from one rock to another or posing for pictures, including a 38-year-old father from Texas pretending to fall to scare his daughter, who then really did fall 400 feet to his death.

So is taking unknown shortcuts, which sometimes lead to cliffs.

Going solo is a risk factor in deaths from falls, climbing (anticipated or unplanned) and hiking.

Arrogance, impatience or ignorance also sometimes play a part.

SOURCE
http://azdailysun.com/news/local/canyon-deaths-and-counting/article_ba588a05-e816-55be-87f6-80f15b76f744.html

I am a river runner. From way back. My father got me started, in canoes first. When I was very small he would put me in the bow of the canoe, tell me to paddle, and surf the canoe in river waves. We used to camp by creeks up on the plateau, and he'd let us take the insulite pads that we slept on and go hiking up the stream to float back down on the thin beige mats. I got my first kayak when I was 11. It was a cut-down Mark 4. I was already too big for it, or at least, it was uncomfortable and I always got fiberglass in my arms and legs when I used it. I only used it a few times, once when I got hypothermic on the Nantahala and had to be plowed to shore by my dad's canoe, and once when I got tangled in vines on the Green and completely panicked. I didn't paddle for several years recovering from these experiences.
( ruminations provoked by another woman's story of becoming a guide )

Flows and lake levels in the Colorado River drainage have been lower than predicted for years now. Lake Powell has been so low for so long that the river has dug itself a new course. A new rapid has been formed.

The road that used to go to the Pearce Ferry takeout now ends miles from the water. The outfitters are upset because they can't get their boats out of the water at the old takeout (Pearce) and it costs them time/$$ to run the boats the extra river miles to South Cove. So the river outfitters (including the Hualapai tribe) have approached the US Park Service offering private funding to build the road extension--under park auspices. So it will be done. Here's a slide show of the intended road route:
http://www.rrfw.org/gallery/displayimage.php?album=11&pos=87
And here's a side show of the new rapid:
http://www.rrfw.org/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=12

I learned of his passing from a friend on facebook. He was airlifted out of Grand Canyon last October with acute abdominal pain, and died last Friday night (3/13/09) of pancreatic cancer. Lars was a California boater, a formidable athlete, and a down-to-earth nice guy. Handsome, too. I met him only in passing, but among river runners he is a Legend. He is the only person I know of that has run he Grand Canyon of the Toulumne in Yosemite National Park, and also I believe he paddled the gnarly drops where the Merced River exits Yosemite valley and cascades through a morraine. Lars Holbeck took paddling to a level that few others could imagine, much less accomplish.
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Yep. The fastidious longterm Lee's Ferry ranger has tied the knot, with a lawyer that he met through the Steve Savage prosecution. (Savage was running pirate trips using permits issued to dead people. It's not just for voting anymore.) Anyway, Dave Chapman and Camille D Bibles eloped on Monday. CONGRATS to them!