Last weekend I stepped out of my comfort zone and took an adventure in nature with a group that I quickly became friends with.
Three days on the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon sounded just my speed. We had the challenge of several rapids suitable for beginners, some side hikes, overnight camping under the stars, and leisurely time being towed down the river.
Looking back, I noticed that I was totally present in the moment. I noticed that I had almost no thoughts about back home, work, my dog, and the coming week. This, combined with the total immersion in Nature, is what I attribute to the profound rest this experience gave me.
We started out driving down a long dirt road from Peach Springs, with the campers loaded in the back of the truck and riding on top of the power raft.
I had the privilege of sitting in the captain’s chair, so I had a spectacular view of everything.
After about an hour, we approached Diamond Point on the Havasupi reservation. You can begin to see the diamond formation on the right side in the distance.
Down at the river level, you can see the diamond formation again. Here we are inflating the rafts, loading them and preparing to launch.
We received instructions for paddling as a team, and the commands that we would hear from the paddle captain for navigating the rapids.
Our Grand Canyon guides and paddle captains were Sarah, Ben and Jacob. Greg manned the power boat and watched over us all.
We prepared for each rapid, then whooped and hollered our way through them. My experience was very intensely present. I was not afraid, I was not anticipating, I just watched as the moment progressed from one wave to the next, the raft rose and fell, and even “tacoed” (folded in half) as we rode the wave train. Woo hoo!
“The best moments (in our lives) usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.” Jim Loehr & Tony Schwartz talk about this in their book “The Power of Full Engagement.”
The willingness to challenge our comfort zones depends partly on our degree of underlying security. The campers on this trip were certainly willing to challenge our physical comfort zones.
We grow at all levels by expending energy beyond our normal limits, and then recovering. This was obvious on the rafting adventure, and how about in our daily lives?
Loehr & Schwartz talk about the fact that somewhere between 90 and 120 minutes, the body begins to crave a period of rest and recovery, that can only be overcome by flooding our bodies with stress hormones. This was obvious on the river, but now it is time to examine daily workaday activity.
The long-term cost of overriding that need for rest and recovery is that toxins build up inside. Stress hormones may be temporarily energizing, but over time they prompt hyperactivity, aggressiveness, impatience, irritability, anger, self-absorption and insensitivity to others. Override the need long enough and the symptoms may extend to headaches, back pain, GI disorders, and ultimately heart attacks and death. Ouch!
This trip, as a big time out, reminded me to take time outs during the work day.
Here is my raft crew in front of Traverteine falls.
And a view in the cave above.
. . . and how we got up to the cave!
This was quite a challenge for some of the campers. Talk about being stretched to the limit with something worthwhile. The falls were wonderful! With encouragement, we all got up there.
A view of the river in the morning, before we set out.
Between rapids, we simply cruised the current.
Brandy enjoys the view.
We spotted some Condors along the way.
The second night we camped below the Hualapai Skywalk.
If you look carefully, you can see a white ring jutting out at the top of the canyon in the sunlight.
Other wildlife we spotted included ducks, loons, a gila monster, and fish jumping in the water.
Columbine falls was very refreshing the third day. A wonderful time out.
Getting wet was an integral part of the trip! Not only did the waves wash over us on the rapids, we drenched ourselves whenever we could.
Sarah, Greg, Cheryl, Brandy, Jacob, Chamber inside the “washing machine”, a small cave with a swirled form in the center that we climbed up some rocks to get to.
Our trip ended at Pierce Ferry. We washed the rafts and deflated them.
On the drive out, we had to stop at Meadville, the first place with cold beer and refreshments, as the temperature had hit 100 degrees.
