By Kayak and Canoe
Anacapa Island, Channel Islands - August 1999
Except for the ranger station and the lighthouse, there is nothing
on the island taller than these strange plants.
Yes, we had to lower our kayaks into the water every day, and take
them out as well.
Intrepidly paddling through the arch!
A break near Frenchy's beach, so named after a hermit living there.
Into one of numerous caves that dot the coastline.
Green River, Canyonlands National Park, Utah - September 1998
We knew to expect something uncommon, because our friends raved so much
about the amazing canoeing on the Green River in Utah. Still, nothing prepared
us for this spectacular and serene experience. Our trip was 120mi and 11
days long. As we paddled, we watched in
awe as vertical multi-colored canyon walls rose around us. Every
few miles brought a new layer, a few million years older than the previous
one. It
was like going back in time. My favorite time to paddle (well,
actually drift - we exerted no effort at all, letting the current carry
us) was early
morning, when the river was still, the air punctuated by cries
of the hawk circling in the radiant blue sky. The panorama was a jewel
box of primary
colors - blue for the sky, red for the canyon walls, green for
the river and the vegetation along it. Or maybe my favorite memory from
the trip was going
hunting for Anasazi ruins and petroglyphs, or maybe it was being
chased by the storm downriver, hearing thunder boom behind us, but not
even
getting wet, or maybe it was climbing up the mouth of the canyon
to enter the Maze (named so because it is A-MAZING), the land of phantasmagoric
rock formation of all the colors of the outer half of rainbows.
Or maybe the peacefulness of the trip was the best part - for 11 days it
was just the
two of us, plus one or two other canoes or rafts that would pass
us on the way.
From the top of Gooseneck.
Dawn in the canyon. Our tent is the blue speck near the center of the
picture.
Rock containing petroglyphs on three sides with Turk's Head in the
background.
Newspaper rock outside of Needles, Canyonlands National Park.