Trespassing by Blossom J. T

Author:Blossom, J. T. [Blossom, J. T.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: J.T. Blossom
Published: 2017-12-02T05:00:00+00:00

Utah 1980 Part Two

D espite the difficulties with students on that Green River trip, the adventure of floating through the heart of Utah’s beautiful canyon lands was compelling enough that I wanted to do it again as soon as possible. So that summer Terri and I decided to return on our own for a week-long float on the same stretch. A veteran of many big rafting trips through the actual Grand Canyon, this was a less adrenaline-filled outing for her, but that did not dampen her enthusiasm for being on a desert river. It was a beautiful wilderness outing that at that time did not require an expensive permit. We put in at the Green River with a giant rented canoe filled to the brim with Old Milwaukee and enough delicious food in coolers to keep us well fed for the duration. We had everything we needed in the aluminum vessel – tent, extra clothing, hiking boots, binoculars, fishing line, water filter, pots and pans, matches, forks and knives, even two fold out chairs for lounging around the campfire.

As we caught the current and watched the interstate bridge over the river disappear behind us, I realized immediately one essential item I had forgotten – a hat.

“Shit, Terri, my hat’s in the car!”

“You’re going to burn up I guess,” was her only reply. This was clearly a reflection of her general idea that attitude was the main determining factor for any successful river trip. For Terri, if things started to go a little awry and a general good attitude wasn’t enough to solve the problem, there was always beer to save the day. She handed me one from the cooler. Aha! There was my solution – a cardboard box was still stuck underneath the case of beer we had crammed whole in there.

I secured my paddle carefully under the canoe’s gunnel, leaned forward, and removed the beers from the cooler one at a time placing them carefully by my feet in the stern of the canoe.

“What are you doing, Blossom?” Terri asked noticing that I wasn’t steering or paddling anymore.

“Making a hat,” I said. She rolled her eyes.

With my jackknife and a handful of twine tangled in the bottom of my daypack, I poked holes in the shallow cardboard box and fashioned a rough chinstrap to the flimsy thing. One piece of twine went from the front of the box under my chin, and the other went from the back. Had there been pictures of me that survived that trip, they all would have shown me wearing a failed upside down advertisement for Old Swill. I didn’t care. I was proud of my ingenuity; the hat was perfectly functional if not downright stylish. For her part, I think Terri was just happy that her impeccably equipped rafting amigos weren’t there to see her with me, and that the cervezas made it back safely into the icy cooler.

On a river trip like this, time sheds its day of the week business suit and puts on its weekend aloha shirt.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.