Journal Entry: Monday, July 12, 2010 (Day 6)

     Rowing again and again, Dak and I in-front of every other duckie.  I was very determined to be the first one to go down the wildest rapid we had encountered so far.  Lynn had been talking about it all morning, and called it Cow Swim.  We got closer and closer to our destination.  Lynn and our five guides came up with the safest plan to get all six duckies to our campsite as safe as possible.  So what we did is have a lead boat, that would guide the rest our fleet through the safest path.  Then, two duckies would follow one of the four remaining boats that would lead us to our campsite.  Dak and I were instructed to fallow Andrew’s boat, who was the first boat to go down the wild rapid after the lead boat.  My body was filled with adrenaline and excitement.  The lead boat went first, then I saw the path we were suppose to go down through.  I saw that we were going to go down through the left side because the right side was filled with huge rocks.  Andrew headed down the rapid, and I could see it was not going to be an easy run.  We fallowed Andrew and our small journey had begun.  I paddled as hard as I could, and Dak worked as hard as he could to keep us straight on the path.  The first wave hit us pretty hard, but we kept on rowing.  There were some smaller waves and rocks that were no challenge to us.  Then be both saw this huge wave that we were heading into.  I struck the monstrous wave with my paddle.  It hit us very hard and filled the duckie with water.  At first I got some what disorientated, but I quickly picked up the path.  I couldn't believe that we didn't get destroyed by the wave.  Our small journey had ended, so we stopped at the bottom of the rapid and saw the other duckies battling the waves.  Everyone was heading out of the rapid safe and sound.  Then we saw that the last duckie had lost one of it’s passengers.  We waited until the duckie got to the end of the rapid, then I saw that Daniel was the one who got destroyed by the rapid.  When we got to our camp site we all had a good laugh about Daniel falling out of the duckie and Jesse saving his life.  Today was a great experience which I will never forget.

In Conclusion

    Not a lot people would spend twelve days traveling with a bunch of strangers who would later become your family.  In just two weeks I met a lot of great people and got to see many great wonders of the west.  I made a lot of new friends and learned about great people that changed America forever. Major John Wesley Powell was a great part of our journey throughout the Green River.  He was also the first to explore the great mysteries of the Grand Canyon, and a very dedicated man.  His journeys took him through very rough times but he never throw-in the towel.  Another great hero that was with us the whole twelve days was Captain Laurel Clark.  Not only was she an astronaut, but also a great nature lover.  I got to experience hands-on the nature that she loved and cared for with all her heart. Earth Camp has made a major impact on how I see our ecosystem.  It  has also filled me with knowledge, and great memories that I will never forget.