We all started with very high levels of anticipation and wonder. Anticipation of what awaited us at the bottom and of the things that would happen there. Wonder at the beauty around us. 

       We, of course, started with a “before” picture to record what we expected to be a dramatic change between then and when we came out. I started at the lead with Andrew and his son, without the misconception that I would stay there. Like most of us I was busy taking and looking at the world around me. The flora on the way down amazed me and I was surprised at the variation and hardiness of the plants. I got to see a lot that I had only seen flat, dried and glued to a piece of paper. 

       I somehow ended up in the middle of the pack with Pete. It was great to see how his eyes lighted up as he recognized the places we passed and the happiness in his voice as he talked about them. After a while I left them behind as I went ahead to get pictures and look around. I found myself surrounded by sand and prickly pears. The dunes were steep in places but I was like a kid at the beach bouncing down them. 

      After a while I caught up with the forerunners where they had stopped to get a drink. It was neat to be there as the rest of us caught up and see how happy everyone was. We didn’t get to stop for long but it was nice to get to chat with people before we started again.

      From there we entered what seemed like a forest after where we had just been. We were on a dirt road that was canopied by beautiful cottonwoods. It was surreal to be surrounded by all that green while being in the desert. Soon we came to our first river crossing. Spirits were still high and the trip new enough that there wasn’t any complaints yet. I, like most of us, had to take off my boots, roll up my jeans and wade in. The water was cold and fresh and nice after the hike down.    Some of us then opted to leave our shoes off (the next crossing wasn’t that far off and the fine sand felt good). We continued to walk under the trees and crossed the stream (about mid-calf) a few more times. After that we started to walk on stickers which were like sand spurs and so we put our boots back on. 

       It wasn’t much longer and then we spotted it. By this time I was at the back and so one of the last to see the hogan. I was surprised that we were already there but glad to finally see the place Pete had talked so much about. It was perfect. I’m not sure what I actually expected it to be, but it seemed to be just right. Even in the midst of all of us shucking off packs and twittering about the hike there was a feeling of peace about the camp. We had made it! Together!
 

Kristen Bright