First off, Hamish McMaster of Water By Nature has put together a donation page for our river guide friends in Nepal:
http://gogetfunding.com/project/nepalese-earthquake-guides-fundraiser#.VT5ZtJf88xQ.facebook
If you have the funds, donations for them and their families are much appreciated. They are the Gurkhas of the rivers, and fantastic river folk who work hard for low pay (sound familiar?... well, its even less!)
Next up: A fun interview with Kevin Fedarko, author of my latest, favourite book on the Grand Canyon: The Emerald Mile, from Patagonia's Dirtbag Diaries:
http://dirtbagdiaries.com/the-threshold-moment/
Next up, some interesting info on drownings on the Colorado last year:
"Cold water submersion is when someone swims in water that is less than 70 degrees Fahrenheit. If we are lucky the Green River gets above 70 in late July/August.
Last year was the deadliest year for rafting in Colorado. There were 13 commercial deaths.
A study done last year looked at 35 death reports; found 85% were male, over 50 years old and overweight.
The majority of deaths happened in cold water submersion situations and the cause of death was not hypothermia or drowning, but heart attack (within the first minute of being submersed). This is due to the body’s reaction to the cold water, gasping and hyperventilation. The panic and stress on the body is too much for the cardio vascular system that is not conditioned for this experience. The body is trying to protect itself and it reacts by having all the blood in the cardio vascular system rush back to the important organs and the heart is working very hard to do this. This is when cardio vascular failure happens.
So as we get these flagged clients it is critical that we tell them about the cold water. It does not need to be high water for this to happen, but obviously, high water increases the risk of having swims."
I am aware of other deaths on commercial river trips in the past also due to obesity and being unfit. The people that perished weighed 300 pounds, the water was high and cold, and the guides couldn't pull them in. I am a firm believer in reasonable weight restrictions for commercial river passengers (there are 250 pound football players, and then...). Why worry about another dollar or giving in to someone's desire for a dream vacation when your gut says this can go south in a hurry? That's why they're paying us; to guide them. Safely. Its only a vacation.
Next up: a couple of great videos... one free, one you only get a teaser then you have to pay a whole 9 bucks:
This one is some vid done on a private river trip on one of Australia's most not-famous, but superb river trips, The Herbert. If you've ever wondered how Aussies run rivers (on the driest continent on earth except for Antarctica):
https://vimeo.com/113865967
This one is about 4 women who tackle an incredible river in Mongolia and Russia, as well as some deep emotions (one's a friend of ours);
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/nobody-s-river-expedition-film-project
Nice quote of the day:
"How we treat the things we profess to love says something about us"
Interesting photo of the day: the flotsam washed out of Havasu Canyon from the flood of 2008 (http://www.foxnews.com/story/2008/08/18/grand-canyon-floods-burst-dam-force-evacuations/), when the private trip got choppered out to a tent on the rim (against their will, and even though their boats were intact just downstream, they'd been offered a boat ride to retrieve them, and nobody was hurt. Beware the "heroes" when the testosterone is flowing and they've just been trained in pick-offs).
Some easy listening of an interview of Scott Thybony, river writer and historian, from our local university;
http://knau.org/post/scott-thybonys-grand-canyon-commentary-oar-maker
And to finish off, a hilarious song a Jewish songwriter client put together the very night on Lake Greed ... oops, I mean Mead, after one of our boatmen flipped in 232 mile with the "Jew Canoe" (four super cool guys). Plus, if you like my singing better than I happen to, here's some river recordings done on a trip in the Canyon last year. I'm one of those guys who likes to plunk around the campfire with a scotch in hand, with plenty of river murmering and people chatting to drown out my voice and terrible playing. But hey, turn on the shower and dishwasher, grab a beer, and if you've been on the river with me and actually enjoyed the musak, here ya go:
http://www.river-god.com/Grand-Canyon-Stories-Videos/some-out-of-tune-background.html
