River Life

My father introduced me to whitewater rafting when I was a teenager and we rafted some big rivers and rapids that left a big influence on me when I was that age. I've always loved being on the water and secretly wanted to be a raft guide and have a honeymoon of rafting the Grand Canyon for two months.

Colorado River reflection along Potash Road in Moab, Utah

The mighty Colorado River runs right through my town and multiple guide companies run this river. I've always wanted to own a raft, but the thought of all the gear and the intimidating factors of rivers and drowning made me hesistant to buy one (plus the fact that I only have very basic rowing skills).

the bare bones cataraft !

However, one fall day in November I saw an advertisement in the local paper, about a local outdoor adventure school having a raft garage sale. I woke up that day, and said, hey let's go look at some rafts ! Low and behold, as soon as I walked up to the gravel parking lot, I spied a 13 foot cataraft that was calling me. Lots of dollars and cam-straps later, I was officially a boat owner !

maiden voyage ! all set up !

Our maiden voyage occurred in Northern California along the Smith River. We also took the raft down the American River near Sacramento.

 

My favorite trip was in November along the Ruby-Horsethief section on the Colorado River bordering the state of Utah and Colorado. We gathered our friends and spent three full days and two nights on the river. The whole time we only saw four other people and enjoyed the warm fall sun. We had one canoe, two kayaks, one duckie, and put most of our gear on the cataraft.

A slow wake up to the sun, coffee, eggs, bacon, and then a slow paddle down the river while staring up at steep canyon walls.  Many new adventures will evolve from owning a raft. Many new rivers to be run. A different mode of transporation that I am quickly falling in love with for many reasons.

Some videos of our recent adventures:

People of Work

Sometimes I get so caught up in the beauty of working in the outdoors, the mountains, the rivers, the wildlife, I forget to take pictures of the people I get to work with, that make it that much more fun ! I enjoy working as a team and we always have a good time and plenty of jokes. Here's some photos from the season:

digging llama tethering posts in early spring

inside one of the ranger cabins

looking at the map AGAIN

work buddy llama: SPECS

overnight trip to the backcountry cabin in early spring, yes snow in May

Time to Take Action

It is time to take action, this is not the time to ignore the reality of the world. Things are changing and change is inevitable. It's as if the world is in dissary, or maybe it always has been and always will be in a confused and messy state. A few things I remembered from college...but one thought that sticks really hard in my mind was one sentence that a Geography Professor taught us, upheaval comes down to three things: Resources, Politics, and Religion.

Simply stated.

Below are some words that have got me thinking recently !

"How do you conquer a nation?

Distract them with football games, political circuses and Black Friday sales. Keep them focused on their differences—economic, religious, environmental, political, racial—so they can never agree on anything. And then, when they’re so divided that they are incapable of joining forces against a common threat, start picking them off one by one. " (from Films For Action http://www.filmsforaction.org/ )

"Here's a question that the press has never had to deal with before: how do you deal with a president-elect, and eventually a president, who regularly Tweets untrue or intimidating statements?

By the nature of the office, when a president says something it's usually news. Words can move markets, start wars, shift the direction of major domestic and foreign policy. And that's why most presidents are constrained and careful with their public statements. 
Not so Donald Trump. It's one of the things his supporters love about him and his critics despise. And anyone who thought Trump was going to change after the election, well, as the saying goes, the past seems to be prologue." (by Dan Rather)

A New Day

To watch the sunset after a day hiking around in the high alpine mountains is like icing on a cake. The best part of the day perhaps. To watch the clouds swirl among the mountain tops as they change shape and color. I had nothing else to do that day but watch this show up in the sky for two hours. WOW !

And just like that, it was late fall. Hard to fathom really as my season had come to a quick, abrupt end.   I didn't want it to end. I wanted summer to go on forever. Bittersweet as always in some ways as well.

the only fire lookout tower at Rocky Mountain National Park !

Making A Living Walking In The Woods

I make a modest living and that is OK because each week I get to spend the majority of my work hours living and breathing in wilderness. Not many folks get to experience this sort of in depth relation to the natural world on a daily basis. No cell phones, no electronic gadgets, no traffic jams, no air conditioning, etc.  I get physical exercise daily for my body and mentally my brain is at ease in the natural world.

Our water froze in our water reservoirs on our last 3 day/ 2 night patrol. We were camping at over 10,000 ft elevation, where the elk bugling nearby put me to sleep. I chose to sleep under the stars and awoke with frost on my sleeping bag. A chill in the morning, but a quick few minutes to boil up some water, enjoy a hot cup of coffee, and stare off into the world.


Here's a video from the other day !

Summer Time Sadness

From a book I was reading that quite relates to that "feel" that is in the air right now:

"The kind of sadness you feel at the end of summer. When the fireflies are gone, the ponds have dried up and the plants are wilted, weary from being so green. It's no longer really summer but the air is still too warm and heavy to be fall It's the season between the seasons. It's the feeling of something dying." ~ By Augusten Burroughs

Here at Rocky Mountain National Park, it feels as if in the course of a week things are just "different". The roads are emptier, traffic is less crazy, there are now places to park, a morning chill is in the air ( I even have to put on a light jacket!), and the flowers have reached their peak.  Some of the seasonal workers have left and returned to college or to teach.  A few aspens are sprouting yellow leaves and we even had a light dusting of snow at the top of Trail Ridge Road !

The elk have lost their velvet "gloves" and have begun their practice sparring for the rut.  The children are back in school. I reminiscence of my times when the excitement of a new college semester started at this same time.

Now, my excitement revolves around what is up for the next season. Fall, one of my favorite seasons ! Yes! I have a few adventure plans in the works for October, lots of friends and family to see,  and a lot more goals to accomplish ! Looking forward to all that is waiting in the next chapter.

Paradox of Time

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers, wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees, but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom and hate too often.

We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space, but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait.

We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes, but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill.

It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete.

Remember to spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.
Remember to say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.

Remember to give a warm hug to the one next to you because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.

Remember to say 'I love you' to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.

Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.
Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

And always remember, life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by those moments that take our breath away.
George Carlin

Work Hard

If I'm going to be working my ass off, I want to be working my ass off for something I really care about. It's a great feeling to love what one does for work. Not many people can find their passion to magically link up with their career. I tell people, it took me a while to get to where I am today. It was not an easy road. I started on one path of dreams and that path had many speed bumps, trials and errors, and eventually a dead end with a broken heart of one dream. Yet, I continued to find a little path and that path got wider and wider and has brought me to the here and now.













Being a Park Ranger can be glamorized of course, as articles are written about "Dream Jobs Working Outdoors" etc. But there is always more to the puzzle. 15 mile day hikes, blisters, sun burns, multiple bug bites, dangerous terrain, visitors that don't treat the land with respect, sore muscles, low pay, carrying packs bigger than you, wild wildlife, dangerous weather, never ending paperwork, bureaucracy, red tape, injuries, being away from friends and family, isolation....the list can continue.

BUT, at the end of the day, my body is exhausted from the physically demanding work.  My mind is just tired. My hands are dirty from the real grit of the Earth, OUR Earth.  My feet hurt worse than ever, as they've been walking all over the wilderness. Blessed be I be walking on the Earth instead of man made concrete jungles.  My effort to make a positive impact and  to help protect wilderness areas is all worth it. And it is even better when we have a Ranger Patrol Cabin to sleep in that evening. You feel good. You feel connected in that cabin, the cabin that was built in the 1930s by fellow former Rangers that had the same gusto to do this type of work.

Island Life

When you mention certain Central America countries like Belize or Costa Rica, most get the impression of mass tourism and the country losing it's initial "flavor" in turn to make money. Well, of course there are parts like that everywhere. 

I chose to spend my time on a small island inlet called Caye Caulker. I picked this place because it was small (only 5 miles long and one mile wide) but the main reason why I picked this place, was because there are no cars. No paved roads. Just sand walkways. And I LOVE to walk ! (Or of course, you can rent bicycles or golf carts to get around). As they say there, GO SLOW.

 

my hostel

a nurse shark....i swam with them !

I walked around ALOT. What a great ending to my trip. I didn't do much but lounge on this island, took a sailboat sunset cruise/dive into the waters to snorkel/drink beers/and enjoy the sun in February. I went from a jet boat ferry, to a shuttle, to the airport, back to Utah where it was cold, chilly, snowy, but oh so lovely to be back home in the desolate desert land where the red rock would glow with the late winter sun.

 I know I move around a lot. I have accepted my true nature of being an aimless wanderer, my lust and desire to seek the new and unknown will never go away. So I will continue to live life at its fullest, to keep calm, to live in the present moment, and be ever so grateful.  I am at peace where ever I happen to go.

Hiking Along

Green Moun­tain By Li Bai

You ask me why I dwell in the green moun­tain; I smile and make no reply for my heart is free of care. As the peach-blossom flows down stream and is gone into the unknown, I have a world apart that is not among men.

another day at the "office" 

Evolving

 A small limestone island off the coast of Belize, in the Caribbean Sea, was the next stop. A bus, taxi, and ferry ride landed me here in the later part of January 2016. Hard to believe my bones were here only five months ago. Life evolves. 

yes the water was this color

 I consider myself very adaptable and as of today, June 2016, I have followed my heart back to the Rocky Mountains. I'm only here for a short blink of a second (several months) but once again I wake up daily to a new world.  New surroundings, new things to be discovered each and every day. I have learned so MUCH in just the five weeks I have been here. I consider myself a learner, a life long learner that has never stopped enjoying the feel of expanding knowledge. With this lifestyle, I also meet new friends from all walks of life that push my thoughts and also inspire me to think differently.  These things in life can never be bought. It's something that can only be gained through experience.

Minimalism

The cult movie Fight Club has a reason why it's so popular. Here are some great quotes from the movie: 

*The things you own end up owning you.

*It’s only after we’ve lost everything that we’re free to do anything.

*You’re not your job. You’re not how much money you have in the bank. You’re not the car you drive. You’re not the contents of your wallet.

*We’re consumers. We are the byproducts of a lifestyle obsession. 

*Without pain, without sacrifice, we would have nothing.

*If you are reading this, then this warning is for you: Every word you read of this useless fine print is another second off your life. Don’t you have other things to do?  Do you read everything you’re supposed to read? Do you think everything you’re supposed to think? Buy what you’re told to want? Get out of your apartment. Prove you’re alive.

*This is your life, and it’s ending one minute at a time.

Butterfly

I visited a Butterfly Garden, where time stood still. All was quiet as the butterflies flew from flower to flower searching for the sweet nectar.  How patient they were, as I was lucky enough to capture their beauty with the click of my camera.

Moss covered paths between scarlet peonies,
Pale jade mountains fill your rustic windows.

I envy you, drunk with flowers,
Butterflies swirling in your dreams.
~Ch'ien Ch'i, translated by Kenneth Rexroth

Butterflies of Saturn

Here are butterflies that skip 
Dull steps of metamorphosis
No isolation in cocoons
No gorging grubs like fat balloons
 Pure genesis on snow kissed  flowers
Comes with no imperiled hours
Their slow, eternal life begun
Beneath a pink pearlescent sun
Reflecting tints from rainbows born
With pastel lights of endless dawn 
Transcend through fabled time and myth
To form the rings of Saturn's mist.
Copyright © Suzanne Delaney