Wow!
I haven't posted anything new here in quite a while. Due to my incredibly busy life/schedule/constant state of being, I've neglected this blog once again... I have lots of exciting things to update you on. Just to give you a glimpse of what is to come, some topics we'll cover in class soon are:
-Epic road trip from Boulder, CO to Tucson, AZ
-Observing on Mt. Lemmon
-Start of new semester and Things
-My completely intimidating future (or lack thereof)
But for now... another crazy adventure of mine! Last semester me and some friends took an Ice Climbing class through IU's Outdoor Adventures (OA) program. It was ridiculously fun, so this year I looked for another class along the same vein and found... whitewater rafting!
For this class, we took a weekend trip to the Nantahala River in North Carolina. It was very close to the border of Tennessee so was only about an ~8 hour drive. We left Friday afternoon and arrived by about 11pm at our bunkhouse/cabin. The next morning we woke up bright and early, and after a quick breakfast, we headed the short 5 minutes to the river put-in (where you put rafts/boats in!). We had 18 students and 4 instructors, so we split into 4 groups and headed out!
We were barely down the river at all when before you knew it, we had a swimmer! Aka someone who falls out of the boat :P The river was lots of fun- it was mostly class 2 rapids (class 1 is easiest, like a still lake, while class 6 is absolutely insane and probably impossible) with one class 3 at the end. The class 2 was mostly pretty easy, but the real challenge was having to dodge all the rocks! The Nantahala River is regulated each day by being emptied at night, and then refilled in the morning the next day. They do this to use the water for hydroelectricity so there's no way around it. As a result, the water is low in the morning and it's much easier to get stuck on a rock since the water is shallower. Later in the day the river fills up and you get much more exciting rapids and faster water!
Anyway, it was a ton of fun! All the students got to guide the boat, which means you sit in the back and steer with a longer oar (like a rudder) while the others in the front paddle and do the hard work! :P It was a bit challenging but easy once you got the hang of it.
I never even fell out of the boat too! Woohoo! None of the boats I was in ever had any swimmers. For once I'm a good luck charm.
So we ran the river twice on Saturday- one run was an 8.5 mile stretch that took us about 2 hours (plus lunch, and stopping on the river to wait for other boats stuck on rocks, water fights, etc...). We headed back to the cabin, made lunch, played cards, and made a fire and smores. Woke up early again the next morning and did one run down the river (this time with no instructors! eek!) and packed up for the long ride back home.
All in all- an incredibly fun weekend and a much-needed break from academia (even though I am far behind now...) Now some pictures! :)
I haven't posted anything new here in quite a while. Due to my incredibly busy life/schedule/constant state of being, I've neglected this blog once again... I have lots of exciting things to update you on. Just to give you a glimpse of what is to come, some topics we'll cover in class soon are:
-Epic road trip from Boulder, CO to Tucson, AZ
-Observing on Mt. Lemmon
-Start of new semester and Things
-My completely intimidating future (or lack thereof)
But for now... another crazy adventure of mine! Last semester me and some friends took an Ice Climbing class through IU's Outdoor Adventures (OA) program. It was ridiculously fun, so this year I looked for another class along the same vein and found... whitewater rafting!
For this class, we took a weekend trip to the Nantahala River in North Carolina. It was very close to the border of Tennessee so was only about an ~8 hour drive. We left Friday afternoon and arrived by about 11pm at our bunkhouse/cabin. The next morning we woke up bright and early, and after a quick breakfast, we headed the short 5 minutes to the river put-in (where you put rafts/boats in!). We had 18 students and 4 instructors, so we split into 4 groups and headed out!
We were barely down the river at all when before you knew it, we had a swimmer! Aka someone who falls out of the boat :P The river was lots of fun- it was mostly class 2 rapids (class 1 is easiest, like a still lake, while class 6 is absolutely insane and probably impossible) with one class 3 at the end. The class 2 was mostly pretty easy, but the real challenge was having to dodge all the rocks! The Nantahala River is regulated each day by being emptied at night, and then refilled in the morning the next day. They do this to use the water for hydroelectricity so there's no way around it. As a result, the water is low in the morning and it's much easier to get stuck on a rock since the water is shallower. Later in the day the river fills up and you get much more exciting rapids and faster water!
Anyway, it was a ton of fun! All the students got to guide the boat, which means you sit in the back and steer with a longer oar (like a rudder) while the others in the front paddle and do the hard work! :P It was a bit challenging but easy once you got the hang of it.
I never even fell out of the boat too! Woohoo! None of the boats I was in ever had any swimmers. For once I'm a good luck charm.
So we ran the river twice on Saturday- one run was an 8.5 mile stretch that took us about 2 hours (plus lunch, and stopping on the river to wait for other boats stuck on rocks, water fights, etc...). We headed back to the cabin, made lunch, played cards, and made a fire and smores. Woke up early again the next morning and did one run down the river (this time with no instructors! eek!) and packed up for the long ride back home.
All in all- an incredibly fun weekend and a much-needed break from academia (even though I am far behind now...) Now some pictures! :)
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