Wednesday, August 29, 2012

A Perfect Paradise of White Sand Beaches

Leaving behind a large to-do list I scrambled to gather my things for our week long float trip on the Lower Salmon River. Flowing 425 miles through central Idaho the Salmon River is the largest tributary to the Snake River which then meets the Columbia and makes its way to the Pacific Ocean.

Preparing for a big trip like this is always a bit overwhelming, even with excel spreadsheets and weeks of planning. It all seems like a bit of a cluster until the boats are finally loaded and the final raft floats away from the put-in. Then everything changes… Everyone takes a deep breathe, cracks a tall-boy Corona (if you’re in our group) and settles in to River Time. And YES that is a capital R and a capital T.


The river is mesmerizing. Its rhythm and motion are in complete harmony with gravity. The same harmony with which we are supposed to live our lives. The majority of our culture is out of touch with the harmony of the environment. The river is the perfect reminder; each drop of water in one place for a mere second as it makes it’s way towards the sea. Struggling against the current, fighting against gravity, is a useless endeavor. Instead we must choose to dance, to play with gravity, and in doing so, we experience joy, we connect, we appreciate, and become inspired.


Each morning and each evening we drifted to and from sleep to tunes played by Duke Sharp, a professional musician of 30+ years based in Bozeman. His musical talents were such a treat, enhancing the atmosphere in an indescribable way. One evening while perched on Two Moon Beach Duke and I got into a discussion about climate change. It was inspiring for both of us to see that despite our generation difference we had similar perspectives. Our major conclusion was that it is not monumental changes that need to take place, but simple common sense things, like reducing our plastic consumption, re-using containers, composting… common sense! DUH!


It was such a treat to spend time with Jeni & Scott. What an incredible pair! Jeni has a calm radiant beauty that I admire. It was such a pleasure to spend some lady time with her, I sometimes forget how important it is to spend time with the females in my life.


 One of my recent projects, inspired by photographer Kim Miller of Portland, is to photograph dogs and cats. IT IS SO HARD! I spent a solid chunk of time trying to capture the perfect image of Buster the one eyed wonder.


Every day the sun rose in clear skies and by 9 o’clock if you hadn’t already, you were overdue for a dip. The water was 72ยบ. We sat in our suits late into the night absorbing the warmth preserved in the perfect white sand. Our fingers sifting and sifting, our minds drifting. Clarity at last.


The group energy was incredible and when the end of the trip arrived, no one was ready for it to be over. I absolutely cannot wait until next summer! What a wonderful group of people and what an incredible environment!

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