Shorewoods Photography-Boarding Group 2 Travel Blog

While our time on the river is complete, there is still an important part of the trip to experience. It is what Colleen calls transitioning, or re-entry.

It’s that time where you make the physical and cognitive change from the Grand Canyon and the River to the outside world. Back to what feels like the manufactured, unnatural world, in stark contrast to the wild.

Art and I agree that we have never felt this need for re-entry before; however we found ourselves retreating inside our house for a few days with no TV, no news, no email, not wanting the outside to impinge on the reflection and the memories.

We embarked on a period of reflection; reviewing and examining experiences to distill a greater, deeper meaning. The key is to then have that meaning be the agent of change in what we do and how we engage in the future. As we review our photos and share our thoughts around our experiences, we forge a stronger understanding of what the trip has meant, and we feel is now a more tangible part of us.

Also as part of our re-entry is looking back at our preparation, packing, planning, and see what gets the thumbs up or down, especially related to photography.

So here are the top 10 takeaways from our trip:

1. No one cares if you pee in the river. Everyone does it. Just do it.
2. There will be sand. Lots. Of. Sand. It will become just another food group.
3. You can get by on just a couple of sets of clothes for a week
4. You can get by without a hot shower for a week.
5. Enjoy the splashes and waves, it’s a lesson in letting things just roll off you.
6. You will enjoy amazing meals while rafting along the river.
7. You don’t really need napkins when you eat.
8. Always pre-walk the path to the groover during daylight. Don’t break trail for the first time at night.
9. Going to bed shortly after sunset, and at least by 8 or 830 at night isn’t half bad.
10. The Grand Canyon and the Colorado River need our diligence and care. Be a steward and advocate.

And for those enquiring minds, here is a pic of the groover in a typical scenic spot!

Notes on Camera Gear:

1. Less is better, using an all in one 24-200 lens was great- while we compromised a bit of absolute sharpness for a lighter lens, it was worth it- and bringing the 14-24 for night sky was a must.
2. Bringing 6 batteries meant we weren’t stressed about charging- while we could have gotten by on 4, 6 meant no worries.
3. Lightweight tripod for travel was perfect, but they took a beating and needed disassembly and washing to de-sand them.
4. Leave sensor cleaning swabs at home along with a remote; instead, use the 2 second timer delay setting on your camera.
5. Camera bags! We purchased small back packs and used lens wraps to protect the lenses. We also used our rain gear for extra padding, of course if it had rained, would need a plan B, C and D.
6. Filters: Circular Polarizer was really helpful and used almost daily. We used an 8 and 10 stop ND (neutral density) filters for bright sunlight for long exposure. We think 1-2 filters was ideal.
7. Definitely bring tools for the tripod and check tripod feet and anything else that can fall off regularly!

We also would like to share a few of our (so far) favorite photos from the trip. Enjoy the slide show!

Well, we are still going to bed by 8 or 830 at night and waking at 4 or 5 in the morning. We always look in the sky for stars. We now have a new reference point for comparing things we see: “That looks like a formation we saw in the Canyon!” We eat lunch standing up, and have not used a napkin since we got home.

This morning we took our Hatch mugs to the beach for a sunrise walk.

Re-Entry Complete.