July 22: Limestone to Jone's Hole

Day 5
On day 5, the students embraced the "main" portion of their trip and were challenged to get the boats packed and launched early! They were successful, and were able to enjoy a relaxing silent float to Echo Park.

One of the requirements for graduating from training to the main phase of the course was for students to become "sun savvy". Drinking at least 4 liters of water a day, and using sunscreen were emphasized. One of my student showed her commitment to the sunscreen movement.
After the silent float, we visited Whispering Cave. This cave is narrow, dark and most importantly, it was very cool in temperature. Students try to walk in as far as they can...
Here, I am caught spinning a web of lies as I give an impromptu lecture on the former inhabitants of this cave, the indigenous people referred to as the "Flat Indians". Oh I had them going for a few minutes. In all seriousness, a sense of humor is a must-have on course.
After Whispering Cave we started to paddle hard in anticipation of getting to hike out to play in "Butt Dam Falls". The miles and the extreme heat of the day proved to be a tall order for our group, as hard working as they were. Frequent dips were required to keep cool. We stopped at the Jone's Hole campground to cool off, drink water, and refine our plans. The river patrol showed up and let us know that we could stay there -and so we did. The shade there was valuable in the afternoon scorch.

In this picture (above) students model "swimmer's position" with their feet up. You can also see how the Green River earned it's namesake.

As the day winds down at Jone's Hole, a student takes a little time for some self-reflection. Self-reflection is an important component of an OB course. Everybody needs a little time to re-energize and to integrate the lessons of the trip.