First Descents=The BEST Week of My Life EVER!
Okay, I hope you are ready for a long post because I have a lot to share...it was really hard to choose which photos to use because the entire week was fabulous! Even more difficult is to put into words the greatest week of my life. Most of you know I love being on the water and in the mountains. Well, being on the water in the mountains was the perfect fit after living through 11 months of what I consider to be the worst year of my life. I am definitely hooked on whitewater kayaking and am already planning my next paddling excursion (right after track nationals!) But it was not just the kayaking that made this week so great, it was definitely the people. I was surrounded by a group of people who knew how to laugh and have fun no matter what life has brought them. I can honestly say I have never laughed so hard in my life nor have I laughed that hard every single day of my life for a week straight. We were real and shared our experiences but also grabbed the bull by the horn (so to speak) and lived life to the fullest during our week together. I cannot remember the last time I felt that alive. When I got home, multiple people told me I was glowing. That is all thanks to First Descents which reminded me how great it feels to be alive and thriving. 
So, now that I have gushed about how great First Descents is, I will take you on a little journey of my week. The first day was spent on Eagle Pond learning how to put our equipment on (yes, we had to wear all of that everytime we got in our boats) and how to escape our boats if it capsizes. I even started to learn how to roll but got too cold and have to save rolling for another day. The greatest part of the day was when we played water polo on the pond. My team totally dominated the game and I scored a hatrick and maybe more...just call me Cherry Picker! :) Oh, that is the other thing. We all went by nicknames for the week. My name was Wheels (I am sure you can all figure out why). In this picture is Shark Bait, my roommate, who is AWESOME!
Day 2 was spent downhilling on Vail Mountain in the morning and on the river that afternoon. I brought my bike and rode every morning before camp started by didn't want to wear my kit to downhilling. Let's be honest, I don't ride on dirt and I didn't want to pretend I was good at it. As you can tell, I looked like a hard core cyclist that day...complete with a special Nalgene handlbar holder! The cool thing about this activity was that a few mountain bikers in Vail spent their summer fundraising so they could rent equipment and take our entire camp downhilling. The support for First Descents in the Vail valley is awesome!
And it wasn't until I saw this picture that I understood Hangry's (he gets angry when he is hungry) fascination with my tan lines. They have definitely gotten bad over the years!
Wednesday was spent down by Redcliff rockclimbing. It was a fun day and I scaled two different routes. The rockclimbing guides actually choose some pretty tough routes (upper end of difficulty) so I was psyched to get up them both; although, I couldn't move my hands by the end of my second climb.
The rest of the time was spent on the water kayaking. I don't have any pictures yet because I did not take my camera on the water but our photographers are sending CDs out with all the photos they took. I will post them when they get here. Every night we were treated to dinner by a different local family. One night a local chef made us fish tacos which were AMAZING! And we always finished the night with a campfire and awards. Whoever won the award had to strap the it onto their helmet the next day on the river. I spent Friday paddling with those balls taped to my helmet. One woman on a raft asked if I was celebrating Marti Gras and I told her I was special...I definitely looked special with those on my helmet!
As I said, the people were amazing! I am not going to post them all up here but a few noteworthy ones are being included. This is Skittles, my partner in crime. Each night we took random pictures on the cameras laying around as a surprise. We definitely got a lot of good laughs doing that. And she happens to be a person with an incredibly dry sense of humor that can make an entire room burst out laughing. For example, on the last night one guy was talking about the "special energy" our camp emits. Skittles said "Well, most of us have been radiated" in a room full of cancer killers. We were rolling on the floor laughing.
Eco, on the left, and I met on Twitter a few months ago so it was fun to finally meet her in person. She thinks she is going to get me skiing this winter and I may have convinced her to run a marathon with me when I turn 40...yes, I am already planning it as I will need a long time to build my base. Hyphy, on the right, is my Hodgkin twin. We were the only two Hodgkin killers at camp.
This is Bongo. He was actually a counselor but was also a camper six years ago and fell in love with kayaking. He promised to teach me how to roll this fall. But, more interestingly, he actually grew up in Chris Carmichael's house! He grew up in the Springs and his family sold that house to CC when he was a kid. Crazy!
Okay, I hope you are ready for a long post because I have a lot to share...it was really hard to choose which photos to use because the entire week was fabulous! Even more difficult is to put into words the greatest week of my life. Most of you know I love being on the water and in the mountains. Well, being on the water in the mountains was the perfect fit after living through 11 months of what I consider to be the worst year of my life. I am definitely hooked on whitewater kayaking and am already planning my next paddling excursion (right after track nationals!) But it was not just the kayaking that made this week so great, it was definitely the people. I was surrounded by a group of people who knew how to laugh and have fun no matter what life has brought them. I can honestly say I have never laughed so hard in my life nor have I laughed that hard every single day of my life for a week straight. We were real and shared our experiences but also grabbed the bull by the horn (so to speak) and lived life to the fullest during our week together. I cannot remember the last time I felt that alive. When I got home, multiple people told me I was glowing. That is all thanks to First Descents which reminded me how great it feels to be alive and thriving. 
So, now that I have gushed about how great First Descents is, I will take you on a little journey of my week. The first day was spent on Eagle Pond learning how to put our equipment on (yes, we had to wear all of that everytime we got in our boats) and how to escape our boats if it capsizes. I even started to learn how to roll but got too cold and have to save rolling for another day. The greatest part of the day was when we played water polo on the pond. My team totally dominated the game and I scored a hatrick and maybe more...just call me Cherry Picker! :) Oh, that is the other thing. We all went by nicknames for the week. My name was Wheels (I am sure you can all figure out why). In this picture is Shark Bait, my roommate, who is AWESOME!
Day 2 was spent downhilling on Vail Mountain in the morning and on the river that afternoon. I brought my bike and rode every morning before camp started by didn't want to wear my kit to downhilling. Let's be honest, I don't ride on dirt and I didn't want to pretend I was good at it. As you can tell, I looked like a hard core cyclist that day...complete with a special Nalgene handlbar holder! The cool thing about this activity was that a few mountain bikers in Vail spent their summer fundraising so they could rent equipment and take our entire camp downhilling. The support for First Descents in the Vail valley is awesome!
And it wasn't until I saw this picture that I understood Hangry's (he gets angry when he is hungry) fascination with my tan lines. They have definitely gotten bad over the years!
Wednesday was spent down by Redcliff rockclimbing. It was a fun day and I scaled two different routes. The rockclimbing guides actually choose some pretty tough routes (upper end of difficulty) so I was psyched to get up them both; although, I couldn't move my hands by the end of my second climb.
The rest of the time was spent on the water kayaking. I don't have any pictures yet because I did not take my camera on the water but our photographers are sending CDs out with all the photos they took. I will post them when they get here. Every night we were treated to dinner by a different local family. One night a local chef made us fish tacos which were AMAZING! And we always finished the night with a campfire and awards. Whoever won the award had to strap the it onto their helmet the next day on the river. I spent Friday paddling with those balls taped to my helmet. One woman on a raft asked if I was celebrating Marti Gras and I told her I was special...I definitely looked special with those on my helmet!
As I said, the people were amazing! I am not going to post them all up here but a few noteworthy ones are being included. This is Skittles, my partner in crime. Each night we took random pictures on the cameras laying around as a surprise. We definitely got a lot of good laughs doing that. And she happens to be a person with an incredibly dry sense of humor that can make an entire room burst out laughing. For example, on the last night one guy was talking about the "special energy" our camp emits. Skittles said "Well, most of us have been radiated" in a room full of cancer killers. We were rolling on the floor laughing.
Eco, on the left, and I met on Twitter a few months ago so it was fun to finally meet her in person. She thinks she is going to get me skiing this winter and I may have convinced her to run a marathon with me when I turn 40...yes, I am already planning it as I will need a long time to build my base. Hyphy, on the right, is my Hodgkin twin. We were the only two Hodgkin killers at camp.
This is Bongo. He was actually a counselor but was also a camper six years ago and fell in love with kayaking. He promised to teach me how to roll this fall. But, more interestingly, he actually grew up in Chris Carmichael's house! He grew up in the Springs and his family sold that house to CC when he was a kid. Crazy!
And, last but not least, Smelly, our camp director. She did an amazing job of getting us everywhere and was an awesome teacher. I was stoked to run my first class three rapid with her and sad to say goodbye. Smelly is another one that can make you laugh until your stomach hurts.
Well, that's it in a nutshell. The greatest week of my life at the end of the worst year of my life; although, things started turning around...I think August may be the start of a great year to come. After all, I will be 30 so things have to get better right?! :)
posted by Kate Gracheck @ 10:15 PM
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