News from the Front

Well I have news to report. First of all I was offered a 6th grade teaching position in Woodland, California. I'm really relieved due to the added pressure of securing a job with health insurance so we could actually afford to have our baby here in the States. I'm excited about the job too. It will be in a large elementary school and they use a modified year round schedule. This means that I will have lots of time off during the normal school year. I haven't signed the contract yet but I have an appointment on the 17th of July.

Lora is doing really well. She's over her stubborn cold and is working hard in the lab at the University of Tasmania sorting insects. I couldn't even begin to tell you how many insects she has collected over a 20 month period. THOUSANDS... TENS of THOUSANDS! She's motoring through them though. She's also really enjoying the 2nd trimester of pregnancy more so than the first because the all day morning sickness has subsided. On the phone the other day she told me that she's beginning to show a bit. Not to the casual observer just yet though.

I also just got back a few days ago from kayaking Upper Cherry Creek. This was my 5th time down this superb run and it did not disappoint. It starts out with carrying your boat and all of your camping gear 11 miles up a dusty hot trail far from the river. Then the next two days are spent dropping over one waterfall after another. The landscape is amazing with smooth granite dominating the landscape with dome after dome. The river cuts through these glaciated domes forming a kayakers wet dream. Yes Mom, it really is that good that I had to say that last sentence for effect!

The boys (Matias from Argentina, Chris Harjes, Josh Bruckner, and Dan Glauser) at the lake in the sky. From here it drops into the unportageable Cherry Bomb Gorge.

I had always portaged around the entire Cherry Bomb Gorge section requiring 45mins to an hour of carrying all of my gear over a 1000ft dome. Well this year it was time. I was the only one of our team of five that hadn't dropped the "bomb" yet. I was scared! The funny thing was that I wasn't sure who was more scared, me or the rest of the crew that had run it before. Sitting at the lip of this drop looking down the gorge was one of the coolest things I've done in my many years of kayaking. The coolest thing I've ever done in a kayak was running this gorge. There is something about being completely committed to sticking your lines or else. Well, eager readers we all had great lines off of the bomb with no carnage to report. YEAH! The rest of the run went down great. All in all I probably ended up running at least 20 new rapids that I had walked previously.

Chris in heaven!

This trip down UCC will go down in the books as my second favorite. I will always remember the trip that Lora and I did alone down it as my favorite. It's pretty funny to see the reactions from all of these really to cool for school, hardcore kayakers when I tell them that this run is a wife run and that "Ya my wife and I ran this two years ago." Jaws drop! Damn I love my wife!

Looking down the barrel of a loaded gun. This is from the scout of Cherry Bomb Falls. Amazing! It just keeps going too.