Junction Day 6

Last night was the second worst night I have ever had sleeping in a cabin. The first was when I was in Girl Scout Camp and my troop got screwed by everyone there because we won a contest that got us to go for free. We were Brownies and we were put up in the cabin meant for Juniors or Cadets. Open air with cots. (Much like I slept in last night). The guides made us carry all our own stuff up the mountain and pretty much excluded us from all activities. My mother was my troop leader and definitely tried to make it a good experience for us, and it was for the most part. Except that night. That night the wind howled so much and brought all the cold air down to our tents. Our little Brownie toes froze and we all ended up in my mother’s cot, huddled together to stay warm.

Last night it stormed. There was heavy rain and hail that blew into our open air cabin that made the curtains on the inside feel like ghosts against us. Brittany and I were smart to push our cots together to the center. The lightning last night made harsh shadows in the ceiling and made every nook and cranny look like an Assassin Bug.

Stupid bugs. I was terrified of getting bit all night. I slept with one eye open all night, waking up at every itch, twinge, every time I rolled over, every time it would lightning, and every noise that was made outside and inside. I hardly slept at all last night and the knots in my back can prove that! So needless to say, I was up and ready to do stuff at 6:30 a.m. when the birds began chirping and it started getting light outside.

As soon as everyone got up we all headed down to the falls and man was it rough! The river was so full from all the rain! Wyman was shocked. Never in his life has he ever seen it so full. The shots we were getting were at F 22, shutter speed 1/10, ISO 100 and the water looked like silk. So beautiful.

Breakfast consisted of Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal and a strong pot of coffee Nick brewed. Coffee always completes my morning.

It was probably around 10:30 a.m. when the girls decided to take a nap. All the boys ran down to the falls to fish since it was too high and rough to swim. At 1:00 p.m. I woke up. That nap was so good and so needed since last night I woke up every 15 to 30 minutes. Silly how during the day I feel safe to sleep but at night I am terrified even though bugs don’t really designate a time to feed.

It really is gorgeous out here, with the sound of the water going off the falls, the wind through the trees, all the different calls and chirps of the birds….it is just so peaceful. This is exactly what I needed. I have no phone service so I don’t feel tied to my phone and crazy enough, I don’t feel naked without it. It feels good to just BE. I feel so relaxed to have my only obligations on this trip be to have fun, make new friends and take lots of photos. What else would you expect to do on vacation?

After I woke up, I grabbed a sandwich and then headed back down to the falls. The water was lower so we were able to swim again. The only downside was that the water was dirtier, so I got so much river crap in my hair and on my skin. It was much warmer than yesterday and I got a few more high jumps in, so that made me happy. With all the sun my skin is seeing, people aren’t going to recognize me I’ll be so brown. Sexy brown. *Growl* I found a new favorite spot on the falls to lie down to get some sun – actually on the falls. The water was shallow and it felt so good.

Wyman cooked his poppers again, this time being nice as opposed to last night. A good handful of people ended up with indigestion and a few others were a bit worse off. Today I had 4. Four is my limit on those but damn, they were tasty. My momma would be so proud to have seen me scarf down a jalapeño. I’m sure my sisters don’t believe me at all. Believe it, Sissy! I ate it right up!

After dinner of hot dogs and beer we hiked about a mile up the Grado. To get there we had to cross the river. Now, I have never attempted to cross a river moving so fast with all my camera gear and I was the leader of the pack. Wyman and Jerod ran ahead so they could photograph and film us crossing. The shoes I bought at Hideaway Mountain have come in handy and definitely are worth the money. I kicked so many stones but did I feel it? NOPE! Cause my toes are covered!

The Grado was incredible though. The color of everything was so intense. Though there was plenty of poison ivy to infect a small country all along the sides of the river. I could shoot there all day and all night and the light as we were walking back was just incredible! I got some spectacular shots.

After two days of river swimming and bug spray and sun block and sweat I finally washed in the outdoor shower. It was so lovely. Turning off the light to the outside, I could see the fireflies dancing above me with the moon and the stars. This was the best shower I have ever had.

Tomorrow we leave for Del Rio and then Independence Creek. We’ll stay there for 3 days and return to Junction on Saturday. More adventure, I can’t wait.