Winding down, winding up

The river season is finally over. Time to exhume the house, rekindle the shop, and figure out where we go from here. But first a few last shots from the river. My last trip began with a group of Wounded Warriors and their service dogs. Arthur rode with me a lot and made noises of discontent and misery.

He preferred hiking.

The warriors and their hounds hiked out at Phantom and were replaced by a group of trainees--promising, young (compared to me) folk who are eager to join the ranks of AzRA boatmen.

We got in some exceptional wandering.

And celebrated Halloween honorably.

I can say without a doubt that the future of AzRA is bright.

The following weekend I went up to the South Rim for the Grand Can yon History Symposium. I spoke on Martin Litton's legacy at the Canyon. Outdoors a group of us historic boat nuts lined up a remarkably complete collection of the wooden rowboats of 1938 through now. Beginning with five replicas: my rendition of the original Nevills Cataract boat, then morphing through P.T.Reilly's redesign, Brick Mortenson's upgrade to Reilly's, and Mounty Fulmer's unique version. Then on to the Oregon drift boats: Keith Steele's original 1962 design for Martin Litton, Steele's smaller, sportier 1967 Betty Boop (original) and the 1971 Briggs Grand Canyon Dory (original) still in use today. Such a treat to see them all in a row and follow their evolution.

Back home Margeaux gave me a new haircut.

Janek and I finished up the root repair on Cataract.

And last Sunday the boating and photography communities, and Flagstaff in general, gathered for a barn raising for our dear friend Dave Edwards on his 77th birthday. He is putting up a studio space for his photography and knife making, and we felt a big jump-start was in order.

We got a hell of a lot done and will likely reconvene for another push when the steel roof arrives. If you know Dave and want to come help, let me know and I'll fill you in on plans. Here we are celebrating as the superman rises.