Down the Green River (UT)

Once again, we’re back in Boise! We just finished our NOLS course on the Green River, near Vernal, Utah. We spent 18 days exploring Desolation and Ladore Canyons in rafts, kayak, and canoes. This was the professional instructors’ course, designed for folks with more than five years working in the outdoor education industry. The purpose of the course is to train new NOLS leaders and to bring new teaching ideas into the NOLS system.

In the canyons, it was very HOT, and dry, as to be expected in the desert. The Green is the main tributary to the Colorado (which carves out the Grand Canyon). Famously, Major Powell rowed oak boats down the Green after the Civil War. We saw lots of cool wildlife; bears, big horned sheep, whiptail lizards, and heard tons of coyotes. We paddled with three crazy Canadians who kept us laughing, the head of Outward Bound Costa Rica, and two other instructors for NOLS. The oar framed rafts we used were 18-feet long and had to weigh a ton (literally).

We are back in Boise working on raising money for our scholarship initiative to help everyone have access to our programs. We’re hoping to raise at least $1500, which would help us support a Chilean student on one of our expeditions and provide partial scholarships for US students. Please check out the Scholarship Initiative section of this website for more information. We are preparing for our ‘Motorcycles to Mexico’ trip and are collecting school supplies for rural villages we run into on our journey. If you would like to donate supplies please contact us at info@AlzarSchool.com

Back in North Carolina

Sean and I are currently working at Camps Mondamin and Green Cove. We are keeping ourselves busy for the next five weeks by leading paddling trips for the camps. We spend most of our time on local rivers such as the Green, Nantahala, French Broad, Pigeon, and Ocoee. We have an awesome group of teens who have been returning to these camps for years and who are ready for some serious whitewater. There are also tons of campers who are getting on rivers for their first time and their enthusiasm is inspiring.

My two sisters are working with me at Green Cove this summer which has made things even more exciting and fun. We are looking forward to our next few weeks before we fly back to Boise for our NOLS Professional Instructors course.

Note from Sean: We went for a 4.5 hour motorcycle ride today, cruising along part of Blue Ridge Parkway. I didn’t even crash once! Not bad for my first time on the road (I just got my motorcycle learner’s permit a month ago). We’ve discovered a cool instructional program for dual sport motorcyclists which takes an expedition to Copper Canyon, Mexico, which may become part of our fundraising effort this coming fall. We’ll keep you posted.