Wednesday, April 29, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
RAFTING TRIP: Jackson
says highlight of trip
was <every day=
Continued from page 1
the other group members.
Social dynamics on such a
long trip can be an important
factor and the group turned
out to be a good combina-
tion. His river experience
landed him a position as one
of the rowers, which he saw
as a tremendous opportunity.
<It9s a crown jewel for
any rower to be on the
Colorado,= he said. <The
magnitude of the river and
the canyon is hard to describe
in words. I felt that getting to
do this at all was a combi-
nation of luck (through the
lottery) and my river experi-
ence coming together at the
right time.=
When asked about
highlights of the trip he
responded: <Every day.=
He felt grateful that he
got to experience the biggest
water of his river career.
<I was excited but
also nervous,= he said.
<Thankfully none of our
rafts ever flipped, so not
having any »carnage9 was a
blessing. I can still visualize
in my mind some of those
rapids, though.=
On one of the first big
rapids, however, Jackson did
face an unusual test.
<One of my oar blades
slipped off right as we were
entering class-8 rapids, but
I navigated that, though it
was a bit more adventur-
ous than I had hoped, which
boosted both my own and
my wife9s confidence in me
as a rower.=
<About four or five days
into the trip, I realized I had
no idea what day it was,= he
said. <Time didn9t matter.
It was all about sun-up and
sundown.=
Little did he know that
soon the rest of the country
would begin to experience a
similar feeling once the <stay
at home= orders were put in
place.
The group contracted a
company that prepped all
the food and gear for them,
which cut down the prepara-
tion time significantly.
<We got our money9s
worth,= said Jackson.
<I was in awe every day,
being in the canyon,= he
said. <We took four or five
hikes into side canyons,
which was pretty cool as
well. There9s just so much
beauty every day.=
It was about midway of
the trip that news of the out-
side world9s growing pan-
demic reached Jackson9s
group.
<About nine or 10 days in,
we were stopped at Phantom
Ranch where we swapped
out three of our members
for three new ones,= he
said. <They shared news of
the spread of the virus that
included quite a few deaths
in the Seattle area and that
people were beginning to
get pretty concerned about
where things were headed,
but not much else.=
Three or four days later,
when the group stopped at
Havasu Canyon, the news
had shifted a bit more.
<We talked to some peo-
ple who had hiked down who
told us that the recreational
area would be closing down
the following day, along with
National Parks, due to the
virus.
<When we got to
Diamond Creek around
March 20 we ran into a park
ranger who told us schools
were closing, businesses
are closing, flights are can-
celed and all sorts of stuff,=
he said. <That9s when it
really made us realize that
something big was really
happening.=
With no way of com-
municating to family and
friends until they completed
the trip, the group was left to
move on down the river.
<I think we tried not to
think too much about it for
the rest of the trip since we
couldn9t do anything any-
way, but people were defi-
nitely having side conversa-
tions, especially considering
about half of our group was
made up of doctors, nurses,
mental health professionals
and other health occupa-
tions,= Jackson said.
The final night of the
trip the group chose to float
overnight in the calm waters,
which is a common practice.
<You can sleep on the raft
under the night sky and it9s
very peaceful, which was a
good way to finish things,
especially considering what
we were about to encoun-
ter in the outside world,= he
said.
<When we landed at
Pearce Ferry above Lake
Mead on March 24, the
woman from the company
there to pick us up, quickly
circled us up before even
greeting us and read to us a
CDC briefing,= he said. <She
told us »The world you are
entering is not the world you
left.9=
The group was briefed on
sanitation and social distanc-
ing practices.
<We were all still expe-
riencing »river brain9 so it
was hard to take it all in,=
he said. <It was surreal. It
wasn9t like dreamland or like
a nightmare, but something
in between.=
About 90 minutes into
the drive back to Flagstaff,
Arizona where most of the
group had cars parked, cell
service returned and the
sound of pings from text
messages and emails on
phones filled the 15-pas-
senger van, according to
Jackson.
<All of us had 30 to 50
texts or voicemails which
began the process of see-
ing how our individual lives
were being impacted,= he
said. <Some in the group
were discovering life-chang-
ing information about their
jobs and future plans right
there in the van.=
Jackson contacted his
principal, Alison Haney, at
Sisters Middle School and
was relieved to know that his
job was intact.
<In fact she said some-
thing like, »You have more
work to do than ever.9=
Jackson9s original plan
was to drive back home from
Flagstaff, while Marie would
fly, but they chose to stay
together.
<At first, though, I had no
idea what it would be like,=
he said. <Would gas be $10
a gallon and would any busi-
nesses even be open?=
Before splitting up the
group divided up some sup-
plies including hand sani-
tizer, toilet paper, and snack
food.
<We honestly didn9t know
if we were headed into a full-
blown apocalypse or what,=
he said.
He had hoped to have
some closure with his group
after such an amazing trip,
but with all of the upheaval,
<I just wanted to get home...
get back to my dog.=
Once back to his home
in Bend, he felt grateful that
Sisters was still on spring
break.
<It gave me the chance to
get my wits about me before
diving back into work, which
has also changed dramati-
cally,= he said.
Looking back on what he
learned from the trip that he
could pass on to his students
at Sisters Middle School he
said, <I suppose that expe-
riencing, day-after-day, a
certain amount of healthy
stress and fear is what helps
us grow is a good message
to young people. I mean,
there were 10 rapids on the
Colorado that were the big-
gest ones I have ever guided
a raft through. I grew a ton.=
It’s a crown jewel
for any rower to be
on the Colorado.
— Brook Jackson
When it comes to dealing
with the pandemic Jackson
had some lessons from the
river as well.
<When you are on the
river you are so in the
moment and you don9t need
to think much beyond the
next bend, the next rapids, or
where you are going to camp
that night,= he said. <Maybe
that9s a message that is sort
of helpful right now. Control
what you can control, take
care of yourself and keep
things simple.=
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