kyle nystrom

Last expedition we did several things. We went canoeing, caving, whitewater rafting, and rock climbing. Joe came with us so we could do the rock climbing.

We went canoeing for 4 days. I think four is about the right number of days for when I go into the backcountry. Any more than that and it begins to grate… it was a fun trip though. On the last day we stayed on an island. It was nice not having to hang a bear bag, plus the view was amazing.

Caving was fun. We did something called the foxes den, where we had to crawl into a tight space and come back out in absolute darkness. It’s really scary, especially for a big guy like me, but I got through it. There was a little tunnel which had a ton of water on the floor. It was so small that no one could stand in it. I figured out how to get through it without sticking my feet in the water by using the ledges. To leave, we had to walk through a river. My boots got completely water-logged. We found an albino crayfish (or crawfish, or crawdad, or whatever they might be called). You can use them to tell if the soil is acidic or alkaline because if they have a soft shell the soil is acidic, and if it’s hard then it will be alkaline.

Whitewater rafting was fun. Whitewater rafting is pretty much always fun. We got to go through several rapids, ranging from “I” (fart in a bathtub) to “V” (nearly fell out). The lunch was amazing. There was a cherry jell-o custard pie thingy and some really good crab stuff. I have no idea what I should really call these things. We also got to see the largest single arch bridge in America. It is made out of a special kind of iron that rusts on the outside and then stops rusting. That’s really cool. Also, the irons on the bridge were a lot smaller than I expected. It’s amazing what good design can do.

Rock-climbing was pretty fun. Sadly, my group didn’t get to summit because the wind would have thrashed us…

All-in-all, it was a good trip. I had a lot of fun and met some pretty interesting people. I fear the next expedition a bit though. Fourteen days in the backcountry in rain… that’s probably going to be awful. Oh well, at least I’ll try to keep my head up.