Almost two weeks worth of food and gear descend onto my shoulders in what I know is the largest backpack I have ever carried. I turn around and blindly splash
We arrived in the middle of the arid pinyon-juniper woodlands with clean clothes, heavy backpacks, and an atmosphere of anticipatory excitement. Our small group of six students and two instructors
As my watch alarm wakes me from my intermittent slumber, I slowly lift my head from my sleeping bag to confront the cold morning air. It is now early November,
As the first gentle hue of daylight blends with the few stars left over from a chilly night, our fearless leader of the day opens their eyes. They stumble blindly
The morning is cool but not cold. Spared from the wind, I easily boil a pot of water to wake my comrades with. Everyone is asleep under the vast desert
During my first couple of weeks out here in the desert I felt like I was on a different planet. There are no forests, very few leaves are changing color
Our first day of section two on the Colorado Plateau with the Wild Rockies Field Institute (WRFI), we hike five miles into Dark Canyon Wilderness, formerly part of the recently