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Here's a shot of Ed Rigel on our
training hike up and over Blood Mountain in the Spring of 2003. Ed was our chief logistician, did a huge amount with our itinerary and kept us all in line. Don't know whether to salute the flag or throw something at him. You da man, Doc! |
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Tom Dillon and Phil Eve taking a
break during our Spring 2003 training hike up Yonah Mountain.
Tom and Phil were having a contest to see who could have the whitest beard. |
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Joe Martino taking a break during our Spring 2003 training hike on the Coosa Backcountry trail. There was a nice natural chair in the rocks on top of the mountain-- and Joe's not a man to take an opportunity like that for granted! |
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Gene Hansard, David Castellucci and Ross Statham taking a lunch break on top of Blood Mountain during a training hike. We earned our lunch that day! |
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Find the tourist. Tony Bagwell, a certified, bona-fide, petrified Grand Canyon-O-Holic stands out on one of the promontory points at the South Rim. Some day he hopes to get over the willies. |
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A few minutes later we set up this
group photo at the South Rim on Ross's tripod. Left to right: Tony Bagwell, Ed Rigel, David Castellucci, Phil Eve, Chuck Treadway, Tom Dillon, Joe Martino, Gene Hansard, Colby Strom and Ross Statham |
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Time to hike! Tom Dillon, Colby Strom, Joe Martino and Gene Hansard getting ready to hike down to Supai Village from the hilltop parking lot. You can see the sun's already up and toasting the trail (below) quite nicely. |
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Ah, the thrill of the hike in the Canyon country. Tom Dillon, Gene Hansard, Colby Strom, Joe Martino and Ross Statham take a water break at about the halfway point to Supai Village. |
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The famous Navajo Falls. Just
as beautiful in person as in the photos we've seen for years. The water has mineral deposits which make it blue. And people wonder why the Supai people won't leave their village! |
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Chuck Treadway and Ross Statham were tent-mates. They kept those flaps open at night to help reduce those "night odors" brought about by Ross's cooking. |
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After a hike out the next day, we met in the lobby of the Hualapai Indian tribe's hotel to get ready for our rafting trip. One full day on the Colorado River on HUGE rafts. |
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Tony Bagwell and David
Castellucci-- lambs being led to the slaughter! It was a hot morning in October, but the water was in the 30's-- VERY cold. So you'd alternately sweat and freeze. It was extreme city. |
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Here's a shot of one of the other
rafts getting ready to enter the Colorado. We used the Hualapai
Indian River Runners-- had a great time. The rapids were huge-- when one of the rafts ahead of us dropped into a rapid they would literally disappear for a few seconds. |
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"Too thick to drink, too thin to
plow."
The lower Colorado as it enters Lake Meade, as looking over Tony Bagwell's shoulder. Later in the day we were pretty much on a boat ride. A few of us took a nap on the pontoons! |
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Tony enjoyed the helicopter ride out of the Canyon late in the day. Little did he know that the van ride would be even scarier! |
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"Eight bucks to see a hole in the
ground? How much for kids twelve and under?" Dave Castellucci and his straight man Colby Strom. |
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Skeeter and Goober on the back of
the bus, where they belong! Tony and Ross in the back with a bag or two or three. |
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The northern Arizona desert was beautiful in the early evening. Here's a stop we made one evening looking for a place to eat. |