A Duckies Trip!

Last Wednesday, I went on a duckies (inflatable kayaks) trip with a group from the Summit County Senior Center on the upper Colorado River through the Little Gore Canyon. This is a section of mild whitewater, class II and III rapids, that is ideal for duckies, especially during the low water flows of late summer. Our outfitter, KODI Rafting, took excellent care of us, and the two guides kept a wary watch on us from their rafts, which served as the lead and sweep boats on the trip. We all had a great time, even those in the group who had never paddled duckies before.

The first photo below shows some of our group (I'm wearing the yellow shorts and floppy hat in the middle) during the "safety talk." The second photo shows me in my yellow ducky, and in the third, I'm lounging in a small riverside hot springs pool with fellow paddlers.

Release Day for FATAL DESCENT!!

Today is the official release day for FATAL DESCENT, the third book in my RM Outdoor Adventures series starring whitewater river ranger/rafting guide Mandy Tanner. Follow the link for the book blurb, reviews, an excerpt, discussion questions, and "buy me" links. I hope you'll celebrate the release with me by lifting a glass of your favorite beverage and wishing me luck. Buying a copy for yourself wouldn't hurt either! ;-)

Sustaining Colorado Watersheds Conference Coming in October

The Colorado Watershed Assembly, Colorado Riparian Association, and Colorado Foundation for Water Education have joined forces to put on the eighth annual Sustaining Colorado Watersheds conference this fall, October 8 - 10, at the Westin Riverfront Resort in Avon, Colorado. The theme for this year's conference is "Water: What is the New Normal?" and workshops will explore how baseline shifts in demographics, climate and precipitation, technology, use of water and land, and public perceptions are affecting Colorado watersheds...as well as how we who care about Colorado watersheds are or should be responding.

Since I write the RM Outdoor Adventures series that is set in Salida, Colorado on the Arkansas River, I have an ongoing interest in seeing not only the Arkansas River, but ALL of Colorado's watersheds (including the Blue River watershed that includes Breckenridge, Colorado, where I live) are kept clean and healthy and flowing at a sustainable level. I hope if you, too, are interested in preserving Colorado watersheds, you will consider attending this conference!

One Month to Launch for FATAL DESCENT!

In one short month, Fatal Descent, the third book in my RM Outdoor Adventures series starring whitewater river ranger and rafting guide Mandy Tanner will be released by Midnight Ink. Here's the blurb:

"A fast-paced locked-room mystery in Utah’s awe-inspiring canyon lands

River guide Mandy Tanner and her fiancé Rob Juarez, owners of RM Outdoor Adventures, are leading an off-season rafting and climbing trip on the Colorado River. The unfamiliar topography and a lecherous local climbing guide have Mandy on edge — but that’s nothing compared to the trouble the clients bring. When a young man is found dead, everyone on the trip is a suspect. Since there’s no way out of the Colorado River’s steep canyons, it’s up to Mandy and Rob to solve the mystery before the murderer strikes again."

The book has already received some great reviews (see below), and both Amazon and Barnes and Noble have a special preorder price for the trade paperback of only $8.51 (save 43% off list)!

"The tension runs high in Groundwater’s absorbing third RM Outdoor Adventures mystery … Scenic descriptions and folklore add atmosphere to a suspenseful tale." -- Publishers Weekly (for full review, go HERE)

"Groundwater’s books keep getting better. The mystery is well written, but the scenery takes pride of place in this exciting story." -- Cayocosa72 - Book Reviews (for full review, go HERE)


I'm busy making plans to promote the launch, writing articles for mystery magazines and blogs, setting up signing events, organizing contests, etc. I hope some of my blog readers will be able to join in the fun! Stay tuned here and to my website and sign up for my email newsletter, if you aren't already, to be privvy to the plans!

Colorado River is America's Most Endangered River

American Rivers recently designated the Colorado River as America's Most Endangered River of 2013. Please help protect it by taking action at their website! Also, watch the beautiful and disturbing video about the river on their home page. The Colorado River is so over subscribed with water rights that its waters have not reached the sea for many years (and Mexico has not received its fair share of the river's water for even longer!).

I've been an American Rivers supporter for many, many years, long before I started writing the RM Outdoor Adventure series featuring whitewater river ranger Mandy Tanner. I highly recommend supporting this conservation organization and their fight to preserve the Colorado River. The photo below of a rapid in Cataract Canyon in Utah was taken by my husband when we were on our research trip on the Colorado River for my upcoming mystery release, Fatal Descent.

Blind Adventurer Attempts to Kayak the Colorado River

I'm going to send my blog readers to an inspiring post on one of the whitewater sports blogs that I follow. It is an article on the ACA Water Blog about blind adventurer Erik Weihenmayer attempting to kayak the Colorado River. The article also includes a link to information about ACA's (American Canoe Association) Adaptive Paddling Program to train people of all ability levels in paddling sports. Whenever I read about a disabled person tackling such challenges, my own challenges pale in comparison and I think, "If they can do THAT, I can do whatever I need to do, too!"

Researching the Health of the Colorado River

For those who have been following my blog and/or my Facebook posts, you know that I am writing the third book in my RM Outdoor Adventures mystery series that will be titled Cataract Canyon. Unlike the first two books in the series, Deadly Currents and Wicked Eddies, that are set on the upper Arkansas River in Colorado, Cataract Canyon takes place on the Colorado River in Utah.

Environmentalists and entities that own water rights for Colorado River water have been concerned for many years about the health of the river and whether it can continue to sustain all those who divert water from its flow. In fact, American Rivers (a river conservation organization I support) named it one of America's Most Endangered Rivers in 2010.

Colorado College in Colorado Springs has sponsored a State of the Rockies Project for the last nine years that seeks to increase public understanding of vital issues affecting the Rocky Mountains. This year's focus is the Colorado River basin. One study supported by the project was a trip by two recent graduates, Will Stauffer-Norris and Zak Podmore, who paddled and hiked for 110 days from the "Source to the Sea" of river, making observations on the health of the river along the way. Their starting point was the origin of the Green River (one of the two main tributaries to the Colorado River that merge just above Cataract Canyon) in Wyoming's Wind River Range. Their ending point at the end of January was the Sea of Cortez in Mexico, where the completely drained and exhausted river trickles to the sea across a salty, mud-flat delta.

You can read more about Will Stauffer-Norris's and Zak Podmore's epic expedition at their Source to Sea blog and watch their YouTube videos there. They paddled their kayaks through the exciting whitewater of Cataract Canyon (which I rafted last fall) and the Grand Canyon, as well as through more placid canyons and dammed reservoirs. I hope their expedition, and the focus of the State of the Rockies Project on the Colorado River this academic year, will raise awareness of the enormous pressures that are being placed on this river. And hopefully, we can work together to ease the strain and keep it healthy!

Book Research Trip to Moab, Utah: Part Three

On the last two days, I posted photos from the first two thirds of my book research trip to Moab, Utah. I'll finish up today with photos from the last day of my 3-day, 100-mile trip on the Colorado River through Meander Canyon and Cataract Canyon and on into Lake Powell. The last day of the river trip started with the three biggest rapids of the whole journey, Big Drop 1, 2, and 3. The photo below shows our boatman Dave powering upstream while scouting a rapid downstream over his shoulder to find the best path through it.


In the photos below, you'll see how wet we got (from head to toe--see the water pouring off the rafter in the first photo) and how carefully we're clutching on to the boat ropes and metal handholds to stay INSIDE the J-rig. We did not want to swim those rapids!




However, in a gentler class II rapid downstream, the guides said folks could try swimming a rapid, and my adventuresome hubby jumped in (see below).


After running the last eight rapids, we reached the placid waters of Lake Powell (first photo below) that had backed up into Cataract Canyon and flooded the remaining rapids. We beached at Dark Canyon to eat lunch and hike through a muddy stream bed back to a short waterfall (second and third photos below). Then it was my turn for a swim in Lake Powell (last photo below).




A great feature of the trip was a scenic ride in a six-seater airplane from Hite Marina on Lake Powell back to the Moab airport. We were able to see many of the places we'd been from the air, including Lake Powell (first photo), the Big Drop rapids (second photo), the confluence of the Green and Colorado Rivers (third photo) and the area where we hiked over the relatively lower spot in the canyon wall from one side of "The Loop" to the other. The last photo below shows the plane.






That night we took hot showers, soaked in the motel's hot tub, changed into clean clothes, ate a delicious Thai dinner in town, and fell into soft, comfy beds. Ah! The next day was a very full one. First we drove into the Island in the Sky portion of Canyonlands National Park and visited all of the overlooks and the famous Mesa Arch (photo below).


Then we drove the dirt switchback Shafer Trail (first photo below) down to a remote overlook (second photo below). There were several EEK moments on that trail!



After that we visited Dead Horse Point State Park to look down on a river section that we had rafted days before. Then we rushed over to Arches National Park so my hubby could capture a couple of more iconic photos before the sun set. Balanced Rock is in the first photo and Delicate Arch is in the second. The last one shows the mass of photographers from all over the world who at the ready to take that sought-after sunset shot of Delicate Arch.




We made friends with some of the photographers who had flashlights (we'd rushed up the 1.5 mile trail without ours) and hiked back in the dark with them lighting the way. After a delicious Mexican dinner at 9 PM, we fell into bed. A jam-packed week in Moab, and we still want to go back!

Book Research Trip to Moab, Utah: Part Two

As I posted yesterday, my hubby and I recently traveled to Moab, Utah so I could conduct research for the third book in my Rocky Mountain Outdoor Adventures mystery series starring whitewater river ranger Mandy Tanner. In that book, Mandy and her lover and outfitter business partner, Rob Juarez, will lead a multi-day rafting trip down 100 miles of the Colorado River in Utah, through the stillwaters of Meander Canyon and the class III and IV whitewater rapids of Cataract Canyon, one of the most remote whitewater rafting canyons in the United States. So, of course, I had to take the same trip!

Here are some photos from that amazing journey. First are some petroglyphs, rock art carved by ancestral Puebloans into the desert patina of the cliffside that could be seen along the road to our put-in at the Potash Boat Ramp west of Moab on the Colorado River.


The photo below shows boatman Dave and me loading the J-rig, a configuration of two large pontoons with a metal platform slung between them that is powered by an outboard motor in the back. Beside the J-rig is a high-speed motorized launch from Tag-A-Long (the highly recommended outfitter we used for our trip) that drops and picks up canoes and paddlers from various places in Meander Canyon. The next photo shows an early stop in our journey at a petrified forest site below Dead Horse Point, with river guide Justin peering at one large, long log.



The photo below is of a party flotilla we encountered in Meander Canyon (heavy drinking involved, I'm sure!), and the one after that is of a ancient granary across the river from Lathrop Canyon. The third photo shows the "bathtub ring," a white layer of rock that is very striking in parts of the canyon.




The next two photos are from our hike over a short intersection between two loops in the Colorado River, while Dave and Justin took the boat four miles around the meander to meet us on the other side. The first photo shows me climbing up on one side and second shows the two of us overlooking the other side and the beach where we camped that evening. The third photo shows the kitchen set up at that camp and the last is of sunset bathing the rocks with beautiful orange light. A wonderful first day!




On the morning of the second day of our 3-day trip, we motored down to the confluence with the Green River, which swelled the volume of the Colorado River to about 12,000 cfs (cubic feet per second). For the Cataract Canyon section, this was a fairly low volume of water, which can rise to around 60,000 cfs in spring flood season. Below the confluence, we pulled in to register at the danger sign for our campsite that evening (see below).


The next stop was at a large flat beach area called Spanish Bottom, where we hiked to the Doll House formation at the top of the canyon rim after going through a field of moonflowers (see below). These plants are also called sacred datura or jimson weed and were used by the native Americans to induce hallucinations during ceremonies. The second photo shows part of the Doll House formation at the top and the third shows the view down to the river from there.




Now, on to the rapids! Cataract Canyon contains 28 major class III or class IV rapids within its 30 miles. We didn't get a whole lot of photos of the rapids because we were supposed to hold on with BOTH hands when we went through them. I told my dear hubby I'd rather he'd hold on than snap photos for me, so the ones he took were just before or just after running a rapid.


We pulled out for the night after rapid 20 and just before the next three rapids, which are called Big Drop 1, 2, and 3. We walked down the river bank to see what we had to look forward to the next day. Below is a photo of Big Drop 1, and here's a link to a video of it, with myself and one of my fellow rafters added for size: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTqh6OgR9rA


The last photo is of our campsite on Big Drop Beach the second night. I plan to post photos tomorrow from the last day of the rafting trip and of the next day we spent in Moab at Canyonlands National Park.

Book Research Trip to Moab, Utah: Part One

It's taken me longer than I wanted to get this post up on my blog, but my photographer hubby came home from our travels with a head cold that turned into a sinus infection with fever, which incapacitated him. He's on antibiotics now and feeling much better, so he's started processing the photos that I've picked out from our trip to share with you.

We went to Moab, Utah so I could conduct research for the third book in my Rocky Mountain Outdoor Adventures mystery series starring whitewater river ranger Mandy Tanner. In that book, Mandy and her lover and outfitter business partner, Rob Juarez, will lead a multi-day rafting trip down 100 miles of the Colorado River in Utah, through the stillwaters of Meander Canyon and the class III and IV whitewater rapids of Cataract Canyon, one of the most remote whitewater rafting canyons in the United States. So, of course, I wanted to take that same trip.

I signed my husband and I up to take a 5-day trip down the Colorado River with Tag-A-Long Expeditions, a Moab-based adventure outfitting business that I highly recommend. The week before we showed up in Moab, I called with questions, one of which was how many people would be taking the trip with us. The answer was none. September is the end of the rafting season, and no one else wanted to commit to such a long trip at that time. Tag-A-Long was still willing to take us on the 5-day trip in an oared raft. But they asked me if I'd be willing to take a 3-day trip on a motorized J-rig instead, because they had other clients signed up for the shorter trip. Along with refunding us the price difference for the shorter trip, they threw in free 1-day expeditions to other locations for the two days we'd be giving up. I explained that I was taking the trip for book research and I needed to visit and photograph all of the campsites and lunch spots where outfitters normally stop on a 5-day trip. They were happy to accommodate my request.

So, today's post will cover our first 2.5 days in Moab, our arrival day and the two 1-day expeditions before we started on the 3-day trip. Tomorrow, I'll post photos from the 3-day trip. Below is a photo of Milt's, a local diner that I will feature in the book and where we ate yummy shakes and burgers and some awesome tater tots. The next photo is from the local high school's homecoming parade the afternoon we arrived, with a jeep dressed up as a "Red Devil" (their team) crushing the opposition "Rams" symbolized by a Dodge Ram with balloon horns. Very creative, I thought.



The next set of seven photos are from the 1-day oared raft trip we took through Westwater Canyon, which is on a section of the Colorado River northeast of Moab. It was a boatload of whitewater thrills and fun, even though the day started out overcast and blustery cool. The first photo shows the guides outfitting the three rafts at the put-in, and the second shows my hubby and I with our splash jackets and lifejackets on, ready for adventure.



The next photo shows the first big rapid we hit and the one after that shows our lunch stop. In the third photo, try to find the other raft in the middle of the rapid. It shows you the large scale of these class III and IV rapids.




The next photo shows the "Room of Doom" whirlpool eddy off to the right of the rapid between high rock walls. The surface of the water in that eddy is much lower than that in the rapid, with an "eddy fence" of higher water between the two. In high water, especially, if a raft gets trapped in that eddy, it's impossible to power back over the eddy fence into the main river. Rafters have to abandon the raft, climb out along the canyon wall to a quiet spot farther down the river and get picked up by other rafts. Then the company has to come back with a motorized launch and use ropes to pull the raft out. And just in front of the eddy fence is a huge "hole" (dangerous vertical whirlpool) that has to be avoided. The line to run with the raft is between the sharp rock in the center-left and the hole.


The last photo in this set shows my hubby and I resting on the stillwater section at the end of the trip in the sun that thankfully appeared in the afternoon. A fun day!


The next set of eight photos are from our next 1-day expedition with Tag-A-Long, four-wheeling out to remote Horseshoe Canyon (sign below), then hiking down into it to view panels of native American rock art. This rock art is pictographs, images painted on the rock, versus petroglyphs, which are chipped into the dark desert patina on the rocks (you'll see some of those tomorrow here).


The photo below shows some really cool-looking cryptobiotic soil, a crust formed by a mix of lichens, mosses, fungi, algae and cyanobacteria which secrete a mucus that holds clumps of soil together. These teeny tiny organisms do a huge job of retaining water and controlling erosion in the desert environment.


The next three photos are of different panels of rock art in the canyon.




The photo below shows our hiking group on the floor of the canyon, picking our way through quivering, jelly-like quicksand mud that thankfully was only a few inches deep.


One more photo of some interesting ceremonial figures in the rock art, then the last photo shows four of us back up on the rim of the canyon after hiking out. A very interesting day that provided some "local color" that will go into the book. More tomorrow!