The Full 13-Year Plan
The idea of the 13 year plan is to work in
six different states for two summers each and take a whole year to
travel and guide some around
South America. I want to do two
years in each area, one to get established and the second to
really work and play it hard. i would also like to do one
summer guiding Grand Canyon trips.
The states I want are based on rivers that
are real busy in the summer months only.
I have chosen
Maine, Alaska,
Montana,
California,
Colorado
and Wyoming.
I started in Maine
for three reasons: First to be closer to mom as she was
deteriorating in health. She
passed away in April of 2004 after I had made the plans to head to
Maine. Second was that my
girlfriend, Wendy, was also working in Maine
that summer. And third
was that though I wrote to a number of outfitters in Maine
and in other states, Cliff Stevens of Moxie Outdoors was the most
accommodating. He and
the staff were most welcoming and the relationship worked out
great setting the stage for putting my plan in place.
Finally, as always I want to plan trips to
other countries. I
will continue to keep looking to do new adventures throughout the
13 years. I now am leading
the nomad life style with my house rented since I'm hardly ever
in North Carolina. One goal I recently met was to do the entire “10 Big Ones” from Richard Bangs’
book in the seventies.
The final rapid for me was Warm Springs on the Yampa.
Also I will continue to get on private Grand Canyon
trips and would do a private instead of a second OU trip in a
given year. A goal I have had ever since New Zealand is to
go and run rivers in Africa and I just did that!
By the way I still call it the 13 year plan
as that was the original plan, but more to do keeps expanding it,
which is now 15 years. Hey the are 11 teams in the Big Ten
so why not have 15 years in the 13-year plan?
The tentative 13 (15) Year
Plan Schedule (I am in Year 5)
(All years will include
Gauley Season)
2008
January
Africa
February
Ski Panorama, then to the Salt
March/April
Salt River-Arizona
March
Salt Wilderness Trio
Late April
Desolation/Gray
May
Guide Schools
Summer
Alaska
August
Grand Canyon trip with OU
Late August To Northwest
Territories and maybe Nunavet on the way back
October 16 Private Grand
Canyon Trip
Late November/Early December
Nov and Dec in southeast Asia.
Winter
New Hampshire or North Carolina or Colorado
2009
March/April
Salt River-Arizona
Late
April Guatemala Spanish
Course and Guatemala Rivers
May
Guide Schools
Early
June Coruh River
in Turkey
Summer
Montana
October 20/November Ecuador
December
Peru
2
010
January
Bolivia/Paraguay
February
Chile
March
Argentina/Uruguay
April
Brazil/Venezuala
May
Panama
June
Costa Rica/ Nicaragua
July
Nicaragua/Honduras
August
Honduras/Guatemala
Winter
Asheville or New Hampshire
20
11
March/April Salt
River-Arizona
Mid
April West
River Vermont (plus do a river in Rhode Island and visit Maine)
Early
May Colorado
Rivers
May
Grand Canyon/OU
Summer
Montana
August
Grand Canyon/OU
November
Dominican Republic
Winter
Asheville
2012
March/April
Salt River - Arizona
Early
May Wolf River Wisconsin
and Boundary Waters Minnesota
May
Grand Canyon/OU
June
Iceland and other Scandinavian countries
Summer
Montana
August
Grand Canyon/OU
November
Back to New Zealand
December
Tasmania, Australia
2013
March/April
Salt River-Arizona
Late April/early May
Rivers in the Pyrenees (France and Spain)
May
Grand Canyon/OU
Summer California
August
Grand Canyon/OU
November
Tibet or back to Nepal
20
14
March
Salt River-Arizona
es
May
Double Grand Canyon/OU
early June The
Verdon in French Alps and Trywerin River in Wales.
Summer
California
August
Grand Canyon/OU
2015
March
Salt River-Arizona
May
Grand Canyon/OU
June
Rafting in Slovenia and Croatia
Summer Arkansas
River-Colorado
August
Grand Canyon/OU
2016
May
Grand Canyon/OU
Summer
Arkansas River-Colorado
August
Grand Canyon/OU
2017
May
Grand Canyon/OU
Summer
Snake-Jackson Hole, WY
2018
May
Grand Canyon/OU
Summer
Snake-Jackson Hole, WY
2019
Post plan, work on a river that is easy to
work as I will be 65. Perhaps the Pigeon? Also return
to Alaska, doing a cruise, and maybe a season to work the Nenana
Scenic?
