On the Road…
Posted on 15. Jul, 2010 by Elizabeth in The Gear Movers
The Shadow of our Amazing RV as we travel west!
The latest adventure took me through thousands of miles of the western United States, experiencing the continually changing landscape by RV, raft and boat, and even simply walking down its coastal highways. It all started with an RV, set rolling on wheels that haven’t moved in five years, and four friends ready for a new rafting adventure (as we’ve done in years past). A vintage RV, straight from 1978, complete with the general yellow tinge and faded fabrics, wood paneling, and brown shag carpet. Four of us left Colorado, driving this top-heavy, gas eating machine through Wyoming, Nevada deserts, and on to Oregon, taking the RV to its new home. After only one night relaxing in Oregon, we traded our spacious ride for a tight squeeze in a Jeep that backfires and only has two seats for four people, plus gear. But we make it work, and continue on our trip to the Klamath River in Northern California, encountering fewer and fewer other humans, moving further into the wilderness.
Driving down the lonely road heading west in Nevada
Avenue of the Giants - the Majestic Redwoods
Oregon Flowers and Shadows in the Summertime
Nic, Appel and Matt in the Jurassic Forest in Oregon
Fire, smoke and sunshine, in the Oregon forest in the summertime
Our modes of transport when not on the river in Oregon, good times!
The Redwoods in July
The river – the second goal of the trip. We inflate our craigslist purchased raft and set off on our way. It doesn’t take more than ten minutes before we find ourselves bailing out the boat, hit by a huge swell of water and gushing rapids spitting us out of the river. But this is the worst of it, or maybe it’s just we’re more prepared for what’s ahead. For three days we paddle and drifted through beautiful redwood forests, stopping every night under cloudless night skies to camp. We explored the river with the bears caught lazily swimming, the eagles flying over head, and ventured into the dense, enormous trees at the river banks. The last day on the raft, the mouth of the river becomes wider and wider, and we pull the raft to shore in sight of the white breakers of the Pacific Ocean.
The Klamath Crew July in the summertime
Awesome river foliage in the summertime in Oregon
Yum Yum, fishy eggs in the river
A jet boat on the river in July
Matt jumping in, this is one of our favorites!
Fog and wind roll in as well pull our raft to shore, but the journey is not over yet. In three days we covered about 90 miles on the river, but by road, it’s more like 120 miles between our only vehicle, the Jeep, and us. So, two of us set off on foot, each with a small bag slung over the shoulder, just in case we don’t make it back in one night. Thumbs out. Within minutes our first ride, a bright blue jet boat, drops us off at Highway 101, where we walk for a mile before our second ride. A savior, a traveler reluctant to return to LA, takes the rest of the way back to our car, chatting about the Illuminating, the Green Party, and random historical facts the entire way.
A Black Bear in the Klamath River in July
A Banana slug by the river
After camping on the beach, we make our way down the coast, along the 101 and back towards civilization, to San Francisco where we catch a flight. Almost exactly a week later, we are ending where we started, in Colorado.
The number one driver of the RV, its me!
Haiti
Posted on 15. Jun, 2010 by Elizabeth in The Gear Movers
Earthquake Damage to the Port-au-Prince Presedential Palace
I had the amazing opportunity to go to Haiti the first week in June, even though a week is certainly not enough to get to know this country. Also, what I was planning on doing in Haiti had been arranged long before the earthquake. Besides, outside of Port-au-Prince, the earthquake really had little effect, even though it might be hard to distinguish from the looks of the rest of the country. Haiti is, without a doubt, a very poor country with limited resources to begin with, so it is now wonder that the earthquake had such a devastating blow, crumbling the concrete buildings that once made up the city. In the single day I spent in the capitol city, I did witness the tent cities that now stand between the rubble and collapsed buildings. But the people of Haiti continue with tenacity in their daily lives, through the congestion and the remains.
The entire Presedential palace was destroyed
Most of my time was spent on the northern coast, in the small village of Saint-Louis du Nord. Dust encrusted, sweat drenched, bruised from the jostling bus ride, eight hours and 120 miles later, I finally arrive and get to meet the community where I will stay. In the mornings, working alongside the Haitians, I helped build (or at least tried to contribute to) a new school building. With over ten people working on the tiny site, it was hard to share the single shovel and the single trowel, but non-the-less brick by brick, the building gained momentum upwards.
Here is a Google map of Haiti and Elizabeth's location in Saint-Louis du Nord
In the afternoons, even though I’m pretty sure I was more of a distraction than help, I worked at the old school. Bursting with over 150 students in four tiny classrooms, it was easy to see the need for a new building.
A map carved into a chair on the destroyed island of Haiti
School children running during our visit to the local school in Saint-Louis du Nord
School children looking out of a window of the school in Saint-Louis du Nord
Young girls looking for snacks in Haiti
A little girl smiling during school in Saint-Louis du Nord
A kindergarten class in Saint-Louis du Nord where we were helping to rebuild the school
The faces of Haiti, young school girls in Saint-Louis du Nord
A beautiful shot of a young girl holding my hand
Blowing bubbles with the kids in Haiti
Kids watching the bubbles pop in Haiti
A young girl blowing bubbles is entertained in Haiti
And on my day off, as if being in Haiti wasn’t enough; I was able to go sailing to the neighboring island of Tortuga, from all the pirate stories! Our boat was a luxury liner – the mast looking like it might just be a tree trunk. From a devastated shore, covered in trash, the small sailboat delivered us, surrounded by pristine, bright blue water to a quiet, car-less island.
The sails of our "luxery liner" on our way to the Pirate island of Tortuga
The sails of our "luxery liner" on our way to the Pirate island of Tortuga
Sailing to the Island of Tortuga
Majestic sailboats off the island of Tortuga
Beautiful blue water off the coast of Tortuga
The First Day of Flying
Posted on 15. Jan, 2010 by Elizabeth in The Gear Movers
It’s the first of the new year, and the first day of flying.
Elizabeth Speedgliding Southside
Awhile back I decided that it would be a good idea to start speedflying. Of the many ways I’ve been exposed to flight and free-fall – B.A.S.E., skydiving, hang-gliding, paragliding, speedflying, wingsuiting, you name it – I’ve thought that paragliding seemed, well, the most achievable and intriguing for me. And, for the lack of a better word, fun. So, after many months of saving, my idea of paragliding evolved into the decision to buy my own Ozone XT 16 meter Speedglider.
Northside Launch, Elizabeth is about to take off!
(By the way, a speedglider is different than a paraglider. The wing is designed differently, and it has a much smaller glide ratio. As opposed to a paraglider, I will sink out faster, and as the name would imply, be flying at a higher speed, but the idea is somewhat the same.)
Point of the Mountain Southside, Glider Time!
For the New Year’s weekend, I headed to Utah’ s Point of the Mountain, with expectations of more forgiving terrain than here in Boulder and high hopes of steady wind. Not so early on the first of the year, I confronted the South Side gradually working my way up and down the hill.. The soft, gentle wind wasn’t exactly ideal, so I spent the morning skipping down the hillside with 20 or 30 foot gaps in steps. This turns out to be not as much fun as you’d think, and ultimately left me frustrated. As the day progressed, the wind died down, and it ended up being less about flying and more about getting vehicles out of the snow drifts, as one care after another piled into snow drifts.
Arms back, run hard, don’t hesitate, and commit. Those are the rules as I discover flight.
Gliding the Southside of Point of The Mountain
Despite the poor conditions on the first day, I’m back again for more. I plan my course, looking from the top wind sock to the bottom, aiming into the wind. My glider inflates above me, and I run as hard as I can towards the edge of the hill. Instead of tumbling down through weeds and snow, I’m lifted away from the earth and nearly weightless in the air. Sitting back, flying steady and relaxed, before I hit the ground running, bringing my brakes into my side, slowing me to a complete stop.
Acro-Gliding the Southside line up
On just my fourth flight, the winds switch direction and after a quick lunch, I find myself hiking up a seemingly vertical mountain to a 750-1000 foot launch. At exit, I’m quickly popped off the ground and sent soaring, higher than any of us expected! My lessons hadn’t taken me as far as soaring yet, but this gives me a lot of time to get comfortable and fly it out, overlooking Salt Lake City, making several passes at the mountain before I finally lost altitude. Awesome!
The Line up, all of us on the Southside, pretty sweet!!
In three days, I completed 14 flights, which left me ready for more and excited to take on more challenging sites. Needless to say, it’s a great way to start a new year with a new adventure!
Jesse and Matt about to push me off without the Glider, not quite ready!
Flying Lessons
Posted on 11. Nov, 2009 by Elizabeth in The Gear Movers
Beech 19 Airplane. Photo by E. Shepard
As I spent my Saturday continuing my casual lessons in speed flying in the warm November sunshine, anticipating my own small 16-meter canopy of nylon fabric, I couldn’t help but realize how many cool things I’d gotten to be a part of this week, besides learning to fly.
On Thursday night, I was lucky enough to be invited to the Outdoor Industries Women’s Coalition. While I’m kind of new to the world of business and business networking, my introduction to it couldn’t have been a better one or more enjoyable. I had an incredible opportunity to introduce myself to many of the strong and influential women that we have right here, locally, in the out-door businesses of Colorado. It was great to see such a diverse group of people, talents and interests all sharing their knowledge, experiences and leadership styles. For me, as the manager of The Gear Movement, it gave me a fresh perspective of my own role in the company. And certainly if anyone knows me, I am what some might consider as “shy.” So this was my chance to step up and take on a new personal challenge, at which I do think I succeeded confidently.
The Wingsuit Boys - Ready for Action. Photo by E. Shepard
Another hobby of mine, besides adventuring and continuing an ever-evolving role of manager, is photography! My clunky, low end, yet beloved constant companion of a camera got a make over when it was topped with an expensive flash transmitter for a real photo-shoot. The photo shoot was for a team of BASE jumpers promoting their expedition to Baffin Island in the spring of next year, sporting their wingsuits on the wings of grounded airplane. Even though I spent most of my time helping with the lighting, holding 10 pound lights over my head for hours at a time (thank goodness for those bouldering muscles I’ve been working on), and the transmitter was actually the backup, it was my first time at a professional photo-shoot. After it was a wrap, the photographer actually gave me the chance to have my own fun with the gear, giving me pointers along the way, which was not only an awesome experience, but also shed valuable insight into the world of professional photography. That’s pretty killer if you think about it!
So while I wait for that wing of my own, and the next adventure as I work my way into a new sport, I’m enjoying taking in the newest opportunities and realizing how much is going on around me that I can be a part of. There’s something to look forward to in all realms of existence….
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