17 March 2009
Packing Out - Canyon Section
Tomorrow morning, I will hop on the bus with my coursemates and make the day and a half drive down to southern Utah to begin our 30-day Canyon Section. We'll return on April 18th.
We spent all of yesterday in classes and meetings with many of NOLS' key departments and their leaders, including meeting with the Executive Director, Human Resources, Environmental Policy, Risk Management, NOLS Pro (professional development services), and a luncheon with many employees from both NOLS Rocky Mountain and the NOLS International Branch. As a result of all that, I met one of the interns working in the video department, and after sharing my love and passion for video and my desire to have a camera in the field, he arranged for NOLS to loan me one of their cameras for this section. Since it's a small digital media video camera, it can replace my still camera in my pack and won't even add much extra weight, but will allow me to get footage that NOLS and I can share. It also means the content from my canyon section here will be even richer than the photos I've already been able to get.
Today we packed up everything we need for the section in packs, including rations (and my extra food, thank goodness!). My pack, even with extra food and a few little extras I'll probably be able to eliminate, weighs in at 45 lbs, a respectably low weight for the section. Every day, it should get at least 2 lbs lighter, as well! Woohoo!
Our canyon section will bring us to southern Utah Canyonland, exploring natural and human history in areas such as the Mancos Mesa, Gravel & Long Canyons, and the Dark Canyon area. I've included here some Google Maps snapshots to give you a peek at what the terrain in those areas is like, and so you can see the general progression of the course.
View Larger Map
View Larger Map
View Larger Map
When I return on April 18th, after some time catching up on things, I'll be sure to get another section recap blog up before I head out to our climbing section at Split Rock and Sinks Canyon.
Nick
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Labels: adventure, canyonland, canyons, connections, creative process, equipment, film, filmmaking, NOLS, outdoor educator, outdoors, utah, wyoming, youtube
15 May 2006
Being a sick writer…er, being a writer, sick…
Thing about being sick and being a writer, that is, the thing about being sick while being a writer, is that the sickness is like death. All we ask for as writers is enough time to do our writing and the inspiration to work from. When we are sick, we have at least the time…and I have had plenty of inspiration lately. In fact, so much that I’m just dying to write it out of my heart and mind, to express myself in some way. That sickness, however, is more torture than repose.
I am bedridden this week, freshly home from a tonsillectomy, and I cannot get anything done. I have played video games, watched movies, and even managed to go out for a drive, but I have not gotten anything done. I have sat (or rather, reclined) with my computer on my lap, staring into the infinite white void that is “Document1” for hours, closed the screen, and felt quite good about the work I did not do. It is hard to tell whether it is the narcotic pain relievers or the excruciating pain from the open sores in my throat, but I cannot concentrate on what I am feeling long enough to put it to words.
Labels: creative process, driving, drugs, inspiration, movies, sick, tonsillectomy, tonsils, video games, writer's block, writing
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