{"id":26572,"date":"2022-02-03T08:00:50","date_gmt":"2022-02-03T16:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/community.nrs.com\/?p=26572"},"modified":"2022-02-01T15:48:54","modified_gmt":"2022-02-01T23:48:54","slug":"i-was-a-grand-canyon-internet-date","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2022\/02\/03\/i-was-a-grand-canyon-internet-date\/","title":{"rendered":"I Was a Grand Canyon Internet Date"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I lay awake at Lees Ferry, listening to the wind and eyeing the scorpion that had taken up watch three feet away, I wondered\u2014not for the first time\u2014if I was in over my head. Tomorrow, I would launch on a 16-day Grand Canyon trip with a group of strangers I met online, and I knew that once the current pulled our boats downstream, there would be no turning back.<\/p>\n

I had always wanted to go on a trip down the Grand Canyon (what river runner hasn\u2019t?), but it always seemed out of reach. I wanted my own adventure, but I was also experiencing an increasingly desperate need to connect with my father as early-onset dementia caused his memory to deteriorate<\/a>. His trips down the Grand Canyon are some of the happiest memories of his life, and a trip of my own would offer us an important point of connection.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Last winter, my husband and I made a major move. I left my job as a teacher, we found ourselves living in a hotel, and I worked at a nearby grocery store. My life lacked direction and purpose, but I was untethered from the responsibilities of adult life in a way that might never come again. As the snow fell and I bagged groceries and a pandemic raged around us, I knew that there would never be a better time to try for a Grand Canyon trip.<\/p>\n

On New Year\u2019s Eve, I wrote two magic words on a piece of \u201cwish paper,\u201d a very thin piece of tissue that lifts into the air and evaporates into smoke and ash when you light it. But a wish isn\u2019t reality, so I also joined a Facebook group called \u201cGrand Canyon River Trip Participants Needed,\u201d which is exactly what it sounds like.\u00a0 Most of the posts fall into one of two categories: Either someone has gotten a permit but doesn\u2019t have enough rowers, or someone posts something like, \u201cI\u2019ve been down the Big Ditch twelve times and I love doing dishes. Here\u2019s a picture of me in a unicorn costume.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I wrote a very long post detailing my dad\u2019s declining health and was clear about the fact that I could not row someone\u2019s boat through the big rapids if they got scared. I made the requisite comment about dishes and groover duty. For luck, I put glitter on my face every day for a week and held my breath.<\/p>\n

Something about my post must have touched people because the response was overwhelming. Almost immediately I had upwards of thirty comments on the post, mostly messages of support and, \u201cIf I get a cancellation, I\u2019ll take you!\u201d One woman said if I could be at Lees Ferry in a week, I was welcome to join. Then, a man from Spokane, Washington who had picked up a cancellation permit messaged me. \u201cI\u2019m intrigued by your story,\u201d he said. \u201cLet\u2019s talk.\u201d<\/p>\n