{"id":8875,"date":"2016-04-01T10:00:56","date_gmt":"2016-04-01T17:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/community.nrs.com-2\/?p=8875"},"modified":"2017-10-17T10:03:44","modified_gmt":"2017-10-17T17:03:44","slug":"blondes-boating-bear-spray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2016\/04\/01\/blondes-boating-bear-spray\/","title":{"rendered":"Boating, Blondes and Bear Spray"},"content":{"rendered":"
\u201cDo you think they\u2019ll have bear spray in Craig? I\u2019m pretty sure they\u2019d have bear spray there.\u201d \n\u201cI dunno, it\u2019s kind of a small town, and we\u2019ll just sort of hit the western edge of it…\u201d<\/p>\n
I was stalling, desperately trying to avoid yet another stop on the way to Lodore Canyon. All I wanted was to be away from the world as soon as possible, for my one, perfect, backcountry trip of the summer. But this simple dream had already been postponed by gas station, grocery store, bank, and liquor store. Now, miles to the north of Rifle, Colorado, I thought, mistakenly, that we had finally evaded the clutches of civilization.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you kidding?\u201d came the scathing reply from the driver\u2019s seat. \u201cIt\u2019s Craig, of course they\u2019ll have bear spray.\u201d<\/p>\nThe Colorado landscape with the Gates of Lodore in the distance. Photo: Jennifer Cummins-Zuber<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
I sighed\u00a0and resigned myself to the inevitable. This was my fault, after all. Just to pass the time on the six-hour drive to the Shangri La of Western rafting, I had naively mentioned to Jennifer\u00a0that the Dinosaur National Monument Rangers recently had the unfortunate job of putting down a black bear when it had become too friendly with local rafters and hikers. Then I had shared such fascinating details as, \u201cIt was nosing people who were sleeping out on the beach at the put-in,\u201d and, \u201cIt wasn\u2019t scared away when the campers banged pots and pans together.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the time, I was blissfully ignorant of the effect my fun factoid would have on the next few days (and years) and was scanning the surrounding area for pronghorn antelope, good climbing sites, and maybe a spectacular mullet or two.<\/p>\nPhoto: Eileen Wysocki<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
But Jennifer, at the wheel of her navy blue H1 Hummer, had been digesting this information while studiously cutting off semis, Audis and farm trucks on Highway 13.<\/p>\n
Finally, she broke the silence. \u201cDid you bring your gun? \n\u201cNo. Why in God\u2019s name would I bring a gun on a rafting trip?\u201d \nUm, for the bears?\u201d \n\u201cWe don\u2019t need a gun for bears, Jen. We\u2019ll keep a clean camp and we\u2019ll be fine. Besides, they already got rid of the bear.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eyebrows of pure scorn. Over the many years of our friendship, I had learned only one way to deal with that look. I kept my mouth shut.<\/p>\n
There was a long pause, and I thought that was the end of it until, tapping her well manicured fingers on the wheel, she casually mentioned the town of Craig again and after some debate, we decided to stop there only if we saw a store that looked like it might have bear spray.<\/p>\n
Jennifer\u00a0is a beautiful woman. Just over six feet tall with long blonde hair, a lovely face and saucy, gray eyes. She casually wears the perfect blend of couture and country western with a dash of dirtbag thrown in sometimes (I think mostly to placate me). Born and raised in central Illinois, she\u2019s loud, smart, organized, hardworking, demanding, and the most determined-loyal-pigheaded-kind-hearted person I\u2019ve ever met.<\/p>\nThe author and Jen, circa 2005. Photo: Jennifer Cummins-Zuber<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
I\u2019d been living the seasonal life of a camp counselor\/dirtbag snowboarder for two years when we met working at Anderson Camps, a kid\u2019s overnight camp in western Colorado. I spent our first backpacking trip together teasing her mercilessly about the wet wipes she carried with her and produced at every stop on the trail. One for each hand, one for the neck area, and one for her face. At. Every. Stop. Apparently, however, my frontal assault on this and her many other fastidious idiosyncrasies seemed to go over well because we ended the summer as best friends.<\/p>\n
Through river trips, job opportunities and fails, college, poverty, marriage, personal tragedy and loss, in the interim six years, we\u2019ve been there for each other no matter the physical distance between. In the past year, Jen\u00a0had spent nearly every waking hour helping her mother fight off Cholangiocarcinoma, arguing with doctors and specialists in Illinois and Texas on her behalf, while simultaneously helping her husband with his business and finishing her\u00a0degree in Biology.<\/p>\n
So this trip was really for Jennifer. It was the one thing I could give her when there was so little else I could do to help. I knew she needed the river, the deep, red canyons, the clear skies, and apparently, bear spray.<\/p>\nPhoto: Jennifer Cummins-Zuber<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Craig\u2019s feed store was the best hope for bear spray. We pulled in and quickly caught the attention of\u00a0a cute and helpful employee with ginger hair who, upon discovering what we were after, carefully and with the perfect amount of twang, relayed to my blonde friend exactly how many times, he, personally, had been hit with pepper spray while working for a sheriff\u2019s office somewhere, not here. (Because that seemed relevant.) He\u2019d never heard of Lodore Canyon, or the fate of a pesky bear.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, we do have bear spray right here, but why\u2019n\u2019t ya just bring a gun?\u201d \nJennifer\u00a0gestured emphatically, \u201cThat\u2019s what I told her! \nTwo sets of judging eyes looked my way. Apparently, my honor had been forfeited the moment I failed to consider pulling the .357 from the ammo can under our bed.<\/p>\n
Fifty bucks and a rousing story about the founder of this particular brand of bear spray (who incidentally was\u00a0eaten by bears) later, we were out the door.<\/p>\n
With her giant cataraft frame strapped to the roof of the Hummer like a stunted metal bird, our car was easy to locate, and soon we were once again headed west on Highway 40.<\/p>\n
After a turn north in Where-the-Hell-is Maybell, Colorado and an hour and a half of Reckless Kelly, we were awed by the Gates themselves leaping up from the low country around the Green River.<\/p>\nThe Gates of Lodore Canyon. Photo: Eileen Wysocki<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The cliffs were burgundy in the late evening light, shaming the gently rolling hills that surrounded them, and hinting at some great mystery beyond. Regardless of whether a person is a greenhorn or a seasoned Big Ditch vet, from the moment they see the Gates, to the final take-out at Split Mountain, they find themselves constantly wondering what greater glory might be found just a little farther in. Incredible slot canyons, side hikes and secret stashes abound if one just knows where to look.<\/p>\n
When we set up tents that night at the put-in, Jennifer\u00a0eased the can of bear spray from its plastic casing and slept with it next to her head. She told me this was the first river trip she had ever been on without having a man beside her. It just felt right.<\/p>\n
There were four other people on the trip: the (mandatory) crotchety old river dog, who may have been named David, a middle-aged, middle school principal and his teenage son, and one other woman, Eileen, who also was running stag for the first time on a multi-night excursion.<\/p>\nPhoto: Eileen Wysocki<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Early the next morning, we rigged the boats, sucked up to the ranger, and launched to a remarkably chilly June breeze.\u00a0There were no bears at the put-in. In fact, we would see no bears on our trip, but that did not stop Jennifer\u00a0from taking precautions every night.<\/p>\n
I discovered just how extensive those precautions were the first night at dinner. We were camping at Pot Creek 2, a beautiful sandy campsite with sufficient\u00a0shade and an excellent kitchen spot. Jennifer\u00a0had decided to ditch me and shack up with Eileen\u00a0that night upon discovering that two Paco pads didn\u2019t fit into either her or my tent. Eileen\u00a0had a four-man tent, and apparently, was willing to help with any defensive action that Jennifer\u00a0might need to take.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell,\u201d Jennifer\u00a0began confidently, \u201cI\u2019m pretty sure if a bear is coming into camp he\u2019s going to come from that direction and go down to the boats.\u201d She gestured toward the cliffs at our backs as we faced the river. We all nodded, of course that was the only logical trajectory for a bear. \u201cSo, I put Eileen\u00a0on that side of the tent and my drybag in front of the door so that the bear will have to stumble over both, and give me a chance to get the bear spray out.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was not a hint of shame in Jennifer’s\u00a0face. Eileen\u00a0nodded sagely, totally ok with her role in this hypothetical situation. \u201cDon\u2019t worry! Geez, I told Eileen\u00a0that I\u2019ll give her time to cover her eyes before I spray it because I\u2019ll wait two seconds after yelling, \u2018Eileen, cover your eyes!\u2019\u201d \nI nodded, \u201cThat\u2019s very considerate.\u201d \n\u201cWell, duh.\u201d<\/p>\n
We continued munching our pesto gnocchi, imagining the possible scenarios. The crotchety old river dog asked, \u201cYou gonna take that spray to the groover with you?\u201d<\/p>\n
Jen\u00a0adjusted her black, strapless bikini top, sipped the PBR beside her and replied calmly, \u201cOf course. You can borrow it if you want.\u201d<\/p>\nUpper Disaster Falls. Photo: Eileen Wysocki<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
After another bearless night, we scouted and ran the three larger, class IV rapids\u2014Disaster Falls, Triplet, and Hell\u2019s Half Mile\u2014and had successful runs down each. All day we leapfrogged a NOLS trip, a group of Californian dads awkwardly taking their teenage daughters down the river, and a bachelor party run by a commercial company whose guides had happily assisted in strapping a blowup doll onto the front of a double ducky.<\/p>\n
The dam was releasing about 1400 cfs during the day and, due to the drought of the last few weeks, the water was clearer and more pristine than I had ever seen it. Every moment on the water was incredible.<\/p>\nEileen\u00a0paddling Hell’s Half Mile.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
That evening, we set-up camp at a stunning site known as Limestone. The large beach afforded us a heated game of extreme bocce. The teams: the teenage son and me against the FOG. Apparently, after being raised from infancy on the rivers, the teenage son and his older brother had affectionately labeled the venerable boaters with which they were often forced to coexist the F-ing Old Guys, or FOG. We both talked a big game, while the FOG easily trounced us, 14-21. Because that is how you score extreme bocce.<\/p>\nPhoto: Eileen Wysocki<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
That night, under perfect, summer solstice skies, surrounded by leaping bighorn, Jennifer, once again, had her plan in place: drybag, tent, Mara, bear spray. Again, there was no incident.<\/p>\n
Moderately hellish wind controlled the atmosphere of day three. Beer drinking was minimal as any hands off the oars meant being blown upstream. When we would come to a complete standstill between the balance of current, wind and rowing, Jennifer\u00a0would drop in the \u2018offboard motor\u2019 by putting her feet in the water and kicking as hard as she could. It worked.<\/p>\nFloating past Steamboat Rock using Jen’s ‘offboard motor’ talents. Photo: Eileen Wysocki<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
After Echo Park, when the wind died down and the sun began to cook, Jennifer\u00a0styled the late afternoon with a fashionable wide brim, woven black visor, a clean white shirt and, of course, bikini. I stuck a pink bandana under the back of my red baseball cap, rolled down the sleeves of my garish sunshirt, zipped on the bottom part of my pants, and kept rowing.<\/p>\nPhoto: Eileen Wysocki<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
That evening, the bear spray accompanied us on a hike to the Deluge Shelter pictographs from our camp at Jones Hole 4. By the time we returned from the hike, subdued by the heat and the reminder of just how many lives had seen this world before us, the sun was quietly echoing off the wide walls around us, and Jennifer\u00a0made a big decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to put my tent up next to yours, Lindsay.\u201d \n\u201cSleep by yourself? What if the bears come?\u201d \n\u201cI saw the people at Jones Hole 3 on the way past. They are like, way trashier than us. Much more likely to attract bears.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Everyone was tired from the wind and sun and was well aware of the longer miles that awaited us the next morning, so we turned in early. Jennifer\u00a0and I quietly heckled each other in the dark until I heard the familiar\u00a0snap of the top of a container of moisturizing lotion. I sniffed hesitantly.<\/p>\n
\u201cJen, is that cucumber melon lotion?\u201d \n\u201cUm yeah, why? We always used cucumber melon lotion on the river. Ever since that first summer, remember? It\u2019s a tradition.\u201d \nI sat in my tent, biting my lower lip. She quickly picked up on my silence. \n\u201cWhy?\u201d \n\u201cYou know what that makes you smell like, say, to a bear, right?\u201d \nSilence from the other tent. Then, \u201cOh my god.\u201d \nI burst out laughing, realizing I might well be driving nails into the coffin of our friendship. \n\u201cOh my god,\u201d she repeated quietly, \u201cI\u2019ve been putting this on every night.\u201d \nStifling my giggles with tremendous effort, \u201cHow trashy was that other camp?\u201d \n\u201cShit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before completely relaxing into sweet, Paco Pad supported unconsciousness, I had to make one more trip to the river to raise the cfs. About ten feet beyond our tents, I kicked something. In the dim, reverberating light, I reached down and picked up the mint green bottle of cucumber melon lotion, marooned on the open stretch of beach between tents and river. It had been launched to what was, no doubt, a carefully calculated distance, probably accounting for wind direction and general animal traffic. Grinning, I tossed it into the dry box.<\/p>\nPhoto: Eileen Wysocki<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The final day, we rowed the slow water through Rainbow Park and the quick rapids of Split Mountain, battered at every turn by moral-shattering wind, blistering sun and the other beloved accouterments of desert river travel\u2014black flies. There was no interest in lunch; the group just kept rowing. We arduously pulled around a corner and saw the rock formation that\u2019s nothing if not a frog and an iguana sitting on the back of a giant alligator whose tail points to the take-out.<\/p>\n
Then, with the sudden impertinence of a moment that one has both dreamed of and dreaded, the trip was over. We beached the boats, sucked up to this ranger, de-rigged efficiently while judging the efficiency of other ramp users, and drove home.<\/p>\nThe Lodore crew at take-out. Photo: Jennifer Cummins-Zuber<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Jennifer\u00a0and I left the river that day, blissfully unaware that our next trip together, three years (a lifetime) later, would be two nights of flat water centered around the myriad needs of our one-year-old progeny, as well as food poisoning and a mosquito overpopulation. Later I would also discover how that exact can of bear spray has found its way onto every subsequent trip to Colorado, family camping weekends in Wisconsin, and several other \u2018potentially sketchy\u2019 excursions including a bachelorette party in Kansas City.<\/p>\n
The can has yet to be discharged, but one would hope that we\u2019ll all receive a two second warning before it is.<\/p>\nPhoto: Eileen Wysocki<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I sighed, and resigned myself to the inevitable. This was my fault, after all. Just to pass the time on the six-hour drive to the Shangri La of Western rafting, I had naively mentioned to Jennifer that the Dinosaur National Monument Rangers recently had the unfortunate job of putting down a black bear when it had become too friendly with local rafters and hikers. Then I had shared such fascinating details as, \u201cIt was nosing people who were sleeping out on the beach at the put-in,\u201d and, \u201cIt wasn\u2019t scared away when the campers banged pots and pans together.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45800,"featured_media":8891,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[336],"tags":[323,38,417,316,120],"class_list":["post-8875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-explore","tag-drawntowater","tag-camping","tag-multi-day-rafting","tag-rafting","tag-women-boaters","post-grid"],"yoast_head":"\n
Boating, Blondes and Bear Spray | Duct Tape Diaries | NRS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Two friends, four days rafting through the Lodore Canyon and one can of bear spray.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2016\/04\/01\/blondes-boating-bear-spray\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Boating, Blondes and Bear Spray | Duct Tape Diaries | NRS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Two friends, four days rafting through the Lodore Canyon and one can of bear spray.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2016\/04\/01\/blondes-boating-bear-spray\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Duct Tape Diaries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/nrsweb\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-04-01T17:00:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-10-17T17:03:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d2kl15j267vxtq.cloudfront.net\/duct-tape\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/31184948\/split-mtn_web.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"684\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"513\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lindsay DeFrates\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@nrsweb\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@nrsweb\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lindsay DeFrates\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"13 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/01\\\/blondes-boating-bear-spray\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/01\\\/blondes-boating-bear-spray\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lindsay DeFrates\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/579788c1d5995bd1c8c9bb6a2febc457\"},\"headline\":\"Boating, Blondes and Bear Spray\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-04-01T17:00:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-10-17T17:03:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/01\\\/blondes-boating-bear-spray\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":2640,\"commentCount\":2,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/01\\\/blondes-boating-bear-spray\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d2kl15j267vxtq.cloudfront.net\\\/duct-tape\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/31184948\\\/split-mtn_web.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"#DrawnToWater\",\"camping\",\"multi-day rafting\",\"rafting\",\"women boaters\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Explore\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/01\\\/blondes-boating-bear-spray\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/01\\\/blondes-boating-bear-spray\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/01\\\/blondes-boating-bear-spray\\\/\",\"name\":\"Boating, Blondes and Bear Spray | Duct Tape Diaries | NRS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/01\\\/blondes-boating-bear-spray\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/01\\\/blondes-boating-bear-spray\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d2kl15j267vxtq.cloudfront.net\\\/duct-tape\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/31184948\\\/split-mtn_web.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-04-01T17:00:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-10-17T17:03:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/579788c1d5995bd1c8c9bb6a2febc457\"},\"description\":\"Two friends, four days rafting through the Lodore Canyon and one can of bear spray.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/01\\\/blondes-boating-bear-spray\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/01\\\/blondes-boating-bear-spray\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/01\\\/blondes-boating-bear-spray\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d2kl15j267vxtq.cloudfront.net\\\/duct-tape\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/31184948\\\/split-mtn_web.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d2kl15j267vxtq.cloudfront.net\\\/duct-tape\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/31184948\\\/split-mtn_web.jpg\",\"width\":684,\"height\":513},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/01\\\/blondes-boating-bear-spray\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Boating, Blondes and Bear Spray\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/\",\"name\":\"Duct Tape Diaries\",\"description\":\"Duct Tape Diaries, NRS's official blog, entertains, educates, inspires and celebrates the paddling lifestyle through compelling storytelling and photography.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/579788c1d5995bd1c8c9bb6a2febc457\",\"name\":\"Lindsay DeFrates\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2bcd30cf0ad70a3dd34a4e081741440872d21a37991fb031a506a40aceba17e7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2bcd30cf0ad70a3dd34a4e081741440872d21a37991fb031a506a40aceba17e7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2bcd30cf0ad70a3dd34a4e081741440872d21a37991fb031a506a40aceba17e7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lindsay DeFrates\"},\"description\":\"Lindsay DeFrates is a freelance writer who has lived and played on the rivers of Western Colorado and Eastern Utah since 2005. She lives in Glenwood Springs with her husband and their three kids. Sometimes, the whole family goes rafting, which is, of course, ridiculous.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.roaringforkwriter.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/roaringforkwriter\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/author\\\/lindsay\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Boating, Blondes and Bear Spray | Duct Tape Diaries | NRS","description":"Two friends, four days rafting through the Lodore Canyon and one can of bear spray.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2016\/04\/01\/blondes-boating-bear-spray\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Boating, Blondes and Bear Spray | Duct Tape Diaries | NRS","og_description":"Two friends, four days rafting through the Lodore Canyon and one can of bear spray.","og_url":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2016\/04\/01\/blondes-boating-bear-spray\/","og_site_name":"Duct Tape Diaries","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/nrsweb","article_published_time":"2016-04-01T17:00:56+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-10-17T17:03:44+00:00","og_image":[{"width":684,"height":513,"url":"https:\/\/d2kl15j267vxtq.cloudfront.net\/duct-tape\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/31184948\/split-mtn_web.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lindsay DeFrates","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@nrsweb","twitter_site":"@nrsweb","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lindsay DeFrates","Est. reading time":"13 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2016\/04\/01\/blondes-boating-bear-spray\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2016\/04\/01\/blondes-boating-bear-spray\/"},"author":{"name":"Lindsay DeFrates","@id":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/#\/schema\/person\/579788c1d5995bd1c8c9bb6a2febc457"},"headline":"Boating, Blondes and Bear Spray","datePublished":"2016-04-01T17:00:56+00:00","dateModified":"2017-10-17T17:03:44+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2016\/04\/01\/blondes-boating-bear-spray\/"},"wordCount":2640,"commentCount":2,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2016\/04\/01\/blondes-boating-bear-spray\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/d2kl15j267vxtq.cloudfront.net\/duct-tape\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/31184948\/split-mtn_web.jpg","keywords":["#DrawnToWater","camping","multi-day rafting","rafting","women boaters"],"articleSection":["Explore"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2016\/04\/01\/blondes-boating-bear-spray\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2016\/04\/01\/blondes-boating-bear-spray\/","url":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2016\/04\/01\/blondes-boating-bear-spray\/","name":"Boating, Blondes and Bear Spray | Duct Tape Diaries | NRS","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2016\/04\/01\/blondes-boating-bear-spray\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2016\/04\/01\/blondes-boating-bear-spray\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/d2kl15j267vxtq.cloudfront.net\/duct-tape\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/31184948\/split-mtn_web.jpg","datePublished":"2016-04-01T17:00:56+00:00","dateModified":"2017-10-17T17:03:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/#\/schema\/person\/579788c1d5995bd1c8c9bb6a2febc457"},"description":"Two friends, four days rafting through the Lodore Canyon and one can of bear spray.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2016\/04\/01\/blondes-boating-bear-spray\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2016\/04\/01\/blondes-boating-bear-spray\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2016\/04\/01\/blondes-boating-bear-spray\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/d2kl15j267vxtq.cloudfront.net\/duct-tape\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/31184948\/split-mtn_web.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/d2kl15j267vxtq.cloudfront.net\/duct-tape\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/31184948\/split-mtn_web.jpg","width":684,"height":513},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2016\/04\/01\/blondes-boating-bear-spray\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Boating, Blondes and Bear Spray"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/#website","url":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/","name":"Duct Tape Diaries","description":"Duct Tape Diaries, NRS's official blog, entertains, educates, inspires and celebrates the paddling lifestyle through compelling storytelling and photography.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/#\/schema\/person\/579788c1d5995bd1c8c9bb6a2febc457","name":"Lindsay DeFrates","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2bcd30cf0ad70a3dd34a4e081741440872d21a37991fb031a506a40aceba17e7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2bcd30cf0ad70a3dd34a4e081741440872d21a37991fb031a506a40aceba17e7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2bcd30cf0ad70a3dd34a4e081741440872d21a37991fb031a506a40aceba17e7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lindsay DeFrates"},"description":"Lindsay DeFrates is a freelance writer who has lived and played on the rivers of Western Colorado and Eastern Utah since 2005. She lives in Glenwood Springs with her husband and their three kids. Sometimes, the whole family goes rafting, which is, of course, ridiculous.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.roaringforkwriter.com","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/roaringforkwriter\/"],"url":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/author\/lindsay\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/45800"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8875"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8875\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14510,"href":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8875\/revisions\/14510"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Gates](\"https:\/\/d2kl15j267vxtq.cloudfront.net\/duct-tape\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/31184941\/Gates-from-a-Distance_web.jpg\")
![\"Big](\"https:\/\/d2kl15j267vxtq.cloudfront.net\/duct-tape\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/31184959\/Big-horn_web.jpg\")
![\"Me](\"https:\/\/d2kl15j267vxtq.cloudfront.net\/duct-tape\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/31184940\/Me-and-Jen_web.jpg\")
![\"Bear](\"https:\/\/d2kl15j267vxtq.cloudfront.net\/duct-tape\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/31184938\/Bear-Spray_web.jpg\")
![\"the](\"https:\/\/d2kl15j267vxtq.cloudfront.net\/duct-tape\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/31184946\/the-gates_web.jpg\")
![\"putin_web\"](\"https:\/\/d2kl15j267vxtq.cloudfront.net\/duct-tape\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/31184950\/putin_web.jpg\")
![\"Upper](\"https:\/\/d2kl15j267vxtq.cloudfront.net\/duct-tape\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/31184946\/Upper-Disaster-Falls_web.jpg\")
![\"Hell's](\"https:\/\/d2kl15j267vxtq.cloudfront.net\/duct-tape\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/31184956\/Hells-Half-Mile-Mara_web.jpg\")
![\"Extreme](\"https:\/\/d2kl15j267vxtq.cloudfront.net\/duct-tape\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/31184957\/Extreme-Bocce_web.jpg\")
![\"motoring](\"https:\/\/d2kl15j267vxtq.cloudfront.net\/duct-tape\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/31184953\/motoring-past-Steamboat-Rock_web.jpg\")
![\"pictographs_web\"](\"https:\/\/d2kl15j267vxtq.cloudfront.net\/duct-tape\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/31184952\/pictographs_web.jpg\")
![\"Me](\"https:\/\/d2kl15j267vxtq.cloudfront.net\/duct-tape\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/31184941\/Me-and-Jen-Lodore-2_web.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"split](\"https:\/\/d2kl15j267vxtq.cloudfront.net\/duct-tape\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/31184948\/split-mtn_web.jpg\")
![\"Whole](\"https:\/\/d2kl15j267vxtq.cloudfront.net\/duct-tape\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/31184939\/Whole-crew-Take-out_web.jpg\")
![\"Take](\"https:\/\/d2kl15j267vxtq.cloudfront.net\/duct-tape\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/31184947\/Take-out_web.jpg\")