ATTA President Shannon Stowell has recently provided a series of guest posts for Beyond the Edge, National Geographic's adventure blog. The piece details an eventful rafting experience with ATTA Member O.A.R.S. on Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho from Shannon's sabbatical last summer. Detailing unplanned adventures like snake bites and wild horses, the article speaks to the need to 'unplug' and spend significant time in nature:
Days were spent thus, paddling, laughing, connecting with each others and nature, thinking, being silent….. Evenings were spent eating amazing meals prepared by the OARS guides, enjoying the company of others and watching the sky go from blue to black to star-heavy affairs looking like an explosion of lights on the black hole of the sky...
Days after the trip, when email and schedules and lawns and such re-clamped onto life, the thing I really noticed was the absence of the river as a constant soundtrack. For 6 days the gurgling, singing water had filled our heads constantly- we never got very far from it- and it felt like something rich was missing.
Read all the past guest posts from Shannon:
... and stay tuned for more from Shannon in Beyond the Edge.