changing gears - connecting with river people

back in flagstaff, it was finally time to immerse myself in the upcoming grand canyon trip. i have come so far, and still have such a huge piece if my journey in front of me.

myself and two other etc guides, Elena and barbara, came out here early to meet with the outfitter guides to do a mini "disability awareness training", and get on the same page for adapting our trip to the needs of our group. this particular trip is a coming together of 2 canyon outfitters, and ETC to bring a group of folks with mixed abilities on this amazing journey. for this particular trip, we have 24 people, 4 of whom have visual impairments, and 2 who have mobility impairments and use wheelchairs. everyone who signed up to go on this trip brings a ton of enthusiasm, and collaborating with the outfitters, we bring extra gear and techniques to make it as comfortable as possible for everyone.

it was awesome to sit down with the guides before the trip and go over everything, something we have never done before, and should definitely do again! combined, we have a lot of accessibility gear, and we all practiced getting used to it together, and discussing how it could work for each individual. this is going to make transitioning to the river trip and adapting to whatever we encounter so much easier! :)