Episode 166 with Brandon Lake
Moab Unleashed: Unforgettable Adventures, Personal Growth, and Disconnecting from Distractions
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166 BRANDON LAKE TWO
Ginny Yurich Okay, here we go. Welcome to the 1000 Hours Outside podcast. My name is Ginny Yurich and the founder of 1000 Hours Outside. And for the first time ever, we did a two part episode with Brandon Lake from Moab Adventure Center. Brandon, welcome back.
Brandon Lake Thank you so much, Ginny. I'm excited to be here and excited to be part of this two part series. You've had a great experience with just a little bit. I'm excited to hear more details about that.
Ginny Yurich Yeah. So really, it's a welcome back to myself as well because we we just returned from a fabulous and unforgettable, truly unforgettable trip to Moab, Utah. Hadn't been there before and went with our oldest daughter, who is 13. She's at summer camp today, but she just had an absolute blast. She wants to come back. She's already talking about who she's going to bring when she becomes an adult. We had all these conversations about which friend she thinks would adventure with her and she said, I'm bringing back this person. When I turn 18, I'm going to bring back that person. And we had such a fantastic time. So thank you so much. And we're going to be talking about all that today.
Brandon Lake Yeah, I'm excited. And welcome back for sure. We you had a great experience. You went on our Desolation Canyon trailer down the highway and then had some time before and after to experience a bit of what Moab is, right?
Ginny Yurich Yeah, we sure did. It was truly one of those things that you remember til you die. You know, I was talking to my husband because I was nervous and I didn't talk about it too much. But, you know, you're nervous. To try anything new is nerve wracking a little bit, and we've never done anything like that before. A five day trip on the river and even just traveling across the country, just the two of us haven't done that before. So I was a little bit nervous and it was so unbelievably worth it in any period of time, you know, eight, ten days is forgettable. Maybe there'll be a cool thing here or there. But this is one of those things that you'll talk about forever. So we came in to Salt Lake City. That's where we flew into. And then we drove. We got a jeep, which was super fun. Brandon We got those ducks. Have you heard of that?
Brandon Lake No, I don't think I have. What are we talking about?
Ginny Yurich Okay. Okay. So this is the thing I should. We named one of our ducks after you. So people that have cheese, they leave ducks on the dash or I'm a handle of the jeep. They leave these little rubber duckies for other Jeep drivers. And it's a thing, I guess it started during COVID. And so people had told me about, oh, be on the lookout for ducks. And so if you see Jeeps driving around, a lot of times I'll have all of these rubber ducks along the dash and people just give them randomly, anonymously. And so we were at Arches National Park, and I had accidentally turned on the hazard lights on the jeep and I couldn't figure out how to turn them off and you have no signal. So I was just waiting. I just had to wait in the parking lot for another Jeep owner to come. And then I went and asked, and then they gave us one of the ducks and then we got another one when we were in downtown Moab. So we named one of them after you and we named one of them after our Hummer guide. So we have a rubber duck named Brandon and one named Craig.
Brandon Lake So I can't say that I've been named a duck, has been named after me before.
Ginny Yurich But what a fun thing. So we had so many new experiences and so many things that we learned just from being in the area. So we ended up going to the two national parks that are right there. We went to Arches National Park. We didn't have a reservation, but we went early. So if you go before 7:00 in the morning or if you go after 4 p.m., you can slide in and you don't need a reservation. And so that's what we did. And we spent over a half day there. We saw a ton of the different arches, did some hiking, what a park. We did this one hike called Park Avenue and the rocks come up on either side like you're on Fifth Avenue, all these huge buildings. So we did that one morning, we went to Canyonlands one morning and we did the island in the sky part because Canyonlands has, I think, five different places that you can go. So which is like the Grand Canyon, but a little bit more accessible. It was so incredible. And then we did some different events with Moab Adventure Center. So one of the things we did was the Hummer, a sunset tour, and that was just a wild hour tour guide was Craig. His family was from the area. They'd been there since the 1800s, he said, And we were with maybe eight other people or something. And you hit it. It's about you Tell us when you're going straight up. You're going straight down. He's up on three wheels, sometimes one wheels off. And we got to see the sunset and all these dirt bikes. I mean, it was truly an incredible thing. We got some fantastic pictures. So tell us, before the Hummer tours, people have to go. It was so wildly fun and wildly memorable. The Hummer tours, you offer several types of those.
Brandon Lake Yeah. Yeah. We have a nice thing about the Hummer tours as well. If you're down in Moab and you want to slide something in to your time there, that's one of the easiest thing to do because there's a two hour experience with. The slick rock safari, and that goes out starting at 7 a.m.. And then, you know, every couple of hours throughout the day. So that's an easy one to have in a sunset. You did, of course, only happens once a day, but that is a wonderful experience because it's a little bit longer, Take a lot more time out there. You'll more time outside of the vehicle just enjoying the sunset and all of that. And then there's a third one. That's for our experience. So if you really want to see a little bit more, have a bigger experience, that's a good one as well. I would say if you're going with family, a lot of our audience has kids here. So if you're going with us kids, I would lean more towards those shorter experiences. I think it's you get like the one you had. I mean, you get to see and feel all of what offroading in Moab is and experience all of that in that nice little package. So because it's hotter during the season, you know that earlier one in the morning or the or the sunset, probably a little bit nicer. It gets it gets pretty hot in the middle of the day. But if you're coming later in the fall or early in the spring, any time of day is beautiful.
Ginny Yurich It was a high thrill. So in our Hummer, there was a five year old so great for younger kids. He had so much fun. You kind of switch seats around and our tour guide, it was so cool. Brand and he stopped. So there was this one passage where because there's a lot of people that go, you could go like if you live in the area and you had a jeep and you're brave. This is part of the culture. Some people might be there off roading on their own. And so there was this one jeep coming up this past. Everyone knew the name of it was a famous pass in the area. So this woman and she was going to drive up and she'd never done it before. So Craig stopped and there's this whole crowd of people, you're up on these rocks watching. We got to go watch. And she'd driven up before with other people driving, but she never driven it before. And so everybody got to watch and gasp and someone was kind of leading her through. And Craig was talking about, you know, if you missed this piece, you would maybe flip, you could possibly roll backwards. So it was really this exciting thing to watch someone else do the drive and to see how people learn and how they do that sort of thing. So that was a really cool thing. The sunset was great. Even just in 2 hours. We got to know the other people in our Hummer, which was a fantastic thing. There was a couple that the guy was becoming a teacher. There was an author on ours, a couple that had just gotten engaged. So that was really neat to just the fact that in a short period of time you can get to know the other people. And then there was a larger family in our group and they all just had their own Hummer. So that was a neat thing too. If you come, it could be your own experience or if you're just two of you or two or three of you, you would get to know the other people in your group. And then we saw the dinosaur tracks.
Brandon Lake Yeah. Which is super cool. I mean, there's not too many places in the world where you can go out and see something like that, right? Yeah, that's what it was right there. I mean, you can go and it shows you that. I mean, they're big and you see this footprint right there, pretty well preserved in the same experience for kids to be able to see something like that. Sometimes we go to movies when we're not seeing something like out in the wild, like here's remnants of dinosaurs, you know, And that's it.
Ginny Yurich Yeah. Craig was really knowledgeable about that.
Brandon Lake Oh, that's awesome. Where did you guys sit? In a vehicle.
Ginny Yurich So we started off in the back. The back row where you're kind of a little bit higher. I mean, I screamed the whole time, but it was so fun. You know, we've gone through the sand. We learned about fins. So these are the things that you don't know about, depending on where you live, these fins or like these fin rack things that you could drive on. Then we ended up walking on one the next day when we went rappelling. So just even learning about the landscape there and to see that it sort of started to turn black, all of these trails on the rock, they start to turn black because you got all these people driving over them. But then Craig said it all wash away with the rain. So we just saw such phenomenal things. We got a really cool picture on that one up high over the Colorado River. That was so funny. We even talked about like if we would have had enough time, we would have done it again. Like it was one of those things that's like, I would do this tomorrow. I mean, it was really such a thrill. And I think Vivian I knew what to expect because I had seen the videos and you and I had talked, but she didn't. And she was like, I had no idea it was going to be this much fun. She just thought it was going to be a ride and it was a ride, but it was this thrilling ride and fun to watch the other Hummers, too fun to watch, Like I said, the dirt bikers and just sort of seeing what everyone's doing back there that was in them. You said it Slick Rock's recreation area or something like that, which just seemed like such a cool place in general.
Brandon Lake The recreation area, the trail you did is called Hell's Revenge. So you got a pretty exciting name there. And it's cool because like you notice right as you go, there's a short drive from our adventure center up to the starting park. But as soon as you start onto that, like you're driving over one of those events and the ground drops where both sides are like, whoa, like, it's exciting, right? You know, right from the beginning. And some people get a little bit nervous about that, but they, you know, with a professional driver and everything, they, you know, quickly top down and say, okay, it's going to be okay because it's so different than if you've gone off roading somewhere else. It's probably been on a dirt road or something. Yeah.
Ginny Yurich And never on rock like that. We had asked him, you know, do people get sick? Do people get motion sick? And he said, it's never really happened. Think about all those trips that you're taking people out. You said every couple of hours. And this person who took us had been doing it for decades, it seemed like. So he was really knowledgeable about the area and it was so fun. And like I said, we met some other people and actually have spurred on some relationships. One of the authors is going to be on our podcast. I mean, isn't that cool?
Brandon Lake And then look at that.
Ginny Yurich Yeah, his name is Levi Lesko, and he was talking about how he just finished his eighth book. It's about the Moon. And his son was there and his son, who's five, said, Well, you've only written eight books, Dad. It's just funny. So how cool. So he, like, really made a solid connection on that. So we love that. And then the next day we did it through the Moab Adventure Center, we did the rappelling and that was really hard for me. I struggled, but my daughter absolutely loved it. Once again, we were with a group of maybe 6 to 8 people. We have three guides with us. Brandon The guides are phenomenal. They're so good. And we had talked to them about on the River trip because that was a little bit longer about the hiring process and they said, it's really prestigious.
Brandon Lake Yeah, we'll often get it. An average year, maybe a hundred applicants, right? And we may have spots for eight or ten of them. So yeah, I mean it's and we and we hire a lot of people think, oh, you know, you're hiring people that probably have this a whole bunch of experience and whatever they're going to be doing. And occasionally that's the case. But we, we more often hire for personalities, people that can make connections with other people. And then we have an incredible training program internally that walks through. So they've spent, you know, in some cases literally like hundreds of hours training and whatever it is they're going to do, they have a skill set they need. But that's combined with these great personalities, which you've probably experienced. And and, you know, people at least that might be a little nervous like you were on that experience and and helps people get through it. So was that something that, as you said, you're a little bit nervous on that? Was it something.
Ginny Yurich I definitely struggled with.
Brandon Lake Learning to grow a little better.
Ginny Yurich Than I did it. I did. I struggled with it, sort of just even figuring it out. But when you talk about the guides, we had three guides on that trip. Their names are Abby, Jess and Aubrey. And you know, they're in their twenties, mid to late 20, some early twenties. And for our daughter, who is 13, she just loved them. And in fact, Brandon, on our last day, we got up super early and drove over to your building there right in downtown Moab so that Vivian could get a picture with one of them because we have forgotten to get a picture with one of the guides. And she's like, We can't go home. We're going nowhere. I think maybe she thought we were kind of strange because we just showed up. We had called and found out, you know, is there a chip going out and can we just come and get a quick picture before this early one goes out in the morning? So they really did leave such an impact. I thought that part of it was really cool. You know, they're brave, they're out in nature. They're not on their phones. They're learning new things. They're being personable. All these things are really impactful. They're they're influential, especially for a young person to see that and to see what you can do with your life, that there's all these different paths that you can take. And one of our guides, Jess, she was from Michigan, not far from where we're at, so what a brave thing. She moved out there. We learned about the warehouse.
Brandon Lake Right?
Ginny Yurich So the warehouse sounds like a cool thing. You guys have lodging if people need it or want it for the.
Brandon Lake Guy we recently building as we were kind of growing and we provide all the housing for the guy. Like some of the guys that you met, some of our Hummer drivers and even some of the climbing and canyoning guides. They live in Moab, but a lot of the river guides, a majority, will not have housing in Moab. So we actually provide that. We have built a brand new warehouse and behind it we have housing. We have the kind of the girls side, the boys side, and there's a common shared area and it's a pretty big facility. We can sleep about 64 guides in there. There are kind of bunk rooms and they'll share a room with a few others. And and it works out really well because housing in Moab is pretty expensive. So, yeah. So if you're coming there to be there and a lot of these jobs are seasonal, right? So they'll come back season after season but not have to worry about, about housing and that.
Ginny Yurich Yeah, yeah. So it was a really cool thing to learn about. And I have a friend who has a son who's in his early twenties, great personality, you know, just looking for adventure. And I thought, well, what a neat thing. That's just a total sci thing. Like if someone has someone in their life that's looking for that, you know, that could come for a couple summers or learn the training is phenomenal. And the warehouse, I thought you should have a reality show called The Warehouse. I would go over. Well.
Brandon Lake I think we've actually been approached by several reality TV series to kind of like to do that. I don't know. They're always looking for. You know, conflict and different things. Like I had to kind of shied away from That said, I don't know what you're going to seek out. Yeah.
Ginny Yurich What a cool thing. You know, if you're in your twenties and you know, you're starting off at life and a lot of them would come, they're in college or they would come for the summer and do these different jobs. So we did the canyon earrings. There was two different candy nearing options. We did the one where you do the first one and then the second repel is the free hang repel, which was just phenomenal. The landscape was phenomenal. So it was about a mile hike in. And after we hiked over those fins, so we had just learned what those were on the Hummer to wear. And then we got to hike on one. And it was just a gorgeous morning. So we did a hike out and then we did the first apple, which had like a landing and then another landing. And then you would just kind of walk around the corner. And it was really cool. It was, you know, you're cheering on the other people and then you go in the second one, it's just a stunning spot. You could only get there, I guess, if you had rappelled in. And then the second one landed where it was just gorgeous. There was a creek flowing through. You could fill your water bottle up there. And then the hike out of that one was about two miles or maybe two and a half miles. We have determined that hikes in Moab feel twice as long as it did anywhere. We went to Arches, we went to Canyonlands, it would say one mile and we would think, No, there's no way this was one mile. But it would be. And it felt like too, though the hikes because they're up and down and just different they're really different than they are here. The things are flatter here. So we least about a two mile hike. But it was through these really cool places of water. And I thought that that particular spot, because you could hike in to see the people repelling down that particular spot would be a great place to take kids. Just kids. Swimming is just like a shallow, cool pockets of water on that hike out. So that was absolutely stunning. And, you know, our daughter learned she likes that. What a cool thing. We learned that, you know, for anywhere and there's an option to go rappelling to go canyon earring that that's something that she really, really likes and wouldn't have known you know I didn't do it til I was in my forties so she got to do it at 13 and they even take kids as young as ten. And so it was just a phenomenal experience, just felt very safe and it was a thrill. Like I said, I struggle with it personally, but no one else did. Everyone else was fine and Vivian just was a star. And I got such cool video. I mean, it's so incredible to hang in there and then you land and it's just a gorgeous spot. We love that. So beyond those trips, and then we can talk about the river trip, you offer several other things biking, horseback riding, hot air balloons. So let's just talk about it for just a quick minute because depending on how much time you have, some of these, you offer trips right to the national park. So then you don't have to worry about getting the pass or things like that, depending on how much time people have, If they have 2 hours, if they have 4 hours, if they have a full day, if they have a couple of days. There are a lot of options here.
Brandon Lake And you mentioned the National Park tours and those that is one of our most popular options, not just because the park requires that timed entry ticket, which some people get there and are weren't planning on that. And so it's like, oh, you either have to go early, later, later that. But there is some advantage when you go with a guide into the park because there's so much to learn right in Arches National Park how are these things formed? And and granted, you can kind of read through some of that on the guides and so forth, but to be able to kind of sit in the vehicle, look out the windows while they're describing all of this geology and history and so forth, is a really cool learning experience. And then to kind of take you to the I've even learned things on our own trips when I've gone out with some of our guides who are like super knowledgeable about the area and they'll point out something you would never have seen, you know, like this little hidden arch or something. It's over here. And what it significant it says or how certain things are measured geologically and stuff. And it's pretty fascinating because that park is like, like any place in the world. So Arches National Park Tours, one in the morning, one in the evening, really great experience. We talked about the first we talk about the canyon hearing. There is another canyon hearing experience. Some people actually do and then love it so much like your daughter did and be like, I want to experience another one. We have another one that's quite different than the experience you had. That's also really incredible. It's called bow and arrow. You could see an arch, you'd see some petroglyphs along the way, and then it has several repels kind of as you work your way down a canyon. So that's really big. And then beyond that, I mean, we've got the zipline, which is super fun and a lot of people have done zip line in like jungle areas or forested areas like that. But this one is different because you're on top of that sandstone. So it's like you're running out of sand and then, you know, through the air and then the ground gets close to you and then it drops away again. And that's kind of a cool experience. So zip line's really, really popular. Hot air ballooning in Moab is like, unlike anywhere else too, because it's the same kind of thing you take off and you don't know where you're going in hot air balloon is kind of, you know, it's driven by the wind and so forth. And so you'll go and all of a sudden you'll, you know, you'll be hundreds of. Feet up in the air or a thousand plus, and then all of a sudden, you know, you go over like a big dude or something and suddenly the ground is right there and then it's cool to watch it the way again as you go over the other side. And you're just seeing all these features as you float over the air. So that's a really cool one. Another popular one are the airplane tours, like you mentioned, Canyonlands National Park. It is massive. There's no way to see all of it. So we often suggest, if you're curious to see our Canyonlands National Park, see it from the air flyover, and you can see, you know, some of the arches and formations and these big monoliths and you can see the river from the top, which is kind of cool. The confluence of the Green River and the Colorado River is kind of neat to see from the air. So that's really cool. And the last year, like mountain biking myob's known as the mountain biking capital of the world. So if you're into mountain biking or even if you just want to try it, you know, you're comfortable riding a bike, you want to try it. There's everything from beginner type mountain biking experiences up to more intermediate experiences. Then we have horseback riding. What a cool place to go horseback riding like here. You know what you've seen in Western movies and stuff? Like in fact. So the areas where you're riding are the same places where they're like city slickers and, you know, Mission Impossible, All of these places where you see like big red rock type features and movies, because that's generally MOAB, you know, everything, The Lone Ranger or Thelma and Louise, like the movie list goes on and on. And sometimes that's a cool thing to see for families because they, like, relate to some of these movies that they've seen and be like, Oh my gosh, that was right there.
Ginny Yurich Yeah. Oh, yeah. So many options.
Brandon Lake Are very most popular trip of all in Moab. You didn't experience this one because you experienced Desolation Canyon, which I would always suggest overnight rafting trip. But our most popular experience in Moab is our just our one day rafting trips. So if you're there having a shorter experience in Moab, don't have time for like a 2 to 5 day rafting trip like we're going to talk about next. You can go out for just a half day or a full day on the river. Yeah, and that is spectacular. A lot of it is. It's a pretty mellow trip. We do have Westwater Canyon, which is, you know, way more adventure and pretty big whitewater. But then we have just our day trips that are at morning and afternoon and a full day, and there's a lot of floating in the river. There's a lot of little splashy type rapids that are fun. Sometimes we'll bring along inflatable kayaks and you can catch all those through the rapids. And that's done. And we stopped for lunch at a ranch, pull up to a dock, have a full barbecue lunch there. And that's a really nice experience because, you know, it's nice to get out of the heat, just just relax in the season and get.
Ginny Yurich So many options. There's so many options of things to do. And even your store was so fantastic. So we've been came home. She's got a couple of shirts, really cute ones that say Moab Adventures and our one that's got like a raft on top of a jeep. So there's really cool things in there. And then we got water bottles. So with some of the trips, you got a water bottle that came with it and really cool. So I got some cool pictures of those and we had just such a fantastic time. Like I said, she was talking immediately about coming back, When are we coming back? She said, Please try and make sure they invite us back. She said right before she left for camp because she knew she wasn't going to be here for the conversation. So just a great time. And then we went to we did all of those adventures in just a very short period of time, which actually I think is a big deal to say that, look, the stuff is very close. Arches National Park is 8 minutes from Moab Adventure Center, from the store. It's right there. Canyonlands was maybe a 40 minute drive to get to island in the sky. It's also closed. And then the downtown had all sorts of restaurants, all sorts of shops. We did that a couple of times too. So everything is right there. You get in Moab and within, you know, a day or two you can do so many different things. And we were able to pack in the memories. And then we went on the Desolation Canyon trip, which I love going down a river. It's one of my favorite things, but I had never done an overnight, had no idea what to expect in terms of bathroom, in terms of sleeping, in terms of meals. And we've been on some different trips before where there's a big group and you just you're kind of hungry all the time. So we were like, we were kind of expecting that. And it was just it was not that at all. There was so much amazing food, the sleeping. I've never slept better in my life, In my whole life. You know what it reminded me of, really? It was it reminded me of being a kid where you just you hit the pillow at night and you're sound asleep and you wake up early and you're excited for the next day. You don't know what you're going to eat. You know, that's like how life is when you're a kid. There's no screens and you just exist and you're together and you have conversations. And it was so cool. So that one started with a plane ride in. So you talk about a plane ride is a fun thing to do there. Well, this one comes with it because you take a plane ride. And so we were in a plane with seven of us. So one of those little prop planes. And that was really cool. You don't really feel the takeoff or the landing, but up in the air, you're feeling it a little bit. And you can see the river. I mean, it was phenomenal. And our pilot would talk about some of the different things that we saw. So it was about a 45 minute flight and that was really fun when you got in the headphones. I would have never done that. Oh, it's so.
Brandon Lake Cool talking to you as you take that stuff.
Ginny Yurich Yeah, And actually, when we were landing, it kept going. Danger. You know, it gets here because you're landing. It is like the pilot was like, you have to ignore that because we're landing. It doesn't realize that we're landing. But I kept going, you know. Danger? Yeah. I don't know. Ground. It's something, you know, like.
Brandon Lake Well, you have to imagine you're gonna have a plateau that's up high. So it's, you know, the. Yeah. That's saying, Hey, you shouldn't be here. But there is actually a little dirt run. Yeah. There that you saw.
Ginny Yurich Yeah. Whole strip. So that was cool to see that. And even just to see the pilot then turn around and take off was really neat. So we were there at high water time and I think this is pretty unique for the area. They said the river was running something like 23,000 cubic feet per second and then other times it's running 1000. So it was like 20 times. I think the water level probably from all that snow. I don't know. But that was a cool thing. We were there as sort of a unique time, I think. There's pros and cons to the different water levels, and like I said, I had no idea we were with a group of for a family and then a group of nine. A bunch of friends came and they were some of the kids were the exact same age as Vivian, so that was really cool. Everyone was so nice. Brandon. It's it's an interesting thing to go spend five days with people that you have no idea who they are and you really get to know them well. And I think it would be cool to do it if it were just your family. Like you could do a large family reunion. Our guide said that they've had people as old as 90 on these trips, which was incredible. So you could do a large family being friends.
Brandon Lake Totally. Well, and the cool thing about that is it's a trip that you can do like a multigenerational experience. You can have grandma and grandpa, you can have the adult children, you can have younger children. And it's something that everybody can get into and just be there together without any distractions. And it's such good. I mean, I'm sure you experience the, you know, the quality of time spent together on a trip like it's really powerful.
Ginny Yurich Yeah. This the amount that you get to know these other people, you think you won't, but you really do. So if you did it with friends or family, but it is also a neat thing to randomly be placed with other people. I mean, how often does that happen? And you walk away with these different relationships. So one of the families was from Georgia, and then the other group of nine, they were from Salt Lake and and we were from Michigan and the guides were from different places. And so one of them was from Rhode Island. So people are kind of coming together from all different walks of life and just getting to know each other. So that was really fun. So. Okay, let's talk about the meals. The meals were so good, I couldn't even believe it. So our first meal, we were on the rafts and they tied all the rafts together and everybody introduced themselves and they made chicken salad on these pizzas. But it had, you know, it's like not nothing was chintzy. It was like it had onion, it had cashews in it. And they you know, they dealt with food allergies as well. So they were real good about that. People had food allergies, but just the meals. That was one of Vivian's favorites, was just floating down the river. Everyone's got their chicken salad sandwiches and then there was fruit and all sorts of things. And we even took away there was like a lot of ideas, like if we have parties down the road. I was like, Well, these guides, when they know how to feed a group, yeah, they had a recipe book and you know, they're feeding all these different people. I came home, Brandon, and they had basically like these four rectangular stainless steel trays, the pretty big these four rectangular trays. And like, every tray would be filled with something. So it's like one tray would have different kinds of pancakes, and then the next tray would have bacon, and then the next tray would have like tons of cut up melons, and then the next tray maybe would have all the condiments or something like that. And so then you'd have breakfast. They call 4 seconds and then they just wash out all the trays, throw out the garbage. I'm like, This is how I should be cooking for my family.
Brandon Lake Okay, I know, right? I actually have I have my own personal set of those that we do. Exactly. That you don't have a big group thing or whatever. Well, you because it's is just easy, right? And and they're great for camping If you go with a large group family reunion type thing and your and your outdoors, you know, the whole setup that we use there is.
Ginny Yurich Yeah.
Brandon Lake So so well for for feeding a big group so it's.
Ginny Yurich Good to replicate. I know you're going to have to send me the link because I came home That was one of the first things I looked up. I'm like, Where can I find these rectangular stainless steel trays? So then it would be that. So then at lunch, maybe one would be sandwiches. And should there be lunch meat, there was always just fruit and salad. Every night there was like a big salad. And the last night they did a captain's dinner. So that was steaks and cheesy potatoes. And they dressed up, the guys dressed up. I mean, Brandon, it was so fun. We did a talent show. I mean, I know I don't know if that's, you know, how it goes on every single trip, but I mean, what a thrill. Everyone's up dancing and doing different talent and magic and. I did some different things and they had dressed up for this captain's dinner and everyone else dressed up using their sheet, their bed sheet. So it was just really such a wonderful time. The food was fantastic. There were snacks throughout the day. Like I said, it really felt like being a kid, like where you're like, Oh, I'm kind of hungry. And then it would be the time for the next thing they did. Orders. I mean, orders before every dinner. What is this? They come out with shrimp cocktail, you know, before the captain's dinner or these different things. They'd have chips in there. So that was cool. And then they would they would yell it out, you know, they would yell orders or dinner. Then there was dessert, too. Each night there was a dessert. So they had pineapple upside down cake and different cobblers, bananas, fosters with ice cream. That was another thing. Brandon Everyone has asked me. They're like, Was there a boat that just had the food? And I was like, No, there was not. They managed to bring the food plus everyone's luggage, plus the party for each day. All the things, chairs for everyone, cots for everyone. Right in the rafts that we were in. It almost feels like a magic trick. I don't even know how they did it, but they would. They had ice cream.
Brandon Lake Yeah, and Popsicle. Well, that's a secret. Can't talk about that.
Ginny Yurich It's a secret. Yeah, it's just secret. I don't know the answer. So. So it's just something to be in awe of. But they were popsicles. I think it was a second to last day. They came around with popsicles for everyone, and everyone was like, How do you have popsicles in the middle of the desert four days into this trip? And then the very last day they had ice cream to go with the bananas. FOSTER So the food was so good. And one of our guides, she was like a multigenerational, like her parents had met on the river. And I think her grandparents had met on the river. Her name's Piper. And she was saying how she realized that when she came to be a guide on the trip, that a lot of the ways that her mom cut fruit, a lot of the ways that her mom's prepared meals, she realized, oh, this is what they did on the river. And so I just thought that was such a neat thing. We really came away with just ideas for feeding a crowd and thoughts about all of that. So the food was fantastic. We were never hungry. There was always enough. There was always extra usually. So that was a really cool part. We love that the bathroom was fine. I didn't know what to expect about the bathroom, so here's how it works for anyone. That was curious because I didn't know about.
Brandon Lake Questions about that.
Ginny Yurich Yeah. So okay, so they basically bring along a pit toilet. So you pee in the river if you could, but they had this pit toilet. Now there was a new one for every single day. So once again, you talk about how did they put all this in the raft. There was five of these pit toilets and so they had a toilet seat on it. And what they would do is they would set up a station. It was called the Groover. And I asked why, and they said it used to be because it wouldn't have a toilet seat on it and maybe it would be like more like a bucket or more like almost like a cooler. And it will leave grooves like on the back of your legs. So it's called the Groover, but this has a toilet seat on it. It's just like a pit toilet and a new one every day. And they would place it pretty far from camp, but along the river. So you're going to go go to the bathroom. And there was a ticket system. So you would grab this big flotation device, basically. And if it were gone, you knew someone was there and then you'd bring it back. There was a hand-washing station. They had all these like pumps. So it was a pump from one bucket to the other so you could wash your hands. But anyway, you would go to the bathroom along the river. I never had such a nice view. Go to the bathroom. And Vivian and I talked about when we got home, we're like, this is a disappointment, you know, because five days is enough time to sort of really get used to your environment. And then you're like, Oh, you're going to the bathroom, like in the airport or in a hotel room. Like, this is lame. You know, I had this view of a canyon in a river, so I thought that was a great it would totally fine. And it was actually really a unique experience to have that. And there were no issues. There was never a line. It wasn't awkward. So the bathroom thing was totally fine. And then at night we would set up tents. And so that was really fun too. Like I was a little concerned about my ability to set up a tent. How could we do it with the two of us? You know, how much work is it? What you there's cots are. We're going to sleep good. And it was super easy to set up your camping in like these remote, a place you would never get to camp in otherwise. Just unbelievable. Yeah. You know, And there's no one else there. It's just your group.
Brandon Lake Yeah. I don't know if you ever had a chance to kind of get up at night and see the night sky or before you went to bed. But it's. It's pretty incredible.
Ginny Yurich Whoa. The last night we just did our cots.
Brandon Lake We just left on the weekend.
Ginny Yurich Yeah, it looked like maybe it was going to rain and it didn't. And so a lot of people did. She on the last night in the spot that we were and was good for. And I saw a shooting star, which I don't think I'd ever seen before. And I got a really cool picture of the night sky. The stars were just absolutely phenomenal out there. And so, yeah, we did. One night, Vivien was like, I don't even want to go to sleep. I just want to lay here and stare at this stuff. But we slept so good. I don't think we really have that anymore. You know, as adults, I think there's a lot to think about it. Just harder to go to sleep. There's the screens. And it really was like when you were a child and you'd get in bed and you'd be asleep immediately and you woke up and you felt great. So the cots were super comfortable. So there was a sheet at the venture center, provide a sheet, a comfortable sleeping bag. And then we brought our own pillow, a little travel pillow, and then there was a cot and they had chairs for everyone to sit in and the tent. And then you'd break it down in the morning. There was always more than enough time to get everything ready. And then you put all your stuff in this bag. So I was like, The pillow goes in there, your sleeping bag, your bag with all your stuff just goes in there. And then you had a smaller wet bag that you could access during the day, maybe have your water or a jacket or a hat or your sunglasses or whatever. So even that it was so well-run, it was seamless.
Brandon Lake Brandon Oh, that's good. Well, and I and it's been kind of honed over literally over 60 years. You know, we've been operating these trips, so you come up with systems and processes and ways to help keep everyone comfortable. And, you know, I feel like over time the company has done a really good job of that. And a lot of the things have stayed the same. Like you said that your guide, who's mom had worked on the river as well, like there are certain things I've experienced even over, you know, going on these trips when I was five years old. So now I'm 46. There are things that are identical, you know, in the process because, you know, they've once they were once there once, it's a good process. There's sometimes not a reason to change it. Others have have been modified retirement. And I've been proved as as different things have been developed. And and so we're we're pretty proud of what we're able to offer and to help get people to these remote locations, but really keep everyone comfortable for that period of time through food and sleeping and and and just the experience on the river and that and the things that you see a lot as well.
Ginny Yurich Yeah. So we ended up going you go through two different canyons, so you start off in Desolation Canyon and then it changes to Gray Canyon, I think is what it was called, and that's towards the end. But you can really see the difference. It's like strikingly different from one section to the other and then the rapids. So a lot of people asked if it was boring and I was one of the things that people ask like, Well, did you get bored going down the river all day? And I'm like, No. And it actually goes by pretty quick, surprisingly. So It's like maybe you take off eight and nine. It would depend on the river level. I think that we had a little bit of extra time because the river level was higher, so it was going faster. So we had a little bit extra time around camp. You go at nine, you'd stop somewhere for lunch and we would see the old ruins. I mean, I couldn't even believe people had farms down there. I mean, you were in the literal middle of nowhere. Like, how did someone have a farm here? Well, it's so different buildings and you stop. There were some different hikes along the way. And then you get back on the boat and maybe go to four, and then you're setting up camp. And so they had a system for getting everything off the boats. Everyone helped and that was easy. You set up camp then? Like I said, they'd have those orders. We played cards and some family. They'd done a bunch of trips before, so they were really seasoned at it. So they had brought along a couple of games that were really fun. One of them is called Hook Stirred Hooks. Husker Du Soccer. Have you heard of this one Who's scared to score? I think it's called Who's either put it in the note. I think that's what it's called. But it was this game where you each are, there's two people and you balance with one foot on almost like a little rock. Basically, you're balancing on it on one foot and there's a rope on the ground between you two and you go, one, two, three, and you have to grab the rope, and then whoever falls off of their little mound first loses and the other person gets a point. So it's a thing about your each hold on to this rope. It's kind of like a two person tug of war. But if you pull too hard, you're going to fall off. And if they pull, it's like this mind game. So they have brought along that game and the kids love that. And so there was just a lot to do. And like I said, the guides, you know, they had crafts with them. So we made a keychain and and everyone's sitting around making this keychains and stuff for bracelets, all the kind of stuff you do at summer camp when you're a kid. And so there was just a lot to do at the you know, you're setting up your whole tent, you're set, you know, you're setting up your set up and kind of exploring the area. So it never felt boring.
Brandon Lake It's awesome. Yeah. I mean, there really is there's so much to see down there. And and I think that's a common I get that question all the time, too. What do you do all day just on the ramp. But between the stops and the time you get out. Plus you got you know, the river's interspersed with some white water as you're going along.
Ginny Yurich Yeah.
Brandon Lake Fine. And I don't know. Did you guys have a chance to do do they bring along inflatable kayaks on your trip? Or was the water.
Ginny Yurich Yeah. So we did do we totally did that. Yes, Vivian and I did that and we did that a couple of different times people would trade out and that was super fun. You're down right in the water. I mean, the white water seems way bigger from that level. And so we did that. Yes. And people love that part of it. It's a two person duck. They call that a ducky, but it's like an inflatable kayak. So you got like that first person point of view down in there. And that was super fun. So, yeah, the white water came off and the first day was a calm day. Like I said, we had our lunch right on the rafts and that was that was really fun too. And that was the only opportunity really to do that because the other days the white water came more often. So there was all of that, just so much to see. And yeah, you never got bored. It went by fast, but not too fast, right? It was just great. And, you know, we played different games on the rafter, talked about different things and swapped, switched over different rafts, you know, to get to know the other people here and there. And I mean, I feel like we came out more confident. But you go in and you're like, Well, am I going to be able to hack it? Am I going to be able to set these things up? And we came out more confident. I think we came out looking for more things like that, you know, and I know that through Western River expedition you offer other trips to. Well, right, You Moab, you could do the Cataract Canyon. That's more for older kids because the Whitewater is a little bit bigger. So that's a four day trip. I mean, we were like, should we stay? You know, should we do another one? We got back, you know, and we were like, well, we had stuff we had if we didn't have commitments, like we had to be back for a bridal shower the next day. And I was thinking like, if we didn't have commitments, I would would try do another one because it was so cool.
Brandon Lake Yeah, well, and you can do, like you said, there's, there's Desolation Canyon. That's a five day trip. Cataract Canyon actually comes within a two day or a four day. Oh, wow. Oh, that's cool. That's 100 miles is pretty quick rafts for the two day trip. But but it's a bigger Whitewater experience. So good for, you know, older teens and stuff like that. Whereas Desolation Canyon's really good for all ages, honestly. But but you can go as young as so that's a good one for the younger kids. And then outside of Utah, there's the Grand Canyon, too. And that is a lot of people's bucket list. And it's the same kind of experience that you had where it's an overnight trip, there's a three day trip, there's a four day that that's the three day plus a stay at a ranch where you get to go horseback riding and ride ATVs and different things like, that's pretty cool. And you helicopter down into the canyon, you know, which is another experience. And so that involves a flight, a helicopter, you know, the river trip, a jet boat and a bus ride. So it's like every transportation they wrapped up into that trip. And then there's our the big one is our six or seven day Grand Canyon trip, which is the upper portion of the canyon, 277 miles. Incredible hikes and falls and beautiful things to see along the way. And that's kind of for a lot of people. That's like, you know, the pinnacle of whitewater rafting is that experience.
Ginny Yurich Yeah. Brandon It was phenomenal.
Brandon Lake That's good.
Ginny Yurich I mean, it it exceeded our expectations beyond what we could have ever thought. And I feel like just from the connection standpoint for the two of us, but the professionalism, the guides were so personable and yet, you know, it's interesting to look at someone who's in their twenties and to think they can be so personable and yet so professional and so such a master of their craft. So here are these guides who not only are getting groups of people down a river through Whitewater and different situations, getting them docked at these different, you know, pull up at these different campsites, but then cooking these elaborate meals, keeping on with all the time frames of all of it, making sure that we're landing at the right times. They would do stories every morning. So before our boat would go off, they'd read these different stories, different rafting trips, funny stories. So they all share. They all had different stories. And some were like little joke things. It was inspiring to see how capable and how competent they could be. You know, that feels pretty young, you know, at this point. I'm decades older than that. So they're in their twenties and just really did such a phenomenal job in every aspect. Even in that with from the storefront, you know, going into the store all the way to the river guides to the rappelling, everything was so different. But yet this level of professionalism and such personable personalities. So, I mean, I recommend it without reservation. We sure do. We're hoping to come back or bring our family, bring our friends, maybe do 1000 hours outside trip, which was something that you and I had talked about, you know, at the very, very beginning would be such a cool thing to do. You know, it changed our lives.
Brandon Lake One last question for you, Jenny, because you've done a lot of experiences in the outdoors, right? Different vacation. How did this one compare in terms of like the the feeling of just disconnecting?
Ginny Yurich Yeah, to.
Brandon Lake Always look at other. Yeah. Or to find an experience like that. What was that like?
Ginny Yurich Yeah. I mean, there's really nothing like it. I feel like I haven't. Experience that since the nineties. Right. Like, I hadn't experienced that. I mean, my phone was completely put away the whole time. I brought along a fun little video camera to have your phone completely put away for five days in a row. It shut off and it's in a bag somewhere. To not have that was freeing and just a reminder of how little we need it. Truly. Yes. I had not had an experience like that, especially a multiday experience where you're just in the moment and loving what's going on around you and you're not distracted. I mean, it's one of those things that, especially in this day and age, it's hard to come by.
Brandon Lake So much distraction around us all the time. Right.
Ginny Yurich And I could see how, like you said, you've taken that aspect of those types of trips into your other travel with your family to say, look, you know, let's bring a video camera, let's bring an actual camera, let's leave our phones put away and just be here and be present. It was very life changing. So thank you. Thank you. And I just hope that other people get a chance to comment experience. I'll make sure I'll put all the links to Moab Adventure Center, the Western River Expedition. There's a lot of options, and I love that. I love that you offer options from a couple of hours to seven days and people can find what works for their budget. They can find what works for their family, for their ages and the different stages. And it is something that we will talk about this for the rest of our lives. And there's not much like that in your life that you're like, I'm going to talk about this for the rest of my life, and when I'm gone, she'll remember. So I'm getting teary. But it was fantastic. Thank you.
Brandon Lake You're welcome. I'm so glad you guys had that experience together to the bond.
Ginny Yurich Thank you so much. And it was great. This was an awesome part, too. I think people are really going to love it. So thank you for being here. Thank you for the opportunity. And we're coming back. That's what we already decided. We already decided we're coming back.
Brandon Lake But we'd love to help you put together 1000 hours. You know, that's something you want to help others experience what you were able to experience. We still have a few spots left this year. If somebody wants to. Got excited about this lip into a trip.
Ginny Yurich Oh, great. Yes, I know. We already want to come back. Maybe we'll come back for Cataract Canyon at the end of the summer. Yes, I mean, that's a really good point, because this is going up next week. It's the beginning of July. There's so much summer left. So people should come come this year. Do not delay. We you and I were just talking about how, you know, with COVID and things got shut down, it's like you don't know where the world's going to go. You don't know what's going to happen come this year, come this summer.
Brandon Lake The first year. If it absolutely doesn't work this summer, 2024 dates are already on the website. You can see those and how they're booking their seats for next next summer already.
Ginny Yurich So that's awesome. Yeah. Well, Brandon, thank you. And I'm sure we'll keep in touch.
Brandon Lake Okay. Thank you, Ginny.
