GATHERING AT THE RIVER
Cataract Canyon, Canyonlands Nation Park
Colorado River, Utah
7 days/6 nights September 8-14, 2024
During Page’s 27th annual River Writing Journey for Women, we will float by oar boat through a remote, spectacular section of wilderness in Canyonlands National Park, combining the serenity of majestic red rock formations, incredible but optional hikes to natural features and ancient Native American ruins, with the exhilaration of some of the most spectacular whitewater in the United States.
This fall trip, however, offers a slower pace as you relax on our layover day, exploring with Page the joy of creative expression. Personal writing time is woven into the moments between floating down the Colorado River, hiking at your leisure, or relaxing on shore. Although this is not a workshop, creative discussions will take place at the river’s edge, ending with readings under the stars.
Page has purposely selected this late-summer trip date to synchronize the pace of the creative journey with the river’s more relaxed, late-season rhythm. The professional women guides of Sheri Griffith Expeditions will ensure that our journey is safe, delicious, and well-equipped, and Page will ensure that your journey is an inspiring one!
“Women rediscover a unique part of themselves in the natural world,” Page says, “and we inspire each other in uniquely feminine ways. Why the river? Because women have always gathered at the river. It is where we traditionally have come to greet the sun, to bathe our children and wash our clothes and fill our cooking pots. It is where we cleansed and purified ourselves. It is where we have always told our stories.”
The women who participate in these trips have diverse backgrounds and are of diverse ages. Some are experienced writers, many are not. Some have rafted before, many have not. But all share the desire for a creative adventure in the wilderness with other women.
RIVER TRIP DETAILS
Seven Days/Six Nights September 8 to 14, 2024, Cataract Canyon, Canyonlands National Park, the Green and Colorado Rivers, Moab, Utah
COST: $2649.00 (plus tax, government use and launch fees, and optional guide gratuity). Includes the scenic, return flight over Canyonlands National Park back to Moab.
Please consider purchasing trip insurance. SGE has a no-refund policy.
INCLUDES: Tents, sleeping bags, Paco pads, rafting equipment, professional women guides, healthy snacks and fresh meals, beverages, river journals, writing facilitation, creative discussions with Page.
DEPOSIT: $350 sent with this registration form (space is limited; please register early). If you must cancel, $200 of your deposit may be applied toward a future Page Lambert Creative Adventure.
DATES: Orientation Saturday, September 7; on the river Sunday, September 8; off the river Saturday, September 14, 2024 (seven days/six nights)
WHERE: Cataract Canyon, Canyonlands National Park, Green and Colorado Rivers, Utah. The trip starts and ends in Moab, Utah.
REGISTRATION: Option 1) By mail send completed form and $350 deposit to Page Lambert at 26037 Mt. View Road, Golden, Colorado 80401. Option 2) Register online (credit card payment is an option using PayPal. Option 3) Register with SGE via phone 435-259-8229 using credit card. Email confirmation sent when deposit is received. Sheri Griffith Expeditions will contact you with additional registration forms and trip details. Page will be in touch regarding the creative aspects of the trip.
Sheri Griffith Expeditions is working with the managing agencies to make sure that they offer opportunities for excellent outdoor experiences that still comply with CDC requirements and recommendations that mitigate the spread of the Covid-19 virus.
PERSONAL JOURNALING TIME is woven into the moments between floating down the Colorado River, hiking at your leisure, or relaxing on shore. Although this is not a workshop, Page will facilitate creative discussions about writing at the river’s edge and in the evening when we circle up to share readings under the stars. “Women rediscover a unique part of themselves in the natural world,” Page says, “and we inspire each other in uniquely feminine ways.”
WHY THE RIVER? “Women have always gathered at the river,” Page reminds us. “It is where we traditionally have come to greet the sun, to bathe our children and wash our clothes and fill our cooking pots. It is where we cleansed and purified ourselves. It is where we have always shared our stories.”
In 1996, photographer Kathleen Jo Ryan invited Page and 14 other women writers, including Linda Hogan, Annick Smith, Nickelodeon producer Linda Ellerbee, and writers Ann Swinger and Teresa Jordan, to be part of the book project, Writing Down the River: Into the Heart of the Grand Canyon. “It was my first outdoor adventure that paired my love of writing with my love of the outdoors,” Page told a Denver Post reporter when interviewed in 2016.
She hadn’t known, of course, that her father would die a few weeks before the trip launched, and that she would enter the experience deeply grieving. The river both healed and challenged.
“Since ancient times, women have gathered at rivers—bathing our children, washing our bodies, our clothes, filling our cooking pots. It’s where we cleansed and purified ourselves, where we went to tell our stories and share our dreams, where we created a vision for the future.”
Page’s experience in the Grand Canyon inspired her to partner with Sheri Griffith Expeditions in 1997, and create her first river journey for women. Several renowned women have joined Page on these adventures, including Joy Harjo (National Poet Laureate), Cheryl Crazy Bull (President of the American Indian College Fund), Ellen McLaughlin (award-winning playwright and actor) and New Mexico’s Living Treasure, storyteller-in-clay, Roxanne Swentzell.
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