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Dear Family,

Greg LeCheminant brought by his pictures taken during our Colorado River trip last summer, July 2004. There were a few pictures that captured the family spirit of this trip, and I want to share them with you. One is of Greg with his daughter, Jalyn, who was 12 years old on the trip, shot from a perch near the rim, on the trail back from the Nankoweap granary.

The second is of Greg’s brother, Paul, whom I consider the alpha of the LeChem alpha-males. Many of you know him as the man who rowed Katherine so quickly out of the American River, when she was tossed out of a boat, smacked her leg, became hypothermic, and began fainting….right up until she was carried into the ambulance with the handsome EMT.
The third is of Paul’s kids, and a cousin, singing in the rain. All the LeChem families represented on the trip (four in all), were amazing.

In 16 days of camping, cooking, hiking, sharing the “hopper”, etc., I NEVER heard so much as a cross word. Of course, they have had about 10 years of practice.

This picture captures their can-do,lets-make-a-game-out-of-misery happiness. Amazing.

Reminded me of my own amazing kids, the ones who managed 14 days of Bowron: cramped car travel, mosquitoes, drought-turned-torrential-rain camping, etc., and created more wonderful memories than a mortal father is usually allotted.. like chocolate-black-toothed Car Dancing!

Love, Dad