65 WILLOW FLAT, CANYONLANDS, UTAH SUNDAY, 25 SEPT, 2022 Slept without a flysheet, so awoke at 4ish to see the stars which appeared absolutely enormous. Up at 7:00 to sunrise over the mesa edge. The colours much better than yesterday evening. I realize I have the landscape sloping, so correct it. Worked right through without a tea break until 5:45 when the drawing nearly finished and looks complex but okay. Back to camp G & T with ice! Swordfish barbeque and wine—not at all my usual dehydrated fare. MONDAY, 26 SEPT, 2022 Cool and pleasant. Wash and breakfast and on site by 8:00 when the light and shadows are at their best. Started painting tentatively, but when I stepped back it didn’t look too bad, though when I switched to my new painting glasses, I found the tones very difficult and will have to adjust. Very hot by lunchtime—90°F and some tentative clouds forming. Tourist buses come and go. I measured 10 minutes for the average viewing time. Meanwhile I am expecting to do 6 days. WEDNESDAY, 28 SEPT, 2022 Up at 6:30 and breakfast, determined to do the sky. I drew a gathering storm yesterday so had plenty to go on. Laid the paper out on the seat of the picnic table, weighted down by a bottle of rum and the Biolite stove. Started doing the conventional bits—cirrus and distant cumulus but it was looking boring, so threw in the storm on the left side. Worked on it from 8:30–1:00 so knackered by lunchtime. It looks lively, but needs work. Supper while lightning rattled around. Everybody cheery despite the difficulties and the mud, and the fact that everything is always in the last bag you look in. Cougar tracks. SUNDAY, 2 OCT, 2022 Had a quiet cup of tea and porridge before the usual bustle began. Everybody seemed efficient but because we could only load 1 boat at a time we still didn’t get off until 9:30. A very nice paddle: me/Rachel, David/ Robin, Sarah/Erika, Karb/Sheryl—all extremely competent women. Aimed at several camp sites but didn’t find any of them until 3:00 by which time we had done 17 miles and were knackered. Pitching our tents in an enormous thunderstorm that started with constant lightning and claps of thunder echoing in the canyon. The rain poured down and turned to hail. My tent was leaking because in my haste I had forgotten to put the transverse pole in, but I managed to insert it from the inside. Mopped up my tent with my towel and then discovered the front zip had become unglued from the fly sheet so I spent an hour sewing it back on and reinforcing it with safety pins. By the time all this had happened there was no time or energy for me to look for a painting site. RUBY RANCH, UTAH SATURDAY, 1 OCT, 2022 Launch day! David & Robyn took the drybags and everything for the canoes to Tex’s HQ. Then returned for all the stuff we are leaving in the car. A thunder- cloud develops after a day and night of downpours and hail starts, the mountains covered in snow. It passed after a few minutes then, everything loaded, we set off. About 11:00 arrived at Ruby Ranch and loaded the canoes with monstrous heavy coolers, food boxes, and 10 gallons of water. The river thick and silty and running quite fast. Set off well and paddled for 3 hours first through low scrub and then into low canyon walls. Tried to land at one spot but were defeated by thick mud 18" deep which sucked the Tevas off our feet. Another ½ hour to an inlet at Trin. Snacks in the canoes and made tea, then clambered up the sticky banks and through thick Tamarisk to find campsites. Pitched tents, then went up canyon to do a slightly pointless painting of a rock stack. Stopped at 6:30. Tried to land at one spot but were defeated by thick mud 18" deep which sucked the Tevas off our feet. —Saturday, 1 Oct, 2022 Foster’s standard paint box with a tupperware lid for mixing
