Barbara Earl Thomas, a noted painter, was born and raised in Seattle. She has had artwork in exhibits and collections throughout the U.S. and is represented in Seattle by the Francine Seders Gallery. Her essays have appeared in numerous publications and anthologies, including Raven Chronicles, Aorta, Gathering Ground, A Single Mother's Companion, Calyx, and Intimate Nature: The Bonds Between Women and Animals. Storm Watch, a book of her painting and writing, is forthcoming from the University of Washington Press. Since 1989, she has worked as advertising manager at the Elliot Bay Book Company.

Read Thomas' diary from the journey

Reprinted with permission from the book Writing Down the River: Into the Heart of the Grand Canyon.