Field Notes: A Flash Flood in Havasu Canyon (and Call for Submissions!)
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Introducing: Field Notes, a See Her Outside series featuring your written stories.
Got a story to tell? We want to hear it.
See Her Outside is now accepting audio submissions from our community, and we’d love to feature your voice in the mix.
We’re looking for personal essays set in the outdoors. Think friendship, change, healing, ridiculous encounters, anything that captures a moment where the outdoors shifted your perspective of the world or yourself.
Maybe it’s a tale of survival when everything on your trip went wrong, or a story of personal healing thanks to time in nature, or a recap of the moment when you finally realized that you belong outside.
You’ll send us a written story, and we’ll work together to get you ready to record an audio version of it to share on See Her Outside.
What makes a great story?
A clear arc: Please structure your piece with a beginning, middle, and end, told in past tense and in chronological order.
Event + Reflection: Start with a vivid experience, then reflect on why it mattered to you. It’s not just what happened, it’s why what happened matters.
Show, don’t tell: We want texture and detail. Instead of “the lake was pretty,” say what made it memorable.
Thematic takeaway: Your story should include an insight or shift in perspective.
Length: Aim for 2,000-3,000 words to start. We’ll work together to make sure it’s a great length for an episode.
Voice & tone: Keep it conversational—serious, funny, contemplative, heartfelt, or a blend. We’ll work with you to refine and develop the story into an audio piece.
What to do:
1. Write your story following the above guidance.
2. Email it to angie@cairnproject.org with the subject line: “Field Notes Submission.”
Angie’s Field Notes: A Flash Flood in Havasu Canyon
Caught in the Current: Lessons from Surviving a Flash Flood in the Grand Canyon
The first episode of Field Notes is See Her Outside’s host, Angie Marie, sharing her own story.
In 2023, Angie got a life-changing opportunity to spend 21 days rafting through the Grand Canyon. On Day 13, a handful of mistakes led her group to be trapped in a side canyon during a flash flood. Hear about:
How a group of 16 boaters unexpectedly found themselves in a flash flood in Arizona
The self-rescue attempts and successes to safely get the group out of Havasu Canyon
Angie’s personal experience as a woman in a more experienced group
The heuristic traps that led the group to make mistakes
How being caught in the current gave Angie a new perspective on what it means to spend time on the river
Send this episode to a friend who has an adventure story that should be featured on Field Notes by See Her Outside!
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You can help us close the gender gap outdoors and beyond:
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