It's so wonderful to have all of your perspectives! I especially like the idea of how to lay out gear, for necessities and niceties. Truth be told, attitude is one of the least of my concerns. I've guided plenty of trips with middle schoolers, and had to keep all of THEIR attitudes up in the rain all week... I have the feeling that I'll be fine there. Maybe I'll be surprised though--without the adreneline of keeping small people alive in the woods, what will get me out of bed?
My biggest worry is packing food. I'm a real foody, and plan to entertain myself all day thinking about meal plans for the night, so I want to pack ingredients instead of meals. Without portages really being a thing on this river, I know I can get away with overpacking... but I reallllly don't want to be hungry out there. Does anyone have a good way to estimate food amounts when you're not dividing it out by meals? Weight of food per day or anything like that?
I'm starting to get nervous--not about safety, this is a route I know well, a well-traveled river with lots of take-out points--but more about talking to myself all day. It sounds like a good life practice to be alone sometimes. I'll either come out refreshed or insane... probably both.