Day 16

The aftermath of last nights pirate raid.

It’s the final day.  The start was like any other, but the underlying dread of the trip being over and all of us having to return to real life is nearly palpable.  We were off the river before noon, and soon had all the equipment broken down and loaded.  Now we all had to ride in a van out the longest gravel road that I have ever encountered.  The van rocked and swayed, bounced and banged, as it hurtled through the dusty one hundred plus degree desert air; and you wonder why dogs get car sick.  We reached the first town and you could see by the long faces that everyone had left their heart back on the river. 

Everything seemed to move so fast back in the real world.  We had not seen anything faster than the birds for over two weeks, all of the sudden we were being passed by biker gangs doing 80MPH, it was disconcerting. 

Reflecting back, the trip was amazing beyond words; the company equally so.  I would like to take this time to say thank you to everyone, it was an absolute pleasure spending time with you. 

What a great crew to spend time with!!

-SM-

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Day 15

This was the last full day on the river for our crew.  It consisted of a lot of miles to travel, and no real rapids to run.  Everyone is in good spirits, though we are also a bit melancholy about the trip ending soon.  We pulled into camp at an early hour, so we took the rest of the day for a celebration of our trip. 

Almost immediately the corn hole was broken out.  We all divided up into teams and started playing, while all the chairs were like up for spectators.  The competition at this point was stiff; we had all gotten very good on our trip.  We all rotated in and out playing, while Will and Carson took initiative and became celebrity sports announces for the night.  They had us in stitches as they commented on the chemistry of the teams, and the personal challenges of the players. 

After dinner, we became something out of a bad pirate movie.  Zac and Amanda remembered that on a previous trip there had been a 12 pack of beer buried on the beach; despite there being a good amount of perfectly good beer in the boats, this phantom pack became the obsession of camp.  Paddles were taken from the duckies and used as makeshift shovels.  Holes started being delved into the sand in numerous places.  After about half an hour Tom, who had been digging furiously, unleashed an alarm of victory.  His hole was immediately descended upon by the treasure hungry horde.  We discovered he had indeed unearthed a six pack; it was not however the one we were looking for.  This discovery served to redouble the efforts of the other laborers who returned to fervently digging.  We, unfortunately, did not find the pack we were seeking, but it was a good night none the less.

Our pirate band

-SM-
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Day 14

That is a big wave

Lava falls, as seen from a half mile away

Today was planned to be a long boating day, actually the rest of the trip will be long boating days in order to reach the takeout on time.  However, today was also the day in which we encountered Lava Falls!  Lava is the biggest rapid on the river.  Now for me, after Crystal Rapid being such a disappointment, I was apprehensive to allow myself to build Lava up too much.  I needn’t have worried.  Lava would live up to the hype, and more.  From even four hundred yards away it sounded like a jumbo jet at takeoff power.  We first scouted it from a great distance; there were large ledge drops and a very large wave at the bottom.  Even from where I stood the wave was huge.  If anything on this river was going to flip our raft, this was going to be the one.  Tom took the oars for the run and did a masterful job of lining us right into the meat of the rapid.  We bounced and bobbed, smashed and crashed, we hit the last wave, we went vertical, and we came through in one piece; it was EPIC!  Of the rafts the only casualty was a broken oar. 

Tenny was the last to go in her ducky; she bounced and bobbed, crashing through holes and up waves that dwarfed her tiny craft.  She flashed in and out of sight all the way through to the last wave.  For a couple seconds we didn’t see her and then all of the sudden her entire boat shot up out of the wave like a breaching whale.  The little raft hung suspended for a minute and then as if flipping a coin and losing it tipped backwards and flipped.  That is the only time I have witnessed a boat flip end over end. 

What would a pirate ship be with out a figurehead?

After the rapid, we joined in the namesake tradition at Tequila beach; then ventured on our way.  Later in that day we earned the reputation of the pirate boat.  We learned to use our umbrella to catch a nice tailwind thus becoming far faster than the rest of our fleet.  Then much later in the day, Tom feeling in a rowdy mood, decided to raid one of the near boats.  The craft of Carson, Brendan, and Will became the unsuspecting target.  Tom’s rowdiness however, met its match in the sheer force of Brendon.  They both ended up in the water on two different occasions, but it made the afternoon more exciting.

Brendan and Tom in the water

Tom storming the enemy

-SM-
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Day 13

Debating climbing the waterfall or not

One arch which we did see

Today, we started off with a canyon hike from our camp.  There was a small trickle of water that flowed in the bottom of the canyon, after hiking for half a mile we happened upon a small waterfall.  At this point the group split, half climbed up the falls, and ventured forth in search of an arch; the other half stayed below the falls, and enjoyed some relaxing time.  Miles and I, always being in the forefront of adventure, chose to decline the climb, and instead relax for a while.  While others were off on merriment and adventure, we were adventuring down the path of philosophy.  We wandered along the verbal path, entertaining a conversation pertaining to the necessary changes in the future mindset of humanity, with the goal of creating better life on earth for everyone. 

The sunset

Camp life

After a while, everyone joined back up and we struck out upon the water.  It was a hot, uneventful day, but enjoyable none the less.  There was more enriching conversation, and simple, pure, enjoyment of the moment we were all in.  Excitement did strike briefly in the late afternoon.  Tenny, unbeknownst of the mortal danger which lay all around on the river, got momentarily complacent.  Her small ducky drifted just a little bit too close to the raft which Miles and I occupied.  There was a momentary flash of movement on our raft; suddenly Miles was airborne and sailing straight for the side of Tennys ducky.  There was a huge splash, a shrill squeal, when the dust settled Miles had succeeded in capsizing Tennys craft, and dunking her into the water.  Complacency on the river can have deadly consequences.  After that we all paddled off into a gorgeous sunset.

-SM-

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Day 12

The stream on our hike

The river today we an easy stretch, there were some rapids but nothing to get really excited about.  However, there was a really cool side hike which we endeavored upon.  It was comprised of a nice flowing stream with numerous rocks and ledges, which created beautiful pour overs, and mini waterfalls.  The path along this mesmerizing stream seemed, at points, as if it were something from a childhood fairytale.  There was a natural tunnel which delved through the rock, and an arch created of grape vines. 

Fairytale arch

Fairytale tunnle

Ever since we had first arrived in this wild outdoors, Miles had been bound and determined to catch a lizard.  He had also failed to do so because of their blazing speed and agility, combined with the overabundance of hiding places for them.  Upon his return to the boats, however, Miles got a lucky break.  One poor unsuspecting lizard had, apparently, taken an unwise step, thus hurtling it into the water where it was out of its element, literally.  This allowed miles to easily catch the poor creature, thus saving the little lizards life, and fulfilling his desire to catch one of the creatures. 

Me with the lizard Miles caught

Near the end of the day we also encountered an unsuspecting swimming incident.  It was Mike’s birthday today, but the beer was, somehow, on our boat.  Miles obligingly dug out the desired beverage, and we closed the distance between the boats in preparation for an exchange.  As Russ prepared himself to receive the pass, Miles readied to throw it.  Miles performance was genius… and abysmal; the can careened carefully through the air.  The arc was beautiful, it looked perfect, it was short.  Russ, in a heroic attempt to save the birthday beer, leaned forward to attempt to complete the catch.  With his delicate balance on the raft abruptly disturbed, there was one brief second where he looked up.  The look was one of shock, and realization of immediate introduction to something undesired, wide eyes and blown out cheeks; then he was in the water.  Thus Russ joined the elite ranks of the Grand Canyon, Colorado River Swim Team, by sacrificing his body to save a Miller Lite for the birthday boy.  Happy birthday Mike!!

-SM-

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Day 11

Today was an oddity; there is no other way to describe it.  It started like usual, a nice hot morning with the sun beating down on us.  The plan had been to float for a while, and then take a hike up another cool slot canyon.  As we set out on the water though a change was in the works.  After a short while on the river grey covered the sky, it seemed as though a thunder storm were imminent.  As we enjoyed our lunch lightning lit up the sky, and thunder boomed down the canyon walls.  We decided to forgo our canyon hike.  Hiking up a slot canyon in a thunder storm is a pretty good way to meet a flash flood and drown.    

Due to the exemption of the hike, and our desire to get out of the rain, we made camp early that day.  It was around three in the afternoon when we started setting things up.  The temperature had dropped from the 90s to the 70s, the only thing that proved we were still in a desert was the cacti scattered around.  We set up tarps for shelter and with little else to do we started playing some games.  It was Carsons birthday, so the games eventually evolved into drinking games.  This led to a pretty epic night to say the least, and a pretty horrific next day for one or two.  Happy birthday Carson!!

Unfortunately no pictures were taken on this day due to the rain, so I think I'll add some from the other days.

-SM-

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Day 10

The first part of our hike up the hill

Today was comprised of one big event, the “Seven Mile Death March” DUN DUN DUN!!!   That was the name in the guide book for the hike we endeavored upon.  We started at the point of entrance of a beautiful swift creek into the Colorado River.  From there we scampered seemingly straight up the hill then walked along the ridge until we again reached the creek, and then we would repeat the same cycle, again and again.  Each portion showed us something new, diverse, and beautiful.  While climbing up the last part, I looked up and witnessed one of the most beautiful waterfalls that I have ever laid eyes upon.  All the water for the creek we had been following was flowing right out of the side of the cliff, and cascading down through a jungle of green, which existed due to it. 

The most gorgeous waterfall I have ever seen

After resting briefly, and eating, next to the majestic waterfall our group divided; some returned to the rafts, while others continued on the “Death March” across the plateau still above us.  Our total ascent was somewhere around 1,800 feet from the river.  When we finally reached the edge the plateau spread out vastly before us, betraying the sheer size of the canyon.  The sun beat down brutally upon this desolate land creating a temperature of 108 degrees.  Water was more valuable than gold. 

Feel so small, see if you can find the people in this picture

Liquid gold

Slot canyon

We descended after a few miles down the other side; the path took us past yet another waterfall out of the cliff, though this one was on a much smaller scale.  At this point we stopped again and Miles decided to check out why the bottom of his right food was burning.  Apparently the combination of moist socks and hiking had not boded well for his feet.  On all the toes and part of the ball of his foot the skin had been worn off in spots down a very frail layer.  With no choice but to put some salve and some bandages on it, we all continued the rest of the hike to the river.  The very end took us walking along another amazing slot canyon, no more than ten feet across at the top and reaching depths of near forty feet down.  At the end the water shot out of the rock froming a waterfall still some sixty feet high near the river. 

-SM-

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Day 9

The falls

The jump

Today was spilt.  After only a brief stint on the river we departed on another side canyon hike.  This was only a short 3 minute walk up to yet another beautiful waterfall.  The water cascaded down approximately 20 feet of rock and came to rest in a nice pool at the bottom, the pool its self was about 7 feet deep.  Half hidden at the back of the pool was a little path that would take you up to a ledge, half way up the waterfall.  It thus became popular entertainment to hike up to this ledge and jump into the pool. 

Big horn sheep

Spike touching 1.2 billion years of time difference

After leaving that hike and on our way to lunch we witnessed several groups of big horn sheep.  We had seen some before now, but these were very close to the river, so I got some pictures.  At lunch, before eating, we took another brief hike up a slot canyon.  This led us to what is known as “The Great Unconformity.”  This is two layers of rock, right on top of one another, and between them there is a 1.2 billion year gap in the geological record; that my friends, is a lot of lost time. 

Several lesser unconformities observing the great unconformity

After lunch I took the opportunity to paddle a ducky, which is a small one person raft.  Oh man it was fun, crashing through the waves, and being tossed around by the water.  Everything on the river seemed huge from my new vantage point.  Waves would simply appear out of nowhere, come crashing over the front or side of your boat, soaking you from head to toe.  Due to my new mode of transport I took my first swim of the trip.  I followed the rafts through a hole which they had easily plowed through; well it grabbed me and turned me sideways before I knew it, and next thing I was under water.  Knowing that I must still be heading for the rock wall that had been before me I exited the underside of the boat and scrambled upon the top of the capsized craft.  I then proceeded to continue to paddle it away from the rock wall to safety.  My first swim had been brief, but I was glad it happened; it gave the whole experience a better feeling. 

There was a gorgeous

sunset that evening

-SM- 
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Day 8



Morning in the canyon



Some characters



Today was a straight rafting day, we ran somewhere around 20 rapids of various levels.  The first rapid of the day was Crystal.  Crystal is supposed to be one of the hardest rapids on the entire river.  As we scouted it I was very excited there was a huge hole in the middle, and another at the bottom.  We ended up deciding to miss both holes though, so we snuck by the rapid close to shore.  This made Crystal, the rapid that I had been looking forward to for a while, into probably the biggest disappointment of the trip.  Oh well, while the run was very anticlimactic, the scouting was for sure not. 

May not look huge, but it is

Close up

Miles and I walked down to take a close look at the rapids and snap some pictures, then started walking back to the main group.  Upon the hike back we saw a really nice big garter snake; it was the first snake of the trip so we had to get some pictures.  After it slithered off we started walking off to return to the group.  We were walking not ten feet away looking at our camera, reviewing the pictures we just took, when all of the sudden there was a noise in front of us that chilled us to the bone.  Miles leapt backwards, thankfully with me in his hands.  We think that he may have set the record for long jumping on that single leap.  There in front of us, not five feet from where we had just stood, was a large beautiful rattle snake that had just given us that very stern warning.  I have to say that I don’t know of much to chill your blood like the sound of a rattle snake in the wild.  The adrenaline rush from that event didn’t fade until sometime well into the evening amidst the corn hole games and vodka drinks.          

I feel like Steve Irwin, kind of

It calms nervs

-SM-

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