[This may appear out of sequence. It will be posted with day 11 from my computer on the trip and Pam and Kammy Wolfson took days 12 through 16 handwritten out and will be transcribing them and posting them when they get back to Meadview. The alternator and generator that were brought in to charge the car batteries are not working well, and my 3 solar batteries and solar panels are working well, but since we leave most beaches before the sun hits them and land on most beaches after the sun sets, getting these into digital mode has proved to be a bit problematic.]
When we got into Lower Whitmore Wash last night, we pulled into a small beach and brought all the rafts in and tied them together and tight to the shore, which had a lot of rocks on it that were too big to move. There was not enough room to bring all the wooden boats in, so the Portola and Susie Too were nestled in between two rafts and tied off from their bows, and also roped to both oarlocks that will keep them straight and not moving into other boats as the water surged from side to side with the waves coming off this small, fast rapid. To unload, we bring the Portola and Susie Too in turn onto the small beach and throw out the stuff we think we will need, but while they are tied to the rafts we still have to make trips to and from the wood boats for what we have forgotten. That involves walking out onto the far end of the raft, balancing, and then stepping onto the bow deck and staying low while both are moving so you don’t fall in. The water is only 18 inches deep and there is a sand bottom, but a fall from three feet up could mean a broken leg or a bad scrape. Tony does stumble and does fall getting from the Portola to a raft getting a couple of gashes on his right leg. We have a number of people with wilderness medical training and experience along on the trip, so he is soon in a lounge chair while everyone confers over what to do and gets the scrapes cleaned up and bandaged. (I am actually writing this blog two days later and Izzy is re-bandaging the wounds and they are doing fine with no sign of infection.)
We are expecting Arnie Richards to be at the top of the Whitmore Wash Trail with Ian and Sandy Elliot, who are joining the trip tomorrow, and Pam and Kammy Wolfson who are hiking in to visit. We see flashlight waving on the top of the rim and wave some back so each knows that the other was seen. Our 17th day is going to be spent getting up late, recovering from the Alive Below Lava Celebrations, eating a big breakfast, cleaning clothes, shampooing hair, hiking, reading, and just enjoying the heat; the shade of the two shade structures we put up as the day goes warmer and just relaxing.
CeCe and Stef are leaving the trip here on day 18 to head to other engagements. Stef will fly to Iceland on Sunday from Las Vegas to work for 6-8 weeks at a heli-skiing operation that he worked for 6 years ago. He is looking forward to heading out, but sad to leave the Susie Too since she has given him a lot of fun rowing her. He confides that he had a dream several years ago about rowing a dory in the Grand Canyon and she surpassed all his expectations of how much fun it was. CeCe is heading back to Canada for a week of guiding and then her senior guide examination in the Canadian system that she has been preparing for for a long time. A mentor has arranged for her to work at the resort where the examination will be given for the week before. She flies out on Monday. They both take a load of gear up the Whitmore Wash trail to leave in Arnie Richards’ car at the top, and then hike back in with backpacks full of fresh food for the next three days: We have fresh porkchops, which we cook over the barbecue, and a salad bar, and in the middle of the day the surprise of frozen ice cream (Strawberry Ripple and Cookies And Cream – both so hard from the dry ice it was packed in that all of us had to wait for it to thaw so it could be cut out of the carton… but OH SO good!).
Arnie has brought in a ukulele and the words to the Gilbert and Sullivan song “Now I am the ruler of the Queen’s Navy” that Martin Litton sang on the 1963 trip in fine voice and to much cheering. We sing it, laughingly in tribute to a fine man, great conservationist, and the one who has done more to keep the dories similar to what we have built and are rowing on the Colorado and other rivers in the West. The ghosts of those who built the originals and the spirits of all who have loved dories ride with us on this trip and are frequently mentioned and memorialized in stories and conversations both within our group and with the other private trips that we share the river with.
Dinner tonight is both pork chops and beef brisket, which I have been roasting in the Dutch ovens for 7 hours, mashed potatoes, broccoli, salad, cheddar soup, and chocolate-covered cookies. We all are stuffed and sit up visiting with everyone later than we normally do. The half moon comes up late and we head to bed.
Monday, March 24, 2014
Day 16 in Grand Canyon: Cove Camp to Lower Whitmore Wash
Coffee was called early and breakfast soon after that to get everyone up and moving, everything packed and down to the boats.
Stef, who will row the Susie Too through Lava, packed her heavy towards the front. Even people who had not been in dry suits before were now, or were in heavier splash gear. While not said, the old “dress to swim and rig to flip” was going through everyone’s minds: loads were redistributed and tied down extra tight. Robb ties down Tony’s boat and every strap is so tight is almost <twangs> when you touch it. Then he ties down his own boat. Breakfast things are packed away and we leave.
We pass Vulcan’s Anvil, a large piece of columnar basalt sitting in the river and head down toward the scouting spot. We pass the above-Lava camp site. On the Sonoran Desert Museum trip I was on in 1988, we camped there and were treated to a great thunder and lightning storm, complete with wonderful waterfalls coming off every cliff, and a flashflood coming down the drainage, then went and ran Lava on a thick, muddly flow. Today, while the water is still muddy from the Little Colorado River flow, it is not thick and the sky is clear and it is hot.
We reach the scout stop on the right and pull in and tie off. Nate, Dave, and I will film and be picked up downstream. At the scout location, we stand looking down at the rapid. Craig starts pointing out lines the boatmen can take. Dave, Nate, and I climb on to seek high points for the photos we want to take. Nate pickes the high point in the middle, Dave takes a rock close to the first drop off where he can get photos all the way down the rapid, and I climb farther down to a large boulder just downstream of Cheese Grater Rock, a large black, columnar basalt boulder with a rough, sharp surface that is a must-miss rock. I can see the drop-off at the top. If a boatman picks the V-wave run I will get some air shots as the wooden boats crest the waves and have a good downward angle into the waves above Cheese Grater rock and a great angle of the end waves as well. I can also see the top and the start of the “Dory Slot”, so named because if you ware willing to skirt the ferocious “Ledge Hole” on the right, you can go over one small wave and likely get an easy, relatively dry ride.
Robb goes first, with Natalie as passenger, and, as always, makes it look easy and eddies out on the right. CeCe is next and her raft flies through and eddies out on the left near the waterfall. Izzy is next with John as passenger and makes it looks easy and dry as they also hit the dory run. The wooden boats come through: Greg in the Portola, who eddies out on the right, Stef in the Susie Too, who brings it under where I am sitting (both of us pumping fists), and then Craig, who makes a great run in the Flavell II and turns in right below Cheese Grater Rock to pick up Dave.
Our yellow boat friends arrived just after we started scouting and they came through in tight formation with no problems. Tony follows on the cataraft and makes a great run, but finishes backwards, and he is followed by Doug, who comes through dry and grinning.
Nate and Dave scramble down safely over the very exposed rocky trail down to the water. Dave climbs over Izzy’s raft to Craig’s boat, while Nate and I pack away camera gear and cases on Izzy’s boat and head off to the Son of Lava and Tequila Beach. We break out the tequila and our yellow boat friends break out the Yukon Jack and an impromptu boat party ensues, with much laughter and high-fiving. They head off to Mile 185 camp and we head to Whitmore Wash for the night. Beers are passed between boats. I take back the oars of the Susie Too to test my wrists and we enjoy the feeling of ABL, “alive below Lava”. We still have 100 miles to run, but Lava is behind us, at least for this trip.
For the first time on this trip, our chosen stop, Upper Whitmore Wash, is taken by a group from Arizona River Runners and NPS archaeologists, who are on a monitoring trip. We had been passed by them above Walthenberg Rapid a few days back. We move down to Lower Whitmore Wash and set up camp for our layover day, our exchange of 2 people going out and 2 coming in, and 3 more people hiking down for the night tomorrow.
Stef, who will row the Susie Too through Lava, packed her heavy towards the front. Even people who had not been in dry suits before were now, or were in heavier splash gear. While not said, the old “dress to swim and rig to flip” was going through everyone’s minds: loads were redistributed and tied down extra tight. Robb ties down Tony’s boat and every strap is so tight is almost <twangs> when you touch it. Then he ties down his own boat. Breakfast things are packed away and we leave.
We pass Vulcan’s Anvil, a large piece of columnar basalt sitting in the river and head down toward the scouting spot. We pass the above-Lava camp site. On the Sonoran Desert Museum trip I was on in 1988, we camped there and were treated to a great thunder and lightning storm, complete with wonderful waterfalls coming off every cliff, and a flashflood coming down the drainage, then went and ran Lava on a thick, muddly flow. Today, while the water is still muddy from the Little Colorado River flow, it is not thick and the sky is clear and it is hot.
We reach the scout stop on the right and pull in and tie off. Nate, Dave, and I will film and be picked up downstream. At the scout location, we stand looking down at the rapid. Craig starts pointing out lines the boatmen can take. Dave, Nate, and I climb on to seek high points for the photos we want to take. Nate pickes the high point in the middle, Dave takes a rock close to the first drop off where he can get photos all the way down the rapid, and I climb farther down to a large boulder just downstream of Cheese Grater Rock, a large black, columnar basalt boulder with a rough, sharp surface that is a must-miss rock. I can see the drop-off at the top. If a boatman picks the V-wave run I will get some air shots as the wooden boats crest the waves and have a good downward angle into the waves above Cheese Grater rock and a great angle of the end waves as well. I can also see the top and the start of the “Dory Slot”, so named because if you ware willing to skirt the ferocious “Ledge Hole” on the right, you can go over one small wave and likely get an easy, relatively dry ride.
Robb goes first, with Natalie as passenger, and, as always, makes it look easy and eddies out on the right. CeCe is next and her raft flies through and eddies out on the left near the waterfall. Izzy is next with John as passenger and makes it looks easy and dry as they also hit the dory run. The wooden boats come through: Greg in the Portola, who eddies out on the right, Stef in the Susie Too, who brings it under where I am sitting (both of us pumping fists), and then Craig, who makes a great run in the Flavell II and turns in right below Cheese Grater Rock to pick up Dave.
Our yellow boat friends arrived just after we started scouting and they came through in tight formation with no problems. Tony follows on the cataraft and makes a great run, but finishes backwards, and he is followed by Doug, who comes through dry and grinning.
Nate and Dave scramble down safely over the very exposed rocky trail down to the water. Dave climbs over Izzy’s raft to Craig’s boat, while Nate and I pack away camera gear and cases on Izzy’s boat and head off to the Son of Lava and Tequila Beach. We break out the tequila and our yellow boat friends break out the Yukon Jack and an impromptu boat party ensues, with much laughter and high-fiving. They head off to Mile 185 camp and we head to Whitmore Wash for the night. Beers are passed between boats. I take back the oars of the Susie Too to test my wrists and we enjoy the feeling of ABL, “alive below Lava”. We still have 100 miles to run, but Lava is behind us, at least for this trip.
For the first time on this trip, our chosen stop, Upper Whitmore Wash, is taken by a group from Arizona River Runners and NPS archaeologists, who are on a monitoring trip. We had been passed by them above Walthenberg Rapid a few days back. We move down to Lower Whitmore Wash and set up camp for our layover day, our exchange of 2 people going out and 2 coming in, and 3 more people hiking down for the night tomorrow.
Day 15 in Grand Canyon: Ledges to Upper Cove
From Upset at mile 150 to Lava Falls Rapid at mile 180, the canyon opens up a bit and all the rapids are smaller. We do about 23 miles today and pull into camp late, get set up, have a fast dinner, and off to bed. The river is mellower, the rapids lower, and the scenery beautiful (as is it all). But we know that tomorrow is Lava Falls Rapid, the “Big One”. After Upset, I think all of us are worried about how we will do and how the boats will do.
Day 14 in Grand Canyon: Football Field to Ledges
We are out of camp early with our lunches packed and ready for a lot of small rapids, followed by the big one, Upset, an 8 rating in all the guide books.
Kanab Canyon is about 6 miles down, where many of us have hiked before, then Olo, then “Matkat” (Matkatamiba Rapid), then Upset shows up and we park the boats about 500 feet above the rapid and walk down to scout. There is a left run up against the left wall with a large rock at the bottom you have to miss, or would probably flip on. The center hole is huge and is to be avoided, but right lateral waves are driving you straight toward it.
We all discuss and enter left and more right for the wooden boats. Robb ran it first and picked the left run and hit it spot-on and eddied-out on the left. Stef takes a raft on the right run and, again, does it perfectly and eddies out on the right beach below where Nate is filming. Tony runs third and tries to move right and does not make it. He takes the cataraft sideways into the big hole where it stops and flings Tony off upstream and then plops down on top of him and spins out of the hole on the right. Tony soon surfaces and pats his head (the “I’m alright” signal) and heads downstream with Robb in hot pursuit. They eddy out just around the corner. Greg Hatten is next in the Portola and also does not make it around the center hole, slides in sideways and he and Leif are pitched out and swim right. The Portola only rolls over twice and then flushes out, riding much higher than at Grapevine and with the hatches dry. Stef rows off the beach in hot pursuit and they all eddy out within our field of veiw and we soon see the Portola upright. Greg and Leif have been able to roll her over by themselves and have her bailed out. Doug brings is his raft down on the right side and parks it at the right side and walks back and brings the Susie Too down as well. CeCe jumps in to be safety there.
Our new friends from Alaska in five yellow rafts start through. The first one flips in the center hole and the oarsman swims to the Susie Too and was pulled in. The raft and passenger headed down to where Stef was and was pulled ashore. The last yellow raft goes sideways into the hole and surfs for over two minutes with both onboard high-siding and finally getting an oar in the water and popping out.
Izzy brings her raft down with John as passenger in a perfect run, pulling right to avoid the rock. Nate and I jump on with Doug and we row down to Stef and the upside-down yellow raft. They are rigging a Z-drag. Tony and Robb already have used the Z-drag to get the cataraft over and is repacking the raft. We head out and make it to the Upper Ledges where we camp late, cook fast, and set out a lot to dry, which we have to put up wet when the wind gets strong and some things disappear into the river and not recovered. Natalie Mortenson, Leif’s daughter, spends time following mice and kangaroo rats along the ledges at the back of our camping spaces.
Kanab Canyon is about 6 miles down, where many of us have hiked before, then Olo, then “Matkat” (Matkatamiba Rapid), then Upset shows up and we park the boats about 500 feet above the rapid and walk down to scout. There is a left run up against the left wall with a large rock at the bottom you have to miss, or would probably flip on. The center hole is huge and is to be avoided, but right lateral waves are driving you straight toward it.
We all discuss and enter left and more right for the wooden boats. Robb ran it first and picked the left run and hit it spot-on and eddied-out on the left. Stef takes a raft on the right run and, again, does it perfectly and eddies out on the right beach below where Nate is filming. Tony runs third and tries to move right and does not make it. He takes the cataraft sideways into the big hole where it stops and flings Tony off upstream and then plops down on top of him and spins out of the hole on the right. Tony soon surfaces and pats his head (the “I’m alright” signal) and heads downstream with Robb in hot pursuit. They eddy out just around the corner. Greg Hatten is next in the Portola and also does not make it around the center hole, slides in sideways and he and Leif are pitched out and swim right. The Portola only rolls over twice and then flushes out, riding much higher than at Grapevine and with the hatches dry. Stef rows off the beach in hot pursuit and they all eddy out within our field of veiw and we soon see the Portola upright. Greg and Leif have been able to roll her over by themselves and have her bailed out. Doug brings is his raft down on the right side and parks it at the right side and walks back and brings the Susie Too down as well. CeCe jumps in to be safety there.
Our new friends from Alaska in five yellow rafts start through. The first one flips in the center hole and the oarsman swims to the Susie Too and was pulled in. The raft and passenger headed down to where Stef was and was pulled ashore. The last yellow raft goes sideways into the hole and surfs for over two minutes with both onboard high-siding and finally getting an oar in the water and popping out.
Izzy brings her raft down with John as passenger in a perfect run, pulling right to avoid the rock. Nate and I jump on with Doug and we row down to Stef and the upside-down yellow raft. They are rigging a Z-drag. Tony and Robb already have used the Z-drag to get the cataraft over and is repacking the raft. We head out and make it to the Upper Ledges where we camp late, cook fast, and set out a lot to dry, which we have to put up wet when the wind gets strong and some things disappear into the river and not recovered. Natalie Mortenson, Leif’s daughter, spends time following mice and kangaroo rats along the ledges at the back of our camping spaces.
Day 13 in Grand Canyon: Below Fossil to Football Field
This is another day with three big rapids and a number of smaller ones. In some sections, they pile on top of one another and you have to be on your toes.
The first is Specter, where there is a right run next to a wall that misses a big hole. Most of the rafts take that line, but Stef, who is back at the oars on Susie Too, sees a path on the left of that hole that will keep us off the wall and we dance down that line, catching some awe and having fun. We arrive at the bottom with barely two inches of water in the boat and a lot of laughter.
Bedrock, my peronal nemesis, is next. We land above and climb through the Doll House to scout and at low water and dropping, she looks nasty. I flipped a raft here in 1969 by wrapping it on the Bedrock and then, when it came off upside-down, rode it in the left eddy while trying and trying to climb on it until it decided to do the left run. This year, I elect to be picked up at the bottom and, given that Stef wants a lighter boat to do the run, both of us are happy.
Robb goes first and does a perfect run and he eddies out at the rock and sets up a safety with a throw bag. CeCe is next and does a great job as well and eddies out on the beach I am on. Tony comes next and is too far left entering the left side without touching the rock and we can see him upright and backwards through the notch. The back side of the Bedrock catches him and puts one of the pontoons under water. Robb, on top of the rock, shakes his head, but Tony high-sides and a surge washes him off upright – oars, gear, and boat all intact – and he eddies out on the left in sight on a small beach. Izzy heads down and spins, almost wraps on the rock, but the pillow pushes her off. We think it’s a certain flip, but she and John hold it, make it through the left side and also eddy out next to Tony. Craig brings the Flavell II down and pulls and pulls and pulls and makes it around on the right with his steel prow almost touching the secondary rocks on the right side of Bedrock, with a huge grin and a wipe of the sweat of his brow gesture he has earned and to our applause.
Greg has been practicing putting his stern on rocks just for this rapid and we laugh about a small steeper rock that the water is just splashing over. I tell him I want his picture with the Portola stern just over that rock and he laughs and says that he does too. His run is perfect with his stern going on the left side of all the right side rocks and he ends up the farthest from Bedrock and with his stern only five or six feet from that sleeper rock to great cheers from all of us. Stef brings Susie through a little closer to the rock, but safely and with a lot of fun. He picks me up below Bedrock and it’s off to Deubendorf Rapid, which we do a read-and-run, then a half-hour stop at Stone Creek to top off our water supplies. I set up the solar chargers to see if I can get any of the batteries up enough to use my laptop.
After we pump fresh water, we head on down the river with Doug Freeman at the oars of Susie Too. Tapeats Creek has been one of my favorite camping spots on several trips down the Bill Hall trail past Thunder River, down Tapeats Creek, along the river high on the cliffs to Deer Creek, and then back out across the esplenade and back out. Today, the whole river is pulling into the rock pour-over at the top. Greg makes three big pulls and goes right of the rock. Doug is pulling for all he is worth and goes up and over the rock, sliding off to the left as both of us high-side so we keep her upright. He grabs the oar he has lost on the left and we make it through the rapid with no more than three inches in the bottom and we both bail to see if there is a hole or other damage. We think we hit with the area under the forward compartment, but instead find we have cracked the wood in the rower’s footwell in two areas. It does not appear to be leaking and we haave other swirly water to worry about, so we wait for camp.
Jeffe Aronson, a dory boatman for Grand Canyon Dories, who does a great blog called “Stories From the Big Ditch”, just did a blog about repairing wooden dories and used several photos of dories being pulled out of the water by rolling them on thwarts (the inflatible center tubes on paddle rafts, which are not used with a rowing frame). We camp at “Football Field” below Deer Creek and roll the Susie Too out on two thwarts and all the wood boat builders look at the cracks, determine that the cracks aren’t through the fiberglass, are not leaking, and none of the ribs are damaged, and we just need to take care for the rest of the trip. It only took four of us to move her out of the water and back in – much easier than lifting her. Thank you Jeffe and Craig Wolfson, who had the thwarts and brought them in; a few pumps of one of our air pumps and they were ready to go.
The first is Specter, where there is a right run next to a wall that misses a big hole. Most of the rafts take that line, but Stef, who is back at the oars on Susie Too, sees a path on the left of that hole that will keep us off the wall and we dance down that line, catching some awe and having fun. We arrive at the bottom with barely two inches of water in the boat and a lot of laughter.
Bedrock, my peronal nemesis, is next. We land above and climb through the Doll House to scout and at low water and dropping, she looks nasty. I flipped a raft here in 1969 by wrapping it on the Bedrock and then, when it came off upside-down, rode it in the left eddy while trying and trying to climb on it until it decided to do the left run. This year, I elect to be picked up at the bottom and, given that Stef wants a lighter boat to do the run, both of us are happy.
Robb goes first and does a perfect run and he eddies out at the rock and sets up a safety with a throw bag. CeCe is next and does a great job as well and eddies out on the beach I am on. Tony comes next and is too far left entering the left side without touching the rock and we can see him upright and backwards through the notch. The back side of the Bedrock catches him and puts one of the pontoons under water. Robb, on top of the rock, shakes his head, but Tony high-sides and a surge washes him off upright – oars, gear, and boat all intact – and he eddies out on the left in sight on a small beach. Izzy heads down and spins, almost wraps on the rock, but the pillow pushes her off. We think it’s a certain flip, but she and John hold it, make it through the left side and also eddy out next to Tony. Craig brings the Flavell II down and pulls and pulls and pulls and makes it around on the right with his steel prow almost touching the secondary rocks on the right side of Bedrock, with a huge grin and a wipe of the sweat of his brow gesture he has earned and to our applause.
Greg has been practicing putting his stern on rocks just for this rapid and we laugh about a small steeper rock that the water is just splashing over. I tell him I want his picture with the Portola stern just over that rock and he laughs and says that he does too. His run is perfect with his stern going on the left side of all the right side rocks and he ends up the farthest from Bedrock and with his stern only five or six feet from that sleeper rock to great cheers from all of us. Stef brings Susie through a little closer to the rock, but safely and with a lot of fun. He picks me up below Bedrock and it’s off to Deubendorf Rapid, which we do a read-and-run, then a half-hour stop at Stone Creek to top off our water supplies. I set up the solar chargers to see if I can get any of the batteries up enough to use my laptop.
After we pump fresh water, we head on down the river with Doug Freeman at the oars of Susie Too. Tapeats Creek has been one of my favorite camping spots on several trips down the Bill Hall trail past Thunder River, down Tapeats Creek, along the river high on the cliffs to Deer Creek, and then back out across the esplenade and back out. Today, the whole river is pulling into the rock pour-over at the top. Greg makes three big pulls and goes right of the rock. Doug is pulling for all he is worth and goes up and over the rock, sliding off to the left as both of us high-side so we keep her upright. He grabs the oar he has lost on the left and we make it through the rapid with no more than three inches in the bottom and we both bail to see if there is a hole or other damage. We think we hit with the area under the forward compartment, but instead find we have cracked the wood in the rower’s footwell in two areas. It does not appear to be leaking and we haave other swirly water to worry about, so we wait for camp.
Jeffe Aronson, a dory boatman for Grand Canyon Dories, who does a great blog called “Stories From the Big Ditch”, just did a blog about repairing wooden dories and used several photos of dories being pulled out of the water by rolling them on thwarts (the inflatible center tubes on paddle rafts, which are not used with a rowing frame). We camp at “Football Field” below Deer Creek and roll the Susie Too out on two thwarts and all the wood boat builders look at the cracks, determine that the cracks aren’t through the fiberglass, are not leaking, and none of the ribs are damaged, and we just need to take care for the rest of the trip. It only took four of us to move her out of the water and back in – much easier than lifting her. Thank you Jeffe and Craig Wolfson, who had the thwarts and brought them in; a few pumps of one of our air pumps and they were ready to go.
Day 12 in Grand Canyon: Hotauta to below Fossil
Today was a long day with good weather, no wind, and a lot of fun. Little rapids (below 4′s), with Fossil (a 5), Forster (a 5), and Walthenberg (a 6) being the three bigger ones to run today.
Robb is rowing Susie Too in the morning and Tony takes his first turn at the oars in the afternoon. We are trying to make up some time so we can still do our layover day at Staircase for some great hiking. So we pack lunches to eat on the river, rather than stop and lay out our lunch on a Roll-A-Table, which takes an hour to set up, eat, and take down.
We reach Elves Chasm and spend half an hour exploring and also meet up with two other groups and discuss camp sites. Looks like we need to head to below Fossil.
Forster and Fossil rapids today are just read-and-run, although Fossil is a nice S-shaped rapid with some rocks in strategic places that require pulling on the oars to miss.
Walthenberg has some big waves and Robb runs that perfectly. Susie Too dances up and over everything she is aimed at, catching air when she can, and having her riders laugh a lot. Sometimes she is a dry-rider. If there are lateral waves at the bottom that come over the sides, then she fills up and the pump goes on and we bail and between the two, we get her emptied out in a couple of minutes. But full or empty, she is very stable and a joy to be in.
While we are at Elves Chasm, a small trip pulls up that had been scouting Walthenberg and we talk dories, how Susie did, and he tells us that seeing a dory go through a rapid had been on his Bucket List. So, he was a happy camper to have watched this.
We get to below Fossil and set up camp, enjoy a great dinner, and get to bed. The almost-full moon comes up in a notch across from us and sets just after midnight behind the cliff behind us, but the moonlight reflects off the east cliff all night and it is bright and still.
Robb is rowing Susie Too in the morning and Tony takes his first turn at the oars in the afternoon. We are trying to make up some time so we can still do our layover day at Staircase for some great hiking. So we pack lunches to eat on the river, rather than stop and lay out our lunch on a Roll-A-Table, which takes an hour to set up, eat, and take down.
We reach Elves Chasm and spend half an hour exploring and also meet up with two other groups and discuss camp sites. Looks like we need to head to below Fossil.
Forster and Fossil rapids today are just read-and-run, although Fossil is a nice S-shaped rapid with some rocks in strategic places that require pulling on the oars to miss.
Walthenberg has some big waves and Robb runs that perfectly. Susie Too dances up and over everything she is aimed at, catching air when she can, and having her riders laugh a lot. Sometimes she is a dry-rider. If there are lateral waves at the bottom that come over the sides, then she fills up and the pump goes on and we bail and between the two, we get her emptied out in a couple of minutes. But full or empty, she is very stable and a joy to be in.
While we are at Elves Chasm, a small trip pulls up that had been scouting Walthenberg and we talk dories, how Susie did, and he tells us that seeing a dory go through a rapid had been on his Bucket List. So, he was a happy camper to have watched this.
We get to below Fossil and set up camp, enjoy a great dinner, and get to bed. The almost-full moon comes up in a notch across from us and sets just after midnight behind the cliff behind us, but the moonlight reflects off the east cliff all night and it is bright and still.
Day 11 in Grand Canyon: Above Salt Creek Camp to Hotauta Camp
[We have had problems with the batteries recharging so there has been a delay in getting these out. Days 12 through 16 were sent out with Pam and Kammy Wolfson who will post them as soon as they get them transcribed from my handwritten journals. We had a full day on the beach at Whitmore Wash on the day we exchanged people so my laptop is up and functioning and Leif’s laptop is up and functioning and the cell phone with the data program is up and functioning.]
We start out today knowing that we will be running three big rapids with scouting and filming and and still hoping to make decent times and get into camp early enough to make dinner before everyone crashes. We did it, but a strong afternoon wind that hit three miles from our camp site selection, in an area with no other camp sites available, made that part of the trip very hard.
First rapid we came to was Granite Rapid at the mouth of Monument Creek. Monument Creek Campsite is one of my favorite places and is accessible from the Tonto Trail on the Hermit Loop. It has a nice clear spring running through it and the scenery is dramatic. I have taken many photos of the monument itself and one of them won several awards in multiple contests, including the Arizona State Fair, and has been published several times in various calendars, books, and magazine articles. There is a revegitation project going on there where the National Park Service is getting ready to remove an invasive species, the tamarisk tree, or the remains of the tamarisk trees, after the tamarisk beetles get through killing them. They are planting several native species to provide shade and privacy screening for all the people on river trips who stop there, and all the people who hike down to Granite Rapid from the rim. So they have left buckets and a watering log to ask us who are coming through on river trips to water these 200 plants. There has been some mortality since they put the plants in last year, but a surprising number of them have survived and appear to be leaving out. To build up really good karma for our group, instead of scouting the rapid (since I am not rowing today), I take a bucket out of the Susie Too and haul about 25 buckets of water from the river to the plants on the north end, and about half of the plants on the south end before everyone comes back to run the rapid.
I am riding with Nate today, our official photographer and videographer, who always seems to have a camera in his hands. He was down here in a kayak two years ago and is very familiar with the river and we have a lot of fun today on the raft. CeCe and Stef are taking the Susie Too down, rotating our rowers through the wooden boats to get them familiar with them and give them a turn at the really active way they handle. And I get to get photos of what she looks like dancing through the waves.
Hermit Rapid is next and is a read-and-run, with us having a great time in all of the successive waves being more fun than the last. We all looked out for number 7 which was indeed the best (most challenging), depending on your point of view. Craig and the Flavell II obviously catching air on several of the waves. Then on to Crystal where we spend two hours scouting the rapid and discussing the lines. There were three that we ran. The left run that most people thought was un-runnable was run very well by Robb and Tony, who hardly got wet and made it look easy. The left hole that looks so hard did not even slow them down. Most of the others ran the classic right run, missing the center hole and not hitting any of the rocks on the right shore. Stef, running solo in the Susie Too ran a center run and hit the center hole straight on, was stopped momentarily, and popped right out and danced through the rest of the rapid and lower Crystal as well. Nate and I ran up and took the raft down and went right and had a great run. Son of Crystal is a little more technical and many of us spun once or more in getting through.
The gems were next and that was a rapid or riffle every quarter mile or so: Agate, Sapphire, Turquoise, Ruby, Serpentine, and then two miles farther, Bass Canyon and Hotauta on the left, which was a great sand dune camp with some ledges. We have made up barely 22 miles at this point and many of us are hoping that the schedule can be adjusted so that we can have the layover day at Whitmore Wash in a week.
We start out today knowing that we will be running three big rapids with scouting and filming and and still hoping to make decent times and get into camp early enough to make dinner before everyone crashes. We did it, but a strong afternoon wind that hit three miles from our camp site selection, in an area with no other camp sites available, made that part of the trip very hard.
First rapid we came to was Granite Rapid at the mouth of Monument Creek. Monument Creek Campsite is one of my favorite places and is accessible from the Tonto Trail on the Hermit Loop. It has a nice clear spring running through it and the scenery is dramatic. I have taken many photos of the monument itself and one of them won several awards in multiple contests, including the Arizona State Fair, and has been published several times in various calendars, books, and magazine articles. There is a revegitation project going on there where the National Park Service is getting ready to remove an invasive species, the tamarisk tree, or the remains of the tamarisk trees, after the tamarisk beetles get through killing them. They are planting several native species to provide shade and privacy screening for all the people on river trips who stop there, and all the people who hike down to Granite Rapid from the rim. So they have left buckets and a watering log to ask us who are coming through on river trips to water these 200 plants. There has been some mortality since they put the plants in last year, but a surprising number of them have survived and appear to be leaving out. To build up really good karma for our group, instead of scouting the rapid (since I am not rowing today), I take a bucket out of the Susie Too and haul about 25 buckets of water from the river to the plants on the north end, and about half of the plants on the south end before everyone comes back to run the rapid.
I am riding with Nate today, our official photographer and videographer, who always seems to have a camera in his hands. He was down here in a kayak two years ago and is very familiar with the river and we have a lot of fun today on the raft. CeCe and Stef are taking the Susie Too down, rotating our rowers through the wooden boats to get them familiar with them and give them a turn at the really active way they handle. And I get to get photos of what she looks like dancing through the waves.
Hermit Rapid is next and is a read-and-run, with us having a great time in all of the successive waves being more fun than the last. We all looked out for number 7 which was indeed the best (most challenging), depending on your point of view. Craig and the Flavell II obviously catching air on several of the waves. Then on to Crystal where we spend two hours scouting the rapid and discussing the lines. There were three that we ran. The left run that most people thought was un-runnable was run very well by Robb and Tony, who hardly got wet and made it look easy. The left hole that looks so hard did not even slow them down. Most of the others ran the classic right run, missing the center hole and not hitting any of the rocks on the right shore. Stef, running solo in the Susie Too ran a center run and hit the center hole straight on, was stopped momentarily, and popped right out and danced through the rest of the rapid and lower Crystal as well. Nate and I ran up and took the raft down and went right and had a great run. Son of Crystal is a little more technical and many of us spun once or more in getting through.
The gems were next and that was a rapid or riffle every quarter mile or so: Agate, Sapphire, Turquoise, Ruby, Serpentine, and then two miles farther, Bass Canyon and Hotauta on the left, which was a great sand dune camp with some ledges. We have made up barely 22 miles at this point and many of us are hoping that the schedule can be adjusted so that we can have the layover day at Whitmore Wash in a week.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)