We wake to a clear and already warmer day. We rush to get breakfast done and the gear loaded and leave to make for a slightly earlier start. We have Zoroaster Rapid and 85-mile Rapid, which are bigger ones, and numerous ones that are substantial riffles that some we suppose might not even be there at higher water. There are rocks exposed in lots of areas that those of us who have done this only at higher waters have not seen. The guide books we have list all rapids as a 3 or higher on a rating scale of 1 to 10. With Lava being the 10, House Rock Rapid being a 7, Hance and Granite being 8’s, and some of them having a double rating with a higher water rating and a lower water rating. Most of us are running with the guide book open next to us on our seat or tucked into a map case or just under a strap. All are printed on waterproof paper, so we hang them to drain overnight on a convenient bush or tree.
We are also lucky that we have Craig Wolfson with us, who has run the river professionally and privately for over 30 years, and has an encyclopedic knowledge of both what the entrances are and the must-make moves in each, and which we can read-and-run, which involves getting close enough to the top so that you can stand up in your boat and look at the whole rapid and determine your moves. In all cases, you position your boat facing one way or the other, depending on which way you think you might have to pull on your oars to move backwards since you have much more power in a pull stroke than a push stroke, and hitting a rock or a wall or getting your boat wrapped on a rock are things we want to avoid at all costs.
Today we get through the morning and head up to Phantom Ranch, only a day later than planned. John Schroeder and I head up to the ranch fast on a sentimental journey. Friend Linda McClure was the manager here in the late 1980's, and her husband Dennis McClure also worked at the ranch in a variety of capacities. For their 3-year tenure, I kept a sleeping bag and pad in their cabin; even if I could not get a permit to hike in the corridor, I frequently called up to see if they needed anything purchased in Phoenix that I could bring to them and would drive up, pick up a pass at the transportation desk, and head down at first light for one or two days at Phantom Ranch. One of the projects I was involved in over the course of one Fall in '86 or '87, was to plant trees here to replace the cottonwoods which were aging and dropping limbs in high winds. Several friends and I planted about 17 trees in various locations; somewhere I have a photograph of a couple of us hugging one of those trees that is barely as tall as I am just after we got it into the ground and watered it. There is a wheelbarrow in the background with soil enhancements and shovels in it and we are wearing work gloves. When last I was here in 2002, it was a tall sapling and I want to see how that one tree has fared. We see several that I know I planted and I give each a hug. We see the old fig tree next to the shower house that I have eaten so many figs from over all the hikes I did down here, and then head up to the mess hall and beyond to the tree which is now 30 feet tall and just leaving out. I can get my arms around it still and stand there with tears running down my face that it has survived and appears to be thriving. John records the moment for me to savor over the years with his camera and with mine. So many great memories from all the time I have spent here in my "Church of the Canyon".
The rest of the team fills the water bottles we need refilling and heads to the ranch for postcards, stamps, lemonade, and souvenirs. Phantom Ranch has special tee shirts designed each year, one usually with a hiking theme and one with a river theme. The river theme is a Bruce Aikin design of a dory approaching Nankoweep and the dory is white with the suggestion of a green stripe on sunset-shadowed water and it is beautiful. I have one in my pack to bring home and wear proudly. It is as if he designed it just for me to find.
We round up and everyone heads back to the boats to get ready to run Horn Rapid. This is another serious rapid, rated a 9, and is the one that most of us have been dreading. It is in the shade and we climb high on a talus slope on the right side to get a look at it. We run some of the rafts through to be safety boaters and then the wooden boats go. After Greg Hatten drops over the edge, we do not see him in the rapid like we have the rafts until he pulls up in the sun on the beach at the bottom left. Doug Freeman is washed out of his raft on the way down and self-rescues, but loses his favorite hat. CeCe and I take off and she hits her line, breaks through the left lateral waves and rides the rapid down on the outside of all the big holes, dancing up and over and down and through. We come through the rapid with barely 2 inches of water in the boat and again I have the sense that we have someone else in the boat guiding our route. Craig Wolfson is last of the wooden boats and fills to the brim, so Dave Mortenson has another bailing job.
Because we have tarried so long at Phantom Ranch and Horn we stop for lunch at 3 and are passed by 2 other raft groups, which are heading for the camp we had planned on so we stop at above Salt Creek camp for the night and spread out and set up camp and really enjoy the lamb chops and scalloped potatoes for dinner. We head to bed to enjoy the almost-full moon and the incredible stars... a sleep well-earned.
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Day 9 in Grand Canyon: Hance Rapid to Clear Creek
Today was the day we all demonstrated that we understood the importance of working as a team. We were able to do so and do so well when Greg Hatten and the Portola, with Dave Mortenson as a passenger, got into serious trouble in Grapevine Rapid. We had to rescue both of them from the water, as well as an upside-down Portola. As I write this at 9 p.m., everyone is fine and the Portola is a little the worse for wear, but serviceable.
But let’s start with the first part of the day. Hance Rapid at low water since September of 2012, is one nasty rapid. The left run has been totally covered up with rock, debris, and mud. At low water there are a lot of rocks, a lot of strong currents that keep you from going where you want to, and only a few ways to get from the top to the bottom, now all on the right side. We set up to photograph and CeCe Mortenson, who is again rowing the Susie Too with me as a passenger, wants to watch the first 4 people make the run. She watches from the rock flow at the edge of the water; I watch from the beach we are parked on. It looks to me like every one of the first 4 make a different entry and she confirms that. Tony rows the whole rapid backward, using his more powerful strokes to make it through with no damage, but getting very wet. Craig Wolfson with Pam Mortenson runs almost every hole and his boat is soon filled with water to the gunwales, and Pam spends a lot of time bailing the boat out with a bleach bottle with the bottom cut out. Robb starts out where he wants to be, but does not make it to the pathway and hits a few rocks. Then it is our turn and CeCe starts out too far right and never manages to make it left of some big visible rocks that she was going to do, so we make a right run in very tight quarters, mostly run backwards, mostly run full of water with our wonderful pump trying to empty her out, and the next wave filling her up again and with me moving from one side to the other (called "high-siding" to balance the boat and keep it from flipping). We go sideways, fully loaded with water, into a large rock and tear away 6 inches of outer chine and 8 feet of metal strip protecting the chine from the left side. We also crack the inner chine. A few minutes later we come down hard on a rock with a big <thunk> which cracks the floor in the sump pump compartment. Neither of these is causing leaking, but do cause concern. I spend time at the bottom of the rapid bailing her out with a bucket and smaller quart milk plastic bottle with 2 sides cut away, and then sponge to get the last of the water out and check for damage. The last 2 rafts with the photographers come down with very wet rides for their passengers and rowers. Nate, one of the photographers, has captured our run well including hitting both rocks and that we were indeed backwards for the entire upper part.
Most of us are wearing drysuits today with closed feet under water boots and gaskets at wrist and neck to keep us from getting wet and cold. The canyon is deep and it is cloudy so it feels a lot colder today.
We do a read-and-run of Sockdologer Rapid next and enjoy the bouncing through the waves and haystacks where water comes together from both sides in lateral waves, causing lots of high waves in the center. As we finish Sockdologer, the group of kayakers doing the same trip in 13 days pass us. They are trying to go 30 miles today and we exchange a few words as they have to pay strict attention to all the swirling eddy currents that can so easily flip a kayak, but not our larger boats. We had seen them first at Unkar where they went down the rapid first and then camped at rattlesnake camp to hike in the ruins and above.
We get to Grapevine, which Tom Martin’s guide says to avoid the left side and go right but avoid the pour-overs in the center. The rafts head left and the wooden boats head right with Craig Wolfson in the lead and getting a wet ride. Greg and Dave head through next and disappear beyond a pour-over. We see Greg’s head above the water and it is not moving away as we expect. CeCe does very strong pulls so we do not take the same line and we flash past them with a few feet to spare on their left, with no way to get to them. They have water from the pour-over filling their boat and washing out over the downstream edge and it looks like they are trapped in the current and the boat appears to be shaking but stuck. Greg is yelling at Dave to high-side, a move to shift the balance to the upstream side in hopes that the boat will move and break free. I use my whistle strongly downstream to stop everyone and alert them that we now have a water emergency and everyone pulls to the side. Cece and I bail our boat because it too is full of water and we know we may have to take a passenger on board. CeCe also pulls at the oars upstream to stay as close as possible to render any assistance we might be able to. One of Greg’s oars blushes out first and we see that the Portola is now upside-down and see one swimmer and then the other after about 4 minutes of the beating water. We move into position to intercept the first swimmer, who is Dave Mortenson on his back, coming down head first and not moving much. Leif gets a throw rope to him first; he hits a couple of rocks while holding onto the rope. We reach him and Cece and I pull him on board and put him in the rescue position and hold onto the throw rope as Izzy’s passengers pull our boat to shore and tie both of our boats off. The Portola finally breaks free just about the time we get Dave on board and we yell among ourselves as to who is going to intercept Greg and who is going after the Portola and make sure they have the gear at hand to take the still-upside-down boat under tow. Greg is pulled on board and the Portola is grabbed and tied off and both of those boats head to shore just downstream from us. We get Dave into dry clothes and get hot water into him and then untie and drift down to the next cove where the Portola is now upright. We see two other oars on shore, and Tony and John are going over the boat looking for damage. Greg is wrapped up in dry clothes and we pass the hot water to shore for him, and CeCe sends over the last of her morning coffee which is still hot. We still have rapids to run, but it is clear that we will need to make camp sooner and Craig Wolfson suggests Clear Creek, which we head for. We talk to both Dave and Greg and do a medical assessment: Except for bumps and bruises, and the possibility of a cracked rib for Greg, we are all worse for wear.
Tony and John go over both the Portola and Susie Too and discuss if repairs are needed and it appears that nothing is leaking yet so we dry everything out and do a wait-and-see to see if there is any leaking we need to address. Izzy spends the afternoon cleaning out Greg’s boat and laying out his supplies to dry in the dry air. We set out the solar panels even though it is cloudy and they start to charge. Izzy and John take on the kitchen duties and make a vegetable and meat pasta that is really good after a salad and chicken noodle soup. We do our evening briefing of tomorrow's run and all head to bed and are soon snoring quietly as I come down from the excitement of the day and the pleasant knowledge that we were ready, willing, and able to work as a very effective team when needed to.
But let’s start with the first part of the day. Hance Rapid at low water since September of 2012, is one nasty rapid. The left run has been totally covered up with rock, debris, and mud. At low water there are a lot of rocks, a lot of strong currents that keep you from going where you want to, and only a few ways to get from the top to the bottom, now all on the right side. We set up to photograph and CeCe Mortenson, who is again rowing the Susie Too with me as a passenger, wants to watch the first 4 people make the run. She watches from the rock flow at the edge of the water; I watch from the beach we are parked on. It looks to me like every one of the first 4 make a different entry and she confirms that. Tony rows the whole rapid backward, using his more powerful strokes to make it through with no damage, but getting very wet. Craig Wolfson with Pam Mortenson runs almost every hole and his boat is soon filled with water to the gunwales, and Pam spends a lot of time bailing the boat out with a bleach bottle with the bottom cut out. Robb starts out where he wants to be, but does not make it to the pathway and hits a few rocks. Then it is our turn and CeCe starts out too far right and never manages to make it left of some big visible rocks that she was going to do, so we make a right run in very tight quarters, mostly run backwards, mostly run full of water with our wonderful pump trying to empty her out, and the next wave filling her up again and with me moving from one side to the other (called "high-siding" to balance the boat and keep it from flipping). We go sideways, fully loaded with water, into a large rock and tear away 6 inches of outer chine and 8 feet of metal strip protecting the chine from the left side. We also crack the inner chine. A few minutes later we come down hard on a rock with a big <thunk> which cracks the floor in the sump pump compartment. Neither of these is causing leaking, but do cause concern. I spend time at the bottom of the rapid bailing her out with a bucket and smaller quart milk plastic bottle with 2 sides cut away, and then sponge to get the last of the water out and check for damage. The last 2 rafts with the photographers come down with very wet rides for their passengers and rowers. Nate, one of the photographers, has captured our run well including hitting both rocks and that we were indeed backwards for the entire upper part.
Most of us are wearing drysuits today with closed feet under water boots and gaskets at wrist and neck to keep us from getting wet and cold. The canyon is deep and it is cloudy so it feels a lot colder today.
We do a read-and-run of Sockdologer Rapid next and enjoy the bouncing through the waves and haystacks where water comes together from both sides in lateral waves, causing lots of high waves in the center. As we finish Sockdologer, the group of kayakers doing the same trip in 13 days pass us. They are trying to go 30 miles today and we exchange a few words as they have to pay strict attention to all the swirling eddy currents that can so easily flip a kayak, but not our larger boats. We had seen them first at Unkar where they went down the rapid first and then camped at rattlesnake camp to hike in the ruins and above.
We get to Grapevine, which Tom Martin’s guide says to avoid the left side and go right but avoid the pour-overs in the center. The rafts head left and the wooden boats head right with Craig Wolfson in the lead and getting a wet ride. Greg and Dave head through next and disappear beyond a pour-over. We see Greg’s head above the water and it is not moving away as we expect. CeCe does very strong pulls so we do not take the same line and we flash past them with a few feet to spare on their left, with no way to get to them. They have water from the pour-over filling their boat and washing out over the downstream edge and it looks like they are trapped in the current and the boat appears to be shaking but stuck. Greg is yelling at Dave to high-side, a move to shift the balance to the upstream side in hopes that the boat will move and break free. I use my whistle strongly downstream to stop everyone and alert them that we now have a water emergency and everyone pulls to the side. Cece and I bail our boat because it too is full of water and we know we may have to take a passenger on board. CeCe also pulls at the oars upstream to stay as close as possible to render any assistance we might be able to. One of Greg’s oars blushes out first and we see that the Portola is now upside-down and see one swimmer and then the other after about 4 minutes of the beating water. We move into position to intercept the first swimmer, who is Dave Mortenson on his back, coming down head first and not moving much. Leif gets a throw rope to him first; he hits a couple of rocks while holding onto the rope. We reach him and Cece and I pull him on board and put him in the rescue position and hold onto the throw rope as Izzy’s passengers pull our boat to shore and tie both of our boats off. The Portola finally breaks free just about the time we get Dave on board and we yell among ourselves as to who is going to intercept Greg and who is going after the Portola and make sure they have the gear at hand to take the still-upside-down boat under tow. Greg is pulled on board and the Portola is grabbed and tied off and both of those boats head to shore just downstream from us. We get Dave into dry clothes and get hot water into him and then untie and drift down to the next cove where the Portola is now upright. We see two other oars on shore, and Tony and John are going over the boat looking for damage. Greg is wrapped up in dry clothes and we pass the hot water to shore for him, and CeCe sends over the last of her morning coffee which is still hot. We still have rapids to run, but it is clear that we will need to make camp sooner and Craig Wolfson suggests Clear Creek, which we head for. We talk to both Dave and Greg and do a medical assessment: Except for bumps and bruises, and the possibility of a cracked rib for Greg, we are all worse for wear.
Tony and John go over both the Portola and Susie Too and discuss if repairs are needed and it appears that nothing is leaking yet so we dry everything out and do a wait-and-see to see if there is any leaking we need to address. Izzy spends the afternoon cleaning out Greg’s boat and laying out his supplies to dry in the dry air. We set out the solar panels even though it is cloudy and they start to charge. Izzy and John take on the kitchen duties and make a vegetable and meat pasta that is really good after a salad and chicken noodle soup. We do our evening briefing of tomorrow's run and all head to bed and are soon snoring quietly as I come down from the excitement of the day and the pleasant knowledge that we were ready, willing, and able to work as a very effective team when needed to.
Day 8 in Grand Canyon: Chuar Canyon to Above Hance Rapid
When we leave a camp, it means that everything we have taken off the boat to use has to go back on the boat and has to fit in the space it is allotted. This is done, in part, by having things come out of boxes that are made to fit on the rowing frame each raft is fitted with. We also have small crates that a lot of the fresh vegetables were originally stored in and they have been moved from my forward hatch into the now first week cooler, which is empty. We originally had 5 twenty-pound bags of charcoal in the forward hatch, plus the 2 crates and it was full. I asked several dory boatmen how they loaded their dories to make them both efficient and balanced. According to them, they wanted some more weight forward to start and then balanced later in the trip. Brad Dimock, boat builder extraordinaire, historian and writer stated - and I am paraphrasing - that the dories started out over-loaded at Lee’s Ferry, were about right by the time you got to Phantom Ranch, and were downright sport by the time you got to Lava Falls.
We have used 40 pounds of charcoal so far, so I now have room to take a couple of my smaller bags and put them into the forward hatch so that Tony Wrigley does not have to row them down the river anymore. As we use more charcoal, I can take more of my own stuff back. My personal camp setup (tent, sleeping bag, extra fleece sleeping bag liner, pillow and sleeping pad), takes one large dry bag with shoulder straps - so, like a backpack - I can carry it to the place I want to camp from the boats in one load. It won’t fit into any hatch, however, so that will remain on Tony’s boat for the duration of the trip. He also has my 2 large York Packs (plastic waterproof boxes) in which I have a lot of the dry food for the special dishes, or whole meals I am doing, and for the deserts with the Dutch ovens - the cobbler cake mixes and the cans of fruit to make the cobblers. My Dutch oven lifter, the liners, and aluminum foil I use to keep the Dutches a bit cleaner than if I used them without those (you can use coffee grounds or wet sand to clean out a Dutch, never soap; but if you are using river water and wet sand that water is really cold - in the 40’s and it physically hurts to spend the time with your hands in the water to get them clean). And then you have to oil the Dutch so it won’t rust and to keep the non-stick surface, so there is a bottle of cooking oil in the box as well. You get the picture.
Most of the rafts have rowing frames with drop bags that go down into the inside of the raft and oddly sized things go there: the 5 propane tanks, the dish washing pails (stack of 4), the groover boxes, and the daily dry food boxes. We also have 3 tables that are 18 inches by 6 feet, 4 feet tall with folding legs, and then a few Roll-A-Tables for putting lunch together on a beach. We have 3 major first aid kits and at least 5 minor first aid kits with all the things specified by the NPS and then some. We have several bags with ropes and pulleys and other things to turn over a flipped boat or raft. We have chairs. We have a fire pan and a large fire blanket to put under the fire pan all in a 24 by 24 by 14-inch packing box. We have a heavy duty tarp that forms the floor of the kitchen we set up every night. Craig Wolfson’s boat, the Flavell II, has 4 large metal boxes on it that holds all of our cooking utensils, all of our plates, bowls, cups, serving and prep pieces, a lot of food, silverware and everything else we need to take care of feeding 16 people.
When we left Chuar Canyon yesterday, we continued to follow the Palisades of the Desert cliff until we got to Desert Watch Tower in the far distance on the rim, and then even that fell behind. This section is very open and the tall cliffs are far away from the river. There are 2 major rapids in this section and several minor ones. The first major one is the Unkar Rapid. At higher water this is a more difficult rapid (for some of us, we would consider that a more fun rapid). Susie likes it and dances down the long length of it beautifully and I have film to prove it. Today at the lower water level we are running, this looks a lot easier. Unkar Rapid is also an important one in that the original Flavell II boat met her demise at Unkar in the early 1970’s when the boatman and wonderful photographer, John Blaustine, got hit in the face with a wave, which washed his contact lenses out. He could not see to row and rowed into the rocks at the bottom and, in hitting them, essentially broke the boat in two. Martin Litton was supposed to have said that the boat had had that much damage before but not all at the same time. After that trip, the boat was destroyed in a fire, but Dave Mortenson was able to locate 2 of the original boxes in the Old Grand Canyon Dories yard in Hurricane, Utah and, with permission, collected them and still has them. This boat was built from a 14-inch scale model of the boat that had been built after the original Flavell II was built. After drawing plans from the model and getting the measurements from Dave for the boxes, Craig Wolfson went to work building the boat from the inside out (the opposite of how boats are normally built). When the replica boxes were brought down by Dave and Pam, they fit with about ¼ inch of clearance. We have to be careful not to bend them so they will continue to fit every time we take them off and put them back on the boat.
Craig Wolfson is our head boatman and is responsible for setting the order of running each day and telling us the best ways to run the various rapids we encounter each day. He is very happy that the Flavell does so well and suffers no damage in this rapid.
The second major rapid for the day is Neville Rapid, named for Norm and Doris Neville who started running the San Juan, the Green and the Colorado Rivers through Glen Canyon, Cataract Canyon, and Grand Canyon (respectively) in the 1930’s and 1940’s and whom several of the people who built the original ones of our small boats got their start rowing for which gave them the experience and the love of these canyons and started them on their quest to build ever better boats for their Grand Canyon trips. This is a long one with a pour-over in 3 places in the middle of the run that you can’t see until you are almost upon it. A pour-over is where the water pours over a large, mostly hidden large rock that would do serious damage to our wooden boats and might flip a rubber raft if run the wrong way. CeCe Mortenson is rowing the Susie Too today. I spend the day in Craig Wolfson’s Flavell II to get some photographs of the Susie Too dancing on the waves and it is so beautiful to watch her. Today is sunny and life is good.
We have used 40 pounds of charcoal so far, so I now have room to take a couple of my smaller bags and put them into the forward hatch so that Tony Wrigley does not have to row them down the river anymore. As we use more charcoal, I can take more of my own stuff back. My personal camp setup (tent, sleeping bag, extra fleece sleeping bag liner, pillow and sleeping pad), takes one large dry bag with shoulder straps - so, like a backpack - I can carry it to the place I want to camp from the boats in one load. It won’t fit into any hatch, however, so that will remain on Tony’s boat for the duration of the trip. He also has my 2 large York Packs (plastic waterproof boxes) in which I have a lot of the dry food for the special dishes, or whole meals I am doing, and for the deserts with the Dutch ovens - the cobbler cake mixes and the cans of fruit to make the cobblers. My Dutch oven lifter, the liners, and aluminum foil I use to keep the Dutches a bit cleaner than if I used them without those (you can use coffee grounds or wet sand to clean out a Dutch, never soap; but if you are using river water and wet sand that water is really cold - in the 40’s and it physically hurts to spend the time with your hands in the water to get them clean). And then you have to oil the Dutch so it won’t rust and to keep the non-stick surface, so there is a bottle of cooking oil in the box as well. You get the picture.
Most of the rafts have rowing frames with drop bags that go down into the inside of the raft and oddly sized things go there: the 5 propane tanks, the dish washing pails (stack of 4), the groover boxes, and the daily dry food boxes. We also have 3 tables that are 18 inches by 6 feet, 4 feet tall with folding legs, and then a few Roll-A-Tables for putting lunch together on a beach. We have 3 major first aid kits and at least 5 minor first aid kits with all the things specified by the NPS and then some. We have several bags with ropes and pulleys and other things to turn over a flipped boat or raft. We have chairs. We have a fire pan and a large fire blanket to put under the fire pan all in a 24 by 24 by 14-inch packing box. We have a heavy duty tarp that forms the floor of the kitchen we set up every night. Craig Wolfson’s boat, the Flavell II, has 4 large metal boxes on it that holds all of our cooking utensils, all of our plates, bowls, cups, serving and prep pieces, a lot of food, silverware and everything else we need to take care of feeding 16 people.
When we left Chuar Canyon yesterday, we continued to follow the Palisades of the Desert cliff until we got to Desert Watch Tower in the far distance on the rim, and then even that fell behind. This section is very open and the tall cliffs are far away from the river. There are 2 major rapids in this section and several minor ones. The first major one is the Unkar Rapid. At higher water this is a more difficult rapid (for some of us, we would consider that a more fun rapid). Susie likes it and dances down the long length of it beautifully and I have film to prove it. Today at the lower water level we are running, this looks a lot easier. Unkar Rapid is also an important one in that the original Flavell II boat met her demise at Unkar in the early 1970’s when the boatman and wonderful photographer, John Blaustine, got hit in the face with a wave, which washed his contact lenses out. He could not see to row and rowed into the rocks at the bottom and, in hitting them, essentially broke the boat in two. Martin Litton was supposed to have said that the boat had had that much damage before but not all at the same time. After that trip, the boat was destroyed in a fire, but Dave Mortenson was able to locate 2 of the original boxes in the Old Grand Canyon Dories yard in Hurricane, Utah and, with permission, collected them and still has them. This boat was built from a 14-inch scale model of the boat that had been built after the original Flavell II was built. After drawing plans from the model and getting the measurements from Dave for the boxes, Craig Wolfson went to work building the boat from the inside out (the opposite of how boats are normally built). When the replica boxes were brought down by Dave and Pam, they fit with about ¼ inch of clearance. We have to be careful not to bend them so they will continue to fit every time we take them off and put them back on the boat.
Craig Wolfson is our head boatman and is responsible for setting the order of running each day and telling us the best ways to run the various rapids we encounter each day. He is very happy that the Flavell does so well and suffers no damage in this rapid.
The second major rapid for the day is Neville Rapid, named for Norm and Doris Neville who started running the San Juan, the Green and the Colorado Rivers through Glen Canyon, Cataract Canyon, and Grand Canyon (respectively) in the 1930’s and 1940’s and whom several of the people who built the original ones of our small boats got their start rowing for which gave them the experience and the love of these canyons and started them on their quest to build ever better boats for their Grand Canyon trips. This is a long one with a pour-over in 3 places in the middle of the run that you can’t see until you are almost upon it. A pour-over is where the water pours over a large, mostly hidden large rock that would do serious damage to our wooden boats and might flip a rubber raft if run the wrong way. CeCe Mortenson is rowing the Susie Too today. I spend the day in Craig Wolfson’s Flavell II to get some photographs of the Susie Too dancing on the waves and it is so beautiful to watch her. Today is sunny and life is good.
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Day 7 in Grand Canyon: Layover at Chuar Canyon
Because I planned one spectacular dinner that required a turkey and some additional time, Pam Mortenson, who did all the food scheduling, menus and most of the purchasing, placed that meal for today because we had a layover day to rest and hike in Chuar Canyon. We started the day with green chili, crustless quiches, and lots of bacon, coffee, and tea. CeCe and Stef took off early for an all day hike, while Doug, Robb, Dave, and Craig did shorter hikes. Several of us heated water with our backpacking stoves, or the Coleman propane shower and took a shower or washed our hair. I don’t think any of the men have shaved yet - after 25 days they should be sporting some good beards. About 3 p.m. I started working on the turkey dinner and cooked it Trash Can Turkey Style in a small trash can we have been hauling along for the trip with one of my deep Dutch ovens in it ( I have 3 along on this trip and used every one today for the turkey stuffing, bread, and caramel apple cobbler). John Schroeder and I have done this type of cooking a lot for groups big and small in camping areas, on canoe trips, and also at home because it is so easy and the turkey is so good. It was tonight as well and we are all stuffed.
Today was a very windy day and the kitchen and chair circle were in the windiest places in this large camping area so they moved the chairs to an unused camping spot slightly behind the ridge, and we had the benefit of sun and not a lot of wind. Tony and Greg both took naps sitting up. Several others retired to tents for naps or to rest and read. Many of us sat in the sun to enjoy the warmth. All of us with solar chargers had them out and plugged in - my 3 Goal Zero 30 amp solar panels came out of their drybags and each charged up the batteries they were paired with quite nicely. We recharged about 10 camera batteries, an iPod, my laptop I’m using to write this blog, and several of us also spent time downloading our photographs and videos to external hard drives we brought. Nate spent most of the day working on downloading and saving still shots and video. I finished up the 3 blogs we sent out on Tuesday and gave them to Leif to send, and spent part of the day talking to my office about trips we have going out this month and other things. My house purchase that was supposed to close last Friday, I find out is now scheduled to close sometime next week. My real estate agent and I have done everything we need to do and are just waiting on the title company. Most importantly, Tina pulls a 10 day weather report on weather.com and tells me that we have another 10 days of sun and partial clouds, but no chance of rain is showing for both Bullhead City on the west end of the Grand Canyon and Page on the east end. Sad for the drought-stricken southwest, but really happy for those of us on the river. I share that information with the group and we all feel extremely lucky and blessed.
The weather is amazing with daytime temperatures in the 70’s and 80’s and nighttime temperatures in the high 40’s and 50’s. It may not have gotten colder than 60 last night and does not seem cold as I write this on Tuesday night about 7:40 p.m. The trip 2 years ago launched with snow on the ground less than 100 feet up the cliffs and had storms 3 times in the 21 days they were on the river. When you have a schedule to keep to get off the river in your allotted time, you don’t get the luxury of taking a layover day unless you have scheduled it. You have miles to go each day before you sleep and if you don’t make it one day you have to make up for it the next, whether it is raining or not.
The group of boaters that launched the same day as we did pass us today late this afternoon and spend some time talking. One of the men along is a boat builder in Colorado and has built several boats for Grand Canyon Dories under Martin Litton so we have some good conversations. We will see them again as they are actually taking out at Pearce Ferry the day after us. We are sharing the camping area with 2 backpackers from Tucson who head down towards Phantom Ranch tomorrow by land as we head out by water to a camp spot at Hance Rapid. I have camped many times there both from river trips as well as backpacking trips so I am looking forward to it. There is an area there that I spent 12 hours at waiting for a group to come down river so I could join them for a 3-day trip between there and Hermit Rapid where I hiked out. A storm rolled through to the east and I shot about 50 photos in a day that was quite dramatic and made several series of photographs showing all the faces of the weather that day. There are great memories of this section of the canyon for all of us who have been here before.
Today was a very windy day and the kitchen and chair circle were in the windiest places in this large camping area so they moved the chairs to an unused camping spot slightly behind the ridge, and we had the benefit of sun and not a lot of wind. Tony and Greg both took naps sitting up. Several others retired to tents for naps or to rest and read. Many of us sat in the sun to enjoy the warmth. All of us with solar chargers had them out and plugged in - my 3 Goal Zero 30 amp solar panels came out of their drybags and each charged up the batteries they were paired with quite nicely. We recharged about 10 camera batteries, an iPod, my laptop I’m using to write this blog, and several of us also spent time downloading our photographs and videos to external hard drives we brought. Nate spent most of the day working on downloading and saving still shots and video. I finished up the 3 blogs we sent out on Tuesday and gave them to Leif to send, and spent part of the day talking to my office about trips we have going out this month and other things. My house purchase that was supposed to close last Friday, I find out is now scheduled to close sometime next week. My real estate agent and I have done everything we need to do and are just waiting on the title company. Most importantly, Tina pulls a 10 day weather report on weather.com and tells me that we have another 10 days of sun and partial clouds, but no chance of rain is showing for both Bullhead City on the west end of the Grand Canyon and Page on the east end. Sad for the drought-stricken southwest, but really happy for those of us on the river. I share that information with the group and we all feel extremely lucky and blessed.
The weather is amazing with daytime temperatures in the 70’s and 80’s and nighttime temperatures in the high 40’s and 50’s. It may not have gotten colder than 60 last night and does not seem cold as I write this on Tuesday night about 7:40 p.m. The trip 2 years ago launched with snow on the ground less than 100 feet up the cliffs and had storms 3 times in the 21 days they were on the river. When you have a schedule to keep to get off the river in your allotted time, you don’t get the luxury of taking a layover day unless you have scheduled it. You have miles to go each day before you sleep and if you don’t make it one day you have to make up for it the next, whether it is raining or not.
The group of boaters that launched the same day as we did pass us today late this afternoon and spend some time talking. One of the men along is a boat builder in Colorado and has built several boats for Grand Canyon Dories under Martin Litton so we have some good conversations. We will see them again as they are actually taking out at Pearce Ferry the day after us. We are sharing the camping area with 2 backpackers from Tucson who head down towards Phantom Ranch tomorrow by land as we head out by water to a camp spot at Hance Rapid. I have camped many times there both from river trips as well as backpacking trips so I am looking forward to it. There is an area there that I spent 12 hours at waiting for a group to come down river so I could join them for a 3-day trip between there and Hermit Rapid where I hiked out. A storm rolled through to the east and I shot about 50 photos in a day that was quite dramatic and made several series of photographs showing all the faces of the weather that day. There are great memories of this section of the canyon for all of us who have been here before.
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Day 6 in Grand Canyon: Nankoweep to Lava Chuar
On Day 5, I did not mention the wonderful dinner that that night’s cook team has done: hamburgers with all the fixings and brats (bratwurst), plus the first of the Dutch oven cobblers which we actually end up eating for breakfast. We have 5 large ice chests that we are getting into only once a day and only 1 at a time - our fresh food is divided into 4 chests with lots of ice that we are "managing" by keeping them covered, locked down, strapped tightly, and by emptying any ice melt out through a small valve on one side. Hopefully, we will have fresh meat and frozen veggies for the whole trip, although the menu has been planned for a lot of canned food the last week of the 21 days to Diamond Creek. Scott Morris will be bringing in fresh food for all of us when they join us on day 21 at Diamond Creek for the Diamond-to-Pearce Ferry part of this trip. I was part of the group 2 years ago that came on at Diamond Creek and got to help row the bots in a 30-40 mph wind down to Pearce Ferry; it was a lot of work but oh so worth it. That section of the canyon is beautiful as well, and there is some great hiking and beautiful vistas, so we have invited along other people to join us there. We will be taking out at Pearce Ferry at 10 a.m. on day 25, which is the 29th of March.
Nankoweep is one of several places in the canyon that has a lot of special meaning for me. Nankoweep Trail is one of the hardest of the trips into the canyon from the North Rim. There are lots of sections where the trail is exposed (one false step and you fall to your death), and it is long but it is also the first of over 80 trips to the river I have done since my first hike in 1972. I was dating a seasonal ranger named Jim King, who was at the North Rim that summer and he invited me to come along as he did a trail patrol hike down Nankoweep with 2 new rangers he was suppose to be showing the ropes to. Those 2, who I will not name, did not want a woman along to slow them down and made a lot of condescending comments meant for me to hear that a woman did not belong in the canyon, etc., etc. I made it to the camp at the mouth of Nankoweep Creek just before dark (that trip is usually done in 2 days, we did it in 1). Less than an hour after they got there, the 2 newbies were discussing among themselves about what point they should radio in that they had an overdue hiker. Jim was just sitting there with a smile because he knew I had the stamina and strength to do the hike. We hiked out the next day and I beat both of them to the rim by about the same amount of time. With a huge smile on my face. And while I have not hiked Nankoweep again, every time I have been there on a river trip I have fond memories of that trip. Jim King was the ranger who took me and several of my friends into a lot of areas I probably would not have tried by myself: Hopi Salt Trail to Tanner, North and South Bass, into Thunder Falls Cave, and many, many others. As a seasonal ranger, he spent 9 months usually at the Grand Canyon, either at North Rim or at Desert View on the South Rim, and then the rest of the year either at Joshua Tree NP, where he taught me to climb, or as winter keeper at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon for the concessioner who ran the lodge, or, finally, after he left the Park Service, as the manager of the Babbitt’s store at Tusayan. His love of the canyon was as great as mine turned out to be. At his own expense he usually had a search and rescue dog and was frequently called out to do searches in Grand Canyon and if I was around I was also certified as a volunteer and got to go. They would usually drop us by helicopter with the dog to see if she could pick up a scent in the places they suspected the hiker had been and either picked us up again if she did not identify any scents and put us down in another location, or if she alerted it gave the helicopter the direction to search. Very rewarding work. Jim died of a heart attack in 1995 and he is still missed by people in my hiking group.
After leaving Nankoweep we have lots of little riffles and then Kangwunt Rapid and 60 Mile Rapid that are rated 4-5, and then the Little Colorado River and 3 miles to go to camp at Lava/Charr where we have a layover day. Greg Hatten starts the day in Susie Too and I start the day in Portola, where he agrees my oar stands are about 2 inches too short. He had dealt with that after the last trip by adding wood to his oar stand and getting his oar locks forged with a 6 inch shaft to raise them 2 inches, which appear to be perfect. I will do the same at the end of the trip, probably getting them done by his same supplier. We switch back just before Kangwunt Rapid so each of us, if we are going to hit a rock at this low water level will do the damage to our own boat. The Little Colorado River is running muddy and where we stop just upstream of the mouth you get a clear view of the chocolate water of the Little Colorado River mixing with the clear green of the Colorado so that a half mile downstream it is all chocolate brown and will probably remain so for the rest of the trip.
We camp on river right on a windy day and I have learned from talking to the office at lunch that we are probably due for a high wind day tomorrow, which we are taking as a layover day here to rest, reorganize, and do some great hiking. Dinner is pulled pork, cornbread, and salad. The night is warmer than the last 2 and several of us sleep out, or in tents without the rain fly so we can see the moon and stars and the incredible sight of the moonlight on the Palisades of the Desert - that wonderful cliff of while/yellow limestone. The Desert Watchtower is on our horizon at the cliff line to the west and will be so Tuesday and Wednesday, and then we will move north of it and past it.
Nankoweep is one of several places in the canyon that has a lot of special meaning for me. Nankoweep Trail is one of the hardest of the trips into the canyon from the North Rim. There are lots of sections where the trail is exposed (one false step and you fall to your death), and it is long but it is also the first of over 80 trips to the river I have done since my first hike in 1972. I was dating a seasonal ranger named Jim King, who was at the North Rim that summer and he invited me to come along as he did a trail patrol hike down Nankoweep with 2 new rangers he was suppose to be showing the ropes to. Those 2, who I will not name, did not want a woman along to slow them down and made a lot of condescending comments meant for me to hear that a woman did not belong in the canyon, etc., etc. I made it to the camp at the mouth of Nankoweep Creek just before dark (that trip is usually done in 2 days, we did it in 1). Less than an hour after they got there, the 2 newbies were discussing among themselves about what point they should radio in that they had an overdue hiker. Jim was just sitting there with a smile because he knew I had the stamina and strength to do the hike. We hiked out the next day and I beat both of them to the rim by about the same amount of time. With a huge smile on my face. And while I have not hiked Nankoweep again, every time I have been there on a river trip I have fond memories of that trip. Jim King was the ranger who took me and several of my friends into a lot of areas I probably would not have tried by myself: Hopi Salt Trail to Tanner, North and South Bass, into Thunder Falls Cave, and many, many others. As a seasonal ranger, he spent 9 months usually at the Grand Canyon, either at North Rim or at Desert View on the South Rim, and then the rest of the year either at Joshua Tree NP, where he taught me to climb, or as winter keeper at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon for the concessioner who ran the lodge, or, finally, after he left the Park Service, as the manager of the Babbitt’s store at Tusayan. His love of the canyon was as great as mine turned out to be. At his own expense he usually had a search and rescue dog and was frequently called out to do searches in Grand Canyon and if I was around I was also certified as a volunteer and got to go. They would usually drop us by helicopter with the dog to see if she could pick up a scent in the places they suspected the hiker had been and either picked us up again if she did not identify any scents and put us down in another location, or if she alerted it gave the helicopter the direction to search. Very rewarding work. Jim died of a heart attack in 1995 and he is still missed by people in my hiking group.
After leaving Nankoweep we have lots of little riffles and then Kangwunt Rapid and 60 Mile Rapid that are rated 4-5, and then the Little Colorado River and 3 miles to go to camp at Lava/Charr where we have a layover day. Greg Hatten starts the day in Susie Too and I start the day in Portola, where he agrees my oar stands are about 2 inches too short. He had dealt with that after the last trip by adding wood to his oar stand and getting his oar locks forged with a 6 inch shaft to raise them 2 inches, which appear to be perfect. I will do the same at the end of the trip, probably getting them done by his same supplier. We switch back just before Kangwunt Rapid so each of us, if we are going to hit a rock at this low water level will do the damage to our own boat. The Little Colorado River is running muddy and where we stop just upstream of the mouth you get a clear view of the chocolate water of the Little Colorado River mixing with the clear green of the Colorado so that a half mile downstream it is all chocolate brown and will probably remain so for the rest of the trip.
We camp on river right on a windy day and I have learned from talking to the office at lunch that we are probably due for a high wind day tomorrow, which we are taking as a layover day here to rest, reorganize, and do some great hiking. Dinner is pulled pork, cornbread, and salad. The night is warmer than the last 2 and several of us sleep out, or in tents without the rain fly so we can see the moon and stars and the incredible sight of the moonlight on the Palisades of the Desert - that wonderful cliff of while/yellow limestone. The Desert Watchtower is on our horizon at the cliff line to the west and will be so Tuesday and Wednesday, and then we will move north of it and past it.
Day 5 in Grand Canyon: Buck Farm to Nankoweep
We leave Buck Farm Canyon fairly late, about 10:45, and head down to President Harding Rapid. This was named by one of the early survey trips who supposedly heard about the death of President Harding while they were working in the area. Dave wants to film the dories going through this rapid to match it to film he has of the original boats going through the same rapid. Izzy takes the oars of Susie Too from camp to the top of the rapid and decides she wants to photograph us going through, so I take back the oars. It is a straight forward rapid with a large rock in the middle and the right channel blocked with rock fall at this level of the river and is an easy run. Stef takes his inflatable paddleboard through and has so much fun he walks back up and does it again. We are mostly in the sun today, which is nice because the temperature has dropped a bit and it can be cool in the shade of these high walls at this time of the year. Most of us get into splash jackets when we are in the shade and get out of them when we hit the sun. A short time after the rapid, we find a great beach and pull over for lunch. I set up one of the solar chargers to get the Goal Zero large battery recharged and we laze around for an hour with setting up, eating, and cleaning up.
We have been divided into 5 teams and we rotate through 3 assignments and 2 days off in every 5. The assignment starts with dinner and goes through lunch the following day. The first and most important assignment is the groover. When first we come into camp, that box is unloaded as soon as it is uncovered and a spot for its placement is selected. Most of the time there is an obvious spot that has been used before and the box carrying our solid waste is carried and placed. Another box with the fitted lid and toilet seat is also carried and the seat lid fitted. A large, well-marked pee bucket is put out with a small child’s seat for the women to use and the seat is easily removable for the men to use. Most trips are using a pee bucket system these days since there have been several unexplained drowning deaths on river trips over the years where it was assumed that the unlucky victim got up to pee in the middle of the night, slipped into the river and drowned. Toilet paper is set out in a covered plastic box, small stakes with reflective arrows are set back along the trail so we can find it with a head lamp at night; the hand sanitizer is set out both at the toilet site and at the entrance to the trail and most importantly the Groover Guy is set out at the entrance to the trail. If the Groover Guy is at the entrance no one is using the facility. If he is gone, you must wait your turn or determine if he has been forgotten at the groover by the last user. With 16 on the trip, there are times when there is a line. This team is also responsible for washing all the removable pieces at the end of the morning before we leave and packing them away and carrying the now heavier box back to the boats and getting the box and all equipment packed away.
The second team is the cook team. When we come into camp they retrieve the food box for the day, which has the menu, a list of all the food they need for dinner, breakfast and lunch, and packing the breakfast and lunch food away in the boxes that will be used for those meals, and then shopping through the coolers and commissary boxes for what they need, cooking the food and cleaning up the food. Some of us have brought specialty equipment such as Dutch ovens (mine), or the raised fire pan (Doug), and we usually see if it is needed and get those out and set up for the group and getting those cleaned up.
The third team is the dishwashing team and they are responsible for getting water in 4 metal washtubs, heating it on the blaster (specialty 1-burner stove designed for heating water fast), and setting it up in a line with the first being hot soapy water designed to get all food particles off the dishes, pots, and pans. The second is also hot soapy water to make sure everything is clean. The third is a clear water rinse with Clorox, but the bleach does not work well if soap is present so it is really to get the soap residue off. The fourth and final rinse is cold water with bleach and dishes need to sit in this for a short time and then are put into a net dish drainer that ties onto tall tables that we work from, cook on, and wash dishes on. When they air dry, they are put away in the kitchen boxes.
In addition to the chores, each of us is responsible for unpacking and packing the boats, carrying gear, and generally helping out to make sure everything works in addition to setting up our individual camps and tearing them down the next day. In our spare time most of us photograph, journal, hike, nap or, in my case, write our descriptive blog. Except for Shy’s unfortunate accident the trip is going well. There is a lot of laughter, a lot of conversation and a lot of fun and the Canyon is beautiful.
The weather is warmer than expected and life is good.
We have been divided into 5 teams and we rotate through 3 assignments and 2 days off in every 5. The assignment starts with dinner and goes through lunch the following day. The first and most important assignment is the groover. When first we come into camp, that box is unloaded as soon as it is uncovered and a spot for its placement is selected. Most of the time there is an obvious spot that has been used before and the box carrying our solid waste is carried and placed. Another box with the fitted lid and toilet seat is also carried and the seat lid fitted. A large, well-marked pee bucket is put out with a small child’s seat for the women to use and the seat is easily removable for the men to use. Most trips are using a pee bucket system these days since there have been several unexplained drowning deaths on river trips over the years where it was assumed that the unlucky victim got up to pee in the middle of the night, slipped into the river and drowned. Toilet paper is set out in a covered plastic box, small stakes with reflective arrows are set back along the trail so we can find it with a head lamp at night; the hand sanitizer is set out both at the toilet site and at the entrance to the trail and most importantly the Groover Guy is set out at the entrance to the trail. If the Groover Guy is at the entrance no one is using the facility. If he is gone, you must wait your turn or determine if he has been forgotten at the groover by the last user. With 16 on the trip, there are times when there is a line. This team is also responsible for washing all the removable pieces at the end of the morning before we leave and packing them away and carrying the now heavier box back to the boats and getting the box and all equipment packed away.
The second team is the cook team. When we come into camp they retrieve the food box for the day, which has the menu, a list of all the food they need for dinner, breakfast and lunch, and packing the breakfast and lunch food away in the boxes that will be used for those meals, and then shopping through the coolers and commissary boxes for what they need, cooking the food and cleaning up the food. Some of us have brought specialty equipment such as Dutch ovens (mine), or the raised fire pan (Doug), and we usually see if it is needed and get those out and set up for the group and getting those cleaned up.
The third team is the dishwashing team and they are responsible for getting water in 4 metal washtubs, heating it on the blaster (specialty 1-burner stove designed for heating water fast), and setting it up in a line with the first being hot soapy water designed to get all food particles off the dishes, pots, and pans. The second is also hot soapy water to make sure everything is clean. The third is a clear water rinse with Clorox, but the bleach does not work well if soap is present so it is really to get the soap residue off. The fourth and final rinse is cold water with bleach and dishes need to sit in this for a short time and then are put into a net dish drainer that ties onto tall tables that we work from, cook on, and wash dishes on. When they air dry, they are put away in the kitchen boxes.
In addition to the chores, each of us is responsible for unpacking and packing the boats, carrying gear, and generally helping out to make sure everything works in addition to setting up our individual camps and tearing them down the next day. In our spare time most of us photograph, journal, hike, nap or, in my case, write our descriptive blog. Except for Shy’s unfortunate accident the trip is going well. There is a lot of laughter, a lot of conversation and a lot of fun and the Canyon is beautiful.
The weather is warmer than expected and life is good.
Day 4 in Grand Canyon: Shinumo to Buck Farm
We cook breakfast and load up the rafts and dories. CeCe, Stef, Natalie, Doug and Shy leave early to do a loop hike involving leaving one raft at Fault Canyon and leaving another raft at Shinumo Canyon, where they will hike and rappel back to, then pick up the second raft and follow us down the river to Buck Farm Canyon where we will all camp. Those 11 leaving earlier have a lot to do. We have to stop at a large spring to refill our water jugs with 25 gallons of fresh water from Vasey’s Paradise and do it in such a way that we don’t step on any of the endangered snails that live in that little microcosm of space. We also have to be careful not to get into the poison ivy which also grows there, one of the few places in Arizona where it is prolific.
Two of the rafts are full of the empty water jugs. The raft left at Shinumo has all our spare life vests for the hikers to wear after their hike and on their way to the second raft, which will have the ones they are using for the trip. The rest of us, after Vasey’s Paradise, head down to Redwall Cavern, a large solution cave at a little above the water level and full of sand. You can walk around it or sit and feel the immensity of it. Powell, who led the first exploration here said that you could seat 50,000 in it. That is an exaggeration, but 5000 would fit comfortably. We film the 3 dories, recreating a video that was made by Dave Mortenson’s father, Brick Mortenson, in the 1960’s, as well as video interviews with Dave Mortenson who explained the importance of these dories in saving the Grand Canyon from 2 additional dams scheduled to be built here in the 1960’s, for the so popular rafting trips such as we are doing and the commercial trips are doing as well that puts 30,000 people into this narrow corridor in a year on trips.
We spend a couple of hours waiting for our hiking group to catch up with us, but when they still have not arrived we head down to the Marble Canyon bridge site and then finally towards Buck Farm Canyon where our hikers minus 1 join us before we get to camp. Shy had taken a fall on the hike and had to be airlifted to Flagstaff for medical attention. This is a wilderness area and with the wonder of the satellite phones our group caries, help in the form of the Grand Canyon National Park Service Helicopter arrives shortly after notification. A paramedic assesses his condition and they take him out of the canyon. CeCe is able to speak to him in the ER in Flagstaff that night where he is still being treated, also with one of our satellite phones.
Two of the rafts are full of the empty water jugs. The raft left at Shinumo has all our spare life vests for the hikers to wear after their hike and on their way to the second raft, which will have the ones they are using for the trip. The rest of us, after Vasey’s Paradise, head down to Redwall Cavern, a large solution cave at a little above the water level and full of sand. You can walk around it or sit and feel the immensity of it. Powell, who led the first exploration here said that you could seat 50,000 in it. That is an exaggeration, but 5000 would fit comfortably. We film the 3 dories, recreating a video that was made by Dave Mortenson’s father, Brick Mortenson, in the 1960’s, as well as video interviews with Dave Mortenson who explained the importance of these dories in saving the Grand Canyon from 2 additional dams scheduled to be built here in the 1960’s, for the so popular rafting trips such as we are doing and the commercial trips are doing as well that puts 30,000 people into this narrow corridor in a year on trips.
We spend a couple of hours waiting for our hiking group to catch up with us, but when they still have not arrived we head down to the Marble Canyon bridge site and then finally towards Buck Farm Canyon where our hikers minus 1 join us before we get to camp. Shy had taken a fall on the hike and had to be airlifted to Flagstaff for medical attention. This is a wilderness area and with the wonder of the satellite phones our group caries, help in the form of the Grand Canyon National Park Service Helicopter arrives shortly after notification. A paramedic assesses his condition and they take him out of the canyon. CeCe is able to speak to him in the ER in Flagstaff that night where he is still being treated, also with one of our satellite phones.
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