Grand Canyon River Trip Aug 2013 Part 2

Of course, the highlight of the trip was going through the rapids.  The raft was configured so that three people could sit in the bow and that area was called the bathtub.  When the raft would run headlong into a wave the bathtub people would just get slammed with water, but it was fun and very exciting.  Immediately in back and to the side of the bathtub were a row of seats on either side of the raft.  The first seat on either side was called the shower.  You got just as wet and had almost the same view as the people in the bathtub.  The side seats in back of the shower were a little dryer but not much.  And then there were the Princess Seats about three quarters of raft length on the starboard side.  Normally you wouldn’t get wet in those two seats, but in the biggest rapids it just depended on how the waves hit the raft.  The only problem with the Colorado River below the Glen Canyon Dam is that the water released into the river comes from the bottom of Lake Powell and is between 48 to 52 degrees and that’s COLD.  After we passed the point where the Little Colorado entered the Colorado we all thought the water was a little warmer, but not much.  We all had rain gear and were advised to wear it especially when we’d go through rapids in the AM and then be in shade due to the high canyon walls.  Our trip started at Lee’s Ferry which was River Mile 0 and we ended at Whitmore Wash at River Mile 187 and we encountered 48 rapids (according to my river guide) with probably six rated 7 or above and two that were 10’s.  Rapids are graded on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most difficult.  Being a person who grew up on a lake I’m not familiar with rapids and didn’t really understand the physical qualities of water hitting objects below the surface.  I assumed that when flowing water hit a boulder under the surface that all the water goes to either side of the boulder, but it doesn’t.  Some of the water can’t move around the boulder so it piles upward until it reaches the surface and then it forms a wave going upstream.  Many times I would watch a rapid as we approached and would think that this was going to be a gentle ride, then we’d get within 10 feet of the rapid and see that we were going to drop into a hole of 5 to 10 feet and if that weren’t scary enough just beyond the hole there would be a wave coming at you!  The raft would smash into the wave which is now above you and the water would explode over the raft.  A couple of times it literally stopped the raft dead in the water and the raft weighed 5 tons!  And then it might be repeated a couple more times! 

My favorites were Hermit at Mile 95.5 which is a man made rapid.  Hermit Rapid is named for a recluse who lived in the area and he became enchanted with the physical characteristics of rapids.  Using block and tackle he placed boulders in the river to create a series of “holes” and “waves”.  The result is a rapid rated a 7-8 where you fall into a hole about 6 feet down, then ride up the face of a wave, drop into another hole, up the face of a wave again, and do the same about twice more.  It was very much like a roller coaster ride.  Crystal Rapid at about mile 99 is rated a 7-10 and is the “killer” rapid of the Grand Canyon since more people have been killed in this rapid than all the other Grand Canyon rapids combined.  Actually, I don’t have any memory of the water in this rapid, but I clearly remember the canyon wall coming closer and closer to the raft.  There’s a huge boulder to the right at the beginning and that forces everything to the left through a narrow opening.  The raft hits the rapid and is immediately thrown to the left, the  boatman gives full power to the motor to force the raft back to the middle, but by then you’re looking at a canyon wall about 10 feet away, and when the raft finally responds to the motor you’re only 2 feet away from the wall.  It is scary.  And finally there is Lava Falls at mile 179.5 and it’s an 8-10 and is also the largest navigable rapid in North America.  It’s long and the water seems to be moving in every conceivable direction.  Plus it’s in a narrow part of the canyon where the wind funnels through and the wind hits the crests of the waves and blows water up into the air.  It is an absolute monster.  About 3 miles above Lava Falls we caught up with 5 or 6 oar powered rafts that were probably 15 feet long and 8 feet wide.  There was one oarsman with 1 or 2 passengers in each raft.  After our 2 rafts had gone through we tucked up behind boulders and waited. Someone ask Mac, our boatman what we were doing and he explained that it was a custom for someone who had already gone through dangerous rapids to wait and stand by just in case something happened to the following rafts.  One by one the smaller rafts would row toward the rapids, enter them, and then just disappear when they fell into the holes.  One second they were there and then they were gone.  All of them made it through, but almost every oarsman lost his/her grip on one or both oars.  I have never seen anything like it in my life. If you’d like to see what these rapids are like go to YouTube and put the rapid name in the subject box.

Those were the scary parts of the trip, but we also had very funny parts also.  The first day on the river, Mac was giving us instructions regarding our life preservers when we left the raft.  He said, “When you leave the raft, remove your life preserver and clip it somewhere to the raft.  If you don’t, the wind might catch them and they’ll blow into the water and sink like rocks.”  About half the people didn’t get the joke.  Another moment came when we were setting up our nightly camp site and Elaine looked around and said “has anyone seen my ammo can”?  That just struck me as funny and I told her that I never in my wildest imagination thought I’d hear her say anything about “her ammo can” and actually know what she was talking about.  Another Elaine moment occurred on about day three.  Up until then the water had been a deep, clear green but then it rained and the water then turned to the color of chocolate milk due to sand being washed into the river.  Now, Elaine to me is one of the most elegant, well dressed, prim and proper woman I know.  That particular day she wore a light green top with a white fast dry shirt.  After being dunked, and splashed with the muddy water for a good 6 hours the white top had turned into a reddish brown streaked mess.  Her green top also had taken on a brownish hue.  Her shoes were muddy from walking on the river bank, and her hair was sticking out at all angles.  It was such a departure from the Elaine we all know and love that I got tickled and couldn’t stop laughing.  She did allow me to take her picture, but I’ll never show it to anyone without her written notarized approval.  And, we were in the deepest part of the Grand Canyon and Mac said, “Have you all heard of the middle of nowhere? Well, you are now at the bottom of the middle of nowhere.”  Well said.  And finally, whenever Zach our lead boatman would announce coffee, breakfast, lunch or dinner he’d shout something like “coffee is ready. Come and get it.”  Then in a deeper voice he would add, “That is all.”  After a couple days we all began saying “that is all” at every opportunity, and it never got old.

Wildlife, boy did we see wildlife.  Just after Navajo Bridge we saw a California condor.  We also saw mule deer, a beaver, and several male and female Desert Bighorn Sheep, plus a couple of species of bats.  Blue Herons were everywhere, but always a special treat.

Another special treat was running across a BBC/Discovery Channel crew filming a recreation of John Wesley Powell’s first trip down the Colorado.  The Powell crew consisted of experienced river guides in 4 or 5 replica boats but the film crew and equipment took up two rafts at least as large as ours plus another smaller raft.  All of the rafts were equipped with solar panel canopies so that electricity could be generated to recharge all the equipment.  According to the film crew the show should air sometime around Christmas.  Can’t wait to see it.

Our crew really had it all together.  The little boy from New Jersey celebrated his 10^th birthday on the river and the crew had a cake with candles.  The afternoon it rained we were all cold and wet, but within 15 minutes of landing we had hot creamy soup.  Boy, that sure tasted good and it warmed us up in a hurry.

The last night on the river we all gathered around and told the crew and each other what the trip meant to us.  Several people got quite emotional, which was fine.  No one could help but be moved by the beauty we’d seen, the closeness of our new found friends, and that our journey was ending.  The crew then presented each of us our official River Rat pins.

The following morning we had a quick breakfast, loaded the raft for the last time and then went the final mile of our trip to Whitmore Wash.  After unloading our bags we carried them up a hill to a helicopter landing zone.  The helicopter first took our bags to the Bar 10 Ranch on the Arizona Strip, about 10 minutes away.   Then we flew out in groups of 5 to the ranch where real bathrooms, hot showers, and lunch were waiting.  After lunch one group was flown to Page and another group was flown to Las Vegas via a regular aircraft. John, Elaine, Betsy and I went to the Powell Museum and then we dropped John & Elaine back at the Page airport for their 3:00 PM flight to Denver.  Little did we know that they would end up spending the night in Page due to mechanical problems with their airplane, and not get out of Page until 3:00 PM the following day.

Betsy and I made it to Flagstaff, got a motel room and absolutely crashed.  The next day we headed south and made it home about 11:15 AM.  All the way home and today I’ve felt out of place—like I don’t really belong here.  For several days we were different people, with a different lifestyle, with new friends, in one of the most spectacular places on Earth.