The Grand Canyon (Day 18) - LAVA LAVA LAVA!!!!

The following post is from the journal I kept of my recent adventure upon a 21-day private river rafting trip on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon from Lee's Ferry to Diamond Peak (about 230 miles) that took place between April 18th and May 8th, 2012.

May 5, 2012 (Cinco De Mayo)

What are the freaking chances that my 200th Blog Post would coincide with my Grand Canyon journal entry for Lava Falls day, which actually occurred on Cinco De Mayo and one of the brightest full moons of the year?!?! I'm stoked! Here goes....

6 A.M.

Today is Lava Falls day. We are 13 miles away from this class 10 rapid that for many is the highlight of white-water rafting the Grand Canyon. We will probably hit it by mid-afternoon. Today is also Cinco De Mayo so a large portion of Americans will be getting shitfaced drunk across the continent to celebrate a holiday that doesn't really have anything to do with the USA. It's all good for us because we also enjoy an excuse to party and it also, just so happens, to be tradition to drink tequila after Lava Falls.

I'm writing at this super early hour in the hopes that i will better help me conduct myself today. I've struggled on this trip giving up the higher class rapids to Robert (Crystal, Hance, Dubendorff & Horn) and I have to constantly remind myself that I have been given the opportunity to paddle a few good ones (Upset, Fishtail, Granite, Bedrock, etc.), but man, deep down inside I really want a shot at just one of the big ones! I think I was right in demanding to paddle a few of them back in the inner gorge, but I felt like I really had to demand them rather than be given the opportunity. Even yesterday I had to fight for Upset Rapid. I had to give Robert an ultimatum and say "if you do Upset then I'm doing Lava," and Robert instantly backed down, but not before saying, "I just want more practice before Lava." I responded with, "you're either ready for Lava at this point or you're not. Are you ready," because I am.

I felt really bad after making that statement, but upon reflection I feel it's the truth. I am 100 percent confident of my abilities at this point and if needed, I would paddle Lava. Lava Falls is hands down Robert's rapid. He invited me to go on this trip... to go on his boat... so it's been silently understood from the beginning that Lava is his. I wouldn't try and take Lava for him for anything. My issue, that I'm just now figuring out is control. I never dreamed I'd have such a problem with it until I got out here and had to experience it. I've been psycho-analyzing myself for days now and I've finally figured it out. By figuring it out and writing about it I think I can come to terms with it and be a better person.

Here's what I've learned. If I were in a boat with Bob or Butch, I wouldn't have an issue being a passenger and being in their hands and giving them control over my fate because they've each got 30+ years of experience on this river. They're experts. Robert and I are NOT experts. Not even close. We're both super smart and in great shape and completely capable, but at the end of the day, we're both fucking beginners. We've both made excellent decisions so far on this trip and we're always thinking the same thing, which is good. Those decisions have come with having the right knowledge provided by Bob and Butch before hand. We are both at the same skill level. Neither him, nor I are better than the other at this point. This is the reason I'm struggling. It makes it difficult for me to sit back and be submissive. Everything in my upbringing has pushed me to be in charge and be an "alpha" male in critical situations. I feel and hope that Robert is the same way. I was also raised to be competitive or at least be the best when put in a situation where I'm surrounded by equality.

So.... today I must bite my tongue, hang on and try to enjoy the ride. I must be stoked for my cousin and share in his triumph. This is what I must do and I know it. Next time, if there is a next time, I will man my own boat and bring along Jenny. Hopefully, it'll be with Robert and Athena and the gang again, but each of us in our own boat side by side. That would be epic.

Oh... I don't think I wrote about Upset Rapid yesterday. It was my worst run yet. I planned to enter the tongue on the left and push left through the first lateral and the rest of the run, which curves right. There is a huge hole in the middle that has flipped even commercial rigs so that is what you are avoiding with this strategy. There is a cheat to the right, but it's narrow and hard to hit and often times the river pulls you left because the rapid is curving right along a rock wall.

Upset Rapid

Everything in my head was conflicted because every other rapid that looks like this one usually is the opposite in that you want to avoid the outside of the curve instead of pushing into it. I watch Butch go ahead of me and he makes it as planned. It's my turn and a domino of things cause me to miss my line completely. First, I start a little left in the tongue where Butch entered, but when I push into the first wave on the left side I missed a stroke on my left oar. This threw me off balance and the wave knocks us to the right. I lose my grip on the oar completely and during the time it takes me to regain control of the oar we are pushed halfway across the river to the right. Now it's too late to do anything, but take whatever this rapid throws at us. We are in the middle-right side of the rapid quickly approaching the hole. I hit a wave sort of sideways and really think we might come close to flipping, but we rock right over top the wave. This gives me enough time to turn us straight again and push directly forward as we enter the hole.

We collide violently with the hole, but punch right through it. All in all, it wasn't as bad as I was anticipating. Butch asks afterward how the devil at the bottom of that hole is doing? I guess we're now in some sort of special club of people that have been down there to see the Devil. I really didn't think the hole was bad, but we might have hit it just right. What really didn't like was losing the oar and the control loss. It wasn't a good run, but it was a good experience. Upon reflection, the same thing happened to Robert in Dubendorff. Now I understand what he meant after that run when he said, "sometimes you wish you could have a 'do over' when it goes like that."

Alright, well, it's time for breakfast. I'll try to post again tonight given that all goes well! Bring on Lava!

10 P.M.

So... I'm a little drunk.

The word "so" seems to be the go to word on this trip when you want to talk to the group and state some kind of plan of action. Butch uses it all the time and now it seems that I've adopted it as well.

So... we are camped at the "Below Lava Falls," campsite otherwise known as Tequila Beach.

So... the day went well after all. I'm so glad I took the time to write this morning. I think it helped me sort things out in my head and be a better person today. Before we reached Lava Falls we stopped to hike Fern Glen Canyon (Mile 168). Not a big deal, but worth mentioning. At one point I did hike away from the group and was the first to reach a destination point and there was one single dove that flew away right over my head. I feel that the dove is a peace symbol and this was a sign to find inner peace with myself. We then ate lunch on some sandbar with no shade where Butch didn't even want to come ashore because of a science trip he did back in the 1980s where it was brutally hot.

Finally, we make it to Lava Falls! We scout it and then it's time to go. Bob goes first in the dory. Then Andy and Kathy followed by Butch and Tricia and we bring up the rear in the Flower Power. Robert did a fine job considering each person going in front of us did slightly different than what was discussed beforehand. We were all aiming for the same line, but everyone went slightly different from one another. Robert stuck to our plan and we did just fine. The actual rapid was somewhat uneventful; a few big waves head on and we were done without incident. Everyone did great. I felt happiness for Robert even though I long to do Lava some day myself. Next time!

After making it through upper Lava Falls (the serious part of the rapid) and before entering the lower Lava Falls rapid, Robert, Athena and I all share a round of tequila. Then, once we all make the beach below the rapid everyone starts binge drinking and celebrating our triumph. Tequila shots of Patron, brought by Andy and Cathy, are slammed down followed by mucho cerveza. A few days ago we switched our day 18 food pack with day 20 intentionally so we could have Mexican food tonight instead of Italian. Robert, Athena and I cook dinner for everyone. Spirits are high and everyone is stoked! After a few hours, I'm very buzzed and decide to call it a night, which brings me here to my personal campsite.

Lava Falls GoPro Video

I picked this sight during my intoxication and it immediately became obvious that I chose poorly. I'm right in the middle of a sand dune with exposure to the wind at all angles. I lay down on my air mattress and immediately realize that I'm going to be sand blasted all night. What to do? My first idea is to go back to the kitchen and drink more so I can pass out in my sand box. Then EUREKA! I'm struck with pure brilliance that for the life of me I can't understand why I figure it out now while drunk and not days ago when I'm sober.

I march back to the boat and grab my tent. I bust out the tent and throw it right on top of the air mattress. The air mattress is way to big to go inside my tent so for days I've been sleeping outside. Now I realize that I can easily set my tent up on top of my air mattress and stake it down just the same. I stumble around totally wasted doing this and 15-minutes later, WAA-LA... I have a tent to provide some shelter from the sand storm and a soft floor to sleep on! I take great pride in such a small accomplishment! I'm smiling just now as I write this because I'm still stoked!

Tonight I noticed a since of calmness coming over Butch and Bob. It's as if a huge level of stress was lifted off their shoulders once we were finished with Lava.

I'm about to fade away to sleep here, but I can't believe we only have three more days and we're out of here. I miss Jenny more and more each day. I'm not sure if she would like the adrenaline rush of the larger rapids, but I know she would love everything else this pace offers. I can't wait to get back and never separate from her this long again!

The morning after... Sand still got into everything, but not nearly as much as without the tent. Yay, for drunken innovation!

The Grand Canyon (Day 16) - Whispering Falls

The following post is from the journal I kept of my recent adventure upon a 21-day private river rafting trip on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon from Lee's Ferry to Diamond Peak (about 230 miles) that took place between April 18th and May 8th, 2012.

May 3, 2012

It's dark. I'm freaking tired. Too tired to even set up my tent. I thought I might sleep on the boat tonight, but nixed that idea because we're camped in the middle of a freaking rapid and the water is not calm or quiet. This camp side is called Olo Canyon. The moon is almost full. It's so freaking bright that I don't need my LED headlamp to see clearly. To hell with it - I'm going to put on my sunglasses and sleep out in the open tonight. Oh, and did I mention I just drank three beers and a bunch of wine? Yup, this post should be interesting. . .

Today was a damn good day! LOoooong, but good. We hiked Kanab Creek Canyon all the way to Whispering Falls. It took more than 6-hours in total and as a result we got to camp super late in the day. I must say that the payoff at Whispering Falls was truly epic and absolutely beautiful. Several times, we almost turned back as it was much further than Bob or Butch remembered. I'm glad we didn't. After some difficult hiking/climbing we reached the place and with perfect timing. It's a long narrow pool of crystal clear water with a trickling waterfall into it and it probably only gets about 30 minutes of sunlight a day. We nailed it perfectly as the sunlight glistened into the pool. Twenty minutes later it was in the shade. Bob and I speed hiked the way out and got a chance to chat it up during a couple of beers at the boat while we waited for the rest of our group to arrive.

I'm so tired right now that I wish I could write more as it was such an amazing hike. On the way in I played a game with the Grand Canyon to see if I could make it all the way to Whispering Falls without getting my trail running shoes wet. This often left me way behind the group, but I would eventually catch up as I jumped from boulder to boulder and took extremely difficult routes rather than traverse the creek 500 times. This is probably why I'm so damn tired. On the way back I blasted through the creek at full speed and it felt so refreshing.

 Kanab Creek

Resting during lunch break at Kanab Creek

 My new bed!

The waterfall at Olo Canyon

Long story short - tonight I'm sleeping on a borrowed air mattress from Robert and Athena, who are sleeping on their cots instead. My air mattress, a Kelty "Good Nite-Airbed" that is made for camping, started leaking the second night of this trip and eventually got to the point of not holding any air last night. During the entire trip I've had to get up every 2-3 hours and manually pump the air mattress back up. It's been a shitty experience, but I've been determined not to let it ruin the adventure. Last night I ended up sleeping on rocks as all my efforts to patch it failed. Tonight I'm stoked to be on a mattress that seems to be holding air just fine. Looking forward to a good night rest!

 Swimming at Whispering Falls

Big Horns that Robert and Athena spotted along Kanab Creek

The Grand Canyon (Day 13) - Surprise! A rock!

The following post is from the journal I kept of my recent adventure upon a 21-day private river rafting trip on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon from Lee's Ferry to Diamond Peak (about 230 miles) that took place between April 18th and May 8th, 2012.

April 30, 2012

It's late (a whopping 8:45 p.m.) and I'm tired. This is going to be a short post.

Got up early this morning and climbed around solo in a slot canyon before breakfast. It was "good" solitude.

We stopped at Elves Chasm soon after launching down the river and were delighted to discover we had the place to ourselves. Bob, Andy, Robert and I hiked, climbed and clawed our way all the way up above the first (famous) spot where everyone stops and jumps into the pool of water below a waterfall. We made it past about a dozen or so similar mini-waterfalls and at the top was a 100' waterfall that was absolutely amazing. It was super lush and green and without looking up and out of the side canyon you'd never know you were in the Grand Canyon. The climb up is super technical, the most so far, and not exactly safe without climbing equipment. I actually stashed some of my gear about halfway because I needed to be free from carrying it and unrestricted in my movement. I don't think many people make it up to that spot and I'm honored to have the opportunity. On the way back to the boats we stop at the first pool and Robert, Athena and I do take a few turns jumping through the waterfall and into the pool. By  now, there's another private river trip here. They see us come down from above and start to climb up the way we came. I know it's not a nice thought, but I can't help but look at them, see how fat they are, and think they'll never make it or their injure themselves trying.

 

 

 I've just discovered how easy it is to add a YouTube video to this blog. I'll try and add more of the GoPro videos from the trip in future posts.

Once we were back on the river something caught us by surprise just below Elves Chasm. A random rock, but not a big rock and not an obvious rock, caught us. Robert was paddling and was smart enough to turn us right into it when he saw it at the last minute and realized there was no avoiding a collision. Our raft wedged up onto and slightly over it causing us to stop. I jokingly say, "OK, no one panic," because that's what Butch always says to the commercial passengers in briefing if something "interesting" were to happen.  Athena and I then scramble to the rear of the raft and use our body weights to shift the center of gravity of the raft. With this and Robert pulling on the oars we are able to dislodge ourselves and continue down the river.

Butch and Tricia are not as lucky. We look back and in horror see them heading for the same rock. There's nothing we can do, but watch them collide into it broadside. It turns out that they just weren't paying attention, just like us, and the river naturally takes you right into the slightly submerged rock. They didn't even see us on the rock and we were probably stuck on it at least 3 minutes. It's not even in white water. We quickly paddle over to a beach just below where they are stuck. I grab a long rope and Robert and I start climbing over shoreline rocks to try and get near them when we see them coming down the river free of the rock.

All is good until we catch back up with them and discover that the rock ripped a 6-inch hole in the side tube of their raft. The tubes are chambered so it's not like the boat is sinking. It's just going very awkwardly down the river. Not something you would want to run a serious rapid with...

At this point Butch is f*cking pissed at himself for the lapse of attention and consequence. He admits he was just in "motorboat" mode, because that's what he's used to - having horsepower to save you at the last minute. Not today. We make it a few miles down the river to a place called Blacktail Canyon. This is another one of my favorite spots on the river. It's 2 p.m. and we decide to unload the boats, make camp, and concentrate on fixing the hole in the boat. I have to give credit to Bob for keeping the peace and spirits up. Butch is so upset (I would be too) that none of us want to get close to him. We're all being quite and keeping our space and Bob (who has been on the river as long as Butch and known him forever) steps in and really helps out as a communicator of sorts. First, we unload Butch and Tricia's entire boat onto shore and then flip the boat upside down onto the beach. Then we organize into two groups. One group sets up camp while the other group works on patching the hole. Butch does the patch himself and is assisted by Tricia and Bob. He attacks the raft like a surgeon on a patient. It's 95 degrees outside and the sun is relentless. Bob and Tricia set up all our umbrellas over the surgeon and his operating table. He uses a hole punch to create several dozen holes laterally along the tear on both sides. Then he uses some of Cathy's fishing line to sew/stitch the hole shut. After ensuring the surface is completely dry, he uses the repair kit to apply a huge patch over his work. Later, they apply another patch over the first patch. In the long run, this actually works and we're saved!

Butch and Tricia decided to get a non-self bailing boat when we hired Cieba Adventures to outfit us. The reason is because Tricia wants to get exercise by bailing water and they both think that the boat will preform better than the self-bailing boat that Robert, Athena and I rented. The problem is their boat is super old. The hull is lined with dozens of patches. I don't know what the lifespan of one of these boats are, but this one is got to be geriatric. Someone said it's the only one that Cieba has and all of their other boats are self bailing. I'm nick naming it the "SS Fragile."

Robert, Athena and I make dinner. It's pasta alfredo with a strange coleslaw and it's surprisingly good. We also wait until dark and explore Blacktail Canyon. It's a huge slot canyon that looks like it belongs in Lord of the Rings. The acoustics are amazing inside it and again, I'm kicking myself for not bringing my trumpet. Andy, Kathy, Robert, Athena and I slowly approach the entrance. It's very visible from outside as the starlight and waxing moon light it up well. Right at the entrance we all turn out our lights for effect. Just then a frog makes the most horrific sound and Cathy freezes in place. I look back at her and can't help but laugh out loud at the expression of fear on her face. "It's just a frog," we say. Inside the canyon it's pitch black. The walls are so tall and narrow that no moon light penetrates to the floor. Back in 2008 we camped here and my friends and I attempted to sleep inside it, but quickly left as we each got freaked out one by one. There are bats flying around, frogs making gnarly noises and at this time of year, quite a few spiders and beetles poking around on the floor.

This is one of my favorite panoramic of all the ones I took during the trip. It's real size is about 4-feet long. It's hard to tell on the computer screen, but it's got some amazing detail to it. You can see the scale of Blacktail Canyon by looking at Robert and Athena in the left side of the frame. This spot is about a 10 minute hike up from the river.

Blacktail Canyon entrance.

Wow.... I had meant to make a short entry, but got carried away. Now I'm super tired after today and really going to go to sleep! Bring on Day 14, which is May Day I might add!

The Grand Canyon (Day 9) - May I please have some more sand!

The following post is from the journal I kept of my recent adventure upon a 21-day private river rafting trip on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon from Lee's Ferry to Diamond Peak (about 230 miles) that took place between April 18th and May 8th, 2012.

April 26, 2012

I must admit, I'm a little bit down today. I can't believe I'm smack dab in the middle of one of the most awesome places on Earth and I'm in poor morale. My only issue is that I miss my fiance, Jenny. That's it. Since I'm a glass-is-half-full kind of guy I tell myself that this is excellent news and I would have a real problem if I didn't miss her at this point. Still, that doesn't really help. I had my mind set geared toward today being the day I could make a phone call to her from Phantom Ranch. It's kind of like running distance for me. If I have my mind set that I'm going to run a 50k then that's what I'm going to do and it's really no different of a mind set than setting out mentally to run a 5k. I was mentally prepared today to call home and it didn't happen because we didn't get to Phantom Ranch yet. Blah...

We're currently hunkered down at the Grapevine Campsite. It's a wonderful campsite in the Inner Gorge that has a long narrow beach that is abreast to a shear wall of vishnu schist and zoroaster granite. There's an amazing contrast between the nearly black schist and pink granite that intertwines together. It looks like freaking "Middle Earth" or something. Most people never get to see this part of the Grand Canyon because unless you raft the river it is difficult to get to from either the North or South Rims. It's also super SUPER old in geological time. The Vishnu Schist is nearly 2 billion year old rock. Absolutely insane to think about! Today is also Athena's birthday. And, I say we're hunkered down because we're experiencing some foul weather. It's extremely windy with intermittent rain showers. The wind is causing a horrid sandstorm on this otherwise beautiful beach. We stayed here in 2008 and it was hands down my favorite campsite. Right now it seems like a little bit of hell.

Don't get me wrong. We are making the best of our situation. Tonight we plan to celebrate Athena's birthday by baking her a cake in a dutch oven. It's also hamburger night, which I'm totally stoked for and everyone is pretty much in great spirits while pretending to ignore the blowing sand that has found its way into EVERYTHING. I think I'm the only one struggling with morale right now. Other than Bob, who is a lot more used to being alone on the river, I'm the only one without their significant other.  I went for a hike alone a little bit ago for two reasons. First, I wanted to climb to the top of this section where I turned back in 2008. It overlooks the campsite and requires a little technical climbing (see the above panoramic I took from the top). And secondly, I don't want to bring down my fellow river rafters with my morale issues. I think it helped, but I know I'll be back to normal and better after tomorrow when I'll at least have a chance to call home and make sure Jenny got home from Boston (Marathon) OK. That's the last I talked to her.

Ahhhh.... anyways. Enough of that feeling sorry for myself bullshit. I'm here to have an adventure damnit! Here's how we ended up here today. The weather pretty much went to sh*t  almost as soon as we entered the inner gorge this morning. It was like the Grand Canyon was saying, "so you want to have some fun on my world class rapids? You must first earn it by enduring the wrath of Mother Nature!" When this happened Butch quickly made the call to stop early (around 1 p.m.) to strategically set us up better for tomorrow. If we had continued today we would have faced some dangerous rapids late in the day. This way we'll be facing Horn Rapid first thing tomorrow morning. If something goes wrong then we'll have all day to address the situation, rather than dealing with it in the dark. There also aren't many campsites in the inner gorge and this is one of the best. I think that played into the decision as well.

We did run Hance, Nevilles and Sockdolger today... all of which are f*cking serious rapids, but Robert ran them all. He did great too, with no mistakes. I actually think he ran them better than some of the veterans in our party. This is probably because Robert and I are so damn scared of them that it's making us super safe. I've decided that I do not like going through these larger rapids as a passenger. I need to be in control. I'm very conflicted because I trust Robert 100-percent, but I think my personality needs to have control. Tomorrow I'm going to ask to run some bigger rapids starting with the Grapevine rapid. It's only a few hundred yards down river from our campsite and I've already scouted it from the top of the bluff I climbed up to earlier. I really need to cheer up! Seriously, what's one more day before being able to call home. We've been in the wilderness for 9 days and I'm pretty sure that's the longest I've ever gone without any outside contact, electricity, cell phones, air condition, running water, etc. Bring on day 10! I'm ready for anything this canyon wants to throw at us! 

 Athena makes a wish (hopefully for the sandstorm to stop) and celebrates her birthday with a dutch 

oven baked chocolate cake!

 I laughed my ass off when I first saw this picture. It's Bob, Robert and myself trying to make a human shield against the blowing sand for Butch while he grills our burgers.

The Grand Canyon (Day 8) - The Little Colorado

The following post is from the journal I kept of my recent adventure upon a 21-day private river rafting trip on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon from Lee's Ferry to Diamond Peak (about 230 miles) that took place between April 18th and May 8th, 2012.

April 25, 2012

Today was a good day! I woke up a little hung over (stupid Maker's Mark mixed with powder lemonade water), but shook it off quick as we hit the river at 8:20 a.m.

A pleasant surprise awaited upon reaching the Little Colorado River. Turquoise color water flows into the mighty Colorado River and we're the only ones here. I'm super stoked to see that the LCR is not "dirty" or mud-colored water from flash flooding that sometimes occurs many miles away. It is the most beautiful color of turquoise I've ever seen it. It was dirty once and clean once during my two other visits to the LCR. This time it's a brilliant color and since it's a slightly overcast sky there are no shadows anywhere. I quickly start shoot pictures with just about all my cameras and even throw in a few black and white attempts.

Before we even reach the short hike up to a spot where it's common to get into the water, I've taken more than a hundred pictures! Now that it's time to play, I put down the camera (except the GoPro) and strap on my life jacket in the most messed up way ever. By sticking my legs through the arm holes and pulling the jacket up to my waist upside down and buckling it tight I've created a "butt-protector" floatation device. Robert, Athena and I take turns running the mini-rapids of the LCR on our butts. It's great fun and even Andy and Kathy give it a try.

Just as other rafters from commercial trips start showing up we're leaving. We paddle across the river and down only a hundred yards or so and have a quick lunch. Lunches so far have been very on-the-go with our group and I can't complain. I'd much rather see the Grand Canyon than spend my time eating my way down the river. Next, it's time to make some miles on the river. We've slacked off the past few days doing some epic hikes so now we need to make up some time. The river actually speeds up after the LCR and Butch and Bob knew this so that explains their lack of concern for going so slow the past week. I've made it known to Robert that I wish to have more time on the oars to get a better feeling and instinct so I row most of the day. It's a good ways - from the LCR to a campsite named Escalante, or as Bob calls it, "the original Rattlesnake camp." That's about a 14-mile paddle and my body feels like it got a great workout. Not to mention a few smaller class 4 rapids (Lava Canyon and Tanner rapids) increased my experience level today!

Tanner rapid was especially big today and I feel like I nailed it perfectly! Since I got to shoot those two, Robert got to paddle Unkar rapid. It was right at the end of the day and we thought we were done with serious rapids so we started drinking beer. Being especially pleased with the progress we made I decided to drink more beer than usual. When we realized we did have to run Unkar, I decided Robert was more sober than myself! We are now set up to run the Inner Gorge tomorrow and Friday. This will be the first BIG test in BIG water. Tomorrow we will face Hance and Sockdolager rapids, which I'm sure will be "interesting."

I'm also praying we make it to Phantom Ranch tomorrow. It's about 13 miles from here and I really REALLY want to call Jenny and hear her voice. I wish she were here. 

The night sky over our campsite tonight.

The Grand Canyon (Day 4) - Chicken Curry Puke

The following post is from the journal I kept of my recent adventure upon a 21-day private river rafting trip on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon from Lee's Ferry to Diamond Peak (about 230 miles) that took place between April 18th and May 8th, 2012.

April 21, 2012

Another fun day! We started on the river extremely late because Butch and Tricia had to apply a patch to their raft this morning to fix a small tear in the flooring. Their raft requires manual bailing so the floor is nothing more than thin rubber with no air inside it. Our raft, while the same size, is self-bailing so the floor is actually inflated, which allows water to run off at the sides. I guess that there are pros and cons to both types of boats, but I sure as hell glad we have a self bailing boat at this point.

Once on the river, our first stop today is at South Canyon. A short hike leads us up a bluff overlooking the river. There are Anasazi (native American) ruins here, but most have been rebuilt during modern times. They are nothing more than a few circular walls of rocks about 4-feet high. At this point you're high enough to see down river to a waterfall called Vasey's Paradise and a cave named Stanton's Cave because a early explorer of the river named Stanton had to abort his trip and stashed supplies and surveying equipment in this cave before hiking out. I've been here before, just like North Canyon, but this time Butch and Bob lead us a little further up to a small cave where we can see straight through the canyon.

Next we continue downriver collecting water at Vasey's Paradise and eating lunch at Redwall Canyon. Redwall is one of my favorites and I had really wished, again, that I had a trumpet to play here. Next time I will bring one! Although, I'm pretty sure I said that last time.

We stop at Nautaloid Canyon. This is a place that I always forget about until I visit it again. I never remember the name and I think I've been to it both my previous trips, but always forget until I see it in person again. It's a short semi-difficult hike up to an exposed prehistoric seabed with these nautaloid fossils in the rock. Butch says from 500 million years ago. Bob says 350 million years. . . so what's 150 million years in geological time anyhow???

For the rest of the day Robert, Athena and I take turns rowing that remaining miles until camp. We take a good splashing at the 36-mile rapid and I feel like I'm really getting the hang of driving these rafts. Bob and Butch are amazing sources of information. Bob seems to be even more open than Butch about sharing his knowledge while Butch is a little more reserved until specifically asked.

We're currently camping at a tiny, rarely visited beach on river left about 1/2 mile before Redbug Canyon. I just explored the surrounding area and soon found myself bushwhacking with no trail. It's kind of nice to see no human footprints and only animal tracks. Lots of deer and small stuff I can't identify with my Florida hunting background.

Dinner is interesting. It's some kind of curry chicken dish. As I'm eating I suddenly feel nauseous. I stand up and start to walk away from our group circle and as soon as I'm 15 feet away I involuntarily throw up. It brings me to my knees as I heave a couple more times. It's strange because it doesn't feel like anything comes out of my stomach, but more my throat or chest. Tricia is really alarmed and quizzes me with much detail about what I've eaten and drank. I instantly feel better as soon as it's over with although I've lost my appetite. I come to the conclusion that I'm very dehydrated and for whatever reason the food didn't agree with me. I know they are worried that I'm sick, but I'm pretty damn sure that I'm not. I feel completely fine and better now that I've been drinking the hell out of some Gatorade. Time to get some rest!

The Grand Canyon (Day 3) - The Vagina Room

The following post is from the journal I kept of my recent adventure upon a 21-day private river rafting trip on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon from Lee's Ferry to Diamond Peak (about 230 miles) that took place between April 18th and May 8th, 2012.

April 20, 2012 

Today was fun! We started out going about a mile downriver until we came to North Canyon. From there we hiked up a good ways until the canyon narrowed into a small room with a large pool of stagnant water. It's a very peaceful place, but the small trickle of water that slides down the opposing wall on the filling up the pool of water kind of looks phallic in nature. Robert and I dubbed this place the Vagina room on our previous trips. I'm not sure what it's real name is, but that's what we call it. Haha.

Before we leave the North Canyon, Butch and Tricia run into some other guides from the commercial company they work for and strike up a conversation that lasts forever. I guess they learn some information about campsites and other groups and timelines and stuff, but Robert and I are anxious to get going because just ahead of us lies a section of the river called The Roaring Twenties, which is a serious of fun rapids that lie in the 20-29 mile section of the river. It's the biggest water yet for us and I get to drive a few times (class 6-7). The first one I made it through the main section like text book and then failed to realize or see this huge rock sticking out of the water. It was the size of a dump truck and I still don't understand how I didn't see it earlier. I think you spend so much time looking for the hidden holes and rocks that it's easy to miss the "in-your-face" stuff sometimes. I had no choice but to hit this rock by the time I realized it so I turned into the rock head first and pulled against the force of the river to lessen the impact. As we hit, we bounce 180-degrees while rolling laterally around the rock and downriver. I'm glad my instincts directed me to turn into the rock rather than hit it broadside because the entire incident really wasn't all that bad. It sure did scared the shit out of me as it was happening. The river has so much force to it sometimes. It's like surfing long-period double overhead conditions. Lots of hydraulics at play.

A few miles later, Butch isn't paying attention and hits a rock that we manage to barely miss. There's a small hole in their boat and tomorrow morning when the water goes down and that section of his boat is out of the water he will patch it. I guess we'll learn about patching rubber rafts.

Tonight we are camped right around the 29-Mile mark. Bob made spaghetti for dinner and it's super yummy. Several of my passengers have brought to my attention that today's date is 4-20 and have invited me to celebrate it in a special way later tonight down on the beach near our tents. On that note, I'll close for now.

The Grand Canyon (Day 2) - The Rock!

The following post is from the journal I kept of my recent adventure upon a 21-day private river rafting trip on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon from Lee's Ferry to Diamond Peak (about 230 miles) that took place between April 18th and May 8th, 2012.

April 19, 2012

We are camped about a 1/2 mile before North Canyon. This is the same spot we camped the first night on the river in 2008 when I was a passenger on a commercial trip with Grand Canyon Expeditions and Tricia and Butch were our guides. I remember it vividly as I decided to sleep on a large flat rock with the idea that there would be less sand. Well, there was, but f*ck that rock was HARD! It was the last rock I ever slept on and tonight I'm proud to say I'm sleeping in a sandy spot about 30 feet away from that same rock.

I've got to make this entry short as I've run out of time today to write and now it's late, dark and I'm tired so I'm going to summarize today's events.

* We broke camp a bit slow this morning. However, our approach is the no-schedule approach. The only schedule is simply to see what happens at this point in the trip.

* Robert got us through the Badger Creek and House Rock Rapids without incident. House Rock had us both nervous and was a good confidence builder. We scouted it before hand and Butch and Bob were excellent mentors and advisers.

* I practiced on quite a few smaller rapids and seem to be getting the hang of our raft.

* We changed the name of our boat to the Honey Bucket (because we now realize that by the end of the trip we'll be hauling all the shit and trash) and made "Flower Power" our mantra to yell before entering a rapid. I somehow think that Flower Power will still stick as the name.

* Steak and potatoes for dinner tonight. Yippee!

* Veggies and Southwest style tacos were for lunch.

* I totally failed on the GoPro several times today with having the wrong mount or running the batteries dead by accident right before several rapids, hence missing the shot. I'm sure I'll learn from this and have all the kinks worked out for later in the trip when we get to some BIG rapids.

That's all for today. I'm exhausted. No tent tonight. Just me and my sleeping bag and stars and satellites above in the moonless sky!

The Grand Canyon (Day 1) - Embarkation

The following post is from the journal I kept of my recent adventure upon a 21-day private river rafting trip on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon from Lee's Ferry to Diamond Peak (about 230 miles) that took place between April 18th and May 8th, 2012.

April 18th (Wednesday) - Day 1

A decade ago I was in the right place at the right time. I scored a trip down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. The catch at the time, was I worked my way down the river as my Uncle Butch's swamper, or assistant guide. My Aunt Tricia, who usually swamped for her husband couldn't go at the last minute and I happened to be in town for my Cousin Robert's wedding. I called my work (I was a newspaper journalist at the time) and told them they could fire me if they must, but I'd be back in 10 days. I worked my ass off on that trip, but enjoyed every second if it! Then, 4-years ago, I was lucky enough to be in a position in life to go down the river again as a passenger with my Aunt and Uncle acting as our guides. That trip was much like the first trip, only I didn't have to work so hard.

Today, I embark on my third trip into the Ditch! This time it's a private trip (no commercial guide service involved). My Aunt Tricia got designated as the trip leader (TL) by winning the National Park Service's annual lottery where they give out a limited number of permission slips for private trips. We are eight strong including my Aunt Tricia, Uncle Butch, Cousin Robert and his girlfriend Athena along with Andy and Kathy, myself and Bob Hallett who is braving the river solo in his Dory named after his daughter, the Abby Rose. Andy and Kathy are from Park City, Utah, and seem to be friendly and fun. Bob is a fellow Floridian like myself and while we've never met before this trip, we only live about 20 minutes away from each other. My cousin Robert and Athena live in Portland, Oregon, and Robert's mother Tricia and her husband Butch call San Jose, California, home when they're not on the River. I'd say we pretty much have the country covered!

Between the eight of us we are using four boats; two 18-foot rafts with Butch and Tricia on one and Robert, Athena and myself on the other, a 14-foot raft belonging to Andy and Kathy and then Bob in the Abbey Rose. The trip will last 21 days until we pull out at Diamond Creek. The major significance of this trip for myself and Robert is that it's a rowing trip. The other two times I've been down the River have been on motorized rafts. Now it will be a real adventure. Robert, Athena and I will share rowing duties and white-water rapids.

Robert has a little more experience than me since he has had the opportunity to row a couple short weekend trips in Oregon during the past 6-months to try and gain experience for this trip. However, I have a more experience with being on the water in general so hopefully, I'll be a fast learner. Normally, you wouldn't find two novice rafters tackling the Colorado River like Robert and myself, but another significant factor is we're surrounded by river rafting greatness. Butch and Bob probably have 60+ combined years of experience as commercial guides on this river and Andy is a veteran as well. Robert and I will have all of that vast amount of experience to draw unlimited advise from as we man our own raft.

Today, after a full day and a half at Lee's Ferry, we got under way. We made a distance of 11 miles in a half day of time and made camp just above Soap Rapid at Soap Canyon. The major confidence builder today was Badger Rapid around mile 8. Robert took us through the 15' drop rapid without incident. We were a little far right, which made for a good lesson afterward during a discussion with Butch. Earlier in the day Bob let me, or pretty much ordered me, into the Abbey Rose. As soon as I was in he jumped out and onto our raft leaving me alone in his Dory. It's a small dory and I immediately equated it to a sports car when compared to our 18-foot raft that we've now named "Flower Power" because of the brightly colored fake flowers that Athena has affixed to our bow. We've already had a few bees come up and investigate the flowers. I'm hoping for a humming bird.

While I'm still rowing the dory the 6-Mile rapid approaches. I look over at Bob who is hanging out in Flower Power and he nods an approval and says, "go on, run it!" I pick a line and follow the other boats. The dory rocks up and down, but is surprisingly stable and the rapid is gone as fast as it appeared. Now I realize that that rapid was very small, non-technical and super easy, but what an honor to be given that opportunity! The dory is like a fighter jet of boats compared to ours, which would be a cargo plane. It turns on a dime and is much faster and streamline. I'm stoked and look forward to more opportunities during this trip! Another thing about Bob is he has already offered all of us a free skydiving experience at his business, Sky Dive DeLand. As a private pilot, I've worn a few parachutes, but never had to use one. I've never been that motivated to jump out of a perfectly good airplane, but I might take him up on that offer when we get home. I'm excited to get to know him better during this trip.

Tonight, in camp, we made Salmon, rice and broccoli. A fat mouse appeared under our cook table. As it hung out it appeared to have no fear of humans. It's unlawful to harm any animal in the Grand Canyon and I think this mouse knew that as he let me place my camera within inches of his face. We also saw some other interesting wildlife today including two California Condors. The park ranger said there are only 73 of them. They were under the Marble Canyon Bridge. Their tag numbers were 55 and 28 I think.

This is going to be a great trip! I know it. My biggest issue that I foresee will be missing my fiance, Jenny.