The Grand Canyon (Day 6) - The Dark Castle

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 23, 2012

I'm starting to get used to this way of life and get settled in for the long haul. After the past two days I feel like my issues are gone, over and I'm ready for whatever this big ditch throws at me! I took another Zrytec first thing this morning and haven't had any allergy issues today. I think I will continue taking them for the rest of the trip just to play it safe. Life is so much more pleasurable when you're not sneezing every few seconds.

Instead of hitting the river after breakfast we loaded up our water bottles and laced up our hiking shoes (Brooks Cascadia trail running shoes for me) with a different goal in mind. My aunt calls the ominous cliff overlooking this campsite the "Dark Tower" because it sort of resembles a giant round turret of a mid evil castle. I'm not sure what the official name of the bluff is, but I have to agree with her that it looks like some kind of castle that you would see in the Lord of the Rings movies. It's got to be about 1,000 feet high or so above the river and it's a very sheer drop off all the way down. Butch and Bob know of a trail from years ago that leads up the side canyon and around the backside of the bluff eventually to the top overlooking where we're camped. None of us has ever been to the top so it's truly new and exciting. Our goal is to find our way to the top and make a day out of it.

Nearly two hours of steady hiking and some free climbing without stopping gets us to the top. It's only Bob, Andy, Robert and myself now since the others turned back a little before a really sketchy section of free climbing around the halfway point.  Bob trail blazed most of the way up like an animal on a mission! Robert and I both kept pace, but without having to give it a strong effort. For being in his early 60s, that man is in amazing shape. As soon as we reach the top Bob and Andy immediately go into a technical conversation about base jumping down to the river. They're both pilots and world-class sky divers so it's not surprising. It takes a rock nearly 10 seconds to hit the ground after Bob tosses it over the ledge. That's when I realize I'm probably standing here with two of the best skydivers in the world. What an honor!

We see Kathy at the boats fishing and we scream, yell and whistle and get no response. That's how high up we are. Bob estimates it is a 600' free fall before reaching an outer ledge below that is probably still another 600' above the river.

Coming down is a complete bitch! It takes less time than going up, but only because we're able to go faster in the easy sections. When we reach the river I take off my shoes and socks and soak my legs in the icy cold river water, which is about 50 degrees, and I notice that I wore a hole in one of my brand new socks. I've never even done that running marathons. My legs feel like I ran about 15 miles and I'm starving. We eat lunch and then decide to make a few miles down the river before camping.

We pass Nankoweep Canyon and the rapid at mile 52 without stopping. Nankoweep is a very recognizable part of the Grand Canyon because of the ancient Anasazi structures carved high up in the canyon walls that were probably used to store grain in the winter time. I've been here before and don't care that we're passing it up. It is a beautiful canyon and there's a very small rain cloud that gets us a little wet making the canyon even more pretty. The rapid at Nankoweep is very long. Robert starts it and I finish the second half. It's not big, but more of an endurance rapid. I like it immensely.

I'm noticing that I'm getting better at controlling the raft in the rapids, but feel that Robert is still a little ahead of me because he has had more time at the oars. Tomorrow I'm going to lobby for more stick time. We are starting to get closer to the BIG rapids of the inner gorge and I want to have complete confidence with it almost being instinctual if I'm going to get a chance to tackle any of them.

We make camp at Kwagunt Canyon. It's another gorgeous side canyon and there's talk of taking all of tomorrow to explore it.

On another note, I'm starting to miss Jenny more and more. If I ever do get an opportunity like this again I've decided that I'll only go if she can be part of it. There are so many things here that she would love. Right now I'm really starting to look forward to the one opportunity I'll have to make a phone call to her at Phantom Ranch, which is another 35 miles that we should make probably by Thursday. It's rained a little today and this makes me a little nervous as I don't want the river to change. It's clear and clean and I want it to stay this way!

The Grand Canyon (Day 5) - Aa-chew!!!

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 22, 2012 

I think my body is trying to get rid of any and all issues during the past 24 hours. First, it was the puking incident at dinner last night. Then this morning I wake up and start having severe allergies. Basically, my nose will not stop running. It's a freaking waterfall of snot! Because of this I'm sneezing, blowing snot rockets, sounding funny when I talk, you name it. It's horrible, but I'm determined not to let it ruin my day nor the adventure. I took a Zyrtec allergy pill earlier today. After a while nothing changed so I panicked and decided maybe it would be a good idea to take a Sudafed. This was probably not the best decision I've ever made because I soon became "loopy" and on top of that I continued to sneeze and have to blow snot rockets! Now I'm basically drugged up and still having my little allergy attack.

It continues all day and I forced myself to not let it stop me from any activity. At one point I have make an announcement to everyone to please stop saying "bless you" after every sneeze because I'll probably be sneezing several hundred times more today.

As for the river goes, we finally seem like we are becoming a better oiled machine. We're definitely more organized and everyone seems to be figuring out what they're good at or what they like to do task-wise. Butch seems to have taken charge as the leader a little more and we got a much earlier start this morning at around 8 a.m. We totally charged President Harding Rapid first thing and then hiked the trail leading up Saddle Creek Canyon. This was a new spot for both Robert and I and if I hadn't been sneezing and drunk-like I think I might have enjoyed it. At the top the canyon narrows and there is a slot waterfall. We stop and have lunch at this spot and soon we learn that there's a rattlesnake hanging out in the water only about 10 feet away from our picnic. We leave him alone and he leaves us alone.

After Saddle Creek we settle on camping at the 50-Mile mark popularly called Dinosaur campsite because of a rock up on the canyon rim high above that kind of looks like a T-rex. Since we make camp earlier in the day it's super nice to have plenty of time before dark. Robert and I even went exploring up a wash where we find some new types of rocks not seen yet on the trip. It's quartz rocks and I think Robert and Athena have started their collection to bring home.

After our little adventure Robert, Athena and I take a shot at making dinner for everyone. This was our first time making dinner and the adults (or older members of our party) get to chill out and have a drink. Making dinner was fun and I look forward to doing it again. I'm not sure about making breakfast because I'm definitely not the earliest riser amongst our group.

It's getting dark quick and I don't want to write under my LED headlamp because we're starting to experience these annoying non-biting bugs called "midges" and they seem to overwhelm you if you have your light on once it's dark. In my previous two trips down the river I've never experienced a bug problem. I've been told these little suckers have a short life span and I guess we've timed it just right because they're everywhere. I hope they all die soon! So I'll close for now, probably go have some wine (too much wine with my west coast family around) and relax.

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.

I'M BACK!!!!!!!!!

Holy-Mother-of-Killer-Ocean-Swell it's been a hell of a long time since I've posted!

A mix of life, work & relationship have all resulted in a massive and abusive neglect of this blog. Everything in the world of TallGuySurfing is good, but I've got to catch this thing up a bit so here goes...

In a nutshell - since last Fall (My last post on the Cologne Marathon in Germany) here's a breakdown to bring you up to speed:



* I ran the Savannah Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in November, 2011, only a month after Germany, and had a much better race. I was in the company of greatness (Team Hot Legs and my cousin Mark) and it showed as I finished strong with a time of 4 hours and 4 seconds. Yup, that's right, I missed my sub-4 hour goal by 4 seconds. I was so happy with how good it felt to run strong and finish strong that I didn't even care. It was the first marathon I ran without stopping to walk once.

* In February, Jenny and I ran the 26.2 with Donna Breast Cancer Marathon (I ran the half and Jenny the full) with Team Hot Legs again. This race is becoming an annual event for us and we love it. I PR'd the half marathon with a time of 1:45:20 despite it being insanely cold (upper 20s at the start). I think I actually run better in really cold weather although I hate it with a passion. Jenny absolutely killed it in the marathon by running a PR and re-qualifying for Boston. Another notable highlight for me - at about mile ten I found myself running next to Bill-freaking-Rogers of all people! I did a double take as the legend passed me and continued on running like a madman (I mean, he kind of looks like a madman when he runs). I decided that I would run with him until I realized that he was speeding up (negative splits) and after about 3/4s of a mile I decided this was not a good idea for me. I watched in awe as he ran away from me down the course. I will not forget that moment.

* On March 14th, I proposed to Jenny and she said YES! During one of our last marathon training runs after work at dusk on the beach. I felt like everything was plotting against me that day. Issues at work were trying to keep me late and Jenny kept trying to change our running route through the day until I told her very uncharacteristically, "NO." A little while before our run two different surfers were attacked by sharks so news vans and helicopters were in the middle of our route making it noisy and confusing to run through. Jenny was happy during the run and all I could think was, "what else is going to try and stop me?" We finished the 4-mile run and I stopped Jenny right where I wanted her, told her I loved her and that 4-miles is significant because it was the distance of our first running date, dropped down on one knee and popped the question. She was so happy she swallowed her gum. I had a good friend, who sometimes works professionally for National Geographic as a photographer, hiding on the boardwalk so we got some amazing pictures of the event!

* A few days later, I returned to the full marathon scene, this time in Raleigh, North Carolina. The chosen race? The Tobacco Road Marathon, which is basically a double track trail (gravel mostly) over an old converted railroad line. The course is extremely flat by North Carolina standards and straight, which equates to FAST. I was determined to beat my Savannah time and join the sub-4 hour marathon club. I did it. I ran my ass off and finished with a time of 3:57:22 again finishing strong. I even lifted Jenny up off the ground in a huge bear hug at the finish line.

* April was insane! First off, Jenny got to finally run the Boston Marathon. It just so happened, also, to be one of the hottest races in history. I think the high was 87 degrees and by the time Jenny started it was about 82 degrees. My mother and I accompanied Jenny to Boston and we set up our spectating cheering station in front of our hotel at Mile 24. I couldn't help but think that I probably would DNF a marathon by mile 24 if it were 87 degrees and sunny as I watched all the amazing runners pass. When Jenny reached us, she was looking stronger than most, but it was obvious how taxing the heat and hills were on her. She finished strong with an amazing time considering the circumstances. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to be at the finish line as I had to catch a plane. A few months prior I was invited by some family members to join them for a private river rafting trip through the Grand Canyon and there was only one open spot meaning Jenny could not go. After some hesitation we both decided I should go on the 22-day trip because it's an opportunity I might never again get. After a massive amount of planning it turned out that I had to leave Boston almost the moment Jenny passed me at mile 24 to be able to reach Flagstaff, Arizona, in time to get to the river on schedule.

I simply don't have time (work, fun and wedding planning demands my attention) to write race reports on all those races, but I am going to try and pick up this blog by writing excerpts from my journal I kept as we paddled 230 miles down the Colorado River. I plan to start posting them day after day on this blog as if in real time although it really happened a month ago. Enjoy the story ... coming soon!