The Grand Canyon (Day 10) - Calling Home!

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 27, 2012 

It was a good day! That sums it up! Finally, I can say the best day yet! I knew that after yesterday, today would be great. I'm not the kind of person that has two bad days in a row. Today had to be good!

This morning started with two parts awesome and one part amazing. First off, the weather this morning is so much more awesome than yesterday. Then, only minutes after leaving camp, I got to paddle the Grapevine Rapid and I have to brag that I did it awesomely! It was my biggest and most technical rapid yet. Then, at about mid-day, we FINALLY made it to Phantom Ranch and that was amazing!

My excitement when sky high when I saw the landmark bridge across the river just before the trail head to Phantom Ranch, which is a campground, ranger station, intersection of hiking trails between the North and South Rims, etc. at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Butch asked that we limit our time here so we'll be able to make good progress down the river. I know he wants to get past Horn Rapid sooner than later for several reasons. As soon as I stepped off the raft I set out to accomplish as much as I could physically handle.

First, I found the bathroom. A real bathroom with running water. I urinated in the urinal and washed my hands in a real sink twice. Then I saw the toilet and couldn't help myself so I took a spontaneous, on-demand, dump right there on the spot! Then I washed my hands some more in the real sink with running water. Hey, did I mention there is running water at Phantom Ranch???

After my bathroom stunt, I saw that Robert and Athena were on the pay phone. There are two pay phones here. One is at some bathrooms near the river. The other is about a mile up the trail at Phantom Ranch. I decided to run that mile and it is during this run that I decide that some day I shall return here with Jenny and trail run the Rim to Rim (Bright Angel Trail to Kaibab Trail or South Rim to North Rim). It's a beautiful scene with mature cottonwood trees nearly 100-years old planted all along the path. When I get there I see the pay phone is open so I jump on it, dial Jenny's number (after figuring out how to use a prepaid phone card) and when she answers the phone I choke up for words. Hearing her voice almost makes me cry. She even asks what is wrong with my voice. I pull myself together and spend about 30 minutes catching up with her. I learn that everything went fine with her getting home from Boston and the house and pets are OK, but most importantly I get to speak with Jenny and tell her I love  her and I miss her. She tells me some local and family stuff and it's good to hear news from home. I was so thankful that no hikers were waiting on me and that we were able to take our time chatting.

After the phone conversation I see that Andy and Cathy are on the phone so I have a few minutes before heading back knowing that at least I'm not the only one Butch is waiting for up here. I walk into the Cantina and make a few purchases including the famous lemonade with real ice, a post card for Jenny that I leave in a mule saddlebag that will be mailed after being hauled out of the Grand Canyon, and a candy bar. The lemonade is so cold that I even eat the ice after finishing it as I walk back down toward the river.

We leave Phantom Ranch and hit the river for the roller coaster of rapids laying ahead of us that climax with Horn rapid. We scout the rapid before running it and are lucky enough to be able to watch another group go ahead of us. Robert gets to paddle it and we end up "splitting the horns" as we pick our line. Robert does very well, probably even cleaner than Butch although his boat is very stern heavy with an extra cooler.

Tonight we are camped at Granite rapid. It's the best camp in two days mostly because the weather is agreeable. Robert, Athena and I are making lasagna for dinner in a dutch oven! Bring on Day 11!

Athena's co-workers back in Portland, Ore., actually sent her a care package at Phantom Ranch and this blow-up killer whale was inside. I think it compliments our "Flower Power" boat quite well!

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 7) - What Trail?

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 24, 2012

And on the seventh day we rest... well, not really. We're taking a "layover day" today at the Kwagunt campsite to have some extra time to hike or relax or both. Butch remembers a science trip (a trip where the guide works for National Park service scientists instead of tourists) from 25 years ago where they hiked up Kwagunt canyon and up a trail that leads to the top of the rim overlooking the campsite, somewhat similar to what we did a 50-mile campsite (Dinosaur). To me it looks higher and more daunting than the Dark Castle of Dinosaur camp.

Our entire party packs individual lunches at the end of breakfast. I'm not taking any chances today so I fill ALL of my water bottles and drop a few NUUN tablets in one of them and mix up Gatorade in another. I pack my first aid kit, survival kit, headlamp, knife, camera and as much food as I can bare to weight down my backpack and then lace up my trail shoes. It's going to be a good and long day!

We head up the Kwagunt creek wash area at about 7:40 a.m. in search of this trail that Butch remembers. It's unknown territory for everyone. We follow footprints and broken trail for about 3 miles up the wash looking for what Butch remembers as a trail that breaks away to the left and up the mountain, almost "step-like" and not too difficult. We look and look, but find nothing definite.

At some point, Robert, Athena, Tricia and Kathy decide to stay behind and explore the area around the creek, which is very beautiful and relaxing while Butch, Bob, Andy and myself make a bid for the summit with or without trail. When we split we leave a walkie-talkie with each party so hopefully, we'll be able to communicate if needed.

We spend about 15 minutes studying the mountain ahead of us. There's no obvious trail so we can only look at the natural terrain of this beast that lies before us and make an educated guess on the proper direction to make our bid. An hour later we find ourselves high up on a ridge line overlooking Kwagunt Canyon. It's freaking amazing and breathtaking, but still no trail and the terrain is not easy to traverse without a trail. It just looks like desert in the pictures, but without a trail to follow you have to side step every bush and it's hard to keep a straight line. Not to mention, just about every plant out here will give you splinters if you rub against it the wrong way and I'm not just talking about the cacti. There are prickle poppies, beargrass, brittlebush, snakeweed, catclaw and dogweed to avoid.

By 11:30 a.m. we are on a higher ridge and now we can see a large portion of the North Rim. There is snow up there, which makes the contrast between the green pine trees of the Kaibab plataeu and the ground that much more striking. We stop to rest under a dead cedar tree of some sort that provides minimal shade and I can't help but think we might be the only humans to have ever sat here. It's a romantic thought that's probably completely false, but I feel so isolated in nature right now. I haven't seen any footprints or other evidence of humans in hours and I'm a thousand feet or more in elevation up from the creek. How often can you get to a place with no evidence of humans being there before? Whether we make it or not, I'm completely satisfied with the journey today. It's so quiet up here that you can hear airplanes flying over at altitude loud and clear. There's no river noise; only wind noise or the occasional clank from a rock sliding down the mountain side loosened by our feet.

We're all running low on water. I look at the summit above. It's probably another 600 vertical feet or at least a mile of difficult trail blazing. It's high noon and getting hotter by the minute. I turn to Bob and Andy and say, "I can make it up there, but I'll kill all my water in the process." Reality sets in among us all. There's no aid station up ahead and there's definitely not any water source at the top. We're in the desert! Going down will be difficult if not worse. We collectively decide to start heading down the mountain. Rather than go back the way we came it seems much more interesting to take a different route down and also try and short cut the trip by going toward a direction that is closer to the mouth of the wash below than where we started our summit bid. It's also in a direction where we think we might have missed the start of the mystery trail from the wash. This will ensure that if it's there we'll come across it on the way down. At one point I find a Gardner snake and a few minutes later Bob is buzzed by a Peregrine Falcon. I mean, the thing flew past him at more than 100 mph and probably only missed him by two or three feet. He jokes about how it was "checking him out."

What seems like a brilliant idea soon becomes somewhat of a bitch. There is no trail. NO TRAIL! If there ever was, it's gone or in a totally different location. I guess I take trails for granted. Maybe it got covered up by a rock slide or something, but there's no trail. Today is the day of NO TRAIL! My legs are scratched to hell at this point. The path we blaze down is actually very steep and this causes us to switchback across a very loose rock slide area. It's that or get more scratched up from the desert plants. Rocks are constantly coming loose and falling down the mountain under our feet and several times I slip a few feet down with them before stopping. I find a small stick and carry it in the hand that is nearest the mountain at all times with the thought that I can use it to arrest myself if I fall, similar to an ice axe. I don't have to use it, but getting down turns out to be the most technical part of the day. I make it back to the creek a few minutes before everyone else and I'm so happy to see the water I lay down in it and let it wash around my entire body. It's cold, probably snow melt, and I don't care!

Andy, Bob and Butch soon arrive and without hesitation do the same as myself. At this point I'm completely out of water and so is Andy. We elect to hike back to the boats immediately while Butch and Bob decide to rest, eat some foot and take a slower approach back. Once Andy and I make it back to camp it's been nearly 7 hours of total hiking time. My body feels like I ran a 20-miler. I ice my legs in the Colorado River as long as I can stand it. We settle in for the rest of the afternoon taking shelter in the shade from the scorching heat from the sun. It's a lazy afternoon and I'm loving it. It's allowing me to take a little more time to write, read, relax, etc. Cathy has been fishing most of the afternoon with a good amount of success. I think she's caught four or five trout so far.

Tomorrow I'm hoping that we make it to the Little Colorado River. If it's clean water it is one of my favorite spots!

 This is a black and white shot I took at sunset of the peak we were attempting to summit at Kwagunt.

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!