GC Rafting
May 2004
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Pre-trip
Day 1 - 5/13/04
Day 2 - 5/14/04
Day 3 - 5/15/04
Day 4 - 5/16/04
Day 5 - 5/17/04
Day 6 - 5/18/04
Day 7 - 5/19/04
Day 8 - 5/20/04
Day 9 - 5/21/04
Day 10 - 5/22/04
Day 11 - 5/23/04
Day 12 - 5/24/04
Day 13 - 5/25/04
Day 14 - 5/26/04
Day 15 - 5/27/04
Day 16 - 5/28/04
Trip dinner
Hints, tips, & links
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Day 1: Thursday, May 13 2004
Lee's Ferry to below Badger Rapid
Click on pictures to see larger images
I am not a morning person. This is something that anyone who knows me can vouch for! So when the alarm clock went off at 5:15am,
it was only with great difficulty that I managed to drag myself out of the nice, comfy hotel bed. Fortunately, the same excitement over
the trip that had kept me from sleeping properly the night before kicked back in during my shower, and I felt almost human by the time we
went down to breakfast at 6am.
Can-X had arranged a continental buffet breakfast for us with the Radisson - bagels, cream cheese, croissants,
and fruit. The lady who had given last night's orientation (Michelle) circled the tables and answered last-minute questions while we ate. After eating, Robert and I went back up to our
hotel room and somehow managed to drag all of our copious amounts of gear back downstairs in only one trip. Our Can-X trip was leaving from
the back of the hotel, while an OARS dory trip was leaving at the same time from the front. Michelle led a small
cavalcade off to store luggage in a room provided by the hotel, while the rest of us handed gear to the van drivers who would be
taking us to Lee's Ferry. There were two vans for carrying our Can-X group to Lees Ferry, which included the 20 of us passengers,
plus an unpaid assistant guide named Paul.
(Paul's wife, Jen, was one of the paid guides on the trip.)
Robert and I ended up in a van with Hilary, Gunter, Goetz & his wife Kristin, Jim & Jeanne, Mike & wife Christina, and the assistant
guide, Paul. Once
everyone was settled in the van, we were given duct tape so that we could attach our yellow webbing "straps" to our water
bottles, to get them ready for being clipped onto the rafts with carabiners. Paul helped us do a bombproof job of this - in fact, I'm
not sure the duct tape is ever going to come off our water bottles. Once our "craft project" was completed, we had a good
time enjoying the scenery and getting to know each other as the van took us on to Lee's Ferry. We stopped in Cameron
for a restroom break, and I went over to look into the deep, dry gorge of the Little Colorado. It was hard to believe that when
we next saw the Little Colorado again, it would likely be full of turquoise-blue water!
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Boats lined up at Lee's Ferry
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Lee's Ferry was a seething mass of people and gear. There were several other trips (both commercial and private) putting in at the same time
as ours, so everywhere you looked there were boats, lifejackets, piles of drybags, and people running back and forth or just milling about
in confusion. In addition to our mesh day bags, Robert and I had cameras, binoculars, trekking poles, water bottles, and his spare asthma
medication to try and keep track of,
so we soon found ourselves saying what would be a often-heard refrain on the trip..."Where the hell is/are my...?", followed by frantic
searching through various piles of gear.
After using the restroom (last chance for a flush toilet!) and topping off our water bottles, we were given lifejackets and a quick introduction to our
guides: Pat (trip leader), Kristin (head cook), Matt (paddle boat captain), Jen, Sam (sweep boat), Kelly (baggage boat), and
Paul (assistant).
Once the introduction was complete, Pat explained to us that we would launch immediately into the hiking
portion of the trip. "This is the hiker's special, after all!" We would row directly across the river to a small
beach on the far side, then get off the boats and do a short hike up Lee's Backbone, a rocky ridge
that would give us great views of the surrounding area. After the hike, we'd have lunch at the small
beach and then start on our way downriver. This would allow time for the other trips to get out of
our way and give us a chance to stretch our legs.
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Robert and Jason with Jen's boat
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We ended up in Jen's boat with Jason, while Jeanne and Jim went right for the paddle boat. After pushing off, we made
the short trip across to the far side of the river. Carrying water bottles and cameras, we followed Sam up a narrow
wash through the riverside vegetation, then climbed up a rocky slope dotted with cactus and agave. Sam pointed
out the remains of a huge log of petrified wood as we passed it. This was actually the first time I'd seen petrified
wood up close - very cool! We continued up to reach the edge of the cliff above the river, then continued hiking
up alongside the edge. The day was perfect - sunny and warm without being too hot. The Colorado was
a beautiful emerald green, and so clear that you could see every rock on the bottom from our high viewpoint.
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Colorado river from Lee's Backbone
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The water at Lee's Ferry is clear and very cold since Lee's Ferry is so close to Glen Canyon dam. The water released
from the dam is taken from deep in the chilly depths of Lake Powell. It warms up by roughly a degree a day downstream
of the dam, but since it starts out at a ice-cold 45 degrees, this doesn' t help much.
Lee's Ferry itself was still an anthill of confusion, gradually growing calmer as time passed and more trips left.
Eventually we stopped at a high point with a great view. Pat talked a little bit about the history of Lee's Ferry
and the old road that used to cross the river here, and Matt gave a talk about geology and the surrounding
rocks that was very interesting.
Then we headed back down, taking a slightly different route down a neat
little arroyo that ended in a pour-off over the cliff. We saw lots of cactus and century plants in bloom.
Once back at the river, the guides prepared lunch. Pat
had explained to us earlier that at breakfast and dinner, passengers would eat first, but at lunch the guides
would eat first since they needed to replenish all the energy they were using in rowing us down the river.
Today's lunch was typical - fixings for making sandwiches (bread, cut veggies, sliced meats), with pringles
and cookies. As people finished eating, the guides explained that if you wanted to paddle one of the inflatable duckies
at any point during the trip, first you had to take the "ducky test". You had to paddle the ducky out into
the river, deliberately flip yourself over, then demonstrate that you could flip the ducky rightside up
(using a strap on the underside) and pull yourself back in (by kicking hard and slithering on board
while pulling with your arms). Jen gave a demonstration, then, teeth chattering, suggested that
anyone interested in duckying should do the test now while we were in the sun. Robert and I
eyed the 45 degree water and the shivering Jen, then gave each other our best "No freaking way!"
looks. We agreed we'd rather wait for a hotter day. Jeanne, however, was gung-ho, and joined
the eager line of people waiting for their turn. The first few people provided much amusement,
as getting back into the ducky seemed a little harder than Jen had made it look. Those of us
on the beach yelled encouragement and suggestions as the poor freezing person in the water
thrashed and flailed their way onto the slippery rubber like beached whales.
Jeanne takes on the ducky test
After all the willing volunteers had completed their ducky tests, the guides packed up and we
were finally on our way downstream, with Gunter and Cindy in two of the duckies. Jen had Jason,
Robert, and I all in the front of her boat, and we had a good time talking to her and each other
as we floated downstream, admiring the scenery. The canyon walls rose ever higher, and
we splashed through several fun riffles. Soon the twin arches of the Navajo bridge(s) came
into view, and the guides pulled their boats together into one big floating clump. Sam stood
up and gave a safety talk as we floated under the bridges, looking up at the tourists looking
down. Sam told us that although some of the whitewater in the canyon would be large,
most of the rapids were pretty safe to swim through, if you fell out. (Sadly, this
statement was soon to come back to haunt us.) He went over what to do if you
fell out of a boat (don't panic!), how to pull a swimmer back into a boat (grab the
lifejacket, not a limb!), and other important safety details (try not to breathe
when underwater).
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Pulling together into a group
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Sam gives the safety talk
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After the safety talk, the boats all separated out again, and we continued on
down the river. Jen let me try to row, which led to much amusement for Jason
and Robert. I had trouble pushing equally with both arms, so the boat kept
tending to the left, at which point I'd row with only the left arm for a few strokes.
After only a few minutes of this, my left arm muscles were definitely feeling
the burn, and I relinquished the oars back to Jen with a new respect for
the coordination and strength of the guides.
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Gunter in the ducky, before Badger rapid
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We hit our first "real" rapid of the trip, Badger Rapid, as the canyon wall's
shadow was spreading over the river. We put on our splash jackets,
and had a fun ride through the waves. After our run, we floated in
an eddy beneath the rapid and watched the remaining boats go.
The paddle boat made it with no problem. We watched Gunter's ducky
approach the rapid. "He's way too far right, " Jen said. Sure enough,
Gunter's ducky went over a rock at the head of the rapid, into a big
hole, and flipped. The paddle boat sprang into action, paddling madly
to intercept Gunter (we could see his head and the top of his life
jacket, spinning down through the rapid). They pulled him in, and
soon the news came across the water that he had hurt his leg during
his swim.
The excitement wasn't over yet - Cindy made a perfect run in her ducky,
but Sam, probably distracted by watching Gunter's rescue, somehow
hit a rock during his run and managed to rip a hole in his oar boat. Oops!
(This news was not shouted across the water. We only found out later,
when we helped pull his boat out of the water at camp that evening so it could
be patched.)
With both Gunter's leg and Sam's boat needing some first aid, we stopped for
camp almost right away. Most camps in the Grand Canyon are on sandy
beaches beside the river, with varying amounts of vegetation. Beaches
are taken on a first-come, first-served basis by the various trips on the
river. Pat, as trip leader, would often talk to other trips as we passed
about where everyone was planning on camping. Since we were
a "hiker's special" trip, he often tried to have us camp at places where
there were good hikes available right out of camp. Availability of shade,
the size of the camping area, and the flatness of the beach were other important factors.
The camp at Badger was relatively small ("intimate", in Pat's lexicon), but flat
and easy to camp on.
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Our tent - home sweet home for the night
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When arriving at camp, the first thing everyone did was help unload all the boats.
Once the unloading was finished, we were free to find our yellow bags - one for the
"checked luggage", and one containing the "sleep kit". The guides set up the kitchen
and the toilet areas while the passengers set up their tents and organized their own
gear. On this first night, Pat took us on a little tour through camp, explaining the
setup. The kitchen area was usually set up fairly close to the water; for each
meal, two guides would do the majority of work preparing the food (although passengers
were welcome to help if they wanted to). All drinking water comes from the Colorado
river; but the water needs to be filtered first, which involves pumping it through a
filter into big jugs and then adding bleach drops to kill any viruses that remained.
Since pumping enough water for 27 people to drink every day is a time-consuming
chore, passengers were encouraged to help out with this task as much as possible.
Soda and beer cans also needed to be crushed once finished; for this task, the
guides had a can-crushing "station" consisting of a small metal plate on the ground, and a big
pole with a metal disk on the end. Cans were set on the metal plate and then the
pole was smashed down on the can to flatten it into a small disk.
The toilet, better known as the "groover" (because the actual receptacle is an ammo can;
without a toilet seat on top, sitting on this would leave significant "grooves" in your butt!),
was usually set up a short distance away from the main part of camp, preferably in a spot
with a great view. A handwash station and a roll of toilet paper in a tupperware container
marked the start of the trail to the groover; if the toilet paper was gone, that was the signal
that someone was already using the groover and you would have to wait.
Due to the presence of nasties in the unfiltered river water such as Norwalk virus
and giardia, the guides emphasized how important it was to wash our hands before
touching any food, and every time we finished using the groover. Another handwash
station was set up near the kitchen, and before calling us in for hors d'oeuvres or
dinner the guides often reminded us to wash our hands!
Pat also went over the various critters we might run into, assuring us that scorpions and
snakes were shy and retiring types and that a little caution would ensure we wouldn't
have any trouble. He told us to always shake out our shoes, as well as any clothing
and life jackets that had been sitting out overnight, to make sure that no scorpions
were hiding in them. He also told us to try our best not to drop any crumbs on the
beach, since the red ants that live there have a powerful, painful bite and it is in
everyone's best interest to discourage the ants by not leaving food around.
After the tour and all the explanations, it was time to eat! We had spinach ravioli,
garlic bread, and salad for dinner, followed by cheesecake for dessert. The food
was all very good - far better than I've ever had on a "wilderness" trip before!
After eating, many of us sat around in our crazy creek chairs talking and then
watching the stars (which were amazingly bright and beautiful). Robert and I didn't
stay up too late though, since they had told us we'd be getting up around 5:30 am
most mornings (augh!). We probably went to bed around 9:30 or 10pm, and I slept
extremely well.
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