GC Rafting
May 2004
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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 3: Saturday, May 15 2004
Fence Fault hike, Vasey's Paradise, Redwall Cavern
Click on pictures to see larger images
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Drybags ready for loading
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Our tent was quite close to the river since the beach was small. The splashes and gurgles of
the water made for a somewhat interrupted sleep - I kept dreaming that our tent was totally
surrounded by water, about to float away! Then I'd wake up and realize everything was
fine, and go back to sleep. This little cycle went on until the conch shell blew to wake us
up in the morning.
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A motor trip passes by in the morning
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Breakfast consisted of pancakes with syrup and strawberries (yum!), along with bacon.
While everyone was eating and packing up their stuff, the guides examined Gunter's
leg again. Unfortunately it was clear that the infection was getting worse, and Pat
decided that Gunter needed to be evacuated. Pat told us that he would take Gunter
in his raft down river to a beach that was big enough and flat enough for the helicopter
to land safely. While Gunter was being evacuated, the rest of us would do a hike
up Fence Fault that would allow us to climb out of the Redwall and hike along its edge.
He explained there were two possible destinations - the first, a spot with a good
view of Vasey's Paradise. For those who wanted to keep going, the hike would
lead to eventual views of Redwall Cavern and also an old camp made by men
scouting out the Marble Canyon dam site.
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Jeanne and Jason ready to ducky
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Fence Fault was just a few minutes downstream travel from where we had camped,
so it was a short morning raft ride to the start of our hike. Robert and I were in the
paddle boat for the first time; Jeanne and Jason braved the duckies. There wasn't really a beach
where we pulled over, just rocks and vegetation. We tied up the boats and helped
unload the bags full of backpacks and hiking boots. Robert and I scrambled to get
our boots on and our gear organized so we could head off with Sam, Geoff, and Jason
in the "first wave" of hikers. After a short uphill climb, we reached the top of the
Redwall. From there, the trail zigzagged along on the slope on top of the Redwall
cliffs in a familiar manner, much like other plateau trails in the Canyon such as the
Tonto. It takes a long time to cover what seems like a short distance in river miles,
since there are frequent small side canyons in the Redwall that the trail must follow
inward to their heads, cross, and then outward back toward the river.
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View downcanyon while hiking
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View upcanyon while hiking
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Soon after we started along the Redwall, we could see "Gunter's beach" below us, where Pat and
Gunter waited for the helicopter. We could also see beautiful views up and downstream
of the upper layers of the canyon, which are hard to see from down in the Redwall gorge
at river level. As we continued, we found views of Stanton's Cave across the river,
South Canyon, and finally Vasey's Paradise. We stopped for a while at the viewpoint
for Vasey's, enjoying the improbable sight of water spilling from caves in the seemingly
dry cliffs. Sam told us that Vasey's was much reduced in flow, thanks to the ongoing
drought in the southwest. Even so, it was still a beautiful sight!
After a nice break at the Vasey's viewpoint, Sam headed onward with Geoff and Jason,
but Robert and I turned back. It was a hot day and there were few opportunities for
shade on the trail. We had plenty of water, but only the guides carried food, and I
was concerned that without my own supply of salty snacks to use, I would have
trouble with the heat. (I need a lot of salt when hiking in hot weather, much more
than an ordinary person for some reason.) Besides, I wanted to get a chance to
write in my journal, and figured that if we headed back I'd get an hour or so to
relax and write before everyone else returned. So Robert and I headed back along
the trail.
Sure enough, it was a hot walk back to the rafts! The river looked temptingly
green and cool, below us in the Redwall gorge. At one point I had to stop and
have Robert pour some of our extra water over my head, to help me cool
down. Fortunately, the hike was pretty easy so we had plenty of water to
spare! As we walked back, we saw the helicopter flying in to get Gunter.
It was surprisingly quiet - I was expecting something much louder. Robert
said he'd seen a TV show that talked about how helicopters used in wilderness areas like
the Grand Canyon can have extra rotor blades added to reduce the noise.
Just before we reached the point where we could see the beach, it took off
again and flew past us. We waved and hoped that Gunter was enjoying
the ride!
Once we got back, we had the river's edge to ourselves for a while. We found
a spot of shade on the rocks and I had a nice uninterrupted hour for writing
in my journal. Once everyone else returned, everyone packed up the boots
and daypacks and we headed across the river to a nice open beach to have
lunch. Wow, did those sandwiches taste good! Since it was such a warm
day, Robert and I decided to finally do the ducky test. There was a nice
deep eddy at one end of the beach, and we each paddled out, flipped over,
and quickly righted the ducky and climbed back in. Even with the day being
so warm, that water still felt ice cold!
After a nice leisurely lunch, we all got back in our respective rafts and headed
downstream. Matt, our paddle captain, was extremely talkative and entertaining.
He told us all kinds of neat things about the geology of the canyon, as well as
funny stories from previous rafting trips that he had guided. It was great having
such an entertaining guide, since the winds that afternoon were quite strong
and so the paddling was a bit of work.
We soon passed Vasey's Paradise, and I quickly realized that paddling and
photography don't mix very well. Just as I would think, "Oh, this would be a
good photo!", the wind would pick up and Matt would command us to paddle
forward. Not to mention that if I did get to take a photograph, more than likely
someone's back, paddle or hand would be taking up part of the view. In any
case, Vasey's was just as beautiful and impressive from the river as it had
been from our cliff viewpoint earlier. Jason got to pull over and stop by the
base of the waterfall, since he was in a ducky and so had a little more
freedom to explore.
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Approaching Redwall Cavern
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Soon after Vasey's, Redwall Cavern came into view. It looked relatively small
at first, but as the boats traveled closer the true size became apparent.
All the rafts pulled up to the sandy beach at the mouth, and we all hopped
out and had some time to wander around. Facing inward, the gentle slope
of the high ceiling down to the floor in the back still plays tricks with perspective; but when
I turned and faced out to see the canyon and river framed by the wide arch
of the cavern mouth, the sheer size and scale were stunning. Jason and Sam
had fun doing a little bouldering in the back of the cave, while others watched
and cheered them on. I had fun doing cartwheels in the soft sand and then
joined a small group led by Jen & Kristen, looking for fossils in the rocks near
the cavern's mouth.
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Classic view from inside cave
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Hilary dwarfed by the scale
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Eventually we pushed on downriver, paddling onward against wind again.
There were several little rapids, and when we got to 36 mile rapid there
was a really fun wave that gave us quite a smack. Jeanne was following
in her ducky, and when she hit the wave, she flipped. She lost one shoe
and her paddle but managed to self rescue quite handily! (She told me later
that the water was so frigid - we were in shadow by this time of the day -
that she was seriously motivated to get out of it any way she could!) We
rescued her shoe & paddle; poor Jeanne lost her voice from the shock of
the cold water but was game to keep going in the ducky, after a brief rest.
(During her rest, Sam had fun paddling the ducky instead, pulling his raft
behind him. Matt had us sneak up behind Sam's raft and hang on for a free
ride, until Sam realized what we were up to!)
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Jeanne pretends to be Boromir
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Sam realizes he is pulling too many boats
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I found that you definitely get much more wet in the paddle boat - even tiny
little rapids would give us a good splashing - but due to the wind, there was
rarely a chance to sit back and absorb the scenery or take many pictures.
Usually I prefer being active to sitting around, but I have to say that I preferred
being in the oar boat on this trip, because I loved the chance to really look
at the canyon. There are just so many neat rock formations, beautiful
flowers, interesting wildlife, etc, that I hated to miss even a second of it!
We finally pulled into camp just below Tatahatso wash. The camp was nice
and long, and the guides played horseshoes on the beach. We had salmon
and rice and broccoli for dinner, with a delicious peach cobbler for dessert.
After dinner we sat talking and looking at stars for quite some time, until
finally heading for the tent to sleep.
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