GC Rafting
May 2004
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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 6: Tuesday, May 18 2004
Carbon Canyon to 75 mile Canyon
Click on pictures to see larger images
Once again we got a chance to "sleep in" for an extra half hour or so which
was nice. Pat had explained that today would be a short river day with several
hikes, including chances to see petroglyphs. Robert and I chose to ride in
Sam's boat again, this time with Jeanne & Jim. Jason was the only intrepid
ducky-paddler for the day. It was a beautiful day with lots of sun, and quite
warm in temperature (a nice change after the previous day!). The canyon
in this area is quite open, with expansive views and broad deltas. I had looked
down at this region so many times from the south rim, looking at the river
so far below and wondering what it would be like to travel on it. It was great
to be finally there!
Our first stop for the day was just above Tanner rapid. We hiked a short distance
to some rocks with a lot of neat petroglyphs on them, and Pat talked more about
the various history of the Indians in this region and the archeological discoveries
here. Following that, we ran Tanner rapid, waving to watching hikers (who had
come down the Tanner trail from the rim), and continued on to stop again so we
could hike up to the Hilltop ruins. I think these ruins had been greatly added to
by later hikers! We had a great view of Unkar rapid, and the guides pointed
out several other Anasazi village sites on nearby hills that we could scope out
with our binoculars. After the hike, we had lunch back at the beach, and were
joined by a private party with a motley-looking assortment of boats who were planning
on camping there.
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People hiking past the Unkar rapid overlook
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Robert and I near Hilltop ruin
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Private trip at the lunch beach
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After lunch we ran Unkar rapid without incident, followed by a few other
fun rapids. We hit Neville rapid just before camp, which the boats ran fine
but Jason had trouble with in his ducky - he flipped over, fell out, lost his
shoes (torn off by the force of the water), and wasn't really able to self-rescue
until below the rapid, which made the guides nervous because if he had gone
too far he wouldn't have made it to the beach for our camp (just below the
rapid). He also got into some trouble with the guides over his attempt to rescue
his shoes - see his
trip report
for the whole story. In any case, he had quite a wild ride through Neville!
Our camp for the night was at 75 mile canyon.
After unloading, we hiked up the canyon, which had a very
cool semi-slot part. Robert and I particularly liked a type of rock that looked like
melted grape ice cream. We went on past the canyon head with Sam, Pat, Geoff,
and Hilary, climbing out of the canyon and traversing along the edge of the gorge
above the river. Sam and Pat thought we might be able to get a view of Hance
rapid, which would be the first really major rapid of the trip. It was a warm day,
and based on our Fence Fault hike I was a little worried about my reaction to
the heat (since I need salt, and neither Sam nor Pat was carrying any food),
but it was okay since there were some high thin clouds that reduced the sun's
power. Robert and I turned around before the others since I wanted to get
some pictures in 75 mile canyon.
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Robert peeks over a cool purple rock
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View while hiking along the top of the gorge
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Once back at the camp, Jeanne & I did our daily stretching session, and then
Sam got a game of horseshoes together (I watched while Sam, Jeanne, Jim,
and Robert played). We had posole (cornbread with pork sauce) for dinner,
with a super-rich chocolate cake for dessert (Robert liked this very much!).
After dinner, we enjoyed a nice long session of socializing and stargazing on
the beach before going to bed.
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Great beach for horseshoes
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