GC Rafting
May 2004


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Day 7: Wednesday, May 19 2004
Clear Creek, Phantom Ranch, and big rapids!
Click on pictures to see larger images


Getting ready to launch the paddleboat

Today was to be our first day with really big rapids. I was excited - I love rollercoaster rides, and rapids are really like a fun, wet rollercoaster! Pat had explained the night before that since our trip was a non-interchange trip (meaning everyone was on the trip for the full 16 days) and we didn't have to exchange any passengers at Phantom Ranch, he wanted to get through this section of the inner gorge to reach a further campsite. The inner gorge is steep and there aren't that many campsites, so as a courtesy to other trips he wanted to leave the campsites near Phantom Ranch for other trips to use. He had given us a choice - spend time at Phantom Ranch, or do the hike at Clear Creek. Most of us voted for the hike at Clear Creek (many on the trip, like me and Robert, had already been to Phantom Ranch as hikers). So, after a quick breakfast of toasted bagels with cream cheese, we packed up and set off downriver. Robert decided to give the paddle boat a try, so he and Jeanne were in the paddle boat, I was in Pat's boat with Phil, and Jim and Jason rode with Sam.

Scouting Hance rapid

We started off with a scout of Hance. I always found the scouting process interesting, listening to the guides discuss their intended runs while watching the roar of the rapid and getting excited about the upcoming ride. Hance was the first time that the boatmen asked us to "hunker down". In Pat's boat, that meant Phil and I could kneel on the bottom (Pat's boat's floor was inflated; on the non-self-bailing boats like Sam's, the floor is just a layer of rubber and it is not safe to kneel on it) and hang onto the ropes in the front, while leaning over the bow of the raft. It was really fun! We hit a nice big wave and I could feel us being inundated under gallons of water. (It's also nice in the self-bailing boats - you don't have to do any bailing after a rapid, you can just kick back and relax.) Sam took on a big hole at Hance that made the other guides gasp and then congratulate him afterwards; in his typical low-key style, Jason said he'd just told his passengers something like, "Hunker down, this'll be big...".

After Hance, Hilary got in the ducky and we continued on through Sockdolager and Grapevine, which were both a lot of fun, especially Sockdolager (a nice long series of waves!). Hilary came out of the ducky both times, and was speedily rescued by the paddle boat. It was a nice sunny morning, though, so at least she was able to warm up in between swims!

The paddleboat

The glassy tongue of a rapid

Riding splashy waves

Heading into Granite Gorge

By this time we had entered Granite Gorge, and were enclosed by steep cliffs of dark schist and granite, some of the oldest rocks in the canyon. The vast expanse of the upper canyon was hidden from view, and I could imagine how early explorers like Powell felt as they floated down, hitting rapid after rapid with no end in sight. It never ceases to amaze me how the "feel" of the canyon can change so much from place to place, and also season to season. The Grand Canyon has so many different faces!

Lunch spot

We stopped at Clear Creek to eat lunch (more sandwiches and cookies), then did the hike up Clear Creek canyon to the "sideways waterfall". I had a fun time playing in that! The guides were right, it was a great way to get a shower. The water actually felt almost warm (almost!). Robert and I followed part of group and climbed up above the waterfall to continue hiking along the stream for a big longer. We dawdled along, well behind the others, enjoying a rare chance at solitude and looking at all the little frogs and tadpoles.

Robert in Clear Creek Canyon

The sideways waterfall

I get a shower

Jeanne and I play in the falls

Robert takes his turn

Looking downstream from the lunch beach

Suspension bridge

After returning to the boats, we headed on through more rapids to Phantom Ranch. Sam had taken his boat ahead so he could exchange mail and check messages; we were all hoping that perhaps Gunter would have recovered from his infection and would be able to rejoin us there. (Sadly, this was not to be the case.) We had a brief stop at Phantom Ranch (tied up next to another private trip), and then continued on downstream, waving to hikers on the river trail and the suspension bridges. Once again it gave me a thrill to realize that I'd walked over those bridges in the past and watched the river, and now it was finally my turn to be drifting down!

Dark rock in the gorge

Calm water before a rapid

Steep cliffs

The next really big rapid was Horn Creek. All the guides except Sam stopped to scout (Sam hung back in an eddy well upstream of the rapid). Pat explained to us that Sam had had a bad experience scouting on a previous trip - the scout location is right next to the rapid, and to safely enter the rapid guides must carefully row back upstream to get in position. Sam had stopped to scout and as he was preparing to leave, the passenger who was holding his tie rope misunderstood what he was supposed to do, and pushed the boat off into the river long before Sam was ready. This meant that Sam was entering the rapid in a very dangerous place, with little control. (We found out later that instead of yelling or displaying any sign of fright or anger, Sam simply mumbled to the passengers something like, "hang on, we're gonna go big".) The boat flipped badly and some passengers got injured, and it was a scary experience for all. Since then, Sam no longer scouts the rapid; he hangs back and then just takes the "safe" route on the right.

Scouting Horn Creek

As we watched the rapid from shore, it certainly looked poweful! The rapid has two large rocks at the entrance (the "horns"), and the water pours down between them and forms an impressive wave just beyond. Pat and the other guides decided the water level was good enough to "split the horns", which meant doing the run straight down between the rocks. We teased the people in the paddle boat with the rallying cry, "You're gonna die!". Pat took the first boat down, as usual, and we got quite a good ride! The paddle boat had a very good run as well, no flipping or people falling out, and Robert said later that it was really, really fun.

We set up camp at Trinity canyon, and after some trouble setting up tents due to wind, did the hike up the canyon. Trinity was another extremely cool, narrow canyon, that ended in a final alcove under a dryfall that would need ropes to safely climb. Sam brought his guitar along and serenaded us in the alcove, telling us that the acoustics were among the best in the canyon. They certainly were good! We all sat against the walls of the canyon (with Jason perched high up on a ledge) and listened. Eventually Robert and I had to leave for camp - poor Robert was super hungry because they had run out of gorp on the paddle boat.

Sam plays guitar in Trinity Canyon (picture by Kelly)

Jen and Jeanne relax and listen (picture by Kelly)

Jason perches on a ledge (picture by Kelly)

We had chicken, couscous, salad, and garlic bread for dinner and cherry cobbler for dessert, and Robert pronounced his hunger satisfied. I had to ask Kristin for advice since I'd developed an annoying itchy rash on the backs of my hands - she said it was sun poisoning and advised me not to wear sunscreen the next day, but to protect my hands with gloves instead. (With sand everywhere, it's hard to rub sunscreen into sensitive skin without irritating it further.)

We went to bed early since Pat explained that he wanted to get out of camp early the next morning; he wanted to beat a private trip down to Bass Camp. (The professional guides seemed to mostly operate on a system of courtesy; whenever we met up with another guided trip, the guides would talk to each other about their intentions for camping and work out which spot each trip would take. This was also done with some of the private trips; but some private trips seemed to cross unspoken lines of etiquette in the guides' eyes, in which case they felt no compunction about racing to get to a camp first.)

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