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Day 1
Well we didn't get our "Smash the fuckin' scorpions" speech from blue today. Instead ED (1 syllable) gave a very informative rendition of how to treat the mighty Colorado, followed by the “Every side canyon has flooded in the last month” speech. Luckily, shortly after returning to the launch PRO outfitters brought the replacement boat for D & D (their 1st one had a leaky valve & a shitty repair kit). I think the group will mesh just fine, everyone being from Washington except Martin (from Denmark  ) & myself. Eric is the other kayaker & the designated cinematographer (wow, try spelling that after a couple of beers). The river is huge compared to last time, running between 17,000-23,000. Badger & Soap Creek were both big but very straight forward. We planned camping at Soap Creek but the other launch group from Colorado snagged it. Camped 1 mile down river left. DD2 (Dave & Diane) cooked good dinner & DJ & I accepted shitter duty for the entire trip, with the no dishes stipulation. All in all a pretty quiet night, no tequila.
Day 2
BANG!!! Whitewater galore. The rapids are certainly more lively at 21,000, compared to 9,000. Big, pushy, hoogus holes but relatively safe runs. Eric is teaching me to stern squirt & I am a slow learner but it will come. Sir Charles is the real animal spotter so far & I haven't seen zilch, so I asked him if he had seen the caribou. He nor anyone else did, special showing for me only. The meals are great! Butch cooked Dutch oven fish & rice with peach cobbler dessert. The most interesting run came in 24M rapid with DD2 running the hole with their 18’ er & it handled the rapid great. We camped at Silver Grotto & Dave, Denise, DJ, S. Cha & Martin hiked up & I watched from above. Near the top Denise slipped down the wall & hurt herself with bruises & scrapes. We slayed the mighty rainbow today & Eric caught 2, one of which Captain Bligh would have been proud of. I caught only 1. There are nice size fish in these here waters. Another quiet evening with DJ & I being the last ones up.
Day 3
Awesome day, spent the entire time on the raft with DJ & Denise & had a blast laughing & giggling for hours as we floated very flat waters, only 1 named rapid the entire day. We stopped at South Canyon to see the Anasazi ruins. Martin & I split from the group & hiked up to one of the enclaves. When we got close to the top of it, we saw the light, no religious intent meant, & climbed through the hole where we had an inspiring view of the canyon about 300’ below, way cool. Next attraction was Redwall Cavern where Denise played the didj & we took what will probably be the pics of the trip, silhouettes of explorers against a burning gold wall. Eric the fish slayer provided a wonderful meal of freshly caught rainbow & other assorted accouterments. Nautiloid Canyon was worth the stop, but the really great hike was @ Marble Canyon dam site where B, M, DJ, D & I hiked about 300’ to a junction which went beyond flashlight reach to the left & right, & there we turned around. Next trip - the entire tunnels. Martin became raft scum today & since he rowed his 1st raft, he had to partake in that rafter’s tradition of pounding a shot of all associated alcohols & he even walked to bed after, which is more than I can say for DJ.
ps Charles didn't see the Grizzly bear.
Day 4
DJ - hangover
I kayaked, very mellow day but I did flip trying to surf at Nankoweep(where we are camping - middle very nice). Weak roll but no swim. Weather has changed for the worse with overcast skies & a little rain. Got to camp very early & M, SC, D & I went for a hike up Nankoweep Canyon (pretty nice - no repeat) & on the way down M & I went to the granaries. Just like the 1st time it is magical. M & I ran into a commercial group who was quite jovial. But the highlight of the day was when I tried to become 1 with a buzzworm (read RATTLESNAKE), whom I walked within 3”, not feet!! Charles was right behind me & he started backing up along with Martin who said, “That’s a fuckin' rattlesnake”. SC said he was still there when he went back & Dave walked right by him twice! It is raining & the kitchen tarp is up, thank goodness.
pss - Charles did not see the wolverine today. DUH!
Day 5 (52.5mile - 64.5) camp Carbon Creek
Fun day
Weather started out crummy then warmed way up. I did end up flipping trying to play, better role, still no cake walk. We hiked 60M canyon - nice - & once again I met Sammy the snake while I was looking at crystals, tons of them in this spot buried in car sized boulders. We had fish that Diane & Eric caught. I got to cook 1 of my meals which turned out fine. We stopped and ate lunch at the little Colorado, which was chocolate milk muddy & Dave & I ran down the little portion around the island. We camped at Carbon Creek & I did a solo hike. This is one of my favorite ones, with all the bouldering problems, the “doll house” & a nice grotto at the upper end. An early night was had by all & B & I closed down the Bar! The river is chocolate brown!
psss - Charles didn't see the Harbor Seal
Day 6 (64.5 - 76) camp Papago Creek
Wonderful day of Whitewater - BIG!!!!!!!!
Had no problems & the group did not either. Although DD2 took a very interesting run through Unkar & managed to put the 18’er sideways about 75degrees. Unkar rapids were very nice with lots of pottery shards. Ran into the CO group today & they were a little disgruntled over having to go all the way to Grapevine camp, which incidentally was our planned camp. When Eric & I rolled into camp, we expected to see all the gear unloaded, but NO! Those crafty rafters are so wise, they were sitting on shore drinking MY beer. Why I oughta! When I peeled my shorts off I decided it was time to leave them off. I asked Diane if she minded, to which she retorted, “ Not one little bit!” DOH!!! Slam of the trip. My breakfast (with a little help from my friends) was a big hit - pancakes with fruit in them. At camp Denise was showering & SC said, “ Hey grab your chair” & as we walked over I says “ How much for the table dance”?
pssss - Unbelievable Charles missed the 3 toed sloth.
Day 7
Very seldom has so much entertainment been provided for the masses by so few. All I can say is Butch/Martin U DUH MEN, not the men in black, just DUH MEN. Holy shit, Butch has more balls than sense but ‘That’s Entertainment’ & Martin you duh same! Anyone who would subject himself to such generous portions of S & M, why, why why, you could only from here on out be known as the ‘Crash Test Dummy’ I n Hans rapid they took the left line, busting through the holes & if there were hard runs they took them & then came Horn Creek. They chose to straddle the mighty projectile, which the river gods didn't appreciate to much & proceeded to toss them into the mayhem on the right, which was where no one wanted to be. Of course I had a backrow seat at the bottom left for rescue & when they hit the hole sideways I thought my purpose was about to be fulfilled. They didn't flip though & I was quite thrilled about that (found out later that Butch got knocked out of the boat & the backwash off the hole knocked him right back into his seat). Unfortunately Eric lost his paddle & everyone else ran left with no problems. It took quite a while for E & I to get to camp & we immediately set up a group sun shower which was pretty funny. DJ, D, M & I jumped in to the tepid at best water & boy did we feel better once clean. We also stopped @ Phantom Ranch, rewatered & those no good dirty dogs had no freakin ice cream. What kind of dude ranch is this anyway? Anyway when we got to Granite camp it was so different, no beach with California, did I mention topless, Cal girls running around, not to mention no beach. DD2 put together a great meal in record time & we all managed to find camps in our hobbit like tamarisk tunnels. By far the most fun whitewater & the biggest. Did I mention we (including Charles) saw a river otter today?
psssss - Charles didn't see the doe-eyed horny toad that I neglected to point out.
Day 8 Layover at Granite
Day of the Green Weenie!!!
OK I’m just about finished mentioning the food, it is obviously going to be great every meal. After breakfast, SC, ER, M & I hiked up Monument Canyon, one of my favorite, of course. Sir Charles says I say that every canyon we visit is my favorite. As we started ER & M found a dying bat lying on the ground. We video taped him, hopefully he won’t request any royalties. Then we got to the grotto, which is truly one of the best (sorry Charles). We soaked a little then & then hiked all the way to the back of the canyon at the South Wall, where we all peeled our clothes off to be cleansed by the purifying waters of Monument Creek. Since I decided to take photos I informed everyone to cover their manhood, most of us being able hand cover, however I told Martin he better find a flat rock. When I turned around M says “How’s this?” & he had covered his appendage with his Green Granola wrapper. We all laughed our asses off & took pics anyway. Then we climbed up the wall to the source of the water. Magical is the best term to describe it. This was a little oasis in the middle of the desert with ferns & moss & the spring shooting right out of the rock. We all thought it to be pretty moving. On the way down we played dead Indian. At camp, Butch told us no boats had passed all day, so everyone must be behind us. He also told us about the Walker Unicorn - the ability to suction a beer can to one’s forehead like it has been genetically altered. Martin once again was the man, not 1, but 2 cans stuck to his brain bucket! Can’t wait to see the pics. We watched these adrenaline junky birds float right down into Granite Rapid, before taking off, flying upstream & doing it again. Sir Charles’s dessert tried to crawl out of the DO, but he would have none of that. Diane really loved M’s Dutch licorice! YECH!!! Ended the night with the crystal story.
pssssss - Guess what - Charles missed the Clan Bear sticking his head out of the cave.
Day 9 (93.5 - 108) Nice camp DJ
And to think I thought Days 6 & 7 were huge whitewater days. NOT! They were the good little sisters compared to the Wicked Witch of the West. We had been in the Vishnu schist for days now & it all culminated in a snarly, frothy, skyscraper high wall of certain flipability called HERMIT. It was supposed to be the day of Crystal, but more on that later. At camp (Granite) we had listened to the deafening roar for the better part of 2 days. Granite rapid was big, I mean steep & everyone hurdled the obstacles with no problems except Bu & Mar who while being washed onto the left tube yanked the right oar out of the lock & into the river, where it ended up eddying out & thus being retrieved. & then Hermit - Eric was 1st in as usual for the videotaping. I went next into the tallest waves I have ever seen, I honestly believe (NO SHIT THERE I WAS) that a school bus would have barely fit end to end in the big one. After I got into it I tried to exit stage left - thanks Snagglepus royalties to follow - but hermit didn't want to be alone this day & kicked my butt right back into the big one which I climbed forever, stalled a little, ran the rest of the waves & eddied out river right. Much to my chagrin their was an 18’ Rogue River raft upside down & some dazed folks on shore. I asked if everyone was all right & they said yea so I went over to the eddy to wait for my group to enter this monster. Luckily they could not see the upside down raft, because no doubt I would have then measured their scouting time with a calendar instead of a clock. DD1 thought they would cheat left, again Hermit said Nay & kicked them right into the big stuff where they proceeded to display their anti-flip technique, a marginal display I might add! DD2 then had their stall warning horn blaring when they were sideways then backwards. SC took the common sense route everyone else was trying to hit & missed the big one. B & M pulled over to help right the flipped raft & we didn't see them again until Crystal, where they brought one of the gals from the flipped boat. She had a couple of doozy lacerations on her head where the boat hit her, no helmet DUH!! Dr. Dave & Nurse Diane stitched her up, while I told her he wasn't’t a real doctor but he plays one on TV. Crystal - once again no hole but huge crashing, breaking waves. I crashed through & all the rafts did too with no problems, most missing all the good stuff. Ruby rapid produced some incredible surfing by Eric which I taped for him. Back at Crystal I had the CO crew ask if we had lost an oar so DJ got that back, & then at Serpentine Martha (Fort Collins kayaker) found Eric’s paddle. So a way successful day of boating & gear retrieval. SC at Serpentine was asked “Hey Barbara, does your brother do any boating?” for his cheat route & I do mean cheat. When SC, ER & I pulled into camp most everyone was naked on the white sandy beach celebrating their successful dissection of today’s rapids. Of course, we joined them drank the rest of the sacred cinnamon to-kill-ya & numerous beers. Then much later we cooked enchiladas & ended the best day of the trip with the musical entourage of Eric the mandoliner, D the spooner/Deejr & Martin & DJ the percussionists. I think DJ spent the money his mom gave him for rhythm lessons on something else. Nice camp DJ.
psssssss - Charles missed the panda bear an ursula major week!
Day 10 (108 - 122M canyon)
Pretty EZ whitewater day, quite ho-hum but we did stop at Elve’s Chasm for a hike. We ventured up to the 3rd level where it really got tough, no one was to interested in going beyond that. We all did multiple jumps into pool 2. Back down at the mouth Eric & I decided to side surf this beautiful little hole while Butch filmed us. Eric did it successfully, I not, but I found a wonderful eddy present, a Yakima red beer, can’t imagine where that came from Diane & speaking of Diane word has it that she became the 2nd member of the CO river Swim Team, and as we speak I hear that Doc became the 1st member. SC saw a flying penguin today, DJ & D confirmed it. Bummer of the day, we all saw a body today, that was swept down Bright Angel Creek on Sept 11th. The trip ahead of us found him & secured him to shore. Bad juju. You know I have pretty much neglected the geology which has been phenomenal - the Vishnu schist is receding & the Tapeat’s sandstone is back.
psssssssss - SC missed the Vietnamese pot bellied pig & the family swimming behind it.
Day 11 - (122m - Hillside Deer Creek)
I’m not sure Bill & Ted would have qualified this as an excellent adventure, but ER Mar & I sure did. The day started out with a couple of no repeat hikes - Fossil & 1m above Specter. Only a couple of rapids today both of which I ended upside down in, but strong rolls righted me rather quickly. The 2nd flip at Dubendorf was like I was in a tube of a wave. Dave got to play doctor again. The Bad Luck Club flipped the 18’ER again & this time the captain drowned & had to be revived with 5 minutes of CPR. They wanted to know if it was all right for him to continue. Dave said it probably was , although that was not the normal procedure for a near drowning victim. The real adventure for us began at Tapeats where the group had a discussion about where to camp & DJ decided to take the group to ledges at 136m just below Deer Creek Falls, very nice camp, for some. E, M & I decided to hike Tapeats, Thunder River, Surprise Valley, Deer Creek (5-7M) Unfortunately, we were ill prepared & started out late for a hike that is a minimum of 5 hours & we didn't really know what we were in for, but we soon found out. According to the map the hike started river right then crossed left & we found it dead ended in the river which obviously could not be hiked. so Eric ran back to see if the rafts had left, they had & in the meantime we found a trail going up the mountainside which also went up the river, so away ER went. About an hour up the trail we ran into a couple (from Crested Butte) hiking & told hem where we were going & they said you better high tail it, that’s about a 5 hour hike. we’re in deep shit, I says. So we basically hauled ass up to Thunder River & what a sight. It was an oasis with hundreds of cottonwoods & several very impressive waterfalls. And the closer we got the more intense the beauty, like a scene out of Africa or a South American rain forest. We went up to the 2nd or 3rd fall & drank the nectar, best water I ever tasted. We spent a little time BSing with the Butters & taking in the beauty. Then over the pass into Surprise Valley where it got dark on us & as we dropped into Deer Creek drainage we lost the trail & the only thing that had kept us on it to begin with was the constant lightning & our 1 flashlight. About 100’ below the pass we decided to bivouac for a while because the sky was looking very ominous & scary. No sooner did we clear out some rocks for a 2-3’ bivy than we got hammered with winds & rain for 45 minutes & E & M got pretty wet & cold. I had my parka & stayed somewhat drier. When it let up we decided to hike a little further if for no other reason than just to stay warm. We came upon this huge rock & Eric says, man this rock is big & there are 2 people on it. 2 backpackers had found shelter underneath it & filled us in that we wanted no part of Deer Creek Chasm in the dark & with a weak flashlight. Since we had already used our bad judgment, we used the other half of our brains & bivied up with our landlords. That was the most uncomfortable rock bed I have ever attempted to sleep on. All I could do was swat the mosquitoes, rearrange the rocks & wait for sunrise to rescue us from our humble abode.  To top it off, some spider bit me on the upper thigh which sent a burning sensation through my leg (it is still hot as I write this) We were all up as dawn approached & started hiking down as soon as we could see well enough to navigate the chasm. The chasm was deep & stunning & we saw red water cascading down it’s grotto walls. The hike down ended with the discovery of a beautiful black & white banded snake which I thought was a necklace, oh yeah, & our boats filled with rainwater. Thanks for leaving our boats, but next time flip them over please. Martin immediately flipped the ducky & soaked our shoes! AR AR! like they were really dry before. We approached camp from out of the fog with the sun at our backs & alight mist enveloping us. Camp was a sight for sore eyes.
ps 9 - Charles again missed the aquatic pygmy giraffe. Get glasses Pogo!
Day 12 (136 - 146) camp Olo Canyon
Very mellow day - specifically because we rolled into camp after being out all night, & our parents weren't’t even mad. Only a couple of rapids today. Eric & I did our best not to get wet, but I did get 1 nice surf & Dave became our 1st repeat member of the swim team, shouldn't’t have listened to the parrot. However he & Eric did pull off a nice, though unintentional, synchronized kayak move. Not a 10 but close. I am just about to lay down for a well deserved nap, on a flat rock this time. didn't sleep but rested great & DJ just brought us some ‘sip n go nakeds’ not a bad drink. After dinner we had a group discussion about camps & hikes ( of which every canyon discussed was my favorite, of course) We had some fun discussions on controversial issues in which I mostly played the devil’s advocate & then off to the most beautiful rock bed, the only thing that would make it more inviting is if Linda were here!
ps10 Charles missed the talking blue headed parrot that told Dave to run the hole!
Day 13 (146 - 150.5) just above Matkat
The day Charles returned & Barbara went to DJ’s boat - Charles u duh man right down the meat of the rapid. you go girl & DJ you would have thought it was 209!! Missed the HOLE damn thing!! Barbara thanks so much for being on our trip. However the highlight of the day was my favorite hike - Matkatamiba we all did the initial slot canyon up to the amphitheater then DJ, D, ER, SC & I hiked a long ways up & D dropped out at the big chokers. The rest of us hiked all the way to the split in the canyon where we took the rt fork for what seemed like miles. The dead indian game was played repeatedly with even SC getting his due, but the payback was DJ the slayer sliding down the face of the rock, no injury. Upset rapid was a total disappointment with no hole, that’s right no hole (our last trip this was the only rapid we as in everyone skirted). The only bummer today was Charles FINALLY saw the Matkat straw porcupine! Game over. Nice camp right below Mat.
Day 14 (150.5 - 168) Camp Fern Glen canyon
We started out with a wonderful DO gingerbread made by Butch & then started toward Havasu. I went over to talk with a group from SLC who were really cool & they told us the Bad Luck Club had moved in on 1 of their camps at Nankoweep & relayed their horror stories. Oh yeah - The boats were high & dry & a propane tank (3 gal) had fallen off DJ’s boat. We hiked a ways up Havasu & ran into a couple of other groups. The canyon which was mostly travertine was devastated by the Sept 11th flash flood which dumped 4” of rain in an afternoon. Most of the travertine shelves had been ripped out & the wood was stacked like 15-20’ above the river. We floated about 5 miles with a father/son kayak team from the SLC group.  The day before I had introduced the group to ‘BOBO the wonder dog’. Well somehow the subject of sex came up & I said something about BoBo & the 2 yakkers looked at me & said, “Bobo, that was our family dog’s name, which we had to put to sleep last year.” ER & I looked at each other & just burst out laughing (U had to be there). When we got to shore B & M were just bursting at the seams to tell us a story. After Havasu they had found a Ladybug balloon assortment 100’up on the cliff, they had retrieved it & thought they were being rewarded with a beautiful sighting of 2 egrets circling them, but they found the real reward s came when they got to our beach camp at Fern Glen. They found 2 tie down straps & our propane tank. It was sitting right there on the beach. M informed us that this was real good juju for Lava so we would all have great runs tomorrow. We had a sweat lodge with Denise leading us through 4 rounds of sharing thoughts & emotions It was very spiritual. ER was the rockman/firetender. DJ, M SC & myself did sweat like pigs though.
Day 15 (168 - 183)
Alive After LAVA!!!! We were 11 miles above & had a nice float down to the Anvil where tensions started rising & when we got there, oh man!! It was hooogus, the biggest, baddest whitewater I have ever seen, frothy red brown so nasty I couldn't see a clean line through it. The right side had a 15 -20’ V folding over on itself with massive breaking diagonal waves leading up to the house size rock at the bottom river right. There was the biggest freaking hole I have ever had the horror of looking at right in the middle at the top & the left run wasn't’t much better. It had a left diagonal very close to the left side of the hole, but that was the obvious route right down that tongue. The problem here was the same with the rest of the rapid, you got one chance for you move & the rest was reactionary. Everyone was nervous & initially just Bu, Mar & I were going to run & everyone else would watch. when I got up there B & Doc had decided we should all run together, which sounded pretty good to me. Well by the time we were all ready, ER had to be wondering where we were. I led the motley crew into the mayhem, with the following entourage - Bu DD2 SC DD1. I went exactly down my line & when I dropped into the slot, Mar said it looked like I was dropped down an elevator shaft, 1st I was there then I wasn't’t. And I was immediately upside down & almost as quickly right side up ER said I got flipped again but I don’t remember that. When I did come up I quickly surveyed where I was & made a B line for the eddy RL, where I calmed down & watched Bu make his run which looked pretty flawless & ex. Then I saw Dave (now known as Doc Lavaday) coming in to far to the right, aimed directly at the terminator hole. And they hit it dead on. I have never witnessed an 18’boat disappear like this one, & then it reappeared sideways surfing in the hole. At first I could just see their heads & then the boat came up & then back down. The next time it came up was for good & it flipped, tossing Doc & Diane into the hole, just as Sc was entering the rapid. Dia was sent to the bottom of the river where she tumbled for a while. Both her & Doc later said they thought they might drown. I n the meantime the ‘Jaecks Barge’ was flipped around in the hole breaking up the boat & throwing gear out everywhere. I went out to rescue Di & she grabbed my boat & Bu came up from behind us & for a couple of seconds she had a hold of both boats. After this I started rummaging through the yardsale to see what I couldn't live without. I rescued quite a bit of gear with a lot of effort. SC picked up Doc & then went to the spring for water. In the meantime DD1almost lost De in the 1st wave, she was almost out of the boat hanging onto a throw line & DJ let go of the oars & yanked her back in the boat. Bu & Mar got DD2’s boat hooked on & proceeded to drag it to shore, which was a major undertaking. they flipped the boat back over & ER came up & Diane immediately asked him, “Did you get it all on video?” - Eric “of course” Well we all regrouped no one for the worse, with a little lost equipment & commenced the “Alive After Lava” party with mass quantities of tequila. We got slaughtered with De giving back massages around & Mar passed out in the sand right next to his half eaten dinner at 6:30pm. SC had the triple decker dutch oven story going & I tried to sneak off to bed at 8 & got caught, but went anyway. We had a few hangovers the next morning & lots of rehashing our runs.
Addendum: The Jaecks Barge took a severe beating, the aluminum frame snapped in 2 places where the seat was attached & at least 1 oar was broken in half & another bent about 70 degrees, all 4 were lost. A few pieces of equipment were lost, but most was recovered, thank God no one was hurt.
Day 16 (183 - 210)
Hared day - 27 miles of paddling into a gale force wind. I ran into the Bad Luck Club today, they fed me lunch & returned some of our lost Lava gear, an oar & the propane tank & gave me a can of peanuts (they said they only had 35 cans left). Later on I was paddling mostly by myself & ran into another group, 1 rafter to whom I was talking had ‘Kern River Tours’ on his boat. So I told him we probably knew some of the same people, that I had met 4 yrs ago at Granite camp on an overnight party. He says I know, I was there & so was Gene over there. Sure enough there were 2 guys who I recognized. How funny. We finally rolled into camp late & I had to do my Tina Turner imitation & then Diane & I did the Ice & Tina Turner Review, funny stuff. Mellow night I read Dr. Bob’s poem tonight.
Day 17 (210 -229) Travertine canyon
Pretty mellow day today except we lost 2 of our crew (Doc & Diane) at Diamond Creek. Sorry to see them go, as I am always sad to lose part of the crew. There are some pretty good rapids below Diamond. I played some. We pulled into Travertine Canyon & who is there but the CA crew & Dr. Dry is with them. I hadn't’t known he was on the trip, but it was wonderful to visit with him. He & Glen stayed about an hour BSing & we agreed to try to get together to boat next year. Glen works at Breckenridge so we’ll get some skiing in. They also told us that Debbie had been killed in a car crash. When we pulled into Travertine canyon DJ ripped a big hole in the side of his raft on the travertine, so we proceeded to work on fixing his boat (I use the term we loosely since I didn't do didly) Since the patch wouldn't’t be ready until morning we decided to camp here & I cooked clam spaghetti & B & M got into their boat to go sleep on the other side of the river where there was a nice beach & it was much easier on the boat. DJ attracted another mouse, this one crawled on his shoulder.
Day 18 (229 - 247)
What a long day!! After we started we ran into Dr. Dry’s group & we stopped for about 2 hours drinking beer with them. They were going to float all night on the way out & SC wanted to join them. We (ER & I basically floated for hours just BSing). We finally saw Bu & Mar at Spencer Cyn which was our original destination. Unfortunately, as we were pulling up they were leaving. Apparently at this pint in the canyon the campsites are not so good. because the motor boaters weren't’t treating them with the same respect we do. There was toilet paper & burnt charcoal all over the place. So we went down to the next campsite, which sucked & waited for DD1 & SC(who was ornery as a rattlesnake). A mile down river we found a pretty good camp & Dr. Dry showed up for dinner & we had much fun chatting with him. When he left (his crew floated by earlier hooting & hollering). SC was going to go with them, much to my chagrin, but Danny talked him out of it. Early night, very tired.
Day 19 (247 - 275?)
SC banged (literally) his way out of camp at daybreak this morning & we ended up not seeing him until the takeout. We started out the morning casually & Bu & Mar cooked tonight’s dinner including DO brownies, I got to lick the bowl (thanks Mom). We floated all day & most of the night, again the rapids are over. We had a blast. I was with B & M & we showered, loose use of the term, actually we river bathed & then sun bathed all day long while playing with DD1’s boat which ER was also on. The canyon is still quite beautiful, but in reality this is an exercise in winding down & just preparing to exit the spiritual majesty of the Grand. We ate dinner on the boat & the water is so high there are few to no campsites. The trees are all in the water. When it got dark we had the boats lashed together & Mar & I manned the oars for a long time. We heard many animals including the beavers with their warning slaps. Occasional very strong winds kept us busy staying off the banks. I slept in the kayak which turned out to be quite comfortable yet a little spooky since when I looked past my sleeping bag, all I could see was water. Finally stopped for the night & slept on the boats. You couldn't get to shore, so we tied off to a tree, which was right in my face, thought I was back in WW Nam! Oh I forgot late at night Mar had to use the groover really bad so he did it right on the boat & we all laughed pretty hard making jokes, but the smell was pretty bad.
Day 20
We are in the lake. Oh my god! It is so windy, the wrong way of course, so we switched the boats from side to side to tandem, which doesn't’t work a whole lot better. Permission to disengage captain! We go solo & it is so hard. 1st we try each person taking their turn, then we go to 1 person pushing while the other pulls & 1 on break. It is very difficult & we stop the boat twice for daybreaks, & once we pull out the groover. When we finally get to the takeout SC was there (for about 2 hours) & so was the van driver. I am writing these last 2 pages in the shuttle van on the way back to Lee’s Ferry. Most everyone is sleeping & it is snowing pretty good outside. I just keep reflecting back on what a wonderful spiritual experience we have all shared.
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