The morning started very early, I was up before the coffee brewed. I assumed that was the same time zone change that had me up before 3am the previous morning. It really didn’t matter what time zone I was in here. It was getting light, so I got up and around and started reorganizing and repacking bags. By the time the coffee and breakfast were ready most were up and around, and getting bags ready. The previous day’s cold breeze had died down somewhat, but it was still a cool morning. Breakfast this morning was eggs and hash brown potatoes, with coffee and juice. It was delicious and very welcome. I decide to switch boats this morning, and set out on Trey’s boat. I’m glad I did, because as we pulled away from the beach he mentioned that he had lost his sweatshirt to the river in the breeze the previous night. As it happened we had found a sweatshirt the previous night in the river, and not knowing who it belonged to had left it on a rock assuming that the owner would find it. We had since forgotten about it, and obviously, Trey had not seen it and reclaimed it. We took a quick trip back to the beach to reclaim the sodden garment. It was none the worse for wear, and spread out on top of the boat box was dry by lunchtime. Trey was very happy to have recovered it!
First stop this morning, though not actually disembarking from the boat, was a short float downriver from our campsite to look at Stanton’s Cave, and Vasey’s paradise. We saw our first Bighorn sheep at Vasey’s, but my pictures didn’t come out well. A little further downriver was our first actual stop of the day at Redwall Cavern.
Downriver from Redwall Cavern we passed the Bridge of Sighs. It was somewhere along this section of the river that I realized how much time had slowed down for me. Not only had my body naturally accepted ‘sleep in the dark, wake in the daylight’, but I also realized that today, at this rate we would likely travel in a whole day about the same distance I usually commute to work. It’s hard to put the feeling into words to someone who has never experienced the Canyon, the closest analogy I can come with is ‘stop and smell the roses’, but in this case it was not the sense of smell, but that of sight that was highly enabled. Every second on the water the view changed. There was always something new and beautiful to look at, and it was hard to know where to look next. The rafts, traveling at about double the speed of the river current, made the scenery move constantly. The pace was slow enough to appreciate the changing vistas, and fast enough to keep me anticipating every bend in the river and the new vistas to be revealed.. I spent a lot of time trying to compare the levels of each rock level on the two sides on the canyon (mostly unsuccessfully). It seemed like the levels were pushed up higher on the north side than the south. The motion of the boat however was too relaxing for me to get too excited about any personal scientific or geological discoveries.
We floated lazily down the deeper slower parts of the river. Trey showed us the proposed site of the Marble Canyon Dam that would have flooded the area upstream of us. I think we all agreed that this river is a treasure. It would be a travesty to ever drown and destroy where it now runs free.As we continued downriver towards President Harding Rapid we saw two mule deer at the water’s edge, and a little further downriver, but high up on a rock ledge, the remains of a 700 year old wooden bridge built by the Anasazi Indians which was on their seasonal trail from rim to river. I would not want to have crossed it myself, but it is a testament to the dry atmosphere here in the canyon that this centuries old wood survives. We passed our first other raft in this stretch too: A single Hatch boat that appeared to be a fishing trip. We were to tag with them all the way down to Whitmore wash.
Next we stopped at Saddle Canyon for our first hike. First was a very cold plunge into the river to cool off and get wet to help keep cool on the hike. Despite knowing how cold it was, and having taken a bath in the water the previous night, I was still shocked at how cold the water felt. I kept my life jacket and shoes on to get in the water, and though only 3 or 4 feet from the shore, was gasping for breath once totally immersed, and almost felt I could not make it back those few small feet. I understand now how people succumb to hypothermia so quickly. The initial part of the hike was a steep incline. Several of the party turned back before reaching the top of the slope. Once at the top, the hike was level and mainly shaded and the hike very pleasant. My problem was not so much on the slope, though that did wear me a lot as my short legs had a hard time over rocks requiring high knee lifting! I made it to the top, but had most trouble on the flat sandy areas. Trey was the first to have to suffer my falls. I went down hard when my right ankle turned under me. From that point on I was very cautious on that leg, and stumbled almost every time I had to put my weight on the right ankle. The other challenge for me was a scramble over a large sloped boulder, with a gap which had to be traversed at the top, over onto another rock. It was tough enough on the uphill crossing, but much worse on the way back down due to the downhill slope of the rock, the precipice below and the lack of handholds. On the way down TJ managed to coax me over after a few false starts. Between Trey, TJ, Matt & Mark (two very sweet, and strong, fellow travelers) I managed the mile and a quarter out to the falls, and then again back. Many thanks to them for the steady hand grips, pulls from the front, and shoves from the rear when needed, and particularly for the encouragement to continue and for picking me up and dusting me off after many falls.
It was all worth it though, at the end of the hike is a beautiful clear waterfall.
When we returned from the hike the lunch tables were set up for ‘make your own’ sandwiches again. I took another cooling river dunk before enjoying the sandwiches even more today than yesterday. A Grand Canyon Expeditions raft had also pulled in while we were hiking. We would be seeing them several times on this trip too. After lunch, as we continued downstream I was hoping that we would be able to stop at Nankoweap and hike up to the granaries. However, when we arrived the campgrounds were taken, and there was no place to park our rafts. The Hatch boat we had passed earlier must have passed us when we were hiking, as they were parked here. We continued downriver to Kwagunt Canyon for tonight’s camp.
It may have been a blessing not to be able to stop at Nankoweap. I think I had about out hiked myself, and I thoroughly enjoyed the early stop. There was plenty of time to relax before dinner. The weather was much more pleasant than the previous night; the breeze warm and gentle. Dinner tonight was Barbeque Chicken, Stove Top stuffing, green beans and carrots, and rolls, with cheesecake for dessert. Delicious!
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