Back from Out West trip and the Colorado River

Hard to believe, but it's been over a month since we returned from our trip our west in which we made it all the way to California then turned around at Needles, CA and followed Route 66 through some incredible landscapes across the Arizona desert.

Our final night, before meeting our friends Bill and Pam in Page, AZ, was in Williams, AZ which is right near the South Rim of the Grand Canyon where most people experience the canyon. There is a steam train there in Williams that will take you all the way to the South Rim. I spoke with my twin cousins Ronnie and Donnie and they told me that they had taken that trip the year before.

We picked up Bill and Pam in Page, AZ where they dropped off their rental car they had used to see some of the other canyons in the area, and headed off the Marble Canyon, AZ where we were to meet our rafting trip group the next morning.

On June 25th we met the group and they took us down to Lee's Ferry where the boats were waiting for us. All the preparation that was suggested on our trip packet would now become a reality for we had to face the idea that there was no way out of this canyon for 188 miles in 7 days.

After we launched the guides gave a little talk reminding us of what was ahead and what to expect. Now things were a lot more real than when you were just reading about the trip in the brochures. They told us not to take any risks we didn't have to since medical help was anywhere from 2 to 10 hours away. That was sobering and at the same time exhilerating.

They also impressed upon us how important it was to practice good hand washing and sanitizing since with a group this size, 32 people, if one person got sick from poor hand washing habits, it could affect the whole group including the guides who were responsible for your safety.

Now that they had layed out all the potential hardships we might encounter and had everyone thouroughly impressed they went on to serve a great lunch and then NY Strip steaks for dinner that evening. That took the edge off the first day.

When we arrived at camp the first night one of the guides did a demonstration of how to set up these free-standing tents they had for each couple. Then he went on to say that we wouldn't want to use them, but were just in case of rain, which in the desert wasn't too likely especially this time of year. And that's the last time we saw a tent. We slept out under the stars every night there after. Because of the lack of moisture in the air and total absence of any city light polution, we could see the milky way every night when you open your eyes during the night.

On that first day the water was still pretty cold, since it comes out at the bottom of Glen Canyon Dam just above where we put in, at 48 degrees. There are no bugs down in the canyon since the water is too cold for mosquitos, but not for scorpions and a few other creatures. They told us that the water would warm up about 2 degrees every day as we traveled down river. That first day we went over some pretty big rapids and the cold water plus the cool morning air made the going pretty chilly. That would change later in the week when it would be 115 degrees after lunch and the only way to survive was to dip your shirt and life jacket in the cold water and then wear it.

One of the things they kept telling us, when we would stop mid morning for a potty break, was that if you didn't have to go then you weren't drinking enough water. There was plenty of water available at all times, since they processed actual river water using their on-board filtering system as the boat was underway. They were always mindful of our well being because if one person got sick from dehydration it could affect the whole group.

When we got to some of the bigger rapids the crew would give a little pep talk about what was up ahead and what to expect as sort of a warning so there were no surprises. Sometimes they would exagerate a bit to make sure everyone was sufficiently impressed as to the difficulty that was up ahead. That way people would excercise more caution that they might otherwise and hang on tight.

When we went though the biggest rapids on the whole trip, we did almost loose someone. Amber, the swamper for our boat had moved into position in the slot seat in the middle where no one was to sit because the pilot had to see where he was going through that slot. That should have been a signal that this rapid would be a big one. Part way though that set of waves, I turned my head to see Amber flying forward and notice that Michelle, our 16 year old dare devil, was caught in the ropes and about to go under the boat. Amber reached for Michelle's life jacket and pulled her back onto the boat.

They gave the same talk for some of the more difficult hikes too. Some of the hikes involved climbing up steep rocky cliffs and along narrow ledges and they didn't want anyone who wasn't sure of themselves to be getting into trouble because they weren't warned of the potential dangers.

Again, the idea that if someone was to take risks that they shouldn't and got injured this could affect the whole group so they tried to discourage any risk behavior by getting people to be sensible. Some of the warnings turned out to be a bit extreme by design so that if someone was not sure of themselves they would err on the side of caution.

We had one set of 16 year old twin girls and their parents with us and one of these two sisters was a dare devil, the other was quite the opposite. She was the only one who really pushed the limits of sensibility. She was usually the first one to climb up on the rocks and dive in when we would get to a swimming hole. She even did a back flip off one rock ledge.

When we got to the narrowest part of the canyon the water was really deep as witnessed by the slowness of the flow through that section, there was a ledge about 30 feet up. Few in the group went up to that cliff, but, predictibly the dare devil twin was one of the first to mount the rocks. She and her dad, also a daredevil, jumped in together to the cheers of all who were watching.

As if the meals we already enjoyed weren't enough, NY Strip steak on the first night, Salmon, on the fifth night, when we were already thoroughly impressed with the organization of what the crew had done so far, they rolled out ice cream that had been kept on dry ice since the beginning of the trip. If that wasn't impressive enough, that was the night they told us that they had packed all the food for our 7 day trip plus all the food for the next 3 day trip that was to meet our boats when we departed on day seven at Whitmore Wash.

The last night out was night 6. We had just done our last major rapids and our friends Bill and Pam joined us on the front rubber for the final thrill. There was celebration in order and a toga party. We were all to dress up in the sheet they had issued us at the beginning and wrap it around us like a toga.

On day 7 we would be packing our bags in the morning after breakfast and launching for the brief trip down to Whitmore Wash where we would meet the helicopter for the 8 minute flight to Whitmore International Airport (that's right International). We boarded a 30 seat prop plane for the one hour flight back to Marble Canyon where we had left one week before.