Death Valley and Grand Canyon Rafting - September 2017 (Part 2)

Day 5 - September 10, 2017 - Marble Canyon and Grand Canyon

Link to Part 1

The day began for us at 7am, we had to figure out what we were going to wear as we were going rafting and this was not like previous one day rafting trips where you just put on your swimsuit, and then when you get off the river you grab a towel and hop back in your car.  We had to dress for the sun, the water and the cold, what the hell does that even look like?  We met the owner of Hatch River Expeditions, Steve Hatch, at 830am for the rafting briefing and he explained how the trip would work and that this isn't a luxury cruise.  We were going to be hot, cold, wet, dry, sandy, sweaty and everything in between.

Our group and the other raft operators getting in a Lee's Ferry

We really didn't know what to expect before showing up on shore, we thought it was going to be a one boat journey but in hindsight you should not go hiking alone so why would you go rafting down the Colorado River with just one boat.  As we gathered to take short bus ride to the actual river we were already forming friends before the boat ride.  There was a group of 13 from Chicago/Bay Area, 2 couples from Calgary, a family of 4 from Flagstaff (the locals), a father-son from Baltimore, 2 friends from NYC and us.  It was a diverse fun crowd where new friendships were formed quickly and hopefully long lasting.

The trip crew after a week on the river
(Ignore my stomach, they fed us well...)

There were 2 boat captains and 2 assistants on the trip with us, we rode on the boat with the lead captain and her name was Kelly.  Kelly is a tiny lady who had done more than 10 years of trips down the river, and she was a walking encyclopedia of knowledge about the history of former river runners and the amazing geology of the grand canyon.  Rebe and I talked about how lucky we were that we picked her boat, the other guides didn't tell a hundredth of the stories that she told.  She just love to tell the stories and was always up for my curious questions about the canyon.

Kelly, our fearless leader

To the river, everyone loaded the gear on to the boats and then we headed down stream.  The boats were a central raft surrounded by two large pontoons on the sides.  All the luggage was in the middle and the food, coolers and drinks were around the drive shack (you can see some of the food/supply store behind Kelly in the image above).  We also had our day packs on the top of the central luggage pile, so if you needed to get a jacket, dry shirt or camera it was easily accessible, but this was also prime water splash zone for any moderate rapid that we ran.

Everyone sitting around the luggage

The first day was relatively calm on the water but we did experience a few rapids and did get wet while on the raft.  A few highlights of the early part of the Grand Canyon included the only bridge that crosses the canyon, a few California condors, mountain goats, lunch on a sandy beach and of course camp.

Camp was a special experience, our first night was at Lone Cedar Camp.  The process of setting up camp goes as follows:

1. First everyone grabs there day gear (the small orange bags littered on the top of the raft) and hops off the raft to find a location that they deem suitable to set up camp for themselves. Getting a prime secluded spot was the goal but not always achieved, this way you could have a little privacy to change clothes or maybe a little silence even though there's not much noise in the canyon at night.  Location to the shore or bathroom was always a consideration, the rules for using the restroom were pee goes in the river, poo goes in the box. If you had to go in the middle of night, it was key to not have to walk too far in the darkness but also you didn't want to be too close to the toilet as people with flashlights could wake you in the middle of the night. 

   

   Yes, this is the toilet situation.  Sometimes with a better view and we did pass other groups on the river where someone might be in the act of using the loo

2. Once everyone located there camping spot, it was time to unload the boat.  All 26 people lined up, first person near the boat last person deep on the beach and we passed all the luggage bags to shore.  This was then repeated with the cots, chairs and cooking/dinner materials.  We helped setup the kitchen so that the captains could start cooking dinner while all the passengers setup camp for the night.
3. We now setup camp and prepped for the night, this included setting up your cot to sleep on, hanging up and/or washing all your wet clothes that were drenched from the boat ride.  Also this was a good time to take a rinse/wash in the river, which was 45F (7C) and in case you don't know how cold this actually is normal cold tap water is about 60-75F (15-24C).  Needless to say, rinses were short as possible as you never really get 'used to' water that cold.  
4. Dinner TIME!!! Now, I know what you're thinking, I'm sure the food sucked and you were eating canned beans all week and cans of SPAM, well friend you'd be sadly mistaken.  For the week we had, steak, salmon, chicken, spaghetti, .... it was pretty amazing, I mean it wasn't 5 star but for being in the middle of no where we were all very delighted with the food we were fed. 
5. After dinner there was always a little socializing, sometimes a game or two but by the time dinner was over and dishes washed, it was time to brush your teeth and hit the cot. The amount of stars you could see from inside the Grand Canyon is truly stunning and the freshness of the air combined with the roaring of the river made it great for sleeping out under the stars.  The guides actually recommended not sleeping in the tent as it would just be a heat trap and keep you too warm when the weather was actually very nice out at night.  I will say that the full moon rising at 1am on the first night was a bit irritating, it was so bright that you would have thought someone was standing over you with a flashlight.

Day 6-11 - September 11-16 2017 - Grand Canyon Rafting Days 1-6

The rest of the week was a lot of the same, wake up in the morning, make up camp, eat breakfast, load the boat, ride some waves, learn more about the geological history of the canyon, park and setup for camp, rinse and repeat (literally).

Below are a lot of pictures from the river, I'll try and sprinkle some interesting tidbits where applicable. 

Day 1

Rebe riding shotgun

Me hanging out on the side tube

Kelly telling us the first story of the trip between both boats

Lunch

The Upper Canyon

2nd boat battling the first big rapid

More of the Upper Canyon

Camp the first night

DAY 2

Back on the river, day 2

Waterfall from the side of the canyon

Morning break stop

View from the back of the cave at morning break stop

Natural Bridge

Us on the boat

Just going down the river

Hike above camp on Day 2, if you look on the right side you can see the boats and our orange bags amongst the trees

View just left of the above picture

Trail ahead

Around the corner from the above image

Rebe at the waterfall at the end of the trail

More from trail on the way back

More on trail back

Day 3

Starting the morning off with a good view

Us looking hella sleepy

More views from the river

On this day we were going to past the Little Colorado River, it has this milky blue color.  It also has a little bit of current so they let us get out and float down a small section of rapids, it was a good morning break and great fun for the group.

Little Colorado River

Us after a float down the river, this was also the preferred method of wearing your lift vest for butt protection and helping keep your legs afloat

Yours truly floating down solo, note how I don't float very well even with my life vest on

The Pro

Look at the smug smile :)

View of the Little Colorado River on the way back to the boat

Me, the Canyon and the Little Colorado

Back to the river after the float

View from lunch 

We had a short day on this day due to some nasty looking clouds and some rain that was getting started, so we got off the river early and parked at Nevills Camp.  Luckily the rain held off for us while we set up camp and did a hike, but we did encounter some rain in the middle of the night.  This was the one of the few nights we actually setup a tent, and the ONLY night we actually slept in the tent for a short period of time.  The rain started coming down probably around midnight, we ran into the tent to try and continue to sleep, leaving our cots outside.  The rain subsided after 45 minutes, so we hopped back outside to our wet cots and went back to sleep.

Camp - Our bags, our cots, our tent, our neighbors and river in the background

Nasty clouds above camp, camp was along the river (that's our tent directly next to Rebe).  Also note that the layers of rock are not horizontal, but at an angle, this is the Grand Canyon Super Group so unique geologist are still trying to figure out its origin. 

Opening to the side canyon hike

Quite a big rock huh?

View at the end of the trail

Day 4

We had now made it into the lowest part of the Grand Canyon (not lowest elevation, but deepest part of the canyon), what they call the basement.  This section of the canyon contains a lot of granite as opposed to the upper layer which are softer like sandstone and limestone.

Another beautiful start to another day on the river (heading into the Granite Gorge)

Rebe after the rapids

Me looking wet after the rapids

Kaibab Suspension Bridge below the famous Phantom Ranch.  7-8 hours to hike out of the canyon from here.

A quick view of the North Rim up to the top left.

Elves Chasm

Us at Elves Chasm

River at Elves Chasm

Camp at the "Big Dune"

View from the "Big Dune", we had some amazing shooting stars this night

Day 5

Starting the day off right

The Crew

Lava layer in the deeper section of the canyon

Us and Stone Creek waterfall

A stop for a hike with other braver boaters

One of our crew making the jump, YES Rebe and I jumped too

View on the way up of our hike

At the top of the ledge (not the top of the Grand Canyon) before heading into a side canyon

Path gets a little tight along the rocks and side canyon

Path back to the 'oasis'

Upper Deer Creek

Deer Creek 'middle' waterfall

More pics of the sketchy path (we walked along the right side)

View on the way out

Lower Deer Creek Waterfall, biggest waterfall we saw on the trip

Kelly, our captain, challenged Rebe and our friends to touch the wall behind the waterfall... it wasn't easy

Camp by the river, this was a prime spot

Tonight was an interesting night, on the hike early in the day we passed a lady on the trail who was limping along and not doing so well.  As it turns out she broke her ankle on the hike and the National Park Service flew a helicopter in to evacuate the lady out of the canyon.  It was SOOO cool watching the helicopter fly through the canyon, swoop down and then land on the beach.

The kitchen

View of camp from the river

View down river from camp

Day 6, the last rafting day 😢

The usual morning view

Another of our great leader, Kelly and her husband, this was their first ever trip together on the same boat.  Dom, Kelly's husband, is a former boat captain but now works with the forestry service fighting fires across the country.

Coming 'up' out of the canyon, note the visible rim

Havasu Creek

Mini fall at the end of the trail

Another view of the above

Rebe battling a rapid in a tiny tube

View above from the mouth of the side canyon

Big Horn Sheep by the river

More views from the river

The last rapid, and of course the biggest which typically flips the little boats

Day 7 Flight out

Our chariot out of the canyon...obviously much better than hiking out

Helo crossing the river and flying out

Bar 10 Ranch, before the flight to Las Vegas

Our flight back to Las Vegas

Canyons around the Grand Canyon