On Sunday, I received an e-mail that Carolyn and David Cole were going to be in Williams. Richard and I worked with them at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. They left the South Rim in 2014 and were returning to work there again. This time, for Delaware North, and not Xanterra. Tom and I had dinner with them at the Grand Canyon Brewery. It was a nice reunion for me!
Tuesday, I dropped the dogs off at Cinder Hills Pet Resort outside of Flagstaff. Then, I had Shawna cut and color my hair at Tirzah Salon. Bill and Pat Wheeler were due to arrive at my home around 3:00 p.m. They drove in from Aguanda, California, where they live at Jojoba Hills RV Resort. I made sure that the spa was hot and ready for Bill. He loves to soak!
We had dinner at home --- a nicely barbecued London Broil. This was the beginning of our seven day adventure --- off to Marble Canyon in the morning for the 188 mile raft trip on the Colorado River.
Wednesday morning, we packed Bill's car and headed to the Vermillion Cliffs area. Of course, he had to stop at the Cameron Trading Post for a lunchtime snack!
We arrived at Cliff Dwellers Lodge around 3:00 p.m. Our rooms were ready. We had a late afternoon snack at the restaurant. There, we met up with "Scary" Larry. The four of us worked with Larry at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in 2006. Larry works for our outfitter, Hatch River Expeditions. He has worked for them,off and on, for 34 years.
Pat and I decided to take a nearby hike. It was along Soap Creek with some shade. The weather was in the low 90 degrees.
My Fitbit celebrated while on the hike. Nice!
The next morning, we had breakfast in the restaurant and met up with the rafting group in front of the Cliff Dwellers Lodge.
There were two rafts assigned to 29 people. One raft was a group of cavers, people who like to explore caves. There were 16 of them. The other raft consisted of doctors/spouses who have homes in the Denver area. There were nine of them, plus the four of us.
At about 8:30 a.m., Steve Hatch (third generation of the Hatch family) and three other men with vans pulled up to the group and began the orientation process.
All of us loaded up our day packs and our night packs and boarded the vans. It was about a 20 minute drive to Lee's Ferry. There, we met the river crew (Rachel, Travis, and Josh) and the two large rafts --- number 9 and number 14.
It took 30 minutes or so to load the rafts and cover the safety briefing. Then, we were off!
The first identifying landmark was Navajo Bridge --- Arizona highway 89A.
After the first couple of rapids, we decided that a fun position is riding the raft's tubes. Bill and Pat enjoyed riding the tubes.
And, Tom and I did too!
Our first night was at mile marker 30 1/2. The location was a large sand barge. Tom and I opted for a tent. While we camped under the stars on cots with sleeping bags, I liked having a private place to store our bags and change clothes.
It was nice having the river runners fix dinner for all of us. The rib-eye steak was delicious!
The routine for the next six days --- guests line up in fire lines to take dry bags, sleeping gear, and chairs off the rafts in the afternoon and guest line up in fire lines to place dry bags, sleeping gear, and chairs back onto the rafts in the morning.
Then, all the gear is tied down with tarps to keep everything from getting wet.
Day 2 started with coffee, pancakes, sausage, cereals, and fresh fruit. We tried to pack up and leave camp every day at about 8:00 a.m. Our first stop was an ancient geological site with skeletons in rocks and an old encampment from the Anasazi period.
After a few rapids, we came upon Redwall Cavern, vast chamber carved by the river. There were other river outfitters stopped at this location.
We stopped for lunch at Buck Farm Canyon, Mile 41. Daily, lunch consisted of cold cuts, cheese, breads, wraps, tuna or chicken salad, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, salty chips, cookies, candy, and dried fruit.
Our evening site was Lower Nankoweap, mile 53.5. It was just past the Nankoweap rapid, an exciting 25 foot drop. We survived 😊
Tom orchestrated setting up our site for the evening.
About twenty of us went on a hike up to the ancient Puebloan granaries, high above the river.
The granaries at Nankoweap date to AD 1100. They were tightly constructed structures protecting food from rodents and preserved corn and seeds for long periods in the dry climate.
The overnight location was not ideal. There was a lot of wind blowing through the canyon and we were camped on sand. Needless to say, our bodies and our gear were full of fine sand in the morning. Day 3 was going to involve some early morning rapids, so we were told to apply our rain gear first thing.
Our first stop on this day was the Little Colorado River. We hiked up the Little Colorado for about 20 minutes. The High Alkaline content and minerals gives the Little Colorado its distinctive turquoise hue. Many of us floated down the Little Colorado with our life jackets mounted like diapers.
Bill started and rally.
And Tom and I jumped in too!
The water was warmer than the Colorado River. It was a fun diversion!
We walked back to the rafts and continued our trip. Around Mile 63, we saw the 1956 crash sites of the United DC-7 and the TWA Super Constellation. It was this mid-air collision that initiated the creation of the FAA. In July 2014, this Aviation Accident Site was made a National Historic Landmark.
There were some exciting rapids on this day --- Tanner Rapid, Unkar Rapid, and Hance Rapid, all over 20 foot drops. On these complex rapids, we were not allowed to ride on the exterior tubes.
But, for the less complex rapids, the tubes were great fun.
An interesting sight that day was passing by Mary Jane Coulter's Watchtower structure high on the distant rim of the canyon.
We had lunch at Mile 74.5, Upper Rattlesnake. After lunch, we continued down river and stopped for an hour at Phantom Ranch.
I had not been there since 2009, when the Bernstein family came to the South Rim and rode mules down to Phantom Ranch. Pat Wheeler and I hiked down the South Kaibab Trail and the next day, hiked back up Bright Angel Trail. Tom had never been to Phantom Ranch. We walked around and stopped by the Phantom Ranch Canteen.
I walked off for a few minutes --- having some of Richard's ashes --- and now Richard made it to Phantom Ranch --- leaving some ashes at the base of this tree!
For night #3, we stopped for the day at Mile 91 Creek.
Each morning, we were served a special breakfast. And, each morning, we had eggs made-to-order. Here, Travis and Josh were taking our egg orders.
Probably the most challenging part of the trip was the evening/morning toilet set-up. We were instructed to pee in the water and use their toilet set-up for other matters. They always set-up two toilets, one at each end of the campsite --- away from the sleeping arrangements. Sometimes we had to hike over treacherous rocks to get to it. All trash, garbage, and toilets had to be carried out of the canyon by rafts and transported to applicable disposal areas.
The next morning, we were told to put on our rain gear for another set of early morning rapids.
This day, we rafted through Hermit Rapid, Crystal Rapid, and the rapids named after precious stones.
The weather was warming. No more wind. So nice to get some more photos of the river and the canyon walls.
Lunch on day #4, was at Mile 122. It was another nice sandy beach location.
We stopped for the evening at Stone Creek, Mile 133. There was a nice waterfall a short distance away. Bill and Pat enjoyed the falls.
Tom and I also got into the waterfall action. The water was very cold!
The camp location was large, with a long beach along the river. Jeff, one of the members of the caver raft, made a sand castle and we all gathered for a group photograph.
That night, Travis was charged with barbecuing pork loins. I must admit that it was the best dinner of the trip.
The next day, we continued down river. The first stop was Deer Creek. A decision was made to stop at this location for several hours. There was a nice 45 minute hike into Deer Creek Canyon. Tom, Bill, and Pat decided to not hike and, instead, enjoy the beach front and a nice waterfall.
I joined the hikers and we climbed up the trail, high above the river.
I had been warned that there were some narrow parts of the trail.
Dear Creek Canyon was beautiful and we enjoyed the area for over an hour.
Once getting back on the rafts, we stopped for lunch just 20 minutes down river at Poncho's Kitchen, Mile #137.5. Travis and Rachel prepared the luncheon meat and cheese tray.
After lunch, the weather was warm. We had the opportunity to jump into the river. In our raft, only Tom and Bill took the plunge.
Our campground for night #5 was Olo Canyon, just down river from 145.5 Mile Rapid.
This campsite was smaller than others. But by now, we knew each other fairly well. It was an anniversary celebration evening for two couples --- Bill and Pat Wheeler celebrating anniversary #50 1/2 and Jesus and Audrey anniversary #30. A cake was baked and decorated for the occasion.
And a toast to the two couples!
We were excited about the next morning. We were going to visit Havasu Creek. Before getting to our destination, I took the opportunity to stage a photo while riding on the tube. No, I did not fall into the river!
The Wheelers and I have been to Havasupai Village --- a nine mile hike in and a nine mile hike out --- but we never made it to the Colorado River. Havasu Creek is 3.5 miles from the Havasupai Indian Reservation and Beaver Falls. It was a 20 minute hike along the creek to play in some pools.
Havasu Falls drop into blue-green pools banked by travertine formations. The mineral-laden waters create the vivid turquoise color.
Separately, Bill and I jumped off a large rock into one of the pools. Here is Bill in mid-air!
All four of us enjoyed this visit to such a beautiful spot.
Once back on the rafts, we continued down river for our final lunch stop. It was mile #160, the Amphitheater.
The rest of the day was fairly calm. We enjoyed the sunny afternoon and some big horn sheep.
We made a "potty" stop at Fern Glen Canyon. Rachel, Travis, and Josh treated us to some afternoon snacks.
Our final campground was Whitmore Wash. It was mile #187. This site has a helipad. As early the morning, Papillon Helicopter arrived to take us out of the canyon.
It was a short ten minute flight to Bar 10 Ranch.
Loved a view down river!
We had an hour layover at the Bar 10 Ranch --- with flush toilets and showers --- before boarding a nine passenger plane taking us back to Marble Canyon.
Grand Canyon Airlines came to the airfield to transport us for the last leg of the trip.
And, what a pleasant surprise! I was assigned the co-pilot seat!
This final flight was about 40 minutes. We got to see some of the Kaibab Plateau and the highway to the North Rim. The North Rim of the Grand Canyon opened up yesterday, May 15.
The Hatch van picked us up at the air strip at Marble Canyon. And our driver was none other than "Scary Larry."
Wow! What a magnificent vacation!
Tom and Bill had a hankering for ice cream. So, we stopped by the Dairy Cream in Williams before heading home.
For dinner, we ordered pizza from Pizza Hut. All's well that ends well. 😀😀😀
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