Residing in Arizona most of my life, I live pretty close to Grand Canyon. I hiked it with my family for the first time when I was twelve and fell in love with the place. Over the years I have hiked to Phantom Ranch and the Havasupai village over half a dozen times. The last time I hiked into the Canyon was the month before I got married nine years ago. As a family, we had spent 20 years talking about rafting through the Canyon, but never really looked into it.
Finally enough stuff fell in and out of place that it was time to return to the Canyon for a father daughter trip of a lifetime and gain some much needed perspective.We ran the river together June 7 to June 14, 2009 with 17 other guests and 4 boatmen on two motorized S rigs. This is a blog of our adventure and some of the insight I gained on the trip.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Getting Ready
The week before our trip I was dreading leaving my kids for the first time and having no contact with them for the entire trip. My son is a complete cuddle bug who likes to be held a lot. Since I wasn't going to be holding either of my kids for over a week I decided to get them Build a Bears with my voice recorded in the bears. We also went to the zoo and children's museum that week and had planned as a family to go to the Crawdad Festival before my trip, but that didn't work out.
Instead of eating mud bugs, I was delousing our house for head bugs after finding out my nieces had lice. I don't know if that was a final straw to make me grateful for getting out of the house or not, but after washing all the linens, boiling combs and brushes and cleaning the house from top to bottom, I was ready to leave.
As a final family activity we went out for pizza at La Piazza Al Forno after seeing it on Guy's Diner's, Drive-ins and Dives the night before. While we waited for our table we walked across the street for a couple of games of Candyland at the library. After lunch we drove to my parent's house and my dad and I left for Flagstaff. Honestly I was choking back tears as I said good-bye.
There was an orientation in town and then we headed back to the cabin to pack up. I thought we did pretty good packing everything into the dry bags and were successful in getting them to close.
Instead of eating mud bugs, I was delousing our house for head bugs after finding out my nieces had lice. I don't know if that was a final straw to make me grateful for getting out of the house or not, but after washing all the linens, boiling combs and brushes and cleaning the house from top to bottom, I was ready to leave.
As a final family activity we went out for pizza at La Piazza Al Forno after seeing it on Guy's Diner's, Drive-ins and Dives the night before. While we waited for our table we walked across the street for a couple of games of Candyland at the library. After lunch we drove to my parent's house and my dad and I left for Flagstaff. Honestly I was choking back tears as I said good-bye.
There was an orientation in town and then we headed back to the cabin to pack up. I thought we did pretty good packing everything into the dry bags and were successful in getting them to close.
Day 1
We left the cabin and it was 31*F outside. Meeting up with the group we learned that we had packed the most stuff and we were traveling light in comparison with other trips we had done.When the list said bring one or two, I packed two, other people who had done the trip before had a better grasp of what to bring. Being a mom who has used her SUV as a diaper bag to store extra diapers and whatnot over the past five years, I am not accustom to traveling light. So it will come as no surprise that my dad also had some of my stuff in his bag. Of course I gave him the heavy stuff like sunblock and bulky stuff like pillows.
We took a converted school bus from Flagstaff to Lee's Ferry stopping in Cameron for a break and to call my mom and my kids and husband to say goodbye. We also stopped to walk over the older Navajo Bridge which was now a walking path and were told to watch for California Condors which we didn't see until we were on the river.
From there it was a short distance to the boats. Our boats were S rigs and looked huge compared to the oar boats next to them. We did our first fire line unloading the bus and then got an introduction to the trip from our lead guide Jed and selected our life vests. There was a "Wildcat" vest, but being self respecting Sun Devils, we left it in the dirt. My dad's vest was "Stanton" and mine was "Monadock". Apparently the name on my life vest was mispelled and it should have been monadnock which does actually exist. From wiki "A monadnock or inselberg is an isolated rock hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain."
We took a converted school bus from Flagstaff to Lee's Ferry stopping in Cameron for a break and to call my mom and my kids and husband to say goodbye. We also stopped to walk over the older Navajo Bridge which was now a walking path and were told to watch for California Condors which we didn't see until we were on the river.
From there it was a short distance to the boats. Our boats were S rigs and looked huge compared to the oar boats next to them. We did our first fire line unloading the bus and then got an introduction to the trip from our lead guide Jed and selected our life vests. There was a "Wildcat" vest, but being self respecting Sun Devils, we left it in the dirt. My dad's vest was "Stanton" and mine was "Monadock". Apparently the name on my life vest was mispelled and it should have been monadnock which does actually exist. From wiki "A monadnock or inselberg is an isolated rock hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain."
Getting underway we rode with Jed and Chris. I thought the rapids were cold and fun in Marble Canyon. One of the rapids with a little more splash than the others was House Rock Rapids. We saw California Condors by Navajo Bridge and also saw frogs, blue heron, big horn sheep and bats at night.
We did a side hike into Ryder Canyon and I quickly learned that the guide's version of flip flop hike isn't mine.
We camped under the stars with a full moon at mile 23.2. At camp we got a brief introduction into the groover and how to.... Using the dual system was interesting and took some getting used to. All I can say is that I am glad I don't work for the company in Flagstaff that cleans the groover at the end of the trip.
Breakfast: buffet at the Radisson
Lunch: Turkey sandwiches and learned about eating over the water so crumbs would be washed away at the next high tide
Dinner: Salmon- Dad's least favorite meal
Day 2
We woke up in the Grand Canyon for the first time in 9 years. I handed dad my mp3 with "our song" Paul Anka's "Times of Your Life" and he asked me to play it for him every morning. (I missed one due to rain.)
We rode with Laura and Chris through the roaring twenties stopping for a hike at South Canyon. We saw petroglyphs- some of which were completely recovered with patina. There were also pueblo ruins and pottery sherds.
On the way to lunch at Redwall Cavern we past Lover's Rock. Dad impressed everyone with his Frisbee playing. We went on a "moon walk" and I hung from the ceiling of the cavern for a brief moment. We also took a really great group shot of our silhouettes in the cavern.
We camped early at mile 47 and did a hike up Saddle Canyon. Dad and I didn't finish the last 100 yards of the hike because we forgot water shoes. Hiking back we did have the opportunity to see a six point rack deer with velvet antlers.
Breakfast: eggs to order, melon, grapefruit and bacon
Lunch: Chicken Cesar wraps
Dinner: Brats, burgers and carrot cake
We rode with Laura and Chris through the roaring twenties stopping for a hike at South Canyon. We saw petroglyphs- some of which were completely recovered with patina. There were also pueblo ruins and pottery sherds.
On the way to lunch at Redwall Cavern we past Lover's Rock. Dad impressed everyone with his Frisbee playing. We went on a "moon walk" and I hung from the ceiling of the cavern for a brief moment. We also took a really great group shot of our silhouettes in the cavern.
We camped early at mile 47 and did a hike up Saddle Canyon. Dad and I didn't finish the last 100 yards of the hike because we forgot water shoes. Hiking back we did have the opportunity to see a six point rack deer with velvet antlers.
Breakfast: eggs to order, melon, grapefruit and bacon
Lunch: Chicken Cesar wraps
Dinner: Brats, burgers and carrot cake
Day 3
Waking up at the crack of dawn I decided to listen to my mp3 and lay in the sleeping bag a little longer. I played Trace Atkin's "You're gonna miss this" and cried because I was missing the kids at home. That was the only time I played that song on the trip because I wanted to enjoy my time away. I looked at their pictures a lot and prayed that they were having fun with my husband and mother-in law who had graciously flown out to take care of the kids in my absence.
The morning was cool as we rode with Jed and Chris. It rained for a minute, but as we got to the Little Colorado River (LCR), the sun came out. The LCR was slightly warmer than the 47* Colorado River and blue from higher alkaline content and minerals. We did a little walk to the river and put our life vests through our legs like diapers to float in the river. Instead of hiking back at the end of our visit Dad and I chose to float back part of the way in the river.
At the lunch stop Dad and I sought out the smallest patch of shade and sat down for a break from the sun. Some people observed we were in the shade and we told them after living in Arizona it was just one of those things we did when outside.
We did our first big rapid on Day 3. We stopped and looked at the rapid and Jed gave us a "what if?" lecture before going down Hance. BJ called the afternoon, "dangerously beautiful".
We finished at mile 84.5 and camped at Zoroaster. I saw 3 falling stars and wished that I will support my kids dreams, like my dad was supporting mine going on this trip with me.
Breakfast: Mexican eggs and fruit
Lunch: BLTA (avocado was in abundance on this trip and was present at almost every meal including breakfast today.)
Dinner: Chicken fajitas, cheese crisps and cheese cake
The morning was cool as we rode with Jed and Chris. It rained for a minute, but as we got to the Little Colorado River (LCR), the sun came out. The LCR was slightly warmer than the 47* Colorado River and blue from higher alkaline content and minerals. We did a little walk to the river and put our life vests through our legs like diapers to float in the river. Instead of hiking back at the end of our visit Dad and I chose to float back part of the way in the river.
At the lunch stop Dad and I sought out the smallest patch of shade and sat down for a break from the sun. Some people observed we were in the shade and we told them after living in Arizona it was just one of those things we did when outside.
We did our first big rapid on Day 3. We stopped and looked at the rapid and Jed gave us a "what if?" lecture before going down Hance. BJ called the afternoon, "dangerously beautiful".
We finished at mile 84.5 and camped at Zoroaster. I saw 3 falling stars and wished that I will support my kids dreams, like my dad was supporting mine going on this trip with me.
Breakfast: Mexican eggs and fruit
Lunch: BLTA (avocado was in abundance on this trip and was present at almost every meal including breakfast today.)
Dinner: Chicken fajitas, cheese crisps and cheese cake
Day 4
We woke up to rain drops at 4 am. At first I ignored it and then it started a little more so I put my sleeping bag away and rain gear on and crawled under the tarp. Dad just threw the tarp over himself in the sleeping bag. My mp3 was a causality and got a lot of sand in and on it. It didn't rain long.
We had rapids first thing riding with Jed and Chris. I rode up front; it was cold and fun. We rode past Phantom Ranch and didn't stop. While I wanted to talk to my kids, it was probably better that we didn't stop because if something was wrong at home, there wouldn't be much I could do about it- except worry.
The US Geological Survey has a website at Phantom Ranch that monitors water levels:
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/uv?site_no=09402500
We stopped in Elves Chasm. It was beautiful and some of the people jumped from the waterfall. Dad and I didn't.
We camped at mile 120, Upper Blacktail and did laundry in the river. Dad did the spin cycle with the laundry bag. Laundry consists of soaping up the clothes, rinsing them in almost freezing water and then spinning them and hanging them to dry. After they dried we had to shake all the sand off.
Breakfast: blueberry pancakes with real maple syrup, sausage and fruit
Lunch: taco salad wrap- Dad dropped his bell peppers into the river
Dinner: salad, pesto pasta and garlic bread
We had rapids first thing riding with Jed and Chris. I rode up front; it was cold and fun. We rode past Phantom Ranch and didn't stop. While I wanted to talk to my kids, it was probably better that we didn't stop because if something was wrong at home, there wouldn't be much I could do about it- except worry.
The US Geological Survey has a website at Phantom Ranch that monitors water levels:
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/uv?site_no=09402500
We stopped in Elves Chasm. It was beautiful and some of the people jumped from the waterfall. Dad and I didn't.
We camped at mile 120, Upper Blacktail and did laundry in the river. Dad did the spin cycle with the laundry bag. Laundry consists of soaping up the clothes, rinsing them in almost freezing water and then spinning them and hanging them to dry. After they dried we had to shake all the sand off.
Breakfast: blueberry pancakes with real maple syrup, sausage and fruit
Lunch: taco salad wrap- Dad dropped his bell peppers into the river
Dinner: salad, pesto pasta and garlic bread
Day 5
We rode with Laura and BJ. We did a morning hike at Blacktail Canyon. Then on the boat, Laura taught us a little mnemonic, "Know the canyon's history, study rocks made by time." This stood for all the layers of rock, starting at the top layer and moving down to the bottom:
Kaibab
Toroweap
Coconino
Hermit
Supai
Redwall
Muav
Bright Angel
Tapeats
We also learned that Grand Canyon has the largest desert heard of big horn sheep.
A special little treat on the boat today was left over garlic bread and crumbs. We called the crumbs and roasted garlic cloves "garlic gorp". It was delicious with the m&m's from the regular gorp. Gorp was snack mix we had on the boat everyday. Most of the days the gorp had raisins. Since my dad doesn't like raisins, I ate more than my fare share of raisins.
We packed sack lunches for a hike in Deer Creek. I made the hike while Dad stayed behind. The hike had a creek with multiple pools, a waterfall and a throne room where I met the most wonderful little boy who was traveling with his parents who were guides for another outfit. The little boy gave me his phone number which was easy to memorize, so I called his parents and sent a couple of photos after the trip. This little charmer, whose response when I told him I had a daughter his age was he wanted me, will always be remembered as the king of the throne room.
We camped at mile 138, Doris camp. It had a superb fishing hole and in the evening Dad caught two trout and two carp.
Breakfast: eggs and cheese potatoes
Sack lunch: sandwich, apple, chocolate cookies and m&m's
Dinner: pork chop, trout my dad caught, polenta and salad
Kaibab
Toroweap
Coconino
Hermit
Supai
Redwall
Muav
Bright Angel
Tapeats
We also learned that Grand Canyon has the largest desert heard of big horn sheep.
A special little treat on the boat today was left over garlic bread and crumbs. We called the crumbs and roasted garlic cloves "garlic gorp". It was delicious with the m&m's from the regular gorp. Gorp was snack mix we had on the boat everyday. Most of the days the gorp had raisins. Since my dad doesn't like raisins, I ate more than my fare share of raisins.
We packed sack lunches for a hike in Deer Creek. I made the hike while Dad stayed behind. The hike had a creek with multiple pools, a waterfall and a throne room where I met the most wonderful little boy who was traveling with his parents who were guides for another outfit. The little boy gave me his phone number which was easy to memorize, so I called his parents and sent a couple of photos after the trip. This little charmer, whose response when I told him I had a daughter his age was he wanted me, will always be remembered as the king of the throne room.
We camped at mile 138, Doris camp. It had a superb fishing hole and in the evening Dad caught two trout and two carp.
Breakfast: eggs and cheese potatoes
Sack lunch: sandwich, apple, chocolate cookies and m&m's
Dinner: pork chop, trout my dad caught, polenta and salad
Day 6
Dad got up early to fish, after three successful casts with a trout at the end of the line on each of them, he came and got me. I caught my breakfast- not on the first cast, but after a couple of bites I caught a rainbow trout . BJ cleaned it and cooked it for me. BJ also showed me how to eat the cheek meat- a delicacy I had previously ignored. Needless to say catching my own breakfast made this the best meal of the trip.
We rode with Laura and Chris. Our morning stop was at Matkatamiba Rapid for a hike. We did the dry hike because Crocs suck on slippery rocks and I slipped twice on the hike out. We made a butt dam with another rafting group. Apparently we can be very easily entertained when out of touch with everything else.
For the rapids I rode up front by myself without my friends for Kanab and Upset while they cheered me on from the other boat.
We packed sack lunches for Havasu Creek were I met my little king as we were arriving and he was leaving. We watched lizards and dad fed a raven. I swam and then laid on the dirt and took a nap using a rock for a pillow. This was the moment I made my peace with the dirt laying right down in it. I can only imagine what I would be like on a longer trip or how ironic it will be at the park when I tell my kids to stop laying in the sand.
There was an unplanned pit stop that got us stuck and ruined the prop. Laura asked for help and I got there first, but then an older gentlemen didn't think 2 women could handle it so he sent me out of the motor well. Dad made it back on the boat while several guests didn't, so he got to toss the rope to the rescue boat.
I read on the boat and Chris recommended a couple of stories from "There's This River". The first story he suggested was sad and the second was funny. Fortunately for me he didn't suggest any of the short stories in which major catastrophe befell the writer or subjects. Apparently this was intentional and I was thankful to be reading about the wrecks in the safety of my own home.
We camped at mile 164. I took a bath because the guides told us the sewer system at the Havasu community was questionable. After that I was invited to drink with the guides and some other guests who they thought they could get help from in the form of prep cooks. The poison of choice was Jameson and the bottle was passed from person to person with no knowledge and little concern for the swine flu, which was declared a worldwide pandemic while we were away. I got to chop turkey with the giggles. The last time I cooked while intoxicated was the Mardi Gras party we had when I was handling pots of boiling noodles. Not sure which is worse big knives or boiling water.
Dad caught four trout while I was "cooking".
Breakfast: the best trout ever, French toast and fruit
Sack lunch: roast beef sandwich, apple, pretzels and m& m's
Dinner: Thai Turkey and rice
We rode with Laura and Chris. Our morning stop was at Matkatamiba Rapid for a hike. We did the dry hike because Crocs suck on slippery rocks and I slipped twice on the hike out. We made a butt dam with another rafting group. Apparently we can be very easily entertained when out of touch with everything else.
For the rapids I rode up front by myself without my friends for Kanab and Upset while they cheered me on from the other boat.
We packed sack lunches for Havasu Creek were I met my little king as we were arriving and he was leaving. We watched lizards and dad fed a raven. I swam and then laid on the dirt and took a nap using a rock for a pillow. This was the moment I made my peace with the dirt laying right down in it. I can only imagine what I would be like on a longer trip or how ironic it will be at the park when I tell my kids to stop laying in the sand.
There was an unplanned pit stop that got us stuck and ruined the prop. Laura asked for help and I got there first, but then an older gentlemen didn't think 2 women could handle it so he sent me out of the motor well. Dad made it back on the boat while several guests didn't, so he got to toss the rope to the rescue boat.
I read on the boat and Chris recommended a couple of stories from "There's This River". The first story he suggested was sad and the second was funny. Fortunately for me he didn't suggest any of the short stories in which major catastrophe befell the writer or subjects. Apparently this was intentional and I was thankful to be reading about the wrecks in the safety of my own home.
We camped at mile 164. I took a bath because the guides told us the sewer system at the Havasu community was questionable. After that I was invited to drink with the guides and some other guests who they thought they could get help from in the form of prep cooks. The poison of choice was Jameson and the bottle was passed from person to person with no knowledge and little concern for the swine flu, which was declared a worldwide pandemic while we were away. I got to chop turkey with the giggles. The last time I cooked while intoxicated was the Mardi Gras party we had when I was handling pots of boiling noodles. Not sure which is worse big knives or boiling water.
Dad caught four trout while I was "cooking".
Breakfast: the best trout ever, French toast and fruit
Sack lunch: roast beef sandwich, apple, pretzels and m& m's
Dinner: Thai Turkey and rice
Day 7
We did a morning hike from camp to Tuck Up Canyon. On the hike I contemplated life a little and decided I should not join the PTO so I can have more time for me and less time doing stuff for other people- call me selfish.
We rode with Laura and BJ and painted our faces for Lava Falls and its 37 foot drop. Some of the group drank before the rapid. I had Bailey's and whiskey. Anticipation was more scary than the actual rapid thanks to our guide's skill and experience.
It was windy in the afternoon and too windy with unseasonably mild weather made it too cold for this Arizona girl to swim in the rapid. However, we did see a beaver swimming and get out of the water. It was huge. We also saw a blue heron, big horn sheep and humming birds.
Not surprisingly, it was windy at camp. We stopped at mile 210. I helped make dinner and was rewarded with more Jameson. I saw a falling star as I went to sleep and longed for my husband.
Breakfast:egg over medium, English muffin with cheese and bacon
Lunch: spicy chicken salad wraps and regular Oreo's
Dinner: NY strip, mash potatoes and salad with brownie for dessert
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Day 8
We took one last group photo at camp before getting on the boats. We rode with Jed and Chris and the Ewok tribe.
Chris gave me a book list, some of the books I had read parts from on the boat, others were ones that he liked:
There's This River
Raging River Lonely Trail
Georgie Woman of the River
The Doing of the Thing
Laura read the poem "If I Had My Life to Live Over" by Nadine Stair
"I'd dare to make more mistakes next time. I'd relax, I would limber up. I would be sillier than I have been this trip. I would take fewer things seriously. I would take more chances. I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers. I would eat more ice cream and less beans. I would perhaps have more actual troubles, but I'd have fewer imaginary ones.
You see, I'm one of those people who live sensibly and sanely hour after hour day after day. Oh, I've had my moments, and if I had it to do over again, I'd have more of them. In fact, I'd try to have nothing else. Just moments, one after another, instead of living so many years ahead of each day. I've been one of those persons who never goes anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a raincoat and a parachute. If I had to do it again, I would travel lighter that I have.
If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. I would go to more dances. I would ride more merry-go-rounds. I would pick more daisies."
We had our final bag line and said good-bye to the guides and watched the boats get pulled out of the river and sides deflated. It was a bumpy ride from Diamond Creek and part of the road was creek. We stopped for lunch in Seligman at a quirky joint where we had a picnic lunch and bought a butterscotch malt.
In Flagstaff we said good-bye to the new friends we had made and headed back to the cabin to see our family. It was great to see my husband, children and mom. I was grateful for the time away and happy everything went well.
Breakfast: cream cheese bagel, left over brownie, granola with yogurt and cowboy coffee
Chris gave me a book list, some of the books I had read parts from on the boat, others were ones that he liked:
There's This River
Raging River Lonely Trail
Georgie Woman of the River
The Doing of the Thing
Laura read the poem "If I Had My Life to Live Over" by Nadine Stair
"I'd dare to make more mistakes next time. I'd relax, I would limber up. I would be sillier than I have been this trip. I would take fewer things seriously. I would take more chances. I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers. I would eat more ice cream and less beans. I would perhaps have more actual troubles, but I'd have fewer imaginary ones.
You see, I'm one of those people who live sensibly and sanely hour after hour day after day. Oh, I've had my moments, and if I had it to do over again, I'd have more of them. In fact, I'd try to have nothing else. Just moments, one after another, instead of living so many years ahead of each day. I've been one of those persons who never goes anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a raincoat and a parachute. If I had to do it again, I would travel lighter that I have.
If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. I would go to more dances. I would ride more merry-go-rounds. I would pick more daisies."
We had our final bag line and said good-bye to the guides and watched the boats get pulled out of the river and sides deflated. It was a bumpy ride from Diamond Creek and part of the road was creek. We stopped for lunch in Seligman at a quirky joint where we had a picnic lunch and bought a butterscotch malt.
In Flagstaff we said good-bye to the new friends we had made and headed back to the cabin to see our family. It was great to see my husband, children and mom. I was grateful for the time away and happy everything went well.
Breakfast: cream cheese bagel, left over brownie, granola with yogurt and cowboy coffee
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