Friday 22nd July – Day
6. Mile 65 – 87.5 Cremation Camp
12 Rapids today:
Lava Canyon (Chuar) (4), Tanner (4),
Basalt Canyon (2), Unkar (6), Escalante (4), Nevills (6), Hance (9+),
Sockdolager (9), Grapevine (8), 83 Mile Rapid (4), Zoroaster (6), 85 Mile rapid
(3).
Our
first rapid today was Lava Canyon (Chuar) – not Lava Falls but nevertheless a
good start. We saw no wildlife today,
not even the grey and blue herons of previous days. The canyon opened up and there were low-lying
‘fields’ where native Americans farmed crops of corn, beans and squash after
the winter floods had deposited nutrient-rich silt. We were told that they planted the beans to
grow up the corn stalks and the squash to run along the ground, so getting 3
crops on the same patch of land at once.
We set out on a really short hike, but several of us only went half way
up the boulder-strewn hillside then sat looking out at the beautiful view while
the others struggled on to the top.
Unkar
rapid was the best so far and our guide was Jen – she hit it dead centre and
the waves came crashing over our boat.
Mitchell, sitting behind me, said I was surrounded by water!
We
stopped for lunch just before Hance Rapid which was rather scary. My adrenaline almost brought my lunch back
up!! Sockdolager was similar but not quite so terrifying, likewise Grapevine
where we lost the line for a moment and had to back-paddle to straighten up –
in the midst of the ‘boiling’ water!
The
sides of the canyon closed in again and the rock type changed to granite in pink
and black streaks.
A
much longer day today because (a) we had to reach Cremation Camp as 17 of our
group are leaving tomorrow to hike out of the canyon up Bright Angel
Trail. (5 of us remain to do the rest of
the trip with the new group who will be hiking in) and (b) because our guides
did not want us to get to Cremation Camp too early as they said it would be too
hot. We even pulled into the side for a
short briefing and to kill time before heading into camp around 4.30pm.
We
had just set up our tents, had a bathe and done some washing (not easy in the
sand-ladened river) when the thunder storm, which had been following us for a
couple of hours, erupted and we all took shelter in our tents. The lightning was spectacular! Fortunately it did not rain for too long and
we were able to go to supper (in the dark if not the rain). Full marks to the
team for cooking the food during the downpour!!
Tomorrow
we lose Doug and Mitchell, which will be a great shame as they have kept us
amused and entertained all week. I even
helped Mitchell to stage his murder after being winked at by the assassin (Jen)
– we staged an argument about the British Royal family and I pretended to stab
him in a fit of anger!!!
Alex,
One of the young Americans, today described Julia as “One bad ass chick” which
she took as a compliment J
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