Wednesday 27th July.

Wednesday 27^th July.  Day 11. Mile 152 – 186.  185 Mile Rapid Camp.

8 Rapids today:

Sinyala (4), Havasu (3), 164 Mile Rapid (3), National (2), Gateway (3), LAVA FALLS (10+), Lower Lava (5), 185 Mile Rapid (3).  Plus 2 small unnamed, ungraded rapids

Lava Falls day!! Will we survive it unscathed??

There was a trek before lunch but Rosie and I decided to sit it out in the shade.  My toes had been strapped up by Tom but I did not want to aggravate them, so we sat in the shade of the cliff and chatted.  

 After lunch there was a long paddle to Lava falls which we reached at about 3.30.  We pulled in to the side and tied the rafts to trees so that we could scout the rapid …. I decided to stay with the rafts, rather than freak myself out by looking at the awesome rapid but then I saw 2 blue motor rafts approaching the falls, so I sprinted up the hill to watch them go through Lava – even rafts as large and heavy as them were tossed about and rose up the front of some huge waves!!  

 We were all a little nervous at the thought of flipping or swimming in Lava – Jen was our guide and had told us what to expect and what to do so we set off.  (The big blue motor rafts were hanging about at the bottom of Lava either to see us flip or to give assistance should it be needed, not sure which!).  We hit the “V” at the side of the Ledge Hole dead centre and Jen called “get down” which was the signal for us to stop paddling and take shelter in between the seats – and hold on for dear life!! I caught hold of the handle on the centre dry bag and pushed myself into the space between the front and middle seats.  We hurtled into a wall of water which towered over us and hit our backs like an express train, then Jen yelled “paddle” – the signal for us to get up and paddle for our lives – the trouble was, I had wedged myself in so tight and I was stuck and could not get up.  Kevin, who was behind me, started yelling “Get up and paddle, Nita”!!!  I missed 2 strokes then was up in time for the next huge wave which we hit full on.  One more large wave then we were through and, although we were still paddling, we were all high on adrenaline!  Kevin later told everyone that I had been a bit tired and had taken a short nap in Lava Falls!  He also gave me a new nickname of “Get Up and Paddle Nettles”.

Glen’s raft was last in line and he was thrown out at the start of the V (presumably after telling his crew to “get down”)  but he managed to hang on to the chicken line and went through the whole of Lava yelling “keep paddling” and they came through unscathed and unknowing that he was not in his usual seat steering the raft.  Glen then floated past them and climbed back on board!  The motor rafts stayed to watch us descend Lava then sped on past.

We did a lot of hard paddling today as our first 2 choices of campsite were already taken, added to that, much of the time, we were paddling into hot, strong, headwinds.

In camp, Glen repeated his star talk and got his telescope out.  J & K both used it to see the rings around Saturn as it was such a clear night.  In fact we did not even bother erecting our tents and slept outside under the canopy of stars and the Milky Way.  My foot was very painful with the eczema or foot rot, rubbed raw by the wet sand in my sandals (my neoprene wet boots having come apart during the last trek).