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Grand Canyon - Sept 22 thru Oct 9, 2005 - 225 Miles - Day 13-18

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Day 0-3 | Day 4-6 | Day 7-12 | Day 13-18 | What Day Is It Anyway? 

Trip Itinerary:
Day 	Camp			Bank 	River Mile	Rapids(Class,Event)/Comments
13	Unnamed			Right	~160.4		Havasu Creek Hike; Wind sail setup (and collapse)... 
14	Lower Cove		Right	174.3
15	Lower Whitmore		Right	188.2		Lava Falls(9,F)
16	Granite Park		Left	208.8
17	Upper 220 Mile		Right	219.7		Pumpkin Springs, then the high winds!
18	Diamond Creek Takeout	Left	225.7		3 hrs. derig and load; 22 miles of 4WD road to Peach Springs

F= Flipped Raft;	D=Dump Truck (Swimmers Only)
FYI - My 15' Aire Cataraft was not an "F", nor did I "D"!

Rapid Ratings from "RiverMapsTM - Guide to the Colorado...", Martin and Whitis, 2005 2nd Ed.

Day 13 - 'Grayish' regions are unoxidized. Yet another reminder that rock sections do fall over time

Scouting Upset Rapid (6) the ugly hole at the bottom coerced everyone to make a conservative right side run. After we went thru a commercial trip came thru and did clean runs down the left along the wall

Brogan thru Upset Rapid (6) in 'LD22'. The 'Baby Cheeses' are under the "22" orange cone

Don and Michael thru Upset Rapid (6)

Steve and Jeanette thru Upset Rapid (6)

Casey and Lorna Rae thru Upset Rapid (6)

Havasu Creek

Havasu Creek - Lorna Rae climbs into the "hike tunnel"

Havasu Creek #3

Havasu Creek #4 - Major flooding in the 1990's eliminated most of the travertine dams

Havasu Creek #5 - back thru the "hike tunnel"

Havasu Creek congestion

Day 14 - Taking advantage of the shade at Lower Cove Camp. Steve later caught me napping in my chair while reading, and left a note "Good Book?" on my lap :)

Day 15 - Vulcan's Anvil RM 178.0

Scouting Lava Falls Rapid (9).

A kayaker 'plays' in Lava Falls

A commercial outfitter makes it thru the right side of Lava Falls. Our Pirate Ship wasn't as lucky. I opted for the left side and wore my helmet

My run thru Lava Falls. Thanks for the photo Cammie!

My run thru Lava Falls #2. Thanks for the photo Carol!

Below Lava Falls, waitng for the adrenaline to fade

Lava Falls close-up

Distant regroup below Lava Falls to right the Pirate Ship

Dennis takes advantage of the cooling falls

Dennis tries to figure out the trick of getting back into a cataraft (not sucessfully...). Thanks for the photo Carol!

Day 16 - More scenery oddities

Steve relaxes at Parashant Wash lunch stop.

Day 17 - Morning panorama at Granite Park Camp

Breakfast at Granite Park Camp

Pumpkin Springs. Actually there is a pool on top. The dreaded upstream winds were starting to howl...

Blown sideways into an alcove, all I can do is take pictures

Across the river at the top of the sheep the mountain sheep are gazing down at the stupid rafters rowing into the wind

Upper 220 Mile Camp - it took about 30 minutes to cover the distance here due to the damn winds. First part of group arrived at 12 noon. I got there at 1 PM. Casey and Brogan arrived at 4PM!

Upper 220 Mile Camp #2 - My green groover ammo box is now full!

Day 18 - On the way to Diamond Creek take-out

Diamond Creek take-out, on the left in the distance, 10:33am. The Hualapai Indians have strict rules about not arriving there before 10am. Sadly the 18 Day adventure is coming to an end...

Canyon REO drivers show up at 11am. 3 hrs. derig and load; 22 miles of 4WD road to Peach Springs, then on to Kingman AZ for a final dinner at Chili's and the night in a motel (w/ 2 showers requireed to flush the sand out of all body orifices)

Canyon REO's T-Shirt does a good job of summing up the mental attitude during a GC trip

USGS Flow at Lee's Ferry Put-in

USGS Flow at Diamond Creek Take-out.
Spikes at Lee's Ferry take ~48 hours to reach Diamond Creek. 225/48 = 4.7 mph

Canyon Reflections

Getting Ready For Your Grand Canyon Trip
Suggested preparation list for boaters:
  1. One week before the trip, have a yard of sand delivered to your home. Sprinkle liberally in your bed, dresser drawers, on the kitchen and bathroom counters. Fill your saltshaker, sugar bowl and cereal boxes with sand and use them as usual. Place garbage can lids of sand in front of your fans and run them continuously at maximum speed.
  2. After renting a projection TV, illuminate the walls and ceiling of your bedroom with old Dracula movies, especially the snake, lizard, scorpion, rodent and bat infested scenes.
  3. Have your friends form a long line. Then, systematically pass the entire contents of your home out the front and into the back door of your house. Do this everyday for 18 days.
  4. With an industrial size brush and a bottle of bleach, wash, rinse, and sterilize the hubcaps of your car.
  5. Sit on the hood of your car while riding through the car wash. Make sure you stay wet for a few hours in a breeze.
  6. Line your sandals with sandpaper and spend two hours per day on a stair master.
  7. Drape the allotted contents of your brown grocery bag on the bushes and rocks in your back yard. Twice a day practice changing while your neighbors watch.
  8. With sixteen friends standing in the shallow end of the swimming pool, practice looking nonchalant as you carry on a conversation and pee simultaneously.
  9. Crap in your upstairs waste paper basket, then, with your pants still around your ankles, run downstairs and pee in the tub.
Let's go boating!

Day 0-3 | Day 4-6 | Day 7-12 | Day 13-18 | What Day Is It Anyway?

    Credits:
  1. U.O.N., Olympus C-740 UltraZoom Digital Photography by William F. Smith (3.2 MP, 2048x1536, 10X optical 38-380mm)
Last Update 13-Nov-05