I got a peaceful easy feelin'

I will leave you with one last thought regarding our trip and then show you a few runs at Pierce Ferry Rapids. One of the last evenings on our raft trip, our trip leader Jerry (pictured below) recited some lines from an old Eagles tune. First of all, you have to know a little about Jerry and our circumstances. He has been battling cancer for quite a few years now and is regularly in for chemo treatments. In fact, he made this trip between treatments! Jerry invited all of us. It was after all, his permit that got us into the canyon. Thank you so much Jerry!!

Then, sitting around the campfire on one of the last evenings. Jerry said the following to us:

and I wanna' to sleep with you
in the desert tonight
with a billion stars all around
'cause I got a peaceful easy feelin'
and I know you won't let me down.

I'm sure this isn't what the Eagles had in mind, but the way I interpreted this was, he really wanted to be with us. And, none of us or God were going to let him down. Thank you Jerry. It was really great!!


Here is Jerry going into the second hole on Pierce Ferry Rapids. The first hole is behind him. It took a little bit of force to pull the front of Jerry's boat up like this.


Here is Trevor going into the big hole on Pierce Ferry Rapids. Believe it or not, he made it through. Others were not so fortunate.


This is our boat on Pierce Ferry Rapids at 12,000 cfs. Paul is rowing and I'm in front with Gary, on his left. Bear in mind this is an 18 foot boat!

Thankful to God

After my raft trip down the Grand Canyon, I talked with my good buddy Craig. He reminded me about how "alive" he felt on our last trip on the Colorado river. I had to agree. I have never felt so "alive" than on a trip like this. Besides the fact that your mind is going 10,000 miles per hour, every sensory element of your body is fully functioning and heightened beyond belief. You see, feel, and experience things every hour that literally take your breath away. It's as though God has let you into his back yard or his garden. I am so thankful God has given us so much to enjoy.

Sky Walk

On our trip down the Grand Canyon, we didn't miss the Hualapai Indian Sky Walk. Below is an artist rendering of the facility at the top of the rim. My understanding is they charge $60 to walk out on the glass bottom walkway.


Here is the photo I took from the boat in the river, a mile below the rim with my telephoto lens.

Pierce Ferry Rapids

Dave Stravers sent me this photo of his raft going through Pierce Ferry Rapids. He and his daughter Juliana are in the front while Trevor successfully negotiated the raft from behind. A few moments later Paul, Gary, and I went through. Val, Chad, and Dorothy weren't so lucky. See the next post.

How to flip a boat back over

Val's raft flipped on Pierce Rapids, now exposed for the first time in over 75 years since the water in Lake Meade is so low. In order to get this done, you first have to cut the oar off from it's tether. Dorothy's pretty good with a knife. Then you have to rig the boat so you can make the flip.


Okay, grab the rope and pull. If we lean back hard enough we can turn this thing over.


Pull hard, and lean back. You've got to lean back! Pull some more.


Keep pulling, keep pulling.... And one last umph!!


And that's all it takes. Notice the ice chest on the front of the boat... that's our lunch!

We flip the raft on 209

At the risk of boring you with too much on this Grand Canyon trip, I still have a few more stories to tell you. It was after all, a long trip. The second picture below represents the outcome of the rapids called 209. This one was simpler and much more straight forward than Tuna Creek. At 209, we were sucked into a big hole and the raft immediately flipped over, tossing all of us out and anything not tied down. All other rafts in our party missed it. The good news is, if there is any good news in this, rests in the fact that nothing serious was lost or damaged, save the beverages made in Golden Colorado, one of my neoprene booties, my water bottle, and Paul's "lucky hat." We managed to find a place about a mile down river to flip the boat back over. Much of our stuff was wet, but it all dried out, and none of us were hurt. We were just wet and very cold. Many thanks to Paul Muirhead for pulling me out with his Kayak.




Having suffered this humiliation, we hung our private stuff on ropes, strings, and branches. Thankfully, my down bag stayed dry. The bad news is, it was our turn to cook and do the dishes. Ugh. Looking back though, I can't think of anyone I would rather be thrown out of a raft with than Paul and Gary. They are terrific!!





Below is a photo I took of Parashant Canyon. I got up early one morning and hiked up this canyon for about a mile or so with Gary. It was a beautiful morning. The canyon was supposed to have some prehistoric worms in the rock somewhere. We could never find them.

Deer Creek Falls

Here is the video I took at Deer Creek Falls. Norm is doing something with his camera near the falls, so it should give you a perspective on the size of the falls.

Henry boys go for a swim

There's nothing quite like being thrown out of a boat into the river, and letting the water waves brush over you. There's nothing like it. So why do it? I shared a raft on the river with Gary Henry (left) and Paul Henry (right) pictured below. One of the more exciting moments of the trip was our encounter with Tuna Creek Rapids (rated a 6). Paul was resting up in the front of the boat with me after successfully running Hermit Rapids (rated 9) and Crystal Rapids (rated 10). He was letting Gary and I share in the rowing responsibilities. This time Gary was at the helm and we were clearly coming upon some new rapids. None of us thought it was anything big, so Gary tried to position the boat in the tongue and run these next rapids.

Unfortunately, at the beginning there was a huge rock just covered with water and an even larger hole behind it and mountains of backwash flowing into it. Before we knew what hit us, we went in sideways and the boat nearly flipped over. Paul and Gary went kerplunk, kerplunk, into the raging river. I managed to hang on while the raft was mercilessly banged around, and nearly flipped again. I didn't want to come out. I only know one stroke. If I go in over my head, I get one. I had no idea where Gary and Paul went, all I knew is that large rapids lay ahead, they were Tuna Creek Rapids (6), followed immediately by lower Tuna Rapids (6) and no one is rowing. Finally I was kicked out of this huge hole but into the main portion of the rapids. I made my way back to the seat in order to row the boat through it all, and there was only one oar!!! The hole we were in literally swallowed the right oar, breaking the rope that attached it. I did manage to keep it fairly straight through both rapids with one oar but I couldn't get it over to the shore. Finally, Dorothy came over on her kayak and helped me get closer and away from the rocks until Val and Chad got over in their raft and helped me untie another oar. This wasn't the wildest ride I had, but it was a good one.

The Henry boys survived, and were picked up by the others. When we used to live in Memphis, we had a pool. I became wary of people who used it. When I filled it, I put in ten thousand gallons. Later in the year I emptied it and took out eleven thousand! I can only imagine what the Henry boys did in the river that day and what I nearly did on that boat.


A few days later, Paul let me run Fossil Creek Rapids (6). He said if I could run 'em with one oar, I should be okay with two. We were all a little nervous about it though.

One of my favorite times during the trip was in the morning, sitting around the fire and eating breakfast. Everything was usually dry, for the most part, and we could laugh about the previous day. Pictured here is Val, Paul, Jerry, and of course the coffee pot, and I think that's Norms foot.

Sand is everywhere

Sometime during the trip Gary, Paul, and I began a conversation about sand and the simple pleasures of camping. I remember when my son came home from camp one year. He looked six inches taller. Then we washed his feet. I'm still finding sand in things from our trip. So, in honor of camping so many nights in the sand, I wrote this poem.

We camp in the sand, walk in the sand, talk in the sand,
And it's in my hair, in my nose, it's everywhere.
It's in my clothes, in my mouth, it's even North and South.
It's in my ears, and in my eyes, which really makes me sigh.
Sand is everywhere.

Sand is in my ham and in my spam,
So now it's in my teeth, which isn't really neat.
It's in the boat, in my totes, and in my coat, and on my floats.
It's in my shirt but I don't care, 'cause it's even in my underwear.
Sand is everywhere.

It's in my sleeping bag,
So at night I'm really sad.
It's in my cup, and on my fork,
which really makes me torqued.
It's on my plate, and in my eggs,
it's even on my legs.
Sand is everywhere.

It's in my shoes and in my socks,
It's in the water and the kitchen box.
It's on Jerry's head and even in his bed.
The only place it's not, according to the rumor,
is that dark place, in the groover.

Hiking Tapeats

Life on the Colorado River was interesting to say the least. Below is a photo of the trail up Tapeats canyon. One slip and a man will meet his maker on this trail. After a 200 foot climb up the sandstone, you follow this trail up several miles to Thunder River.

The hiking intensified that day. It was hot and the trail difficult. Not wanting to get her shoes wet, Dorothy got someone to carry her across the river. She was wise. Too bad her shoes didn't stay dry.

At Thunder River we were rewarded with a spectacular view. The river blows out of a hole in the side of the cliff with such incredible intensity. It then cascades down the side as a waterfall, literally like thunder. I was awestruck. Just to get perspective, note the large mesquite trees around the water.

Havasupai

Everyone has asked me if I saw Havasupai on this trip. Here is a photo of me taken near the Colorado River. We only hiked up about a quarter mile or so.


While I was here I took this photo of a Monkey flower by the side of the river. You could also seem some changes to the landscape since the recent flood raged through the canyon.

Vulcan's Anvil, Colorado River Grand Canyon

While rafting the Colorado River, we had to go by Vulcan's Anvil. It was a little ominous, knowing that Lava Falls (rapids rated a 10) was just about 1 mile ahead. I took this short video for your viewing pleasure.

Desert Big Horn walks through my camp!

Below is a video of a Desert Big Horn Sheep that came through my camp while river rafting on the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon.

Jerry runs Lava Falls

Below is a video I took of Jerry running Lava Falls. He went first and I think this gave the rest of us some courage to stop talking and start rafting. What a switch.

Back from Grand Canyon River Trip

I'm back from my rafting trip down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. For all my photos click the photo on the right titled Grand Canyon. However, the trip was not without incident. Here are a few highlights...

1. The boat nearly overturned on Tuna Creek Rapids 7 (after successfully negotiating Hermit 10, Granite 9, and Crystal Rapids 10), but lost Paul, Gary, and one oar overboard, and I had to pilot the boat with one oar through the rest of Tuna Creek 7 and Lower Tuna 6.

2. Boat did flip over on 209 after encountering a very deep hole, all passengers out and swimming including me. Swallowed lots of water. Oars stayed on boat this time but lost drag bag with beverages, one bootie, Paul's sun glasses, and Paul's lucky hat.

3. Video taped a Desert Big Horn sheep in camp only 5 feet from me! (will publish more on this later)

4. Video taped Jerry successfully running Lava Falls first, giving the rest of us some courage. (will publish more on this later)

5. Successfully, and remarkably ran the new Pierce Rapid now exposed because Lake Mead is lower, however I witnessed Val, Chad, and Dorothy flip their raft over and swim for their very lives through a boiling cauldron of churning mud. It seemed like all of them lost at least one shoe.

6. Never found Paul's lucky hat.

The zoomer

Here's a photo of Kathy and Paul from a previous trip on the Colorado River. Notice the zoomer swinging precariously from the very top of the boat behind Kathy. Knowledge of the contents would leave most of you staggering at our haphazard method of securing it. No problems on this day.

Voting

I've decided to stop voting. It'll be great not to feel that I'm responsible for what goes on in Washington. You see, a public official is very often a man who has risen from obscurity to something worse.

The trick for a politician in any campaign seems to be how to win without proving that you are unworthy of winning. Think hard before you vote, there's a lot to lose.