This morning was a little dew-ey, which meant that the stuff I had hanging to dry from yesterday’s rain was still damp. No biggie, just a little annoying.
I love the glass smooth portions of the river. In the Canyon, the river kind of follows the pattern of pool, rapid, pool, rapid, etc… Some pools are slower than others, and we went through several today. It’s so neat to look out across the water and see the beautiful canyon and its perfect mirror reflection below.
We stopped later morning at Nankoweap Canyon. There’s a big delta at the river where Little Nankoweap and Nankoweap Canyon flow into the main canyon. A loooong time ago (1000-2000 years ago) the Anasazi would farm this delta with corn, beans, and squash and they would store their planting seeds high above the river in granaries molded into the cliffs to keep rodents and moisture out in the off season. We hiked to the granaries and got to see them up close and personal. There were also 2 caves to the left of the granaries that I scurried over to solo. I didn’t want to get too close because I wasn’t sure if it was a no-no, but I got close enough to one to see the mud-mortared wall and I snapped a couple pictures.
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| Nankoweap Granaries | View from hike |
A short ways down the river we came to the mouth of the Little Colorado River. Typically the Little Colorado runs an awesome shade of blue caused by the mineral travertine that comes out of the rocks. If it has been raining heavily in the area, it will turn a muddy brown color and it means the rest of the Colorado River will be muddy. We weren’t sure which version of the Little Colorado we’d get due to the recent rains, and we were happy to see it was blue when we pulled up. The main river is still a little brown, but Rob thinks it will clear up in a day or two.
The Little Colorado is also significantly warmer than the Colorado, so it was fun to play in. We strapped our life jackets around our waist (legs through the arm holes) like a big diaper and floated down the rapids. It was a blast. Even Rob took a trip down, and he was grinning ear to ear when he was done. It’s awesome to see the crew having fun too, instead of just working. (I think Rob was happy too because he scored some butter and other staples from another AZRa boat. Apparently our trip had forgotten to pack them.)
From there we really motored down the river to a campsite called Rattlesnake. Along the way Rob revealed his plan for our next hike (which he referred to as a preposterous proposition). He pointed to a peak called Tabernacle which is 2000+ feet above the river. To do this hike, 7 of us are getting up at 5AM so we can beat the heat. The view ought to be spectacular.
Tabernacle (the single peak on the right)
As I look around camp, I see most everyone is choosing to sleep in tents instead of under the stars. I wish they knew what they were missing. I think I shall try to talk some people out of their tents tonight.
My backpack is packed for tomorrow morning, ravioli dinner is just about ready, and I’m going to do some stretching before I eat.
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