Another 5AM start. I got ready by about 5:15 and headed to the Starbucks for a soy chai, a scone, and some snacks. For some reason I decided last minute that it’d be nice to have a Mojo Bar in my day bag each day on the river, so I was on the hunt. No Mojo’s were found, but I found some Cliff and Odwalla Bars. The 3 hour bus ride from Flagstaff to the drop in point at Lee’s Ferry was boring as expected, but it gave me chance to observe my comrades a little and see what they were all about.
There’s a group of five older people (Mitch, Jacque, Vonnie, Russ, Carolyn) from various parts of the country that have done a good amount of hiking and mountaineering. I expect them to be very competent hikers and I stand to learn a lot from them about the surrounding wildlife (they seem to have knowledge in that area).
There’s a younger couple from the Maryland area (Chuck and Nancy). Don’t know much about them yet, but they seem like really nice people. Chuck always seems eager to help out. There’s another couple (Keith and Beth) from Las Vegas. All I know about them so far is that Keith brought his spin fishing gear.
Last but not least is the trio from Houston, TX (John, Patricia, and Joyce). Joyce is 81! I commend her for coming down to the Canyon, but of all the trips one could take through the Canyon, why take a “hiker’s special” when you don’t like (or aren’t capable of) hiking? She at least provides some comic relief though due to her being a little hard of hearing. After the whole boat had finished discussing a cliff dwelling plant someone had spotted, she turns around and says “Hey, look at that plant” as if we hasn’t even been talking about it. Ha! All 3 of them seemed pretty unexcited about the camping experience. I hope they get over that, or it’s going to be a long trip for them.
Our crew for this trip is: Rob Elliot (Trip Leader), Nikki (Swamper – I have no idea where that name comes from), and Brent (Assistant). Brent is an avid kayaker and recently graduated with a physics degree from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. This is very first trip through the Grand Canyon. Rob has been a guide for 30 years! Already it’s clear that we’re going to get much more of a geology and history education on this trip compared to the last one. I’ll be lucky if I can retain 10% of what I hear, but I enjoy the information nonetheless.
Today Rob was explaining all the layers of rock we were rafting through. He also told us about some past expeditions and even showed us an inscription on a rock made by the 1890 Stanton-Brown expedition someone had died back in the 1890’s.
Lunch was a make-your-own-sandwich affair with turkey, avocado, lettuce, and good whole grain bread. Yummy!
The plan for the evening was to camp at North Canyon to set up camp and go for a short hike. When we got closer we could see that there was already a raft camped there so we camped at another beach nearby. We’ll do the hike in the morning.
The daily plan of attack after beaching the boat is this: Take your PFD and day bag and go find a campsite. Then come back to the boat and form a bag line to unload bags and kitchen stuff. This whole line forming thing is difficult for some people.
It looks to be a very clear night, so I laid out my tarp away from tent and away from other people. It’s a little more of a trek than some other campsites, but I think the solitude will be worth it. After I set up my space I got out my fly rod and did a little fishing near camp. Even though my wet fly technique sucks, I still caught a couple fun little rainbow trout.
Dinner was great. We had salmon with lemon, rice, and a salad. For dessert there was a pineapple cake. Following dinner we got together to let everyone introduce themselves again, give their hiking experience, and list what type of hikes they’d like to do. I was pleased with the outcome.
I said “bring it on”. (No, he didn’t say “It’s already been broughten.”) I want to do some hard hikes and some hikes that people normally wouldn’t get to do. I was very pleased to hear Rob say that it was his goal to make the hard core hikers happy. I can’t wait see where we go. I know we’ll most likely be hiking Havasu Creek. (totally psyched).
We also found out more about our guides. Nikki is Navajo. I’ve never hung with a Native American, so hopefully I can learn some things. Rob, it turns out, is the owner of the company and has an impressive resume of river guiding. I look forward to learning more about (and from) him.
Time for bed now. The stars are amazing!
 |  |
| My first camp site | View from my first campsite |
No comments:
Post a Comment