What a great day. I got up just as the sun was coming out and fished for about 10 minutes. After I caught one small rainbow, I stopped and began to pack up my stuff.
Following a bacon and egg breakfast, we took the raft across the river and hiked North Canyon. We worked our way up the gradually narrowing canyon and were eventually treated to a neat pool nestled between the narrow canyon walls and fed by a late summer trickle. Judging from the rest of the canyon, it looks like the trickle is more like a stream in the spring.
Rob wanted to make it to a campsite around mile 50, so after our hike we started to haul down the river. After lunch we took a short break at Red Wall Cavern, which is one of the places I remember from my last trip. It’s a huge cavern carved into the canyon wall along the outside edge of the river and it acts as a great beach and a place to get out of the sun. Before we left, I took the chance to cool off and hopped in the water. It felt great!
Every year, a string quartet takes a trip down the river and stops at various beaches to play for whoever shows up. That trip is going on right now, but we just missed hearing them. :( They’re on an oar trip, so we won’t be seeing them anymore on this trip.
It eventually started to rain in the later afternoon and the Canyon looked amazing. In general, I dislike rain because it disrupts the things that I like to do. Today, however, I could see the beauty of the rain. Looking back towards the sun and seeing the rain drops fall for what seemed like miles into the Canyon was gorgeous.
Because of the rain and the high potential for another boat group at our proposed camping spot, we decided to camp early and hike before dinner.
The hike took us steeply up Eminence Break Fault and finished with us perched atop the Redwall Limestone layer and just below the Supai Group (a group of rocks consisting of Esplande Sandstone, the Wescogame Formation, the Manakacha Formation, and the Watahomigi Formation). The view as the sun was going down was awesome. It’s too bad some people bailed because it was raining when we started. At the top I sat on the edge of a cliff and let me feet dangle precariously over the 800’ drop. What a view.
When I got back to camp I decided it would be nice to clean up a little, so I grabbed my soap, shampoo, and towel and headed down to the 60 degree river water. I’m really not a fan of cold water. Being wet and cold sucks. After my afternoon dip though, I thought a short batch may no be that bad. I hopped into the water briefly and got out to lather up. Then one more quick dunk and I was done. It felt surprisingly invigorating, and I look forward to more swims.
Dinner was burgers and brats, with potato salad, beans, and a delicious carrot cake dessert. It’s amazing how well they can cook cakes in these dutch ovens.
The hike took a lot of time out of the evening, so it’s now quite dark as I’m writing. That reminds me of last night’s stars. Amazing! I could see a billion stars, some satellites, and even the Milky Way. I just glanced up for a second and saw the constellation Cassiopeia. It always reminds me of Christine because she pointed it out to me shortly after we met. I miss her and wish she were here to share these experiences with me. I’ll have to make a third trip down here. :)
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| Rob reads from "Encounters With the Archdruid" |
I would love to go do this trip with you!
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