It’s hard to distil into one write-up the full 20-day trip
down the Grand Canyon – or pair photos down to a manageable amount for
that matter. Thumbing through journal entries, and scrolling through pictures,
there are so many aspects of a trip like this – a winter expedition down the
Colorado River.
::This is a lengthy write-up so grab a cup of coffee/beer, or
just scroll down to the pics::
I left Squaw in early December on the heels of a very brutal
cold snap in the West. Temps were in the teens as I drove through snow-covered
landscape through Nevada, Utah and finally arriving in Arizona – to Lees
Ferry the put in for The Canyon float. There, I met up with my friend Blake,
and 12 of his friends from various boating experiences in his life. The Ranger who
saw us off, commented that we had more boats (by 4) than any group he'd checked in
for all of 2013. And on the 15th of December, all 11 boats pushed
off for the 280 miles through The Canyon down the Colorado River to Lake Mead.
We would be spending the holidays – both Christmas and New Years – on
the chilly river.
Days on the river were characterized by an abundance of flat
water, punctuated with huge rapids – waves sometimes 10 to 15 ft high.
Chilly mornings, packing up frost covered camping gear, made the shots of sun we
would get in the North/South facing stretches of river all the more
appreciated. Towering walls stood 2,000 ft at times, straight up from the
river. Sunsets lit canyon walls and nearby back-eddys up like fire, and gave
way to star studded nights, only interrupted by a moon that brightened The
Canyon to what felt like daylight – though that would change through the
trip to almost no moon by early January. If we pulled into camp early enough we
would enjoy the last bits of direct sun, sometimes barefoot and in shorts,
before redressing in long johns, several layers of down, gloves and hats as
soon as the sun neared the elevated horizons.
The big rapids were just that, BIG. Scouting would get the
heart pumping, but the group was strong and supportive, and allowed me to run
sportier lines than I may have otherwise not jumped into. Lava and Horn
definitely humbled me, but all’s well that ends well, and I ended up
right-side-up out of both. Perhaps the offering of a splash of rum from my
flask at Vulcans Anvil was the key for safe passage through Lava… On the final
day of 2013, I completed the last of 79 named rapids on the stretch of the
Colorado River. As I rowed through the tail waves of Gneiss Rapid I couldn’t
help but feel a sense of achievement and pride in the not just survival of it,
but the true success of my trip as well, only receiving a handful of Colorado
River smackdowns in the full 280 miles of river.
We celebrated our holidays in true form. For Christmas, we
decorated the camp with a makeshift x-mas tree from oars, strung with
lights and tinsel, and enjoyed driftwood adorned with candles.
What struck me as one of the most special aspects of the
trip was that I got to have the experience to really spend the time enjoying The Canyon in slow motion – in a world that rarely moves at that snails pace.
We have high-speed airplanes, fast cars and bullet trains. Getting from point A
to B, you tend to miss all the great things in-between. But not the case when
you take slow transportation down an ancient river corridor. It is truly an epic
experience in an incredibly beautiful and special place.
Coming off the river, I had still never seen the Grand
Canyon from the rim, so spent an extra two days backtracking up river, and out
a 3 hour dirt road to spend an evening and morning at the beautiful Toroweap
Campsite. Set on the edge of the cliffs just above Lava Falls (the largest rapid on the river).
A lengthy but fun vid from our trip
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| On the road again with some chilly temps |
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| Headed down The Loneliest Road in America |
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| I've arrived – at Lees Ferry, the put-in a few miles below the Glen Canyon Dam |
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| Morning light at put-in |
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| Frosted boats are ready to shove off |
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| The first of the side hikes show the temps we will be dealing with |
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| The cave at Red Wall on the left before the bend |
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| Playing around in the cave at Red Wall |
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| Navigating through one of the first of the major rapids – House |
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| Morning light looking up river from Nautaloid Camp |
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| Riverside lodging for our layover at Nautiloid |
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| Luxury of a layover |
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| Shaking the cobwebs off early in the trip |
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| Finally got a name for this dialed rig – Babar |
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| She's big in the flat water, but nice to have her size in the meatier stuff |
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| The beauty of The Canyon is found around every corner |
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| Keeping Babar straight for some more big hits |
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| Morning light in The Canyon |
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| It is tough to find a better view than at Nankoweap |
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| Where a short hike gets you a few hundred feet above the river |
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| To phenominally preserved Anasazi graineries in the cliff walls |
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| Nankoweap canyon is one of the largest with great views of snow covered buttes |
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| Reflections in the late afternoon at camp |
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| Mornings were definitely a cold time on the river |
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| Just gorgeous – confluence of The Little Colorado & The Colorado |
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The water is an unreal shade of light blue caused by dissolved travertine & limestone
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| Not a bad place to be on cook crew |
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| DO going for some dinner rolls |
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| Sunset after a nice dip in the river at Tanner Camp |
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| Campfire shadows at Tanner |
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| Stars are out and the canyon walls are lit up by the moon |
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| Evening moon is like daylight in our camp |
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Moon setting in the AM as we push away from camp to find some sun.
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| Evening campfire reflects off the wall at Grapevine Camp |
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| And some games, of course |
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| Pulled in at Phantom Ranch |
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| Looks more like Autumn than Winter at Phantom |
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| After departing Phantom, the whitewater gets pretty serious, but very fun |
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| And wet |
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| Scouting the big hole at Crystal |
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| Running Crystal left |
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| Caleb & Greta running the right line in Crystal |
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| Melson hits a pretty nice one in Crystal |
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| A nice hike up a clear creek on Christmas Day |
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| Great campfire banter after some big days on the river |
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| Johnny finds one final moment on the john at Galloway |
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| Another fantastic meal from Scott – this time Christmas dinner |
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| Melson showing off his x-mas feast |
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| Which we chased with some liquid libations |
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| And celebrated by the fire next to the christmas tree |
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| Jim entertained us with music of all kinds |
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| Our festive Christmas decorations |
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| The night proved to be a rather significant one for Santa |
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| Keeping the holiday spirit alive the day after |
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| Group side hike up Mat Kat |
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| Boats tied up at the confluence of Havasu |
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| Sun sets at Cove Camp on our evening before Lava – red sky at night, boaters delight... |
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| The crew gets our first look at the nasty Lava Falls from the scout |
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| Harlan runs it firs and styles it |
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| One of my favorite shots – Johnny's face is just priceless as he hits one of the big waves on Lava |
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| Scotty finishing strong |
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| Me getting a little turned around in the beast |
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| Jim & Katelyn getting the best hit of the group |
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| 11 in and 11 out upright |
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| New Years Eve celebrations – here with Blake |
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| 2014 started off a bit rough, though in a very serene spot |
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| Pulled in at our last camp on the cusp of the lake |
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| Silt sheds from the tall banks just down from camp |
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| We enjoyed nice balmy temps for our final camp at this nice large beach |
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| And though there wasn't much moon to speak of, we were treated to a nice rise |
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| All de-rigged and ready to head off in our separate ways – 20 days into the trip |
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| Off the river and camped up on the North Rim at Totoweap |
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| Enjoying the day and the views to myself |
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| One last, final sunset up on the river – Lava Falls seen in the river kink center |
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| Beautiful views in all directions and the ribbon of river lit up like fire |
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| And, one final chilly sunrise |
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| Just spectacular – looking East at Toroweap |
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| Some last moments with The Canyon before the long haul back to CA |
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| Over our 20 days on the river we saw fairly low flows from 9k to 12k |
(Many thanks to the friends from the trip for adding to the photos)
