Day 4 - Nautiloid Canyon to Lower Saddle Camp

A quick update on some details of camp life. First the 'Graham and Egg' situation. I mentioned earlier he hates them. Fair enough. Despite this he has decided to train himself to eat them on this trip. Why I don't know, but since it seems that egg is featured prominently in most breakfasts on the canyon, he has ample time to practice. It turns out it's the egg-white he particularly despises. For Graham it's a texture thing. The French Toast went over ok. Eggs made to order with corn beef hash is slightly more daunting. He bravely soldiers on but can't avoid commenting that those of us scarfing down thirds with beautiful dripping eggs over the top are "demented". More for me I say.

Nautiloid Camp From Above (photo by Graham)


With the rain gone, most of the group has taken to sleeping under the stars. The moon will be full tomorrow and already it is so bright at night it almost makes it difficult to sleep. There was some good old-fashioned drunken revelry on the rafts last night and I'm glad to see everyone up and alive this morning. As for today, the morning starts off a little differently. The plan is to head just downstream to a spot on river left for an optional hike up to the plateau above the cliff. All kayaks, gear and people are piled on the the rafts for the quick float around the corner. Jim takes this opportunity to give raft rowing and whirl and Josh tells us stories of the Kolb brothers who made the trip from Green River Wyoming down the Colorado and through the Grand Canyon for the purposes of making a film in 1911. When they passed this particular spot in early winter, exhausted, missing home and greatly discouraged, Ellsworth Kolb made the following remarks:

Jim Tries Out An Oar Raft

"Then came a gloomy, prison-like formation, with a "Bridge of Sighs" two hundred feet abovea gulch, connecting the dungeon to the perpendicular wall beyond; and with a hundred cave-like openings in its sheer sides like smallwindows, admitting a little daylight into its dark interior."


Bridge Of Sighs

You can't help but get the sense their mood was a bit darker than ours today.

Eileen On the Plateau

Mike and Josh Up Top (photo by Graham)

Across from the Bridge of Sighs we stop at a small beach and those interested in hiking head up. Straight up. Within minutes the boats on shore look like matchbox cars.

Before long we reach the plateau and everyone scrambles about taking pictures.

We walk by a rock covered in fossilized shells. Evidence of an ancient sea high above the river. It's a beautiful morning, sunny and cool.

Fossilized Shell

Everyone pauses to soak in the pleasant morning sun and peer over the cliff edge at the tiny dots of the people and boats below.

The Boats and A Long Way Down

The hike back down passed quickly until we got to the crux move just at the base of the cliff wall.
Everyone slowed their pace to choose hand and footholds except Kelsey who in her typical flip flop footwear, simply scrambled down the face, mountain-goat style.

The Crew Descends Across From Bridge of Sighs

Back at the beach everyone piles into the boats. Next stop was at the site of a proposed dam in Marble Canyon. Damn Dam! The folks who did the excavation and surveying here were dead serious. Hundreds of men worked in shifts drilling and digging tunnels to ascertain the best spot. Having only been on the river a few days I am already attached and the thought of all we have seen being lost underwater is nauseating. Truly unthinkable. I can only be grateful that it didn't happen. Still, it makes you think about Glen Canyon buried beneath Lake Foul (Powell). Larry takes a bit of time to fill us in some details of water politics and water reality when it comes to the Colorado River and the Western United States. I can summarize briefly: it's a mess and it's only getting worse.

The Damn that Wasn't.

I want you to do one thing in connection with [the Grand Canyon] in your own interest and in the interest of the country... Leave it as it is. You cannot improve on it. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it.
.......THEODORE ROOSEVELT, 1903

Anasazi Bridge

A stretch of calm water below left time for reflection and sightseeing. In the langour of the day, time slips by like water. It is easy to lose track of days in a Canyon which has witnessed billions of years of history. The sun which was so pleasant on the morning hike, blazed in earnest and I found myself paddling from one shady spot to another beneath the canyon wall all the while reapplying copious quantities of sunblock. We lazily float past Royal Arches a m41.7 and then near mile 43, 100s of feet above the canyon floor, Don pointed out the remains of an ancient Anasazi Bridge. All that remains is a few dark, splintered, horizontal logs perched precariously against the limestone cliff walls. The fact that this was used a path at all is amazing. Squinting up through the sun it was difficult to pick out how they would have made their way to bridge.

Soon after, discussion started on possible surfing at President Harding Rapid. Don warned of the seething, boiling eddy behind the rock which forms the surf wave. I eyeballed the pillow in front of the rock and decided to skip it. Jim, Rob and Graham tentatively went for the wave but were quickly blown off on surfers right. Graham opted to climb back up for a second try and hitting the pillow square in the middle, spent a few fantastic seconds surfing before being flushed through and cartwheeled end over in the in the hole and shoulder waves below. After that spectacle, the wave found no more takers.

Private Trip Group at Upper Saddle Camp (Photo by Eileen)

Our camp for the night was Lower Saddle Canyon Camp. The Upper Camp was occupied by deer and a private group on a layover day. The expansive flat beach here was conducive to all kinds of social activity including the first trip game of Koob. Koob (a Viking game that I won't describe in great detail but that involves knocking down blocks of wood with sticks) is oddly compelling and requires some throwing skill but most importantly can be played with a beer in hand. Hoppy turns out to be a Koob ringer. Who knew.

Lower Saddle Canyon Camp

Go to Day 5 - Lower Saddle Camp to LCR