Jackass Canyon
Awoke at o'dark thirty to find the rain had stopped and the stars had come out. I briefly considered climbing out of the tent to set up a camera and tripod but was just too comfortable to move very far until the low resonant sound of the conch (a GC version of a rooster) echoed up from the beach. When everyone did finally roll out of sleeping bags and stumble towards breakfast, all the gear and tents were wet. Sandy and wet. This made for clammy and painstakingly slow packing and the group didn't slide off of Jackass Beach until after 9am. Last nights rain has turned our previously clear water to chocolate milk. Graham started his morning with a hike back up to the top of Badger Rapid for another shot at the surf wave at the rapids entrance. Water levels had changed overnight essentially causing the
surf spot to disappear and beaching our rafts on the shore. Graham did make friends with an exploding haystack wave in the rapids center which rather dynamically shot his bow 5 feet out of the water straight up in the air before unceremoniously dumping him on his head. Tah dah!Beached Rafts
Hoppy, as is quickly becoming the norm was the last person off the beach. The quantity of crap he has managed to bring with him could fill a raft. Pam opted not to paddle today after ending yesterday with a swi m and generally feeling less than 100%. Instead she spent most of the day cleopatra style in the front of an oar raft. Meanwhile, both Jane and Mary Lamb have jumped into the action and chosen the paddle boat for the day.
We headed down the river as the sun crept down the canyon walls. At mile ten we passed an enormous mid-river coconino sandstone boulder. Ten mile Rock. It was rather hard to get any paddling done at all with the constant urge to stop and take pictures. This place is photogenic in a '360 degree, anywhere-you-look' kind of way.
Ten Mile Rock
We passed a private group just having breakfast before our first rapid of substance for the day, Soap Creek. At least there is one group slower than us at getting going in the morning. Our second rapid, Sheer Wall started with a beautiful twisted waterfall slipping down the canyon on river left. The rapid itself was essentially a series of giant haystack waves that Don announced could be run 'hey diddle diddle right down the middle". We played our way through the flat water section that followed finding the occasional eddy line whirlpool big enough to bury a boat. On one of these eddy lines, I executed my first G.C. flip and roll. Nice to have it out of the way. Meanwhile Rob busied himself attempting to achieve a flat water loop.
Above House Rock Rapid I pulled over to use the facilities and promptly sunk in thick mud up to my knees. Elephant mud. I managed (barely) to extricate my feet with both booties still in place. I could already build a large sandcastle with the amount of mud and sand in my boat. Nice. We actually got out and scouted House Rock Rapid to eyeball the gnarly and impressive lateral and the giant hole if feeds at the bottom left. Given my propensity for finding holes, I ran far right
and had a run so smooth I believe my deck was dry. Hoppy managed to get nearly to the bottom of the rapid before flipping and becoming the trips second swimmer. Graham ended up way left and squarly hit the hole. He disappeared and then magically bubbled to the surface and zipped off the holes right shoulder. We'd have picture evidence to prove it but the battery called it quits before he started his run. Take my word for it. Awesome.House Rock Rapid
Lunch followed soon after above an epic surf spot at Redneck Rapid. I managed to get on for a shor
t surf while Jim , Graham and Rob began battling for title of 'Surf King'. Graham, in the long blue torpedo boat, managed to attain and get on the first wave in the series which nobody else could stay on. My own surfing efforts were seriously curtailed by the threat of losing the substantial lunch I'd scarfed down moments earlier.Continuing downstream (well behind the raft flotilla at this point) we pulled over at North Canyon for a short hike. We started up the path past patches of sacred Dartura. These were pointed out to us as useful as medicinal/hallucinogenic and 'poisonous'. Rubbing the leaves smells a bit like peanut butter. Continuing onwards layers of rock sloped downwards and in places looked as though they had melted. Very cool.
Up top was a pool of red water with a little trickling falls at the other end. Everyone stopped to relax. After a few minutes of goading and peer pressure Jim waded in to determine exactly how deep the pool was. Rob and Graham followed suit attempting to scale their way across the rock wall befor Graham slipped and submerged himself entirely. By report the canyon above the waterfall was damn cool. I'll have to see the pictures. Climbing back
towards the rafts we discovered that we were actually camped for the night. Very sneaky. Our group is anything but fast and we haven't exactly been making a lot of miles.Relaxing in North Canyon
The beach at lower North Canyon was about as beautiful a spot as one could hope for. Expansive views of the Canyon both upstream and down. Unfortunately, foot travel from the kitchen to the beach was tough as the way was strewn with boulders that looked likely to result in a broken ankle in the dark. As a result, we opted for an intermediate protected spot. Less of a view but private and protected from the wind.
Our second night at camp was much improved. Social, warm and dry under the stars. The moonlight completely bathed the canyon walls. Perfect. I still can't believe I'm here.
Other Notes:
- Rob shat a cactus - see photos for details.
- Graham has adopted a mission of learning to eat eggs. Graham hates eggs. Should be good.
- I've been in the G.C. for less than 48 hours and my hands are already peeling. If I was the type to get manicures, I would desperately need a manicure.
Ouch - Cactus Grooving
Go to Day 3 - North Canyon to Nautiloid Canyon
Link to Photo Gallery Day 2
No comments:
Post a Comment