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The Big Ditch Rafting and Kayaking 290 miles of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon The really is no way to communicate the intensity of an experience like this. Not only were we immersed in the gothic complexity of the most fantastic geological, architectural, archeological, spectacle on earth, we were confronting big water rapids of varying intensity and difficulty on a daily and often hourly basis. But still, it goes further than that. Surrounding the river are side canyons, hikes, climbs, and don't you know it; there's steeping creeking to be found on Tapeats Creek. We might start the day by running several big rapids and then hike to see roaring river immerge from the face of a 1000ft cliff. But still, it goes further than that. We climbed polished stone slides through granite and swam through murky green waters of Silver Grotto dragging my camera behind me in a watershed bag. But still, it goes further than that. We hiked slot canyons carved by water making its way down through numerous layers of stone to ultimately meet the mighty Colorado and particiapte in the slow sawing of the river into ancient sea beds. At Deer creek the 70' deep slot canyon ends in a 100' waterfall down to the river. But still, it goes further than that. I slept on a cliff edge below Anasazi grain storage caves that are hundreds of feet above the river. But still, it goes further than that. We worked, played, lived, and ate together. Sixteen of us in all. Many of us were meeting each other for the first time on this trip. We were thrust into 17 days of intense collaboration. The group dynamics further intensified the most dramatic setting I have ever experienced |
The Big Ditch |
MyOptic - A Visual Record of a Journey |
by Andrew Ludke |
MyOptic - A Visual Record of a Journey |
by Andrew Ludke |
Rafting and Kayaking 290 miles of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon |
Scouting the River The Colorado from 10,000 ft 7-2-09 We had met everyone the night before at the Moenkopi Riverworks "River House". We got up at sunrise and drove several miles to the flagstaff airport where Pete had parked Dad's Cesna Skylane the day before. Wayne, Pete, Phil and I flew out over the Grand Canyon for an eagles eye view of what would become our highway. We would soon learn that the view from deep inside the canyon shrouds the vast landscape we see from the sky, A narrow sliver of river will be our home for 17 days- and 300 miles. |
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Lee's Ferry Rigging and Launch Day 9-3-07 : Mile 0 After a late start leaving the Moenkopi Riverworks house we finaly made it to Lees Ferry where we had to rig our boats. Most of it had already been completed by the awesome Moenkopi crew but we did have to figure out how to securely pack 50 cases of beer on four rafts. Brady put together the most delicious shrimp boil that evening and we slept with nervouus excitement. Launch day couldn't have been nicer. Clear blue skies, clear blue green water. Mind you, very cold, 48degree, clear blue green water. Its a painful contrast on a 110 degree day. |
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Silver Grotto Shinumo Wash 7-4-09 : Mile 29 Early in our trip this year we climbed up Silver Grotto, a polished granite slot canyon that required group climbing skills. Not only was this a rare, beauitiful, and otherwordly place, but it was a fantastic team building experience at the same time. The group really got together and made this happen as we climbed with and without ropes, made human ladders, and scambled or swam through murky pools just to climb more reacherously polished granite slide. All the while dragging my SLR camera and lens in a drybag. It was 100% worth it. |
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House Rock: Introduction to Colorado River Whitewater 101 7-4-09 : Mile Our second day on the river introduced us to big raft flipping holes. House rock was the first significant threat, but the anxious fury of the river is somehow tempered by the sun light in the canyon. Colors shift constantly drawing sharp lines between shadow and sun, drawing out the deatils of the canyon walls and highlighting the whitecaps of the huge wave trains. |
Vasey's Paradise Grand Canyon National Park 7-5-09 : Mile 32 This was the first of a number of places we would visit on the trip where water emerges straight out of the cliff face reminding us that the river has sawn this gash deep into the earths crust exposing its veins and arteries. We pumped and purified water, refilling our 5 gal jugs, in the soaring heat of the day. Inbetween turns at the pump we lounged in the cool spring water while it traveled on its way to mix with the waters of the Colorado. |
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Redwall Cavern 7-5-09 : Mile 33 Cut into the redwall by rhe river this ginormous ampitheater-like space has a magnetic pull. It draws you in while you are still far upriver. This place is so big someone actuaully brought an entire symphony orchestra down here to perfom a concert . Mother Nature is a fantastic architect and the river is a powerful sculptural tool. |
Nautiloid Canyon 7-5-09 : Mile 35 This limestone canyon is polished smooth by eons on rushing water and debris that, like sandpaper, has ground away all the rough edges. On the floor of nautilod canyon you can find fossil remains of Paleozoic era nautiloids, squid-like creatures with tentacles and smoothly tapered shells. We found some large fossils that were most likley the shells. The climb and surrounding terrain was just as interesting as the fossils. |
The Remains of the Day 7-5-09 : Mile 38 It had been a long day that started with a short hike to see some more Anasazi grain storage sites, followed by our stop at Vaseys Paradise where we filtered water. Shortly after that we spent the hottest part of the day in Redwall Cavern. Later Nautiloid canon was also a nice retreat from the glaring sun. Yet before after and inbetween all this there was more to see and photoraph. We camped at Dinosaur, on the upwind end of the sand bar. By morning we were sandblasted; literally buried. There was sand everywhere. In your ears, In your nose. This would prove to be epecially troublesome for Wayne and his contacts as we would later learn. |
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Peubloan Graneries 7-6-09 : Mile 53 Way above the river at Nankoweap Canyon are a series of graneries carefully constructed in crevaces on the otherwise vertical face of the cliff walls. We hiked up the increasing steep slope with the entire group. It was such a magical place. Later that evening Wayne and I carried sleeping bags and pads back up the stepped trail and slept on the cliffs edge. Wayne chose a spot close below the graneries. I prefered a perch just below on a rock knob that promised a spectacular view of an early morning sunrise. We hiked down in time for breakfast. |
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Lets Make it a Short Day 7-7-09 : Mile ?? With an injury and some good side hike opportunities we called it quits and pulled into a campsite early. We had time to hike and see some more petroglyphs and theres almost always a scenic overlook opportunity if your willing to do the work to hike/climb the elevaation. We were of course cooking in the dark and no less rested after our hike but certainly content and happy and hopefully healing after Paul was injured falling out of the raft and talking a paddle to the forehead. |
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Bring it On. A Day of Great White Water. 7-8-09 : Mile ?? Blue Skies and White Water Friends Family Scorchin Heat Water Still Shocks Unpredictable Everything Pray for Shade Camp Get Paul cooled down! |
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Phantom Ranch. A Lot Can Happen in a Day 7-9-09 : Mile ?? The Day started with Wayne and I paddling across the river while everyone else was just getting up. There was a small side canyon hike that we wanted to check out. Its not always so easy to get across the river and back to the same spot because of the strong current, narrow landing opportunities and often shear canyon walls. Yet in this case we had a large enough eddy to paddle up allowing a reasonably easy ferry over and back. We found a giant Yuca bloom that had to be 18ft tall and nearby that Giant we found tiny frogs living in small wet crevaces in the rock wall. After breakfast the group continued on to Phantom Ranch where Phil divulges that he thinks he has a hernia. Phone calls are made as this is the only and last opportunitiy on the entire 300 mile trip. I found that I had a package waiting for me when I arrived at Phantom Ranch. While I haven't seen a box of BooBerry cereal in a super market in years, low and behold, there at the bottom of the Grand Canyon I would enjoy BooBerries. Yet that day the highlight was another delectible desert. After the scorching heat of the Canyon the ice cold bittersweet lemonade sold at Phantom ranch hit the spot. Leaving Phantom Ranch the river picked up speed and you could actually see the tilt on the river. We whirled along fighting to stay out of huge powerful eddy currents. The main flow would move choatically with huge seeams and boils 30 ft in diameter. |
Swimming Hermit, Running Crystal And Still Time for a Side Hike 7-10-09 We hit Hermit and Crystal at full tilt. The River levels were fluctuating in a tidal like flow between 9000 and 17000 cfs and we caught these big rapids at the peak. Hermits waves were huge. Riding down the back of one and up the wall of the next was a ride I will never forget. Launching off the crest of 12+ft waves. Its a humbling and empowering experience at the same time. |
Waterfalls,Slot Canyons and the Magical Elves Cavern The canyon rewards a well planned day. 7-11-09 With most of the group eager to get in as many off river activities as possible. We were able to enjoy sparkling waterfalls, huge meanderring slot canyons, and the fairlytale like Elves Cavern. Storm activity at the rim scared us out of Elves before we were really ready to leave, but threats of flash floods in the polished washbed was enough to move us along. |
All in a Day at the Bottom of the Grand Canyon 7-12-09 Yet another side hike to see fantastic sedimentary deposites, where the ancient sea floor is revealed in a fluid display of color and shape that resembled the Black and Blue blosom on my ankle from kicking the steel frame of the oar rig. We awoke to find our rafts high and dry and thats even after we moved them the night before trying to be conscious of the daily ebb and flow of the dam generated tide. After wrestling the 1000+lb oar rigs back into the river, which was no easy feat, we were rewarded with one of the best upclose wildlife expeirences yet. A family of sheep came all the way down to the rivers edge, drank fully and then climbed back up the impossibly steep and polished slick rock cliffs. Some more whitewater and another side wash to expore where natures persistence is revealed in a puddle full of tadpoles. We camped just above Tapeats Creek wash and before dinner decided to paddle down to where the creek enters the river. We carried our creek boats up the creek from there. No kidding there really is steep creeking to be found here. With several small drops and lots of meanderring rock gardens to charge through we again pushed the envelope full throttle untill we were ready for collapse. |
Hiking/Climbing from Tapeats Creek Wash to Deer Creek Wash Roaring River and a High Plataue 7-13-09 |
I had an idea of what we was getting into having run Tapeats Creek the night before, but the hike, or I should say climb, up Tapeats Creek wash to it's confluene with Roaring River was worth the efforts. Roaring river emerges wholesale from the face of a cliff. Oh yeah, and this is more that a thousand feet above the river . We pass right under the wellspring on our way to the plateau that is nearly a half mile above the river but still several thousand feet below the rim of the canyon. Traversing this high plateau we returned to the river down Deer Creek wash. Deer Creek digs a deep slot as it approaches the Colorado River. The 70' deep slot ends at a dramatic 100' ft waterfall the base of which skirts the mighty river. This was a 9 mile hike with 2000+ ft of elevation gain and 2000 ft descent on a hot day, but I am so happy we did it. |
Havasu A Sketchy Landing in an Enchanted Place Surreal and tropical looking, the Havasu drainage defy's description. Of course thats not all we did this day. 7-14-09 |
I think Pete is the only one who managed to pull into the eddy at the mouth of Havasu Creek, a badly placed boulder was poised to bounce any over eager rafts back out into the accelerating current that pulls past the otherwise shear cliffs on boths sides of the river. Everyone manged to get in along the cliff just past the commercial rafts except Paul Lawerene who was rowing by himself. He was pulled further down river and when he finally got along the cliff in a small eddy he dove into the water with the bow painter in his hand and tried to climb the cliff. After getting about 10 ft up the raft bucked, pulling him backwards off the cliff and back into the water again. On a second attempt he was met by a very calm Bob at the top of the 20 ft cliff who simply asked if needed help. |
Lava-liscious - Lava Falls A Giant Hole, Massive Reactionary Waves, and a Half Mile of Liquid Chaos. Lava falls is the biggest rapid on the river and the last big rapid before an 11th hour surprise. I sat high on the river right bank for far to long trying to get pictures of everyone running the rapid. The rocks along the river right bank are polished black and it was well over 100 deg and I baked on this stone furnace. There's a photo of Vulcans Anvil which is a huge block of Black volcanic rock that is the harbinger of Lava Falls just ahead. Waiting for over an hour for everone to get up the nerve to run the rapid, I got way to hot and dehudrated. After everyone else had gone through I felt really isolated as if i was taking it on alone. I laid down in the water for a few minites to cool off beore getting in my kayak. I was running a filmstrip through my mind of the line of foam that leads me right up along the edge of the giant scary sure death hole. You see while scouting and photographing I noticed that a pair of large boulders on river right 100+yards above the rapid created a little line of bubbles that appeared to surge back and forth out into the middle of the river and then back to the right shore as it approached the rapid. While it was scary to see how it moved far out into the river just above the giant hole it always entered the chaos right where I had decided I wanted to tackle this rapid. I was able to see that the wandering line was caused by the shape of the river, where the banks grew closer or shallower the line moved out into the river so it seemed to be predictable. Of course I had come to this conclusion after having seen all the kayakers and C1er's in the groups get munched by a huge V shaped wave at the top of the rapid. They took a similar line, but not quite as close to the big hole. I knew my chance of getting though this right side up were slim, but I thought if could get a little closer to the big hole and hit the first breaking wave with enough momentum, and turned a little toward river left, I could punch that wave and thereby avoid being pulled into the crotch of the V wave. Hitting the V would be a garaunteed upset in what would be highly turbulent water for sveral hundreds yards with huge reactionary waves that break like ocean waves coming from the bank on river right. This rucus of water on river right ends on a cheese grater like rock that is up against a giant bould . Surges of water several feet high rake over this sliced up rock and crash into the bould behind. I was a little freaked out and I really wanted to stay right side up. Well after waiting too long and over analyzing and overheating and getting nervous ... i ran it just like that filmstrip that was playing in my mind upright the entire way. |
A Sigh of Releif, a Cry of Pain Time to Relax and Enjoy the River 7-16-09 With Lava and all the large rapids behind us the group seemed to breathed a sigh of releif and took the opportunity to appreciate what we have accomplished and savor each moment as it flirts by ... the liquer and beer flowed liberally fresh fish for dinner, Dad is in rough shape after severly straining his back ... he can barely walk with assistance and he can't get in and out of the raft without help ...what to do? |
Diving Board Rock Who doesn't love to plunge off a rock into a deep pool of water. Well maybe this isn't for everyone. 7-17-09 |
Travertine Falls Funny the way it is. You don't meet many people on a wilderness trip like this, but when we needed a physical therapist to help releive the pain in Dads back thats exactly who we came across at Travertine Falls. Dad had to stay back on the raft after he did some serious damege trying to lift a steel amo can out of the lower storage space of our oar rig. For the past several days Dad could barely move. I was constantly worried about it. He could barely walk with assitance so I knew if he was tossed from the raft that he would not able able to self rescue. Anyway while the group was checking out Travergtine Falls another private group pullled up and asked why dad was in the raft by himself and he explained about his predicamnt and pain. One of the members was a physical therapist and suggest that he probably dislocated his heliac and that he should put a life preserver between his knees and squeeze his legs together as hard as he could. He immediately tried this and his hip joint popped back in place. Immediatly he felt releif, and miraculously when we returned from our site seeing he could walk again faily comfortably, if not entirely pain free. 7-19-09 |
A Night Float Were Coming In Hot 7-19-09 Typically canyon river trips end at _____ but we worked out an alternative whereby after passing the last serious rapid of the day we would lash all the rafts together into a Giant Flotilla and then float unattended, guided solely buy the river currents for 40 miles of river throughout the night. As it turns out this was the only day of bad weather and as the night float approached we watched the skies cloud up, darken, and rain. The cloud cover made the river and canyon pitch black. We couldn't see our hands in front of our faces except when a FLASH of lighting lit of the canyon walls for an just an instance. This only affording a glimse of the rocks careening by, there was always a sense of dreaded anticipation with the lightieneing as it might reveal an immenent collision wit the Canyon wall. Hittingthe wall mving at rough 5-6 mph according to bob's GPS was quite an impact. when it came totally unexpected it was downright disconcerting. On any other night we would have floated along at 3 miles an hour pulled along by the current, but with the storming wind gusts we careened and crashed into the canyon walls requiring an all night watch with flash lights and occasional oar work to avoid trouble or to get out of eddies. Rowig 4 rafts lashed together is difficult to say the least. While I wouldn't trade the experience for anything, I think some in the group could have lived without this harowwing finaly. |
Just Because it Ends in a Giant Lake Doesn't Mean its Placid. Still Some Surprises ... Stay On Your Toes OR SWIM! 7-20-09 |