photos of Western River Expeditions J-rig pinned in Crystal

Here's a photo of the commercial raft that the NPS rangers took two days to get off Big Red rock Aug 6, 2010. Check out the yellow oarrig that floated into the blue motor rig and subsequently pinned.



1/29/2011: I just rec'd some additional photos from the NPS on this pin:

313 Days to Go - LCR

180 degree view of the LCR.

TL Report: Hello! We had a great vacation in the Keys and saw several of the folks coming on this trip; my brother, Jim, plus Eve, Elaine and Meg. Thanks all for a wonderful time it was so great to see you guys!  I posted an Condor Release update yesterday on the blog. Check it out.

Reminder: Sept 1st deposit of $500 per person is due in less than two weeks. This is your friendly PSA for the week.

What the Grand Canyon Private Boaters Assoc has been chatting about this week: Everyone is posting about a commercial outfitter who pinned in Crystal last week. Apparently, it took the NPS rescue rangers (who had to helocopter in) TWO ENTIRE DAYS to get their j-rig off Big Red rock (sounds alot like an action movie). Conventional wisdom on the forum says this will cost the outfitter somewhere around $20,000 to $30,000 in fees. Wow. The good news is the water was running, get this, an incredible 23,000 cubic feet per second (cfs)!! Big Wow. That's some great water for GC. There's a previous post on the blog with the unabridged press release.

Also the NPS has filed a 48-page criminal complaint against a trip leader who did everything wrong you could possibly do on GC. This guy allegedly defrauded the trip of money, harassed the women on his trip, broke every rule in the non commercial river trip regulations (including splitting the trip, using a motor, lying to rangers, exceeding trip numbers) and generally terrorized his trip mates. The complaint is fascinating reading, kinda like a train wreck in slow motion. Many on the forum suggest people going on a GC private trip should read the events of this trip-gone-WAY-bad as a big reminder why group dynamics are so vital to a positive trip experience. I've posted the entire complaint on a previous post in this blog. It is public record.

Ok, on to happier stuff:

Mileage This Week: River mile 57-62. Woo Hoo! We are up to one of the coolest places on the river, the confluence of the Little Colorado River (the LCR) and the Colorado. We will spend a lot of time here as it is an amazing hike/swim/exploration/cover-your-tribe-mate-with-mud spot.

 The LCR confluence with the Colorado River (above). The main river is running dark green here. Unfortunately we can't camp on the island!

LCR swim train - It's fun to take your PFD and head up the LCR right bank to float back down through  the riffles. Though still cool, the waters of the LCR are noticeable warmer than the water in the main river. This is a very popular stop for river runners, and we should expect others to stop while we are here.

Travertine

The LCR drains 37,000 sq miles of Arizona and New Mexico and runs muddy brown when flooding, but otherwise is a beautiful aquamarine color from mineral springs upstream. The calcium carbonate creates the amazing travertine dams throughout the river. Due to the high mineral content of the water, is not potable (we can't drink it).

 LCR Paco Pad fun

GC History: The rock cabin built under an overhang near the LCR belonged to Ben Beamer, who built it in 1889. He was a prospector who tried to farm near the river's mouth. Powell discovered an Indian archaeological site in this vicinity in 1869, but the site was never relocated. It is believed that Beamer's cabin occupies the site and that the foundation was originally used by the Indians. Pottery shards found in Beamer's dump indicate that the overhang was used by Kayenta Indians during the 12th century and by the Hope as early as 1300 A.D. to the 1800's.

Beamer’s cabin tucked into the cliff near the Little Colorado River (seen during low water) in 1955. Although off limits to hikers and river rafters, Ben Beamer’s cabin may still be seen today along the south bank of the Little Colorado River.

Equipment/Camp/Info Check: No fishing at the confluence of the LCR and the Colorado due to this little endangered guy.

Prior to the building of the Glen Canyon Dam, the humpback chub, a native fish to the Colorado River system, lived throughout the Colorado River system in Arizona and Utah. However, this species was added to the endangered species list in 1967, after the completion of Glen Canyon Dam. The largest remnant population of humpback chub now survives near the confluence of the Little Colorado and Colorado River.

Diving Superhero Raven in Grand Canyon -I love this picture!

Hey Look! A dry bag that surely has fud in it!

And as long as we're on animals, lets look at one of the biggest pests on the river: the Raven. Ravens in GC are huge and aggressive. They see people as two-legged vending machines. Any food left unattended on a raft or at camp will quickly vanish. They have also been know to tear holes in dry bags. Here's a link to a video from the NPS on ravens.

Next Deadline: $500 per person is due September 1st. If your trip status changes at anytime (IE, need to do a half instead of a whole trip), please let me know as soon as possible so we can fill your ½ space. This will lower your cost. Question? Post it on the blog or email me and I will get back to you.

Criminal complaint against GC trip leader

Here's the criminal complaint the NPS filed against Doc Thomas. This is public record. The first page lists the abbreviated counts. The next bunch of pages are explanations of GC/Colorado regulations/background. The NPS evidence gets started around page 18 and it's riveting reading. I can only imagine how horrible this experience must have been for the participants. This is a long document so give it a minute to load.

Criminal Complaint Against DocThomas

NPS has to rescue commercial outfitters at Crystal

Successful run of a commercial raft in Crystal

Whitewater rafters rescued after 5-hours stuck in Grand Canyon National Park's Crystal Rapids

August 11th, 2010 2:49 am

Grand Canyon, Ariz. – With the busy Labor Day weekend around the bend, river rangers, search and rescue (SAR) personnel and the park’s inflatable Zodiac boat were flown by helicopter into the Grand Canyon National Park to rescue rafters stranded on Crystal Rapids. Crystal, one of the highest rated whitewater rapids in the Grand Canyon, has earned the expression "ABC" for "alive below Crystal" from veteran river runners.

Rescuers were deployed after the Grand Canyon Regional Communications Center received a report of a boat stuck on the rock garden at Crystal Rapid on Friday, August 6 shortly after 3:00 p.m.

One of two motorized rafts in a Western River Expeditions (Western) boat trip had become stranded at the top of the rock garden at Crystal Rapid. The Zodiac was deployed to rescue the boat’s passengers; and by 8:00 p.m., the 16 passengers and crew had been transported to shore where they set up camp. The other raft in the party continued on to Lower Tuna, a large campsite at GCMRC Mile 100.1.

Congestion in the great outdoors

The following morning, an Outdoors Unlimited oar-powered raft became stranded at the same location as rescuers were attempting retrieval of the Western raft. Rescuers already on the scene quickly rescued the boat’s operator and transported her to shore, where she rejoined the Outdoors Unlimited trip.

On Saturday, a separate Western river trip passed through the area and picked up half of the passengers from the stranded boat on the original trip. On Sunday, a raft sent by Western to take the place of the stranded raft arrived at Crystal Rapid, resupplied the Outdoors Unlimited trip which had lost gear when its boat flipped, then picked up the remaining passengers and crew from the original Western trip so that they could continue down the river and rejoin the rest of their group.

Once resupplied, the Outdoors Unlimited trip also continued down river. Their boat was freed late in the day on Sunday and tied to shore downriver of the rapid so that Outdoors Unlimited personnel could retrieve it at a later date.

Monday, August 9, 2010 at approximately 4:00 p.m., a full three days later, after unloading and partially de-rigging the raft to lighten its load, rangers were able to finally free the Western raft. The craft will be reloaded, rigged and maneuvered downstream to the take out at Pearce Ferry. Final operations and clean up at Crystal Rapid were expected to be completed by the end of the day Tuesday.

No injuries were reported from either of the two unfortunate boating parties.

July 2010 GC Condor Release

On July 1, 2010, three condors were released at the Vermillion Cliffs, just north of Lee's Ferry. The NPS did a great job of documenting this public release at this youtube link. Check it out. At this point in time, 76 condors are flying over Grand Canyon!