26 Days To Go - Diamond and Travertine Falls

Diamond Peak - This formation is cool as it represents the elevation
the river has dropped over the length of the trip (226 miles).



 

 TL Report: Tribe, You all should have gotten several emails from me this week for trip housekeeping:

1. Libation acquisitions
2. Flight information
3. River House information
4. MOE sat phone battery rental information
5. MOE electronics recharging rental information

What the Grand Canyon forums are chatting about this week: Iridium satellite phone connection. I posted a thread asking what people's experiences have been with up link times and call duration on GC. Consensus from the forum is, mostly poor. You need a southern exposure for up link, and it can take anywhere from 0-20 minutes for a satellite to pass over to get a connection. Then call duration is usually about 1 minute or less before being cut off. Enough to say, "All's well here!" and "I love you!"

The cool thing about the Iridium phone is people can text your phone for free from Iridium's website and you can get the messages on the trip. I have asked my group to be discrete if calling home. Most folks want an "unplugged" wilderness experience, and I personally like being out of touch for the length of the trip.

Mileage This Week: River Mile 209-230



Diamond Creek take out

 After running a few rapids and some raft-loving holes we will arrive at Diamond Creek. This is the 226 mile marker and a frequent take out for trips before the Pearce Ferry take out road was completed on Lake Mead. This is the first place since Lee's Ferry, 226 miles upstream, that a road comes right to the Colorado River. This land is owned by the Hualapai Nation, and fees are collected for it's use. Our trip is not taking out here, but we must pass this point sometime on Day 16 to be in compliance with our GC permit.

Travertine Falls

Travertine Falls

Just below Diamond, we will run Diamond Rapid, (class 4) a 25 foot drop, and camp at Travertine Canyon, at mile 229. We will cover about 21 miles today. Dinner is Italian Chicken with an appetizer of Brie/dried cranberries/crackers. While at camp we can explore Travertine Falls, a series of impressive waterfalls close to the river.

Grand Canyon of the Colorado, near the big bend near Diamond Creek, by William Henry Jackson, probably 1892,  Jackson was the official photographer of the Hayden Survey of the American West, 1871-1878.The National Museum of Art, Smithsonian Institution.

GC History:
Diamond Creek, is a frequent take out for river runners. It is a 22 mile dirt road from the town of Peach Springs, Arizona, to the river, all through the Hualapai Nation. The Hualapai charge a whopping fee to take out here, so many trips, including ours, are now taking out at the newly constructed Pearce Ferry takeout downstream. The first part of the "road" is the streambed, which can be extremely rough and is subject to flash flooding.

The town of  Peach Springs was named by early explorers, who found Peach trees growing at the fresh water springs. Spanish legend states the trees were planted by Jesuit Missionaries from San Bernardino, who were looking for a silver mine in the area. Others credit the Peach trees to Mormon pioneers who passed through in 1852 looking for a crossing of the Colorado River back to Utah. Today, there are sadly no peach trees growing at the springs.

Spanish explores visited Diamond Creek in 1776 and Lieutenant Joseph Ives and Doctor Newberry, the famous botanist , visited in April, 1858. The journey down Peach Spring Wash (the Diamond Creek Road) still follows pretty much the same route as followed by these early explorers and the scenery has changed not all all. Ives reported seeing Hualapai, and being somewhat frustrated that they ignored his party.




Iridium Sat Phone



Equipment/Camp/Info Check: I've already sent the group email about this, but for the general public:

Moenkopi rents batteries that they state will power everything/anything electronic on the trip, $72 rental. I wish we knew this before we spent a fortune on Solar panels. :-(

Moenkopi will also rent extra batteries for the Iridium Satellite phone if you want to call home often (trip batteries are reserved for emergencies on our trip), $30 rental.

Thanks to Wendy, my gear guru, who passed on the SPOT Connect Satellite Communicator. This little device ($150 at REI) apparently hooks up to your smart phone to make it a Satellite phone. Cool. I'll let you know if it works in GC, as Wendy is bringing one.