229 Days To Go - Crystal



Pulling away from the hole at Crystal, high water. While I'd love to see it high like this, we probably won't!

 TL Report: Hey all, I'm pushing back the last deadline date to Feb 15th as January 15th seems too close to the holidays and their associated costs.  Please be sure to plan to have final trip money by that date. I will have finalized trip costs by then. Total trip costs are on track to be around $1000/pp  for full trips, $600 for Phantom to Lee's and $400 from Lee's to Phantom. This amount may go up slightly depending on if you'd like to use shared lodging before and after the trip  (around $15 per night per person) and if the trip wants  to do a big crawfish/crab boil ($18 per person) at the put in.

What the Grand Canyon forums are chatting about this week: There have been some posts of trips looking for participants for winter trips.  Per the GC Non-Commercial regulations, an individual can only go on one trip every 12 months. So a year from June, if you are interested in another GC trip, and you are cold hardy, you should lurk in the forums to try to score an invite.

Mileage This Week: River Mile 97-99:  We continue with big whitewater in this section, running Boucher Rapid, class 4 (out of 10), a 13 ft drop.

Crystal from above, you can see the main and lower rapids, and the scouting trails on the right

The Start of the Gems.
After Boucher,  we are going to get ready for Crystal, class 9 (out of 10), a 17 to 25 ft drop depending on the source. Crystal, like Lava Falls, is a name laden with import to all in the whitewater community, east or west. Created by a massive flash flood in the winter of 1966,  this rapid contains two very large holes that we will attempt to miss. Crystal and Lava (at River mile 179) are considered to be the biggest and most difficult rapids in Grand Canyon.

Crystal "map" with water flow from bottom to top. We want to thread the holes and stay off the island!  This is from Colorado River Briefs for a trip through the Grand Canyon by Linda and Dan Lindemann. Here is the link if you want a copy.

There are two runs as you can see from the map. A river right run - this is the high water run or the "cheat" route in normal levels - or the river left run, which involves threading the needle between two holes, then missing the wall on the bottom left. If that isn't enough, the boatmen will need to avoid the rock island at the beginning of lower crystal. This is a very long rapid as it is really two rapids stuck together. We will 100% scout, and anyone who wants to walk can walk - buuuuuuttttt, why would  you want to??  One of the fun things about running Crystal is the "ABC" party at the bottom. ABC stands for Alive Below Crystal :-) and usually involves copious amounts of alcohol.

The Crystal hole at 93,000 cfs during the 1983 flood. Wow!!



Crystal marks the beginning of "The Gems": the next 10 miles or so that will include Agate, Sapphire, Turquoise, Emerald, Ruby and Serpentine Rapids.

 GC History: Louis Boucher aka "The Hermit"


Boucher and Hermit Rapid is are named for Louis D. Boucher, an immigrant from Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada who arrived at the canyon’s South Rim before 1891. Boucher chose to settle and area about eight miles west of what later became Grand Canyon Village. He build the nearby Waldron Trail about 1896, and another early trail from Hermit’s Rest down past Sweetheart Spring to Hermit Basin about the same time.

Photo left: Louis Boucher on his trademark mule, Calamity Jane. Boucher spent time at the Grand Canyon’s South Rim and inner-canyon trails 1891-1909, and acquired his sobriquet, The Hermit, soon after he left to live in Utah.














Boucher is an enigmatic historical character, known after 1910 as “the hermit.” There is little doubt that he was eccentric, riding about the area on his pure white mule, Calamity Jane, and seemingly preferring his own company to others—odd behavior for an early tourist guide. The Santa Fe Land Development Company apparently labeled him The Hermit after they bought out his interests to build their own Hermit Trail in 1909, no doubt to add a little romance to their advertisements, but he was not a true loner.

Another oddity surrounding Boucher is that despite his publicized proclivity for being a hermit, he has more canyon features named for him than nearly all other pioneers combined: Boucher Creek, Canyon, Trail, and Rapids; Hermit Rest, Road, Trail, Camp, Fault, Basin, Creek, Rapids, and Shale; and Eremita (Spanish for Hermit) Mesa and Tank. A hermit in life, perhaps, but in the afterlife he is as well remembered!






Do you think there'll be enough soda?

 Equipment/Camp/Info Check: Since we are on the subject (ABC party reference above), let's talk about alcohol on the river. You are welcome to imbibe whatever you'd like to consume during the trip. Beer is pretty common, but anything is welcome. ALL beer/soda drinks must be in NON GLASS cans/bottles. Liquor in a glass bottle will need to be transferred into a plastic one (like a Nalgene bottle). Our outfitter, Moenkopi, works with an liquor distributor and will give us the opportunity to submit an alcohol order that will be delivered with the food at the put in at Lee's Ferry. I will put out information closer to the trip. From what I understand, you can order almost anything and they have a great selection of micro brew. That being said, please be sure to keep in mind that we will be in very hot conditions, and you will need to hydrate with water not beer. It's up to you, but moderation is key. Plus, we will have three tweens along, so keep any safety meetings under wraps.

Looks like everyone was hurting in the morning at this camp. But *wince* the beer cans on the beach are killing me. Atleast the party looks to have been below the high water mark (and the beer residue will wash away during the next tide).

Here's what MOENKOPI has to say about ETOH:

Beverages

If you would like to custom order your beverages ahead of time, and have it pre-loaded on the truck for you, please take your time and make a thorough list with the list below, so you can make your order in one shot. This will not be your last chance to pickup drinks, but it is an easy, no hassle way to do it. Use your TRIP NAME for buying individually.

After your list is complete, call Mark Wagner at 928 556-8675 or email him at mwagner@infomagic.net (I will do this for our trip)


Mark is a local, honest beverage distributor that can process your total order in one shot and then MOE picks it up to be loaded on the truck. Mark is not apart of Moenkopi Riverworks and is only here to make your organization easier. Please be kind and make it very simple for him, it's alot of work:) This order should be placed and paid for 2 weeks before your trip.

Lake Mary Chevron River Trip Pricing

Beer Items Size Qty Cost
Fat Tire Amber Ale 12oz 24 $31.90
New Castle Brown Ale 12oz 24 36.50
Dundee Honey Brown 12oz 24 27.90
Guiness Draught 16oz 24 49.30
Oskar Blues Dales Pale Ale 12oz 24 37.80
Oskar Blues Old Chub Scottish Ale 12oz 24 37.80
Oskar Blues Mama’s Yella Pils 12oz 24 37.80
Ska Brewing ESB 12oz 24 37.80
Ska Modus Hoperandi 12oz 24 37.80
Ska True Blonde Ale 12oz 24 37.80
Ska Mixed Up 12 packs (2) 12oz 24 37.80
Big Sky Trout Slayer Ale 12oz 24 35.90
Big Sky Moose Drool Brown Ale 12oz 24 35.90
Big Sky Scape Goat Pale Ale 12oz 24 35.90
Shiner Bock 12oz 24 35.90
Grand Canyon IPA 12oz 24 37.15
Grand Canyon Amber Ale 12oz 24 37.15
Four Peaks Sunbru 12oz 24 39.90
Mudshark Hefeweizen 12oz 24 32.90
Mudshark Belgian White Ale 12oz 24 32.90
Warsteiner 12oz 24 27.90
Moosehead Lager 12oz 24 31.90
Blue Moon Belgian White Ale 12oz 24 31.90
Red Stripe Lager (Jamaica) 16oz 24 35.90
Imperial Lager (Costa Rica) 16oz 24 35.90
Murphy’s Stout 16oz 24 41.90
Boddington’s Pub Ale 16oz 24 41.90
Fosters Lager 12oz 24 28.90
Heineken or Heineken Light 12oz 24 32.50
Amstel Light 12oz 24 32.50
Dos Equis Lager 12oz 24 32.90
Becks 16oz 24 32.00
Corona 12oz 24 31.75
Modelo Especial 12oz 24 26.00
Mike’s Hard Lemonade 16oz 24 34.35
Tecate 12oz 30 26.40
Pabst Blue Ribbon 12oz 30 17.99
Keystone Light 12oz 30 17.99
Budweiser and Bud Light 12oz 30 24.99
Coors and Coors Light 12oz 30 24.99
Miller Lite and MGD 12oz 30 24.99
Wine Items Size Qty Cost
Black Box Chardonnay 3 liter 1 $22.99
Black Box Cabernet Sauvignon 3 liter 1 22.99
Black Box Merlot 3 liter 1 22.99
Fish Eye Shiraz 3 liter 1 16.99

Liquor Items Size Qty Cost
Jack Daniels (glass) 1.75 liters 1 $43.99
Jim Beam (glass) 1.75 liters 1 34.99
Ten High (plastic) 1.75 liters 1 15.99
Black Velvet (plastic) 1.75 liters 1 20.99
Popov Vodka (plastic) 1.75 liters 1 15.99
Fleischmann’s Vodka (plastic) 1.75 liters 1 13.99
Smirnoff Vodka (glass) 1.75 liters 1 26.99
Jose Cuervo Gold (glass) 1.75 liters 1 35.99
Bacardi Superior (glass) 1.75 liters 1 26.99
Captain Morgan Spiced Rum (glass) 1.75 liters 1 28.99
Jagermeister (glass) 750 ml 1 24.99
Bailey’s Irish Cream (glass) 750 ml 1 23.99
Kahlua (glass) 750 ml 1 24.29
Booth’s Gin (plastic) 1.75 liters 1 21.99
Dewars White Label Scotch (glass) 750 ml 1 25.99
Mr. & Mrs. T’s Mixers (plastic) 1 liter 1 5.99
M & R Vermouth (glass) 375 ml 1 5.99
(Additional liquor items and sizes are available upon request)




Other Items Size Qty Cost
Assorted Soft Drinks (your choice) 12 pack 1 5.99
Assorted Mixers 1liter 1 1.89
(club soda, ginger ale, tonic water, seltzer water)
Nestle Bottled Water .5 liter 35 7.99

All beer is in cans. Wine is boxed wine. Liquor comes in plastic and glass
bottles. (You can pour product from glass bottles into plastic for your trip.)
Prices do not include sales tax (9.446%).
Orders should be placed at least 14 days prior to trip date


Next Deadline: Final trip balance is due February 15th. 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.

236 Days To Go - Hermit

The Giant waves at Hermit - Woo Hoo!

What the Grand Canyon forums are chatting about this week:  It has been four years since the 2006 Colorado River Management Plan was adopted. Steve Sullivan, the head ranger at the River Permits Office at GC just put out a GREAT graphic summary of lottery-related information here. The 5 questions the National Park Service was recently asked: 

1. How many noncommercial launches go unused? All lottery allocations were claimed, however the unclaimed trips were limited in number and all were the result of either no shows at Lee's Ferry, or very last minute cancellations.
2. What can you tell us about lottery applicants? the average age of lottery participants was around 50 years. No one from Kansas or No Dakota has applied for a permit since 2006! Colorado was responsible for 25% of permit applications, Arizona 9%.
3. Have noncommercial passengers changed? Not significantly, there are more winter trips and it seems the younger set (20's to 40's) are mainly using these trips.
4. Are there many former wait list members left? 36% of the old wait list members (3060 out of 8,500 people) have not received trips or have not applied for a permit.
5. Will the February 2012 Main Lottery be just like the February 2011 Main Lottery? No. There will be a lot more trip available. 2007-2011 were transition years, where old waiting list people were allocated trips before the lottery opened. Starting in 2012, all available launch dates will be included in the lottery. Actual launch availability will increase from approx 235 to 450+. Wow, it will make getting a trip a bit easier next time.

Entering f Hermit

5th wave at Hermit

Mileage This Week: River Mile 95-97. We have arrived at one of my favorite rapids of all time, Hermit, class 8 (out of 10) a 15 ft drop. It has a series of  standing waves that reach their peak midway through the rapid in the fifth wave. I have great video of Elaine swearing and laughing through the entire run the last trip we did (for those of you who know Elaine, the swearing isn't such a stretch). The waves are literally HUGE, and as long as they are run straight, they are friendly too. Often trips pull over at the bottom of Hermit and folks run the ducky or kayaks through over and over. You just don't get to see waves this size that often. This is the third of the quartet of larger rapids in Adrenaline Alley (Horn, Granite, Hermit and next week, Crystal).

This video has an 8 year old in the front of the raft taking on the waves at Hermit. At the end he says "I love them!" How great.

Equipment/Camp/Info Check:  Big Horn Sheep in the Canyon.
Most humans are disoriented to some degree by the weird dimensional vastness of the Grand Canyon. It's hard to come to grips with your own comparatively insignificant presence and your high-maintenance needs for survival in the face of a landscape so massive and inhospitable. That's why the sight of a desert bighorn, standing on a ledge just inches wide, calmly contemplating the sweep of the Canyon is so stirring. The bighorn stand 40 inches tall at the shoulder, and appear completely at ease with their place in the Canyon. They zip from ledge to ledge, seemingly oblivious of the potential for a disastrous fall, focused on finding the sparse desert vegetation that somehow sustains them. In July more so than any other time of year, the sheep need to stick closer to the river for water.

Check out this video, you can hear the river in the background.

Petroglyths of sheep

GC History:
Before the 1800's Desert Bighorn numbered in the millions in the Western US, ranging from Canada to Mexico, but hunting, mining, urban development and agriculture diminished those numbers dramatically. Diseases from domestic sheep have long been a threat to the bighorn, as well as direct human interference in their populations from hunters and ranchers wanting to preserve grazing for their herds. In the Grand Canyon, the feral burros that escaped from mining and pioneer outposts were deemed to pose serious competition for the scarce forage in the Canyon, and were removed in the 1980s to give the sheep a better chance.

Next Deadline: Final trip balance is due January 15th. 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.

Condor News for 10/2010

Regarded as one of the rarest birds in the world, the Condor (Gymnogyps californianus) is the largest land bird in North America with a wingspan up to 9 1/2 feet and weighing up to 23 pounds. There is an active release program at the Grand Canyon, and I've been including condor info in the blog. If you've been following the Condors, here's the latest update:

Condors News

Marker Marshall, Grand Canyon NPS Naturalist Ranger

Arizona condor news, from Eddie Feltes of The Peregrine Fund

Sadly, 11-year-old breeding female 195 was found dead on September 18 next to highway 89A, north of Jacob Lake. She had several broken bones and had been seen feeding on road-killed carcasses in the past, so it is suspected that she was hit by a car. She and male 158 have had 4 failed nesting attempts over this past 4 years. To lose yet another breeding female is a great loss for the recovery program in Arizona. I count 14 females in the wild here aged 6 or more (that is, of potential breeding age), compared to 30 males. There are 11 males aged 8 to 11 who still have not mated (now competing with male 158), but there are no unpaired females above age 7. Condors typically take their first shot at breeding somewhere around age 6 to 8, so of course the good news is that the total number of wild birds of breeding age is rising year by year. In fact our oldest wild-raised bird, 350M/-0, is 6 years old and could breed in the next few years, although of course he faces a lot of competition for mates.

Also there are 4 birds—all captive-bred 3- and 4-year-olds—that have not been seen since spring or earlier. For now they're still counted among the 76 wild birds in Arizona/Utah, but they may eventually have to be presumed dead.

On a brighter note, 3 condors were released for the first time on September 25, and a fourth was re-released after having been in the wild for just a few days last spring. All are doing well. Two more birds may be released the first week of November, though it won't be a big public release like September 25. In other years the big public release was always in the spring, but high winds were often a problem, causing newly released youngsters to want to roost on the ground where they were vulnerable to coyote predation. Also, when they started branching out and taking longer flights from the release site they often ran into territorial breeding birds who drove them right back again. Fall releases bear some risk of the more far-ranging of the newly released birds finding carcasses with lead in them, but overall appears to be the better option.

Hunting seasons for deer and elk are in full swing, always a dangerous time for condors. Already this season, condors are known to have fed on carcasses or gut piles containing lead. The Peregrine Fund biologists will start trapping condors to test for lead poisoning once the birds start to show up back at the release site. But for now the condors that may have been exposed to lead are still finding lots of food up in Utah and on the North Kaibab, so it's a matter of waiting until snow covers those carcasses and drives the birds back to the Vermilion Cliffs.

Use of lead ammunition, instead of alternatives made of copper or other materials, is hazardous not only to California condors but also to other wildlife such as bald eagles, and to human health when we eat venison. In fact the health or natural resource departments of North Dakota, Wisconsin and Minnesota have all come out with recommendations that pregnant women and children under age 6 should avoid eating wild game killed with lead ammunition. One of the best articles I've read on the subject is John Moir's "Condors in a Coal Mine," published in the September 2008 issue of the Smithsonian.

Although the majority of this population of condors are up in Utah and on the Kaibab Plateau dining on venison, others are gathering near the Bright Angel trail below Indian Garden. Xanterra lost a pack mule in that area this week; bad news for the mule but a good clean food source for California condors.

The Vermilion Cliffs chick has new status and a new name! It is no longer a chick but a fledgeling, having left its nest cave on October 20 for the first time. So far it's experimenting with short flights close to home, and of course is still depending entirely on its parents for food. It has been given studbook number 558. Since condor 158M is wearing tag 58 already, the youngster will eventually get tagged with something like K8 or K5. (Birds hatched in 2008 got tag numbers like H6. Birds hatched in 2009 got numbers like J6, the letter "I" having been skipped due to potential confusion with the number "1." So the "K" series is next, for birds hatched in 2010.)

Having made several backpacking trips into the Tapeats Creek region of Grand Canyon, biologists never did find a condor nest cave there. It is assumed that female 210 and male 122 failed in their nesting attempt this year, as did all but one of the six pairs that had active nests at one point this spring. Still, that's five pairs (minus female 195) who have had a little more experience for a new attempt at breeding in 2011.


Until next time,

Marker

243 Days to Go - Granite

Scouting Granite, class 8

What the Grand Canyon forums are chatting about this week: Several months ago I posted the criminal complaint against Morton "Doc" Thomas. Thomas was a trip leader for a Grand Canyon trip that was seriously (and now one might say criminally) mismanaged. On October 25th, Thomas pled guilty to 3 charges:

1. Operating a boat unsafely. This was due to leaving an inexperienced boatman behind unsupervised when Thomas decided to leave the trip. This charge was NOT for running rapids without scouting.
2. Operating a commercial trip without a permit. He did not share in the trip expenses and defrauded the trip of money, thus, this was not considered a non commercial trip, and
3. Falsifying the report he made to the National Park Service. Rangers tend to get upset when you lie to them.

He received 5 years supervised probation for each count, running concurrently. He was also banned from Grand Canyon National Park. Ouch.

Lateral Waves in Granite

Mileage This Week: River Mile 92-94. At River Mile 93.2 we will run Salt Creek, a straight shot, class 3 rapid. At River Mile 93.8, we will camp at Granite Camp, just above Granite Rapid. This beach is a very popular camp with hikers on the Monument Creek/Hermit Trail. As such, we may need to share this camp with hikers, and it's polite to offer food, drink and to pack out their trash so they don't have to carry it back up, up, up to the South Rim. In wilderness situations, everyone helps everyone else out. :-)

This camp is a particular favorite of mine, because I love the sound of the rapid roaring in the background at night. The very first thing we will do in the morning is get WET. Granite Rapid, class 8 (out of 10) is directly below camp. You can literally scout with breakfast/coffee in hand.

Granite Camp, you can just see the top of the rapid. Good Morning!

Granite, class 8 (out of 10) drops 17 feet. It's best known for the large lateral waves that come off the right hand side wall. There is also a very large hole bottom right that we will want to miss.

Granite video:





GC History: At Granite Rapid, Powell wrote:

"It is especially cold in the rain tonight. The little canvas we have is rotten and useless; the rubber ponchos have all been lost; we have not a blanket apiece. So we build a fire; but the rain, coming down in torrents, extinguishes it, and we sit up all night on the rocks, shivering, and are more exhausted by the night's discomfort than by the day's toil."                                     - Powell Report, August 17, 1869

          



Equipment/Camp/Info Check: A good addition on your Canyon Library:  Hell or High Water: James White's Disputed Passage through Grand Canyon

 Besides being my brother, and one of our boatmen, James White is a controversial historical figure in GC history. Although John Wesley Powell (1869) and party are usually given credit for the first river descent through the Grand Canyon, the ghost of James White has haunted those claims. White was a Colorado prospector, who, almost two years before Powell's journey, washed up on a makeshift raft at Callville, Nevada. His claim to have entered the Colorado above the San Juan River with another man (soon drowned) as they fled from Indians was widely disseminated and believed for a time, but Powell and his successors on the river publically discounted it. Colorado River runners and historians have since debated whether White's passage through Grand Canyon even could have happened.
Hell or High Water is the first full account of White's story and how it became distorted and he disparaged over time. It is also a fascinating detective story, recounting how White's granddaughter, Eilean Adams, over decades and with the assistance of a couple of notable Colorado River historians who believed he could have done what he claimed, gradually uncovered the record of James White's adventure and put together a plausible narrative of how and why he ended up floating helplessly down a turbulent river, entrenched in massive cliffs, with nothing but a driftwood raft to carry him through.Here's the link for amazon.


Next Deadline: Final trip balance is due January 15th. 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.

250 Days to Go - Phantom Ranch Part 2 & Horn



Bottom left side of Horn Rapid

 TL Report: Part two for our exchange hikers: Bright Angel Trail is well traveled and is in good condition. Plan 7-8 hours to hike in or out. The total distance is 9.3 miles. Indian Gardens can be reached in 3-4 hrs from the river. At Indian Gardens you will find water, resthouses, tables and the ranger station.

Bright Angel Trail Map. The South Rim trailhead starts bottom left.

Here are some more tips for safe hiking from Phantom to the South Rim or visa versa:  

1. Water: Carry AT LEAST two/three liters of water per person. More if possible. There will be potable water along Bright Angel Trail (at the One-and-a-Half-Mile and Three-Mile Resthouses and again at Indian Garden (4.6 miles from the rim). Water is NOT available at the River Resthouse.  Bring water purification tablets in case potable water is not available and you have to purify water from Garden  Creek. Bring drink mixes to mix with water to avoid water intoxication (electrolyte depletion).



Bright Angel Trail

2. Travel Light: The heaviest item in your pack should be water.  Emergency phones are available at all resthouses. You will not need to carry any river or camping equipment.
3. Beat the Heat: Hike after the sun goes down. In July the volcanic rock retains the sun's heat and hiking should wait until after midnight. Temps can reach over 100 degrees during the day.
4. Clothing: Wear loose clothing and a hat.
5. Don't hike alone: Travel with someone else and set a steady pace. DO NOT PUSH YOURSELF.
6. Food: Carry energy-producing snacks like candy bars, raisins, granola, gorp, etc. Try to eat food with salt to retain water. Remember depletion of salt in your blood and tissue can lead to heat cramps, heat exhaustion and even heat stroke.
7. Shoes: Wear well-fitting, well-broken-in shoes. If you are hiking in, be sure your toes do not hit the front of your shoes when hiking downhill. Otherwise you won't have any toenails for the rest of the trip.



Elves Chasm Canyon



What the Grand Canyon Private Boaters Assoc has been chatting about this week: Sadly, news came last night that a non commercial river trip participant died after falling while free climbing at Elves Chasm at River Mile 117. Here is the NPS press release. As I have mentioned in previous posts, our trip will ask everyone to observe basic safety rules, one of which is not to free climb higher than you are tall. I know it's tempting to climb all the beautiful metamorphic rock but please remember that there can be catastrophic results when risk-taking on wilderness trips. This is not a dangerous trip, but not observing safety rules can make it so. Each of our trip experiences will impact every other tribe member, so, take one for the team and follow the safety guidelines!

Mileage This Week: River Mile 88-91. After leaving Phantom Ranch, we will continue down Adrenaline Alley (the 40-mile stretch from Sockdologar to Blacktail Canyon). Just past the Phantom Boat Beach we will pass under the Silver Bridge, which is the pedestrian bridge for Bright Angel Trail (no mules allowed on this one!)

At River Mile 89.5, We'll run Pipe Creek Rapid, class 3 (out of 10), a 7ft drop.

At River Mile 90.8, we'll scout Horn Rapid, class 8 (out of 10) an 8ft drop. Horn is considered to one of the most technically difficult rapids on the river, especially at lower water levels. We will definitely scout. The rapid is named from the spiraling water horns that form when water hits two rocks at high water.

Here are some videos of  Horn. First, how we DON'T want to run the rapid, and second, how we do want to run it.

GC History: Pipe Creek got it's name in 1894 when Miles and Ralph Cameron were hiking with two other men along the Tonto Plateau between Granview and Bright Angel trails. Ralph was ahead of the others when he found an old Meers Haum pipe that had washed downstream. He scratched a date on the pipe that was a hundred years earlier than the present date and left it where his companions would find it. After he let the others speculate, he finally confessed.



TransCanyon Water Pipeline

TransCanyon Water Pipeline
The Silver Bridge was built in the late 1960s connecting the Bright Angel Trail from the South Rim to Phantom Ranch and the North Rim. Only hiker traffic may cross this suspension bridge but that’s not the only thing moving across the canyon here. The Silver Bridge also provides a support structure for one of the great engineering feats of the Grand Canyon and a vital support for tourism at this popular national park—the transcanyon water pipeline. Through an extensive system of pipelines and pump houses, 500,000 gallons of water a day are piped from Roaring Springs near the North Rim down Bright Angel Canyon through Phantom Ranch, across the Colorado River suspended from Silver Bridge and then pumped up to the South Rim tourist area. This journey down one side of the canyon and up the other provides almost all the water for the South Rim developed areas—where most of the lodging, restaurants, and visitor services are located. Without this pipeline, the Grand Canyon Village could not support the millions of tourists that flock to the South Rim each year.




Equipment/Camp/Info Check: Staying OFF the Cryptobiotic Crust.

Crypto means hidden, and biota means life. So Crypto "crust" is made of very small organisms that can't be seen by the naked eye. Each time your boot lands on a patch of crypto - crunch, crunch, crunch - you destroy it and thus jeopardize every living thing in the vicinity, all of which contribute to the beauty you came here to see.



"Stop! Don't take that step!"



Crust trampled to dust can take up to 250 years to fully regenerate. Meanwhile, water runoff increases by up to 50% (think flashflood), soil loss increases by up to 600% (think duststorm), and the windblown sand kills yet more crypto by burying it and preventing photosynthesis (think Boston Strangler).

Freeze! Step away from the crust!

Whenever you're not hiking on an established trail, be alert for crypto. Avoid it diligently. Go around. Rock hop. Opt for gravel or sand. Follow drainage paths (rivulets, washes) where crypto doesn't grow. If you must walk on crypto, imagine it's a grave. Get off asap. Minimize damage by letting companions to follow your precise steps, so your group doesn't rampage a broad swath.   Remember, "Don't Bust the Crust!"



Next Deadline: Final trip balance is due January 15th. 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.








Mail Delivery by Mule for Supai, Havasupai Indian Reservation

The sign on the only cafe in town reads "No Fries 'Til Mail." Life in the community of Supai, Arizona, literally survives on its mail--in fact, inhabitants eat more "mail" than they read.


Arguably the most remote mail route in the country, the Supai route is the last mule train delivery in the United States. The route brings everything from food to furniture to the tiny Havasupai Indian Reservation, consisting of 525 tribal members who live deep below the south rim of the Grand Canyon. There is no grocery store in Supai. All food stuffs are brought in by mule.

The only way in and out of Supai is an eight-mile trail on foot, mule, or horseback. The first two miles of the trail consist of a dizzying series of switchbacks that careen along the red rock cliffs of the Grand Canyon's shale formation.

Helicopters and air drops are impractical here, so the mule mail train makes the three- to five-hour trip five days a week, even through wind and rain. During a typical week, more than a ton of mail is sent via the mules, with each mule mail animal carrying a cargo of 200 pounds.

Here's a great CBS story on the mule mail delivery, the only other place than Phantom that still receives it's mail by mule. Here's the link. 

257 Days to Go - Phantom Ranch



Looking upstream at the Bright Angel Bridge (also called the Black Bridge) from the Boat Beach, Phantom Ranch




TL Report: Welcome to our friends, Don Atten, Kathy Campbell and their 17yr-old son, Gus! These guys are joining us for the Lee's Ferry to Phantom Ranch section of the trip. Don's a painter, Kathy's a PA and they are all round great people. We're excited to have you along!




Phantom Ranch Ranger Station

Mileage This Week: River mile 85-88. We have finally reached Phantom Ranch (often just called Phantom), the only Ranger Station at the bottom of GC. This is an exchange point for some of the trip. Folks hiking out at this point (Don, Kathy and Gus) will get ready for the big hike up  Bright Angel Trail to the South Rim and folks hiking in (Donna, Elaine and Meg) will be joining us for the rest of the trip.  I want to remind all our hikers that you must educate and prepare yourself for this strenuous hike!!! I can't emphasize this enough. Everybody hiking in or out must do so after the sun has set, no exceptions. Hiking in GC in July can be dangerous if you don't do it correctly. I will be blogging more about this in the next few weeks but here is some NPS Hike-Smart information. Please be sure to check and recheck your lodging options if  you are hiking in or out. Email me if you have any questions.

Here is really GREAT blog of hiking from the Boat Beach at Phantom Ranch up Bright Angel Trail to the South Rim with a ton of pictures.


Ok, on to River Mileage this week.
Here is a video of Zoroaster Rapid, class 5 (out of 10) a 5' drop at river mile 85.3. Just big fun waves.






Lower Cremation Camp

 We will run another small rapid at Eighty-five Mile Rapid (class 3) then arrive at our next camp, either Upper or Lower Cremation. This is a very popular camp since it is about 1/2 mile upstream of Phantom Ranch. We MUST camp here as it is the only camp before Phantom so we can meet up with our exchange folks. That being so, we may have to share this camp with another group.










Boat Beach Phantom Ranch



On July 5th we will leave Cremation and head to Phantom Ranch just downstream. The Phantom Boat Beach is just past the black bridge (see photo very top of blog entry) at river mile 88.1. This bridge is the mule/pedestrian bridge for the South Kiabab Trail and the Bright Angel Trail from the South Rim.

A water spigot is available for river runners to  fill water jugs at the Boat Beach. There is also a river runners' bulletin board. The actual Phantom Ranch ranger station and canteen is about a 1/2 mile up Bright Angel Creek.

Mail may be sent to Phantom Ranch for river pick up at the canteen if mailed to:

 c/o Phantom Ranch River Mail
 PO Box 1266,
Grand Canyon, Arizona, 86023

You can also mail out post cards from Phantom with the stamp that every river runner loves to see "Mailed by Mule from the bottom of the Grand Canyon, Phantom Ranch". We can also receive care packages (bribe someone to send you one if you must!!) which are very welcome after a week roughing it. Remember it will be HOT so chocolate and melty things aren't good choices, but extra chapstick, cookies and such, take on new meaning here! Phantom Ranch holds the distinction of being one of the only places left in America whose mail is still delivered by mule, the other being Supai, Arizona (see this blog entry).

Be sure not to forget addresses, money/debit card and phone numbers (there's also a pay phone, but no cell service). You may want to bring a prepaid phone card or you'll be calling collect. The Phantom canteen (see pix below) does accept debit cards for Tshirts, candy, etc.

We should be at Phantom for a couple of hours in the morning. We will refill water here, drink their famous lemonade and find out (or not) any news that has gone on while we've been blissfully out of touch for the last week.   After we say goodbye to Don, Kathy and Gus and collect Donna, Elaine and Meg, we will be off for a couple of BIG days of whitewater, including Horn, Granite and Crystal.



Inside Phantom Canteen. Looks like Xmas time.



Phantom Canteen, note the "mailed by mule" logo on the right. Wow, look at the temps, weather forecast (snow) and the sunset time!! Our weather will be a little different!

  What the Grand Canyon Private Boaters Assoc has been chatting about this week: Money, honey. There has been a lot of talk about how trip expenses should be broken down, i.e. if you are bringing your own raft, or maybe a kitchen setup, should you pay as much as someone who didn't supply any equipment? There's a lot of opinion both ways; however, this is a moot point for our trip. Our costs are being split evenly between all the participants. As long as the trip tribe is full (and it is right now) expenses will be split 16 ways (there is a max of 16 people on each portion of the trip). For those of you doing a partial trip, one of those "1/16s" will be split by user days so the expenses are prorated for the length of your specific trip (6 days for Lee's Ferry to Phantom Ranch, 12 days from Phantom Ranch to Pearce Ferry). Remember we all will have to give Uncle Sam his pound of flesh and pay the NPS river fee of $100/pp regardless of how long you are on the river.

GC History: All about Phantom Ranch and Bright Angel Creek
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People have been traveling to the Bright Angel Creek Delta since prehistoric times. The Hisatsinom (or ancestral Puebloans) built their homes next to the Colorado River and farmed in the flood plain of Bright Angel Creek.


Bright Angel Canyon with Phantom Ranch buildings



Ruins above Phantom
Boat Beach

 John Wesley Powell described these ruins when he came through in August of 1869. Exhausted and almost out of food, Powell and his men spent a well-earned layover day at the foot of these ruins. They dried out their scanty and moldy food (subsequently dropping the baking soda in the River, so they were then reduced to unleavened bread) and carved a new oar from a handy Douglas Fir log which had washed downstream. The creek was bright and clear in the summer sun, sparkling with pieces of mica. Powell named it ...Silver Creek. It was not until later, when he was on speaking tours, that it occurred to him that since he had named a creek upstream the Dirty Devil, it would be a nice balance to have a Bright Angel somewhere along the way. He immediately changed the name to Bright Angel Creek.

David Rust developed the Old Bright Angel Trail in 1903, and operated a tent camp called Rust's Camp. Originally guests crossed from the South Rim, where they had arrived by train, in boats. In a few years, Rust had installed a cable car. When Theodore Roosevelt came through hunting lions in 1907, he thought the cable car was "bully good fun". The area became known as Roosevelt's Camp. In 1921, the cable was replaced with a swinging suspension bridge. It swung a little too freely, however, so in 1928, the Black Bridge was installed and this has served the traveler ever since.

By the 1920's, the Park Service had requested that the Fred Harvey Company build a tourist facility within the Canyon.They contracted their architect, Mary Jane Elizabeth Colter, to draw up the plans. She produced sketches for a series of cabins. They were pleased, and announced they would name it Roosevelt's Chalets. Upon which she snatched up her work and declared, "Not if you are going to use my drawings!". A consummate perfectionist, she had already chosen a name: Phantom Ranch.



Why Phantom? Phantom Ranch is named after nearby Phantom Creek, but no one can agree as to where the name originates. Some say when Matthes was mapping, he missed it on the way through, so it was hidden, like a Phantom. Some say the prospectors named it because it fills with mist on a cold morning. Perhaps because it can't be seen from the rim: it is hidden within the folds of Phantom Fault. Dr. Harvey Butchart, one of the grand old men of the Grand Canyon, believed it was so named for Phantom Rock. About two miles north of the Ranch along the North Kaibab Trail, one can see, very briefly, a projection upon the horizon that looks like a cloaked figure. This is Phantom Rock.


Next Deadline: Final trip balance is due January 15th. 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.

264 Days to Go - Grapevine & Clear Creek

The "Horizontal" waterfall at the end of the hike at Clear Creek

TL Report: Last Friday was an eventful day at the South Rim of  the Canyon. One man fell 500ft to his death while jumping from one rock formation to another, and two women were struck by lightning! Both women were treated and released, but you can see that the canyon is NOT Disneyland! At river level we won't be as exposed as the rim but we must be aware of our surroundings and weather conditions at all times. The thing that amazed me the most with the man's death was his age: 42. This was older than most deaths of this type. You tend to see this more in the younger guys, 15-30 or so. You can read more about the incidents from the Park's news release.

What the Grand Canyon Private Boaters Assoc has been chatting about this week: The new 2010 Arizona State quarter featuring the Nankoweap Graneries (see this post) in Marble Canyon (even if it says Grand Canyon). Beautiful!



Grapevine Rapid



Mileage This Week: River Mile 82-85: At River mile 82.1 we will run Grapevine Rapid, class 7 (out of 10) an 18 foot drop. This rapid is full of holes and we will have to be careful to either try and miss some or at least hit them straight on.



At river mile 84.1, we will run Eighty-three Mile Rapid (I know that seems funny, but the river mileage has been adjusted several times over the years). This is a class 4 rapid dropping 7 feet, right before a beautiful side canyon hike we will definitely make at Clear Creek.  



Cooling off in Clear Creek



Approaching Clear Creek



Playing in Clear Creek waterfall



We'll need to be careful to find the pull in for this side canyon as it is easy to miss. This is a great hike in the heat of the summer as it is narrow and cool. Basically we will hike up and over the schist and upriver to the side canyon then traverse back into Clear Creek. Once in the drainage, we will find a permanent clear stream of cool water wth a path leading up the canyon. We will cross and recross the stream a number of times as we walk the 1/2 mile or so up through twisting narrows to a wonderful waterfall with a great side flowing jet of water.



GC History: Grapevine was named by Major Powell (first explorer of GC) since the abundance of rocks remined him of clusters of grapes on vines.



Equipment/Camp/Info Check: Just a beautiful picture of the Bright Angel Shale, one of the many rock formations we will see.



Next Deadline: Final trip balance is due January 15th. 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.



271 Miles to Go - Sockdolagar

Sockdolager Rapid from Horseshoe Butte

TL Report: See previous post this week linking to a NY Times article on the drought in the Southwest and how it is affecting the water level on Lake Mead. Basically the article is doom and gloom if you are growing lettuce in the desert, but is good news for our trip. Lake Powell (at the top of the river) has 50% more water than Lake Mead (at the bottom of the river) and the folks who control the water (the villianous Bureau of Reclamation) are looking at releasing more water through Grand Canyon next summer. This may mean higher water levels for us!


 What the Grand Canyon Private Boaters Assoc has been chatting about this week: Sad news. GC NPS put out a press release of the death of a hiker from heat stroke this week. In hot weather, you must hike smart when in GC. Plenty of water, never alone, at night if you can, well traveled trails. Here's the link if you want to read the entire press release.



The infamous hole at the top of Sockdolager





Mileage This Week: River Mile 80-82: Just before river mile 80 we will run Sockdolager Rapid, class 7 (out of 10),  a 19ft drop. Check out the video below. This rapid has a large hole and lateral wave at the top right. It can be avoided by starting left, then manuvering around several pour-overs and haystacks downstream. The best way to run this rapid is to hit everything straight!



Scouting Sockdolager





After Sockdolager, we may do a side hike at beautiful Vishnu Creek. Since we are now in the Inner Granite Gorge, and the rock is very hard, the side canyons are narrower.


Looking downstream from Vishnu Creek Camp



Vishnu Creek hike





GC History: What does Sockdolager mean? It's a "hard, finishing blow", as in boxing or an "outstanding thing".

Sockdolager is one of the first large rapids in the Granite Gorge. This rapid was named by the original Powell expedition in 1869 during their bold first descent of the Grand Canyon. Powell and his crew were novice boatmen in primitive wooden boats, and they suffered greatly portaging around rapids and had some epic carnage running others. When Powell and his crew arrived at Sockdolager, Powell wrote:

"The sound grows louder and louder as we run, and at last we find ourselves above a long, broken fall, with ledges and pinnacles of rock obstructing the river... and the rushing waters break into great waves on the rocks, and lash themselves into a mad, white foam.."

Powells crew was forced to run the rapid due to the narrow canyon walls, though they would have portaged if they could. One of his crew, a bold ex-soldier named Sumner, wrote later:

"We finally encountered a stretch that made my hair curl." Once below the rapid, Sumner, a veteran of the Civil War, described how it felt to run Sockdolager: "I have been in a calvary charge, charged the batteries, and stood by the guns to repel a charge, but never before did my sand run so low. In fact, it all ran out, but as I had to have some more grit, I borrowed it from the other boys.."

Another expedition member, Dellenbaugh, described it as,

"The narrow river dropped smoothly and suddenly away, and then beaten to foam, plunged and boomed for a thrid of a mile... The boats rolled and pitched like a ship in a tornado. As we flew along... I could look up under the canopies of foam pouring over gigantic black boulders, first on one side and then on the other... The boats leaping at times almost half their length out of the water to bury themselves quite as far on the next lunge."  

"The gorge is black and narrow below, red and gray and flaring above, with crags and angular projections on the walls. Down in these grand gloomy depths we glide, every listening, ever watching."

                                                                           - Powell Report, August 14, 1869



Oh, no!  Rafts high and dry.



Equipment/Camp/Info Check: Tides. The water in the Colorado River in GC is released from Glen Canyon Dam. The Dam lets out more water in the day and less at night, making electricity to sell during the day when prices on the market are just a sliver higher than they are at night. Due to these water fluctuations, we will experience "tides" at camp. EVERYONE is responsible to be sure the oarrigs are floating at all times. It is not unusual to have to get up in the middle of the night to move the rafts. If you are up peeing, and notice the rafts beached, get up the boatmen (they will be on the oarrig sleeping) and some other folks to help push the rafts back in the water. These boats can be very heavy and there is nothing worse than having to derig a boat to get it into the river again.  

Next Deadline: Next Deadline: Final trip balance is due January 15th. 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.