Long Time
Hi All,
It has been a long time since I have posted anything on my blog. Almost six months. Facebook has been casting it's evil spell on me. :) :) And as much as I like Facebook, it does not let me tell a story as well as the blog does. And those who know me know I like to tell stories. So, I am going to try in the next couple of weeks to get caught up on my story telling. I hope you all don't find me too obnoxious.
I am going to start with the non-motorized rafting trip I took down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon this summer. Janice and I have a friend who is a rafting guide for AZRA, a rafting company based out of Flagstaff. If you ever get a chance to do the trip check out this company, you will not be disappointed. Anyway, I got on a list to work on trips if they do not have enough people. Basically I get to go for free but I am working the whole time. I load and unload, clean, cook, help guide hikes, etc... It is great fun.
On this trip, Janice did the first half of the 15 day trip and then hiked the 8 miles out on the Bright Angel trail and I hiked down the Bright Angel trail and did the second half of the trip. We saw each other for about 10 minutes on the trail.
Once I got down to the river I had a few minutes to pack, ate a little lunch and then it was on the job training. As soon as we got into the rafts we went through some serious rapids. The fist rapid we went through smashed me down into the bottom of the boat. It was great fun.
Here is a rapid at Crystal rapids. This rapid is taller then I am.
Here is our campsite the second morning. It was hard for me to get focused in the morning because I could not believe how beautiful it was and how fortunate I was to be there and it was like this every morning.
Our first hike was up a canyon called Stone Creek. Here is evidence of the people who lived here 100's of years ago. If you click on the picture you can see a larger view and possibly make out how the rocks have been stacked and how black they are. This was an earthen oven. They would dig a pit, line it with stone and start a fire in it. The fire would heat the rocks and then they would take the ashes out and put food onto the rocks and then cover with dirt. Very much like a dutch oven.
Here is what some of the trail was like. You can see why some people may have needed to be guided.
One of the many falls on the way up.
Here is the jewel of the Stone Creek hike.
The next hike we did was to a place called Whispering Falls. This by far has to be my favorite hike in the Grand Canyon and right up there with one of my favorite hikes of all time.
The pool at the base of the falls was way over our heads and we swam and played for a a couple of hours.
Only a few of the people from the trip wanted to hike into the falls, so it was very quite. You could hear the falls whispering down the rock face.
The hike out was just as amazing as the hike in with scrambles and in and out of the cool water on such a hot day.
Here is a shot of one of the three rattlesnakes we saw on the trip. This one was seen at the same campsite we had a big horn sheep walked through our kitchen as we were trying to make dinner.
Getting dinner started at a different camp site. The fun game at this site was a couple of the guides would try and swim under all the rafts in one try. That may not seem like a big deal but that water is maybe 50 degrees and the current can grab you and never let go if you are not very careful.
This is a another very cool hike called Mad Cat. Stemming at its best.
Here is one of our rafts hitting the rapids right after Mad Cat.
Another hike we did was into Havasu Falls. Here is one of the many falls in the canyon. I have only been up about 2 miles but want to do the whole canyon one of these days.
People drown in these falls every year. One of the reasons people drowned here we got to play around with during our visit. The falls in this picture are only about four feet high. But if you swim to close the power of the falls sucks you towards them. If you try and fight the power you will very likely lose and then panic and then trouble. But if you let go and let the power take you the water pushes you under about three or four feet and then spits you out about five or six feet or more in front of the falls. All you have to do is let go of the control you think you have. We played there for a couple of hours and enjoyed the ride.
The hike out. And yes the water is that blue. I have seen it a couple of times and it continues to put a smile on my face when I see it.
So, there are many, many rapids in the 225 mils of the Grand Canyon. All of them big and all of them can flip and kill you if you mess things up. But according to the guides on this trip if you do everything right when you go into the rapid, like have the raft pointed in the right direction and row or paddle at the right time, you will be fine.
Then there is Lava Falls rapids. The guides said this is the only rapid you can do everything right and still flip. It is not the most technical rapid but it can eat you up. Here we are scouting Lava before push off.
Here is a boat from another trip going through the last bit a Lava.
The last morning.
I had so many great experiences on this trip. My favorite had to be when Lyn let me guide his paddle boat. We did 23 miles one day and I got to guide 20 of those miles. Lyn was in the boat the whole time so no one was really in danger. A paddle boat has six people with paddles and then a guide in the back steering and giving direction to the paddlers. Now, the Colorado River is not all rapids. There are many miles of flat water with crazy strong current that push, pulls, and twists the raft. Trying to keep the raft going forward is a lot easier said then done. The eddies will just stop you flat out and point you in the other direction. Trying to get through those parts of the river, without pissing my paddlers off was the hardest part for me. Don't get me wrong, the first time we dropped into a giant rapid with me at the controls puckered my ass up, but it was nothing like the frustration I felt trying to read the river and her currents. It really put things into perspective and taught me some lessons I wish I would remember consistently in my day to day life.
Peace Out everyone,
Geoff
It has been a long time since I have posted anything on my blog. Almost six months. Facebook has been casting it's evil spell on me. :) :) And as much as I like Facebook, it does not let me tell a story as well as the blog does. And those who know me know I like to tell stories. So, I am going to try in the next couple of weeks to get caught up on my story telling. I hope you all don't find me too obnoxious.
I am going to start with the non-motorized rafting trip I took down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon this summer. Janice and I have a friend who is a rafting guide for AZRA, a rafting company based out of Flagstaff. If you ever get a chance to do the trip check out this company, you will not be disappointed. Anyway, I got on a list to work on trips if they do not have enough people. Basically I get to go for free but I am working the whole time. I load and unload, clean, cook, help guide hikes, etc... It is great fun.
On this trip, Janice did the first half of the 15 day trip and then hiked the 8 miles out on the Bright Angel trail and I hiked down the Bright Angel trail and did the second half of the trip. We saw each other for about 10 minutes on the trail.
Once I got down to the river I had a few minutes to pack, ate a little lunch and then it was on the job training. As soon as we got into the rafts we went through some serious rapids. The fist rapid we went through smashed me down into the bottom of the boat. It was great fun.
Here is a rapid at Crystal rapids. This rapid is taller then I am.
Here is our campsite the second morning. It was hard for me to get focused in the morning because I could not believe how beautiful it was and how fortunate I was to be there and it was like this every morning.
Our first hike was up a canyon called Stone Creek. Here is evidence of the people who lived here 100's of years ago. If you click on the picture you can see a larger view and possibly make out how the rocks have been stacked and how black they are. This was an earthen oven. They would dig a pit, line it with stone and start a fire in it. The fire would heat the rocks and then they would take the ashes out and put food onto the rocks and then cover with dirt. Very much like a dutch oven.
Here is what some of the trail was like. You can see why some people may have needed to be guided.
One of the many falls on the way up.
Here is the jewel of the Stone Creek hike.
The next hike we did was to a place called Whispering Falls. This by far has to be my favorite hike in the Grand Canyon and right up there with one of my favorite hikes of all time.
The pool at the base of the falls was way over our heads and we swam and played for a a couple of hours.
Only a few of the people from the trip wanted to hike into the falls, so it was very quite. You could hear the falls whispering down the rock face.
The hike out was just as amazing as the hike in with scrambles and in and out of the cool water on such a hot day.
Here is a shot of one of the three rattlesnakes we saw on the trip. This one was seen at the same campsite we had a big horn sheep walked through our kitchen as we were trying to make dinner.
Getting dinner started at a different camp site. The fun game at this site was a couple of the guides would try and swim under all the rafts in one try. That may not seem like a big deal but that water is maybe 50 degrees and the current can grab you and never let go if you are not very careful.
This is a another very cool hike called Mad Cat. Stemming at its best.
Here is one of our rafts hitting the rapids right after Mad Cat.
Another hike we did was into Havasu Falls. Here is one of the many falls in the canyon. I have only been up about 2 miles but want to do the whole canyon one of these days.
People drown in these falls every year. One of the reasons people drowned here we got to play around with during our visit. The falls in this picture are only about four feet high. But if you swim to close the power of the falls sucks you towards them. If you try and fight the power you will very likely lose and then panic and then trouble. But if you let go and let the power take you the water pushes you under about three or four feet and then spits you out about five or six feet or more in front of the falls. All you have to do is let go of the control you think you have. We played there for a couple of hours and enjoyed the ride.
The hike out. And yes the water is that blue. I have seen it a couple of times and it continues to put a smile on my face when I see it.
So, there are many, many rapids in the 225 mils of the Grand Canyon. All of them big and all of them can flip and kill you if you mess things up. But according to the guides on this trip if you do everything right when you go into the rapid, like have the raft pointed in the right direction and row or paddle at the right time, you will be fine.
Then there is Lava Falls rapids. The guides said this is the only rapid you can do everything right and still flip. It is not the most technical rapid but it can eat you up. Here we are scouting Lava before push off.
Here is a boat from another trip going through the last bit a Lava.
The last morning.
I had so many great experiences on this trip. My favorite had to be when Lyn let me guide his paddle boat. We did 23 miles one day and I got to guide 20 of those miles. Lyn was in the boat the whole time so no one was really in danger. A paddle boat has six people with paddles and then a guide in the back steering and giving direction to the paddlers. Now, the Colorado River is not all rapids. There are many miles of flat water with crazy strong current that push, pulls, and twists the raft. Trying to keep the raft going forward is a lot easier said then done. The eddies will just stop you flat out and point you in the other direction. Trying to get through those parts of the river, without pissing my paddlers off was the hardest part for me. Don't get me wrong, the first time we dropped into a giant rapid with me at the controls puckered my ass up, but it was nothing like the frustration I felt trying to read the river and her currents. It really put things into perspective and taught me some lessons I wish I would remember consistently in my day to day life.
Peace Out everyone,
Geoff
Labels: Grand Canyon, Rafting
posted by Geoff at 8:46 AM
7 Comments:
Super post Geoff! I am stoked that you got to do a float & also that you got to run a paddle boat. The photo trip with Jack was hugely good & I loved every minute - but the few times that we floated without the motor running were massively good. When I get a chance to run it again it will definitely be on an oar or paddle boat! Keep it up and one of these days you will get your own boat!
Cheers,
Dan
You're such a nature boy, Geoff! And listening to your story and looking at the wonderful pictures makes me wish I could be there to see those things in person. Alas, I will continue to vicariously explore them through your eyes and feet!
Love, Amy
Psyched you got to go down the river. We should try to make a trip happen together someday!
Hugs,
Amanda (and Ben)
Dammit, man! There you go again, making my desert lust even more unmanageable!
Kewl stuff Geoff. Though you should be back in MI living the dream like me. Basking in the glow of fluorescent light, waiting for the first icestorm of winter to bring some adventure to my commute...
Live large brother. Thanks for sharing.
Alan
Geoff,
Sounds like a great trip. Your pictures are beautiful. Send us your new address. If we travel to Arizona we would like to look you up.
Paul S.
I found you blog totally by accident. It was very cool. I want to check out the Grand Canyon with my family sometime soon. I was there in 1976 at the bottom on the 4th of July and shared a (Very warm) beer with about 20 other guys. We were all 15 and on our way to Philmont Boy Scout camp in NM. I guess the beer was illegal but to a bunch of 15 year olds it was a rite of passage so to say! God bless!
Michael A. Barone
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