The Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon, day 3 - 6
The Colorado River from Lees Ferry to Diamond Creek, 226 miles, 18 days.


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This trip report is quite long. You can read it straight through, or use the chapter links below to jump to a particular day.

INTRO: GETTING THERE AND THOUGHTS ON THE GRAND CANYON
DAY 1: LEES FERRY TO LEFT CAMP ( HOUSE ROCK RAPID )
DAY 2: THE ROARING TWENTIES ( SILVER GROTTO )
DAY 3: VASEY'S PARADISE, REDWALL CAVERN AND PRESIDENTIAL SURF
DAY 4: PASSING THE LITTLE COLORADO CONFLUENCE
DAY 5: UNKAR, TANNER, BASALT RAPIDS
DAY 6: LAYOVER AT 75 MILE CANYON
DAY 7: ADRENALINE ALLEY, PART 1 ( Hance, Grapevine, Horn Creek Rapids )
DAY 8: ADRENALINE ALLEY, PART 2 ( Granite, Hermit, Crystal, Turquoise, Ruby, Serpentine rapids )
DAY 9: ACROSS FROM ROSS WHEELER TO BLACKTAIL CANYON ( Shimuno Creek Falls, Walthenburg Rapid, Elves Chasm )
DAY 10: BLACKTAIL CANYON TO TAPEATS CREEK ( Specter, Bedrock, and Deubendorff Rapids )
DAY 11: TAPEATS CREEK LAYOVER DAY ( Hiking to the source of Thunder River )
DAY 12: TAPEATS CREEK TO MATKATAMIBA HOTEL CAMP ( Deer Creek Falls hike, Fishtail Rapid, Matkatamiba hike )
DAY 13: MATKATAMIBA HOTEL TO FIRST CHANCE CAMP ( Upset Rapid, Havasu Canyon hike )
DAY 14: FIRST CHANCE CAMP TO HONGA SPRINGS
DAY 15: HONGA SPRINGS TO PARASHANT CANYON ( Lava Falls for breakfast! )
DAY 16: PARASHANT CANYON LAYOVER DAY
DAY 17: ROWING FOR DIAMOND CREEK, THE LONG HAUL
DAY 18: THE FINAL DAY, TAKING OUT AT DIAMOND CREEK ( Bill rescues a kayaker? )
TIPS: A FEW LESSONS LEARNED THAT COULD HELP YOU ON YOUR TRIP DOWN THE CANYON


DAY 3: VASEY'S PARADISE, REDWALL CAVERN AND PRESIDENTIAL SURF
South Canyon camp to Saddle Canyon, 16 river-miles.

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We got up the next morning and loaded the rafts after a hearty breakfast including oatmeal, mangos, and orange slices. Just downstream from our camp was a spring known as 'Vasey's Paradise', where we planned to re-fill our water jugs. In anticipation of this, I hiked up on the trail behind our camp and got ready to shoot some downstream photos of our group. Unfortunately I underestimated how long it was going to take for the group to get going, and I ended up baking in the sun for about a half hour while I waited. How does that videoboater saying go? "Anything for the shot, man, anything for the shot.." Finally I crawled into the shade of a boulder until the rafts crept out into the current, and then I shot some photos, ran back down, and jumped in the river..

Our group, getting ready to eddy out just downstream from camp to water up at Vasey's paradise. The spring can be seen flowing from the river-right wall, clearly marked by the green vegetation surrounding it.

Just a couple of miles downstream was Redwall Cavern, where we decided to stop for lunch. ( Hey, it was early, but what the heck? ) Redwall is a cool place and a climbers dream, with many great routes across the well-featured roof. We caught up to the private trip from Telluride here again, and they greeted us with their signature cry of 'CALIENTEEEEEE'. What a fun bunch of folks, I wish we had spent more time with them. Jonathan ended up leaving a pair of sunglasses here in the back of the cavern, so if anyone found any there at the end of August, beginning of September 2004 let me know!

Party at Redwall Cavern. The floor of this huge cave is covered with deep, soft sand ideal for a game of frisbee, beach volleyball, or lunch..

More beautiful canyon scenery below Redwall Cavern.. the walls continue like this for many miles.

Downstream the rapids mellowed considerably after the 'roaring twenties', but the scenery was incredible. The last major rapid above the confluence with the Little Colorado ( where the water was going to turn muddy ) was President Harding rapid, and Ryan and I surfed it up, dodging the rafts as they came down, until we were both too tired to go another round..

Ryan Windsor surfs it up at the bottom of President Harding Rapid. There is a campsite here and eddy service to this wave; I highly recommend camping here because this is one of the best surf waves of the trip.

We decided to camp at Saddle Canyon that night because of the hiking possibilities. We arrived and set up camp, and then the kayakers in the group ( Ryan, Lori, Audrey, Jonathan and myself ) decided to hike up Saddle Canyon by moonlight and check out the waterfall up there.

The camp at saddle canyon..


A MOONLIGHT HIKE UP SADDLE CANYON AND A FELINE CLOSE ENCOUNTER

It was completely dark by the time we left camp, and the moon had not yet risen. By the time we ascended up the rugged trail into the canyon proper, the moon was just starting to peek over the canyon walls.

We got about a quarter mile into the canyon and the darkness settled over us like a velvet blanket. The moon was only indirectly lighting the narrow canyon, so our headlamps were our only light source. After casting about for the trail ( it seemed to come and go ) we finally just started walking up the creek.

Suddenly Jonathan said: "Look over there." We all looked, and saw a pair of glowing eyes watching us from the pile of scree lining the bottom of the cliff face, about 100 feet away. As we watched, the eyes blinked slowly. "Do you think it's a cougar?" somebody said. "I don't know." Jonathan replied. "I can't tell how far apart the eyes are. I guess it could be.."

Suddenly the temperature seemed to drop a few degrees and we moved a little closer together as we continued to work our way up the creek and through the trees.

I started trailed behind a little bit, watching for the eyes. "It's following us." I said. Sure enough, as we watched, the glowing eyes moved along the scree at the base of the cliff, keeping pace with us.

"Ok, this is a little creepy." Somebody said, but I had decided that I was going to try and figure out exactly what was behind us. We rounded a corner in the canyon, and I knew I could hide and perhaps try to get a look at our new friend. "Keep going." I said. "I'm going see if I can figure out what it is."

Soon the group had moved off upstream and I was alone. It was very quiet, with no wind, not even a whisper. Soon I heard a slight sound and I knew our friend had arrived. Suddenly I caught a glimpse of the eyes, glowing in the fractured moonlight filtering down from above, so I could see where it was, but not WHAT it was. I had to get closer, so I started creeping through the brush towards the eyes, which immediately locked on my and stared, unblinking now.

As I crept closer, I could see that it wasn't a cougar ( much too small ) so it could only be a ringtail cat, which is kind of a cross between a cat and a raccoon. I was thrilled, because I had only heard about these elusive creatures and never seen one up close. When I got within twenty feet, the ringtail looked to the right and I knew it was going to run, so I shot a photo just as it turned and ran straight up the face of the cliff!

The ringtail cat runs straight up a cliff face in Saddle Canyon

Just upstream from here the canyon narrowed dramatically and we had to climb over a huge boulder that was wedged between the walls, blocking the creek and our passage up to the falls. Just above here, we found the falls, and we hung out on a nice ledge, watching the stars and marveling at this wonderful place.

After about 45 minutes we wandered back down to camp and regaled the few hardy souls who were still up with our moonlight adventures before slipping off to sleep.


DAY 4: PASSING THE LITTLE COLORADO CONFLUENCE
Saddle Canyon to Carbon Creek, 17.5 river-miles.

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The rapids below Saddle Canyon were smaller, so I helped Mike row the kitchen raft for awhile. Soon the pace picked up a bit, so Jonathan and I decided to paddle some rapids tandem in the inflatable kayak, just for kicks. We made it through a rapid without swimming, so we decided to raise the stakes a bit and tried running a rapid with both of us STANDING UP in the inflatable. This proved to be remarkably difficult, and we ended up swimming a rapid downstream (actually Jonathan fell out, and I'm pretty sure I felt a hand on my PFD as I went over too.. ). We later tried to figure out how many kayakers we could fit on the inflatable, and we decided five was about the maximum, though unfortunately we never go to test this theory..

Bored kayakers are always dangerous.. to themselves! The author and Jonathan Rawson get ready to run a rapid tandem in the IK, standing up.. we swam the rapid, but it sure was fun!
photo by Kristin Jung

Soon we arrived at the confluence with the Little Colorado, whose muddy water turned our clear green river a light brown..

Kristin and Rolo at the confluence of the brown, muddy water of the Little Colorado. From here on out, the water was light brown, all the way to Diamond Creek.

We camped at Carbon Creek, which was a pretty nice camp, but there was no hiking and it was a pretty quiet night. I went to bed very early.


DAY 5: TANNER, BASALT, UNKAR RAPIDS
Carbon Creek to Nevills Rapid, 11 river-miles.

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CARNAGE IN TANNER AND BASALT RAPIDS
On the morning of day five the water had come up, and we estimated we now had about 20,000 cfs. The Colorado actually has 'tides' due to the influence of power demand on dam releases, so you have to be very careful about tying up the rafts in deep water so they don't get beached if the water drops overnight.

A few miles below our camp we rounded the corner and heard a roar downstream in a very wide part of the river. I was in the lead, and I dropped into a huge wave train signaling the beginning of Tanner Rapid. About halfway down I just barely missed a large, munchy wave hole, and eddied out downstream to watch everyone else run the drop.

The other kayakers made it through ok, then came the rafts. Rolo was first, and he hit the large wave-hole head on. The raft disappeared under a mountain of foam, and all I saw were Rolo's feet in the air and then the raft was cruising downstream, both Rolo and Kristin still in the boat. "Man Rolo, that was close!" I said to no one in particular, but I spoke too soon because Tanner wasn't done with us yet..

The rest of the rafts came through ok, until Bill and Penny, who were last ( running sweep ). Bill also hit the sneaker wave head-on, and it knocked him flying from the raft. Bill went through the rest of the rapid hanging on to his raft, and then managed to get back in downstream.

Just below here, Rolo decided to catch an eddy on the left so we could catch our breath and take our bearings. Everyone made it into the eddy except Mike ( in the 18-foot kitchen raft ) and Bill, in the sweep raft. As they blew by the eddy, everyone peeled out to follow them downstream.

Just below this eddy was a rapid known as 'Basalt' that is not rated but is described this way in the guidebook: "At high flows, the hydraulics here are sharp. Either way, sit up and pay attention to this sleeper.."

Well, Mike must've missed that part of the book, because he went with the flow down into this rapid, and as I followed him in I could see that there was a huge feature down on the left where all of the water was going, though I couldn't tell if it was a wave or a hole from my kayak. Just to be on the safe side, I started paddling away from it, just as Mike dropped in to what turned out to be a monster hole.

Watching a fully-loaded, 18-foot gear boat get tossed end-over-end in a hole is shocking, and that's what happened, literally right in front of me. I started blowing my whistle but everyone had seen it and started charging downstream. Bill and Penny had followed Mike into the rapid but had avoided the hole, and they were able to rope Charlene out almost immediately. Audrey tore downstream and managed to corral Mike in an eddy line and tow him to shore on the stern of her kayak, and I heard Ryan yelling at me "GET THE OAR!! GET THE OAR!!" and then I was off, chasing one of Mike's oars downstream, corralling it just below an large eddy where the raft was finally stopped.

We finally got everyone into the eddy and then we spent the next forty-five minutes getting the raft flipped over, not an easy task because it was so heavily loaded with gear. Finally we did get it back over using every flipline available, and we tallyed the cost: One broken oar, no lost ( but some wet ) gear.

After everything was sorted out, we headed downstream and ate lunch at a blazingly hot campsite just above Unkar rapid. Once lunch was over we headed down through Unkar, and everyone had good lines here..

Ryan Windsor charges into the huge hydraulics at Unkar Rapid, rated a 6 on a scale of 1-10.

Below Unkar we headed down to a camp just above Nevills rapid, at 75 mile canyon, where we planned a layover day. At this point I was starting to get a little concerned, with a swim and a flip in relatively small rapids, and so many big rapids yet to come. I think everyone shared my concerns, though it was not openly discussed.


DAY 6: LAYOVER AT 75 MILE CANYON
Layover day, rest, relaxation, hiking and bouldering.

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Our layover camp at Nevilles was very nice, well shaded by Willows and Tamarisk, which allowed us to relax and enjoy a day off. Pretty much everyone hiked up 75 mile canyon, which was nice and cool for most of the morning. Jonathan and I ( the climbers in the group ) did some bouldering on the wonderfully featured rock around the camp. I wish I had brought some real climbing shoes and perhaps enough gear for a toprope, there were too many routes to count on this trip!

Jonathan Rawson cranks out some moves on the wonderfully textured overhanging walls at our layover camp. Rock climbers should bring shoes, a bag of chalk, and if possible top roping gear on the Grand. There are probably 10,000+ climbing routes in the section of the Grand we paddled.

This trip report is quite long. You can read it straight through, or use the chapter links below to jump to a particular day.

If you wish to go to the next page, click on DAY 7: ADRENALINE ALLEY, PART 1 ( Hance, Grapevine, Horn Creek Rapids ) shown below.

INTRO: GETTING THERE AND THOUGHTS ON THE GRAND CANYON
DAY 1: LEES FERRY TO LEFT CAMP ( HOUSE ROCK RAPID )
DAY 2: THE ROARING TWENTIES ( SILVER GROTTO )
DAY 3: VASEY'S PARADISE, REDWALL CAVERN AND PRESIDENTIAL SURF
DAY 4: PASSING THE LITTLE COLORADO CONFLUENCE
DAY 5: UNKAR, TANNER, BASALT RAPIDS RAPID
DAY 6: LAYOVER AT 75 MILE CANYON
DAY 7: ADRENALINE ALLEY, PART 1 ( Hance, Grapevine, Horn Creek Rapids )
DAY 8: ADRENALINE ALLEY, PART 2 ( Granite, Hermit, Crystal, Turquoise, Ruby, Serpentine rapids )
DAY 9: ACROSS FROM ROSS WHEELER TO BLACKTAIL CANYON ( Shimuno Creek Falls, Walthenburg Rapid, Elves Chasm )
DAY 10: BLACKTAIL CANYON TO TAPEATS CREEK ( Specter, Bedrock, and Deubendorff Rapids )
DAY 11: TAPEATS CREEK LAYOVER DAY ( Hiking to the source of Thunder River )
DAY 12: TAPEATS CREEK TO MATKATAMIBA HOTEL CAMP ( Deer Creek Falls hike, Fishtail Rapid, Matkatamiba hike )
DAY 13: MATKATAMIBA HOTEL TO FIRST CHANCE CAMP ( Upset Rapid, Havasu Canyon hike )
DAY 14: FIRST CHANCE CAMP TO HONGA SPRINGS
DAY 15: HONGA SPRINGS TO PARASHANT CANYON ( Lava Falls for breakfast! )
DAY 16: PARASHANT CANYON LAYOVER DAY
DAY 17: ROWING FOR DIAMOND CREEK, THE LONG HAUL
DAY 18: THE FINAL DAY, TAKING OUT AT DIAMOND CREEK ( Bill rescues a kayaker? )
TIPS: A FEW LESSONS LEARNED THAT COULD HELP YOU ON YOUR TRIP DOWN THE CANYON