Back from the Canyon

[Irulan]

18 days, 277 miles later... some of you have been asking for a trip report so here it is..

Hi res photos, lots of them
https://picasaweb.google.com/penny.s...I-bscGu6JuvwAE

Samples:

Rigging our boats.


Approaching Redwell Cavern



side hike



Deep in the Granite Gorge




It was combined permit, DH and a Boise friend combined the permits as allowed by the NPS reorganization of the whole private boater access deal. We had been on the waiting list since 1995. The program has since gone to a weighted lottery, but they are still finishing up issuing permits from the wait list. In our group there was a combined total of over 20 prior trips so there was lots of good Canyon experience, plus some of the top Class V boaters in the PNW. There were three family groups with adult kids. We had 16 people with 9 boats; 4 rafts and 5 catarafts. This is a larger group of boats for a Canyon trip but it also means that the load is spread out more and your aren’t rowing overloaded barges down the river. My older son rowed our boat so we rented a 16’er. We were really bummed that our other son couldn’t make it due to UW finals schedule. It was a great group: good team players, excellent boaters, no real conflicts.

Logistics: Ok folks, just to be clear: we did not go with an outfitter. We are what’s called a Private Party. No one “guides” us down the river. That’s what a permit is for: we get to do it ourself. We don’t pay anyone take us down: it is a strictly do-it-yourself deal. We pay fees to the National Park Service, and share all costs, and use our own equipment. Between group member’s prior experiences, and the wealth of guide books, maps, and other information out there, if you have the gear and a reasonable amount of experience there’s no reason to use an outfitter. No one does anything for us; all expenses and all tasks are shared. We drove down there with a couple of trailer loads of gear, rigged our own boats, and then had our vehicles shuttled around to the other end so they’d be there when we were done. We are fully self-contained: we carry portable toilets (pack it ALL out), water filtration, satellite phone for emergencies, full major medical kit, full kitchen. No backpacking food, either. Our meals were everything from bagels, sausage and melons to pancakes for breakfast, and grilled marinated rib eye steaks, or stir fry, or tortellini with salad for dinner.

Trip Length: 277 miles. 17 nights on the river. We put in at Lee’s Ferry, took out at Pearce Ferry, 60 miles downstream of the Diamond Creek take-out. This is on what used to be Lake Mead, but is now flowing. Flatwater, but flowing. Our mileage varied from 12 – 30 depending on what we wanted to do. There are lots and lots of little side hikes: waterfalls, slot canyons, archaeological sites and so on so it’s fun to stop along the way.

Tough parts: Heat: many days of 110+ degree temps. We had several days of high upstream that was truly furnace-like and extremely desiccating. The river was at a high flow, so we’d do our mileage early, but it would be too hot to hike once we got to camp. The sand grinds into your feet and everything else. Some of the camps were washed out due to high flows.

Wildlife: We saw condors, blue herons, deer, sheep, scorpions, Western Tanagers, various raptors, rattlesnakes and lots of lizards. One of our crew is an experienced snake handler and caught a rattler that was visiting camp with his bare hands and set it loose on the other side of camp. That would be considered a highlight, also. One of our guys had a black light along which was pretty cool for highlighting the scorpions after dark.

Highlights: “River Time” is the main one for me. As in, “what day is it, anyway?” Climbing up the slot into Matkatamiba Canyon was really fun. Stars, lots of stars. The Canyon is truly beautiful. Having a geologist along was definitely a bonus. I know a lot of that stuff myself so it was fun to explain to others how it was made. Watching JK take Hermit on right through the gut of it, and have the run of a lifetime ( straight on through everything) was definitely a “moment”. No one had film running, but they should have. That’s the mark of an excellent boater: he got off line just a hair, but did an amazing straight on save without batting an eyelash, and did it with panache and confidence. It was something else to watch.

The whitewater. It’s kind of funny, but our group of NW boaters is pretty nonchalant about the big rapids. Sure they are appropriately mindful and safe run oriented, but these guys run the Lochsa, and Salmon regularly at very high flows, and most of them do the N Fk Payette just for fun (premier Class 5 run in the US). So, they don’t get stressed about the big stuff. We had very clean and exciting runs through everything. I don’t remember much of Lava Falls as our ( me and my friend) instructions were to “keep the paddle in the waves” bracing the front of the boat as it were. All I ever saw was the face of the waves as I was leaning on the front tube jamming my paddle in the water. One of our party did flip an 18’ raft in the Ledge Hole at Lava Falls, which is not a good thing but it turned out OK. My son is turning into an excellent boatman – that was fun to see. He did a super job of “herding” the flipped boat into an eddy.

Best entertainment: one of our crew is a true outdoorsman: bowhunter, fishes, boats, hikes, very savvy, snake handler, safety minded etc. We decided that this guy needs his own show to beat out Bear Grylls, and we’d call it “I’m Getting Too Old For This S**t”. He is just turned 60 and I promise you, you will die if you try to keep up with this guy hiking. So every evening we’d (my girlfriend and I) would make up new episodes based on the day’s events or true stories we heard about him. Considering this guy once killed a scorpion with his bare fist and could catch live rattlesnakes, it was easy to do.
Ep 1: Snake Wrangling.
Ep 2: Scorpion! Kill it! With your fist!
Ep 3: I bet I can get my boat in there.
Ep. 4: Weather discussion; extra points for accuracy, cussing, and accurate cussing.
Ep. 5: Hiking in a loincloth – will he do it?

We were informed that we had too much time on our hands.

[Veronica]

Wow! That sounds just fantastic. You hang out with some interesting people. Rafting the Grand Canyon is on my "to do" list. We've never done anything like it before so we'll be doing one of those guided trips.

We're actually "testing the waters" with a trip down Hell's Canyon in a couple of weeks.

Veronica

[sarahkonamojo]

Hey nice TR! Got off the river myself on April 21st. MUCH cooler weather. And a incredible display of desert blooms. We were also a private, but with some gear form PRO. Having them deal with the groovers, is soooo worth it.
We also took out at Pearce. Did some on your team want to run it? Not I.
Hard to beat a Grand trip.
S

[Irulan]

we did groovers from PRO, the food rented and one boat... our kid rowed ours so we needed to rent a 16'. As for the rapid below Pearce, no one in my group of Class 5 boaters was remotely interested. They may be experts but they aren't stupid.

Some of our group wanted to do our own groovers. My hubby, the TL, basically told them no way. For $0.60/day per person, it's crazy to do it yourself when there are other options. For the uninitiated, a groover is a portable toilet that is an ammo can. You have to carry out all human waste. A trip like this can easily generate 5 or 6 rocket boxes full of crap, literally. You then clean them out at an RV scat machine after the trip, but it's a really sh*tty job.

How many days did you do? We missed the desert bloom mostly.

[Irulan]

Wow! That sounds just fantastic. You hang out with some interesting people. Rafting the Grand Canyon is on my "to do" list. We've never done anything like it before so we'll be doing one of those guided trips.

We're actually "testing the waters" with a trip down Hell's Canyon in a couple of weeks.

Veronica

Going with a guide is the only option if you don't have or want to get/learn how to use the gear. ( or have friends that like you well enough to invite you if you don't have a boat) If you do do it, go for an 18 day oar trip. The one week turn and burn motor trips just aren't enough. However, 18 days on a raft is really going to cost you, even a bottom of the barrel rafting company is going to be $4k or so. A top drawer company is more like $5K per person... but it is the trip of a lifetime. So start saving now...

V - Hells Canyon is cool. But expect it to be HOT this time of year. How many days and who are you going with? Don't get me wrong, going with a guided trip can be a great way to go. That is how a lot of people get introduced to the sport: they try and then want to do it themselves.

[Tri Girl]

AWESOME!!!
Irulan, I blame you for re-igniting the flame in me that wants to ride the river through the Canyon.

I just read 2 books (one nonfiction about a woman who took a solo trip through the canyon and another a fiction novel about a raft trip).
After having spentt 4 days last summer hiking through the inner canyon, and then 2 nights over Spring Break this year below the rim, the Canyon is in my blood. I can't get it out.

That is definitely on my to-do list. Will never know anyone who can run a trip themselves, so it'll be a paid outfitter for us. Must start saving now to do that trip in 10 years.

Thanks for sharing- the photos are just FABULOUS!!!! Your trip report sounds like a dream- SO exciting.
I can't wait to run those rapids (as a passenger and minor participant only) someday!!!!