North Rim Passage, Bright Angel to Saddle Mountain - continued

7 May -- Up at 5:00 this morning and packing up. By 6:15 we are nearly ready and so we go up to the ruins. The sun is about to come over Unkar cliff and I should be able to get good pictures. Tiny outlines of hikers appear at the top of the Unkar overlook and we wave hello again. Several times I have been over there looking across and wanting to be here, and now I am. Perhaps they are as envious as I would be (I hope so). There are at least two-dozen small room outlines. We debate whether the stones are original or were placed by archeologists to mark the dwellings. (I have since confirmed they are not the original building stones.) There are many pot fragments and a broken ginder with stone. Just down the slope is a really big open agave pit, and we discuss the size, probable number of occupants, and living conditions. Game and firewood must have been more plentiful to make a practical home. At 7:30 we start upriver again. The trail across the delta leads to another ruin site, smaller but more impressive than the others. The north wall here is a double row of stones and these look more original. The trail down to the beach has been built-up by the guides to handle visitor traffic.

Along the bank the track continues through the tamarisk. The path is traveled, so the way is open. There are several more small river camps until we reach the next drainage above Unkar. From here, the sign of travel is much less and I start to worry again about another obstacle. Sure enough, the downward-sloping layers produce another ledge and a cliff going into the river. After checking the alternatives I am ready to go back to the last drainage and try going away from the river. Marshall is not, and so wades out along the ledge probing with his walking-stick. He gets to a low spot in the cliff just knee-deep and lunges up onto the bank. Then we pass packs up. Moving Ed's pack from the shelf I knock out his belt-bottle and it goes over the cliff into the water. It's caught in the eddy while we debate the merits of chasing it. I urge Ed not to go, but he needs the bottle and goes for it. Just as the current seems about to catch it he reaches out with Darrell's wallking-stick and drags it to shore.

Upriver along the bank is easy walking again. Then, we notice a few pot sherds in the sand and I realize that we may be trespassing in the "no visitation" area. Figuring out where it is along here that you are not supposed to be is not an easy task. There are no USGS landmark references that clearly identify the place and no route descriptions that bypass this area. We go through along a path on the flats. Upriver from here is another narrow section which I scout first. It doesn't seem to be a problem, but the rocks on the shore are loose footing. Then it opens up again to a wide section. We pass through a section of tamarisk and salt-flats. Soon, I know, there will be a section that we cannot pass at river level and I hope there will be an access through the cliff along the bank. At last there is a large opening in the cliff and a debris fan. We walk out to the edge of the river to cool off, eat something and take a look at a way out (11:00). The access up the ridge between two ravines seems like the best choice. Wet hats and shirts make good preparation for braving this stretch of "Furnace Flats."

Up the first ravine, onto the slope, and up a steep ridgeline. It has been traveled some. We cross the top of a small rise and reach a saddle. The slope to the right looks like an access to the bed below, but it turns out to be steep and resistant. We slide down to the bed and continue up. At an easy slope out to the east we go up. At the top I get the hint of a track and start to follow it up and to the east. Next-to-nothing grows here. The track continues faintly and starts to descend toward Basalt. Looking down at your feet in just one place you would take it for a rain channel. This track is something quite different from the usual. It has more sense of direction and purpose than a game-trail, and the few plants are mostly in the trail rather than by it. Anyway, this is no place for a game-trail as there is no browse and no obstacle to favor a line of travel. Neither is it a hiker nor river trail. One part on the flat just above Basalt is absolutely straight. In the sand at the bottom of the slope Marshall finds a nice round-edged pot sherd and there are more around. I am sure we have been following an old Anasazi trail that connects the Basalt area with the sites downriver. All routes in Grand Canyon follow someone's old tracks, but this is really something special to be along a track so old and without any sign of recent use. Of all my "authentic route" discoveries, this is the best ever.

At the mouth of Basalt (12:00) we find some shade and I suggest we review our plan. Considering the heat of the day and the elevation, distance, and uncertainty of the route ahead, I feel we should rest here for the remainder of the day and start over to Lava on the next day. This will allow us to stay together for the night or see Marshall and Darrell across the river. Ed seems a bit displeased... that he "is not having fun anymore" and can't accommodate a possible half-day delay getting back to work. However, he doesn't want to abandon if Danny is not willing to go on, just the two of us.

Danny and I go to talk privately where I make a case to cross and all go out. I would be perfectly happy to come back and do the rest of the trip another time in reverse. Danny is not convinced and is ready to go on together, and so the matter is settled. Next we go upriver to the beach at the top of the eddy (a good landing spot) above Basalt Rapid, and pitch a tarp to get out of the sun. We quickly divide food and gear in case a raft should come along for a ride across. Within the half-hour, we hear a motor and wave for a boat. A Hatch boat pulls in and they are happy to take three across. Quick goodbyes, and our friends are gone on their way. Danny and I stay under the tarp, wash a little, get some water and wait for it to cool. Then we will go up Basalt to get a start on the next day. Soon, a Diamond Expeditions boat pulls over to the beach to visit. Sam inquires whether we need a ride across and gives us each a couple of drinks. We watch for our friends to come up the trail on the other side to Tanner, but they don't show so they must have found a good place further down.

At 17:00, the sun is low and there are clouds, so we pack up and leave. The bed of Basalt, like Unkar, has recently been swept clean. The bed is firm and easy walking. A trickle of water appears, but there is a lot of salt along it. When we reach the fork we decide to camp and finally find a level spot out of the bed, flat, with enough rocks to hold the tarp. It rains, it blows, and we fix dinner under the tarp. Before I realize it, it's already after 21:00 and we need our sleep for tomorrow. The snap of the tarp in the wind keeps us awake and so we collapse it and lie on top the remainder of the night.

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