North Rim Passage, Bright Angel to Saddle Mountain - continued

8 May -- Start at 5:30. The saltwater flows in the east fork. There are two obstacles in the bed. Neither is very high, but the bypasses are insecure and the sort of place you could easily get hurt by a slip from poor footing (but my second visit here we just lowered packs and downclimbed). At 6:30 we reach the top of the narrows, which appears to be the source of the water in the bed, and sight a large, rock duck just up the slope. This is exactly as I had expected. I spend a little time to get a good picture of us with the duck and a view of the valley behind. We go up. Travel is direct and not difficult, and we are still in the shade. At 7:30 we top the ridge.

The terrain beyond looks ominous. Slopes are hard, black-and-gray gravels that could make travel difficult. We each suggest a line. Mine is low below the gravel slope and then up a talus ridge. Danny's is up across the gravel slope. I can see that we will gain elevation rapidly along Danny's line and so we take that. The gravel is just sufficient for good traction and the steep slope flexes ankles to the limit. At 8:15 in the middle of the slope we hear the first heli-tour of the day. There will be many more to pass overhead before we gain our objective this day.

Soon we reach a ridge with a promontory below, between us and the river, and take a rest to assess our route. Around the corner and above us is a possible break through the Tapeats cliff. Across the bay before us are two more obvious accesses to the ridge dividing us from Lava Creek. Shortly, we continue up into the boulders and it looks as if the break will go. It very nearly does. I can climb through a hole behind a house-size block and then up into the slot, but it turns into a rockclimb. Continuing without my pack I can climb up through a small tree with a sometime-ago broken branch and then stem up another crack to the top (10:00). Evidence of the broken branch and a photo in a Grand Canyon Field Institute brochure shows that hikers descended here.

Although I am on top, this is not the way I want and so I come down again and then we strike out across the slope. This is an extremely difficult boulder slope; it's impossible to choose a line and hold it. We look at two more breaks. One might go. Another clearly will. But the best place still looks like the farthest. Finally, when the bouldering is completely awful, we give up and descend to easier (not easy) ground. Across this is a ravine with the Tapeats sandstone folded down to vertical along the seam of the Butte Fault. We go up this steep-but-tractable surface and then across to the opening to the top. Then we follow a drainage to the top of the ridge and a spectacular view north into Lava Chuar Valley. Just the other side, below the ridge and out of the wind, we stop for a longer lunch (11:15). Clouds come and go and change the light continuously. The view is incredible. Butte Fault divides the riverside mesas from the wide-open valley. Beyond Temple Butte the opening of the Little Colorado can be seen. The cleft at the upper end of Carbon narrows is visible too.

Descend into Lava Creek at 12:00 choosing a fairly direct line. This should be easy, but there are some difficulties. ...Lots of boulders some places and very steep. Lower down, we enter a major drainage with a solid rock floor laid at about 30 degrees. A small pouroff has a rough bypass. At one point a narrow seam of copper ore traces across the surface. Lower still, the bed is filled with a fine, gray shale gravel that I have seen before and is always easy travel. We arrive at Lava Creek at 13:00.

We rest in the shade and take on water for awhile. A raft group from Canyon Explorations hikes through from Carbon Creek. Packing 4 liters each, we then follow the easy track up the lateral drainage to the Carbon Creek slot in just 45 minutes. Then, just east of the fault, we go up the break to the Tonto level that I scouted on last year's AzRA river trip.

A cautious approach and frequent reference to the map is rewarded by easy, if not particularly rapid, travel east and then turning north to parallel the river. As the sun goes lower, knowing there is no chance to reach Crash Canyon this night, we scout for camp. Where there is a broad area at 3200 feet, we manage to find two small, flat spaces near a large block and clear away the sharp chips that might puncture a sleeping pad. We are directly across from the Hopi Salt mines on the opposite bank.

9 May -- After restoring our campsite, we start at 5:15, and travel continues slowly and without difficulty, arriving at Crash Canyon at 8:15. Following deer tracks, we contour into the upper canyon much farther than necessary. Just below our point of descent there is a large pouroff with sign of travel along a bypass around it. Travel down the bed is easy until another pouroff near the mouth; the upriver ledge leads to the beach. There is an access up through both rims: just above this pouroff on the south side and up a little more from here on the north. Leave Crash 9:15. Along the slopes on the north side we find a little wreckage: a splinter of plexiglass, some aluminum sections, and the sole of a shoe. In 1956 this was the site of a major commercial aircraft disaster. Two planes outbound from Los Angeles were on exactly the same elevation and heading, and collided above this point. Most of the wreckage was removed in the 1970s.

As expected, upriver from Crash Canyon there are many access points to the river if needed. Passing through one of several drainages brings us into the cliffs just above the river bank. This mid-level turns out to be too much effort and travel is easier once we get back on top of the cliff. We reach the mouth of the Colorado Chiquito just as a few boats are pulling away from the other side. We are at the Chiquito Point Beach in the shade at 12:00.

Our water source is clear again and we can eat and hydrate, dunk our hats and shirts, and then continue upriver. This is known territory that I have traveled before, and above Kwagunt, Danny knows it too. Just below Sixtymile is an option to descend and follow along the river or stay above the cliff. To be different from last time, I choose the cliff. This section turns out to be a bad one. The slope is covered with large limestone boulders and footing is poor. At one point, I put my left foot onto a ledge and as I step down the ledge breaks and rakes my shin. This happens so fast it doesn't really hurt much, but looks awful and starts to bleed immediately. Danny comes up and shows me his scrapes from a fall a few moments before. Then, the sole comes off Danny's boot. The Sixtymile breakdown brings us to a halt at 16:30. Danny gets his sole tied on and we struggle to the next beach, relieved to be out of this ugly part. The going gets much easier immediately and we reach Awatubi with a good beach-camp at 18:15.

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