The Voyage of the Strapless, Rowing Grand Canyon - continued

Day 5 & 6 -- The plan for the layover is to do some hiking where I have promised to lead a group up Nankoweap Mesa. So the evening is invested in rigging and packing for an early start. I put in a strong promotion for tentless which eventually gets everyone signed-on. Jeremy and Shannon, Jamie and Jackie, Chris A and myself. Light breakfast and a group photo in the early dawn and hiking up familiar territory in Nankoweap Creek. Good water stop at the spring where Tilted Mesa Trail comes down. Then we start up the shortcut that follows the standing-up slope of Redwall along the Butte Fault. Here we get a little high and off route which is not very pleasant. Regroup and back on the faint trail near the old mine site. Stash packs in the juniper at the Butte Fault saddle and then into the serious stuff. It's not easy for an old guy to keep a lead pace with all these youngsters. It gets really rugged in the Coconino traverse and for a time it seems that Jackie has got past her limit. It is a tricky place, very steep with some minor climbing, poor footing, and many rock chunks that could make a move. Probably if this was my first serious backcountry adventure I may have turned back myself. Things that seem threatening at first become familiar and accepted hazards with time and practice. Top out, rest for me with some time to look around for others. Group photo and then the descent and collect our overnight gear. Track up and over to the Nankoweap Butte saddle where a stiff wind from the south makes this not suitable for camp, so we descend the Kwagunt side to shelter in a minor drainage. Everybody seems in a good mood again at camp. Pretty easy hike next day to Kwagunt to meet the boats coming down from Nankoweap. Before anyone thinks I didn't get to row this section of the river, I did on an AzRA trip.

More Day 6 -- Arriving at the riverbank above Kwagunt gets me freaked a little, as there is no obvious landing above the rapid. Most big deltas have an upriver landing but not here. So I dash upriver looking for a possible landing access which I do find before the boats arrive although there is some current. Everyone gets back onto a boat somehow. SteveO will be riding with us.

Here we get to the big deal: Slow water and straightforward entry at the top of Kwagunt, there is a pourover at the top to avoid, long rapid, the current pushes left all the way around the bend which is one of the biggest deltas anywhere. On land if you are hiking across the delta it is huge open grassland and so the current is very strong on the outside of the bend. And there is this rock... It's in the book but I didn't really shift from hiker to boatman yet today. So the rock... we are heading straight at it and I am pulling and pulling and nothing is going and then we hit the rock, and then the river piles up over the side tube, and then the boat goes up on the rock and we all fall out and it goes over. I catch hold of the bowline (or maybe the sternline) and stay with the boat. Then the river pulls the boat around the other side of the rock and pulls me around with it. Maybe I should have let go of the rope or maybe not. Next, there is stuff in the water with us like potatoes and bananas and some egg cartons (we are the egg and dairy boat, it's our main function for the supply system). I can hear Jackie's voice on the other side of the boat and I try to get up onto but no way. We are a long time in the water but it doesn't seem to be that bad, and eventually one of the other boats gets to us and hauls us to the side. Word comes that Stephanie and Brook got SteveO out of the water which is a very big deal because he is not wearing a suit. Jeremy and Shannon got my Keen that was pulled off in the current around the rock. The boat is clearly not held together as it should be. Jamie is instrumental in providing the necessary energy to get the boat rightside. When we get it turned over again the cooler comes loose and we recollect and repack all the dairy goods we can find. No potatoes left. No bananas. One egg store empty (missing lid). Most of the cooler contents is recovered. All my beer is gone.

Inspection shows the situation is that several straps on the cooler and storage holds were not fastened. They should be fastened when the boat was taken out from camp and I never checked them when I took the boat at Kwagunt. It's my boat so the straps are my responsibility. We understand how and why I missed this but there is no doubt it's my boat so the contents are my responsibility. Jackie and Jamie have quite alot of wet gear and I have some. The big dry-bags are not very dry. Eventually, we get some lunch and there is some sun so a chance to dry some gear. BTW, same rock got some part of most of us: Stephanie bounced off it, Chris F went left of it.

The stunning embarrasment of the whole event is amplified by SteveO's enthusiastic confidence in my capabilities as a boatman. We cruse on past Little Colorado confluence where the river immediately turns a mild muddy ochre tone. Not really very loaded with silt, but muddy water makes heavy water, and adds difficulty to keeping our jugs full.

On to Carbon Creek for camp. Jamie and Jackie and I are cook again. Sections of my sleeping bag are wet but not all of it. We get some gear loaned for overnight, bag liner from Josh. The only night I use the tent; good thing I have the fleece union; it was a little chilly.

Day 7 -- More familiar hiking territory for me and I have hiked the loop with AzRA so the obvious priority for me is to dry out gear and repack, which I can just barely manage to complete when everyone returns and is ready to go. Handling the boat and personal gear and other duties solo is very consuming. The group lost track of Dorothy on the loop so we have a long wait at Lava beachcamp. Run Tanner and Basalt and stop at Escalante Camp, more familiar hiker territory. The rapid at Basalt is tricky and Rich flipped here in the hydralic wave where the current reflects from the rock ledge left shore after bending around Basalt Delta. I caught more of this wave than I wanted but not very much. The evening at Cardenas was a major down feeling for me as I was now past dealing with the immediate result of the Kwagunt flip and had time to ponder things. At least we did get some good sun here and was a comfortable night.

Day 8 -- Short float and a stop at Unkar. We did the whole tour with a guide sheet from the box at the stop; very pro. It was fun to visit again having hiked through here once before and viewed the sites without the numbered feature list. Unkar is one of the more impressive rapids and another big bend around a major delta, but Unkar is not really difficult if you stay off the rocks along the left shoreline under the cliff. One of my oar-rites got loose halfway through which was not fun, but we got over the the shallows below Unkar, got tools from the kit and re-snugged, important to have made this repair before doing Nevills and Hance. Hance... the next big deal.

We scout. Very tricky-looking. I know what to expect and exactly what to do here, the big deal is doing it. Regular run order. Float in sideways stern to the rock and then pull hard at just the right moment going past it. When the boat slides sideways over the minor drop below the Duck Pond then I know I did it right. The remainder is threading past many minor rocks on the left side which takes attention but is not complicated. That was really a major accomplishment and I feel like a Grand Canyon boatman once again.

The inner gorge rapids are pretty rough long runs and I did rumble over a couple rocks but it all goes very well. We make a stop and a fairly long hike at Vishnu and I have an objective to get a nice photo of the Zoroaster granite narrows at a very specific place. Quick photo shot and then turn back. Absolutely worth it; the best photo for me from the whole trip. Chris F and I get back to the boats overdue, but Josh doesn't make a deal of it. We row down to opposite Zoroaster, another prior AzRA river camp. High sand bank here makes unloading and setup demanding labor. Incessant boat squeak makes a melody in the beach chop all night long here.

Josh confides that there were concerns about the effect the Kwagunt flip might have had on my confidence and performance, but it was clear from the results at Hance, Sockdolager, and Grapevine that I had put that behind and got the mojo again going forward. Two down, four to go.

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