Strauch/Bruno Web Photo Album

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9/12-10/04/2022 Another fun Grand Canyon raft trip with Alice, Holly, Sam, Michael, AJ, Riley, Polk, Bo, Tim, Ray, Ron, Pete, Bill, Melinda and Mark. Google Photos

Our Grand Canyon Raft Trip Web Site

Tom's Grand Canyon log

Monday 9/12 Called Tim at 5:30pm to check in and it turns out I had my dates wrong. I was going to leave at 10pm and spend a night in a hotel in Cedar City, Utah. I hung up from Tim and calculated how long it would take me to get Lee's Ferry so I could rig my boat. Luckily if I drove straight thru I could get there by 10:30am on Tuesday with everyone else arriving at noon.
Tuesday 9/13 got to Lee's Ferry right on time at 10:30am but with no sleep. Everyone arrived a little before noon and we got all the boats rigged and I had my Outback shuttled to the end at Pierce Ferry. We headed to dinner at Marble Canyon Lodge and then back to the boater campsite a little down from the put-in. The water was much warmer than on any other trip since Lake Powell is so low and the dam in-takes are close to the water level. So no go cold beers and sodas in our drag bag on our trip.
Wednesday 9/14 Ranger talk with a another private trip and got on the river by 10:30am. It rained at night so all our tents had to be packed wet. So the Colorado was all muddy and it stayed that way all thru the trip. Camped at Soap Creek Mile 11.3 river right. Bo, Polk and I started out as the cook crew and we had to cook in the rain but it did stop by the time we called dinner.
Thursday 9/15 Cooked bacon and eggs for breakfast and got on the river by 9am. Almost got knocked off the boat at House Rock rapid but hung on to oar tower to climb back in the boat. We did lose an oar because we had the oar lease loop too big so the paddle slipped right into the river and they don't float. Had to bang the oar tower back in place because it bent over when I grabbed it to hang onto the boat. Ran the roaring 20's rapids and camped at Fence Fault Mile 30.6 river right getting in at 5pm and Bo, AJ and I cooked steak and salmon dinner on the grill in the dark. Did not stop at Silver Grotto like we usually did.
Friday 9/16 Short hike to Nautiloid Creek to see some ancient fossils. We did not stop at Vasey's Paradise because there was not enough water coming out. Camped at Lower Buck Farm Mile 41.2 river right.
Saturday 9/17 Some people hiked up Buck Farm Canyon in the morning before breakfast. Camped at Upper Nankoweap Mile 53.1 river right and all the Nankoweap campsites were full and one party camped in between two of the camps. Did the granaries hike in the afternoon in the shade with everyone going.
Sunday 9/18 Stopped at the Little Colorado which was also very muddy. Mark and I missed the pull-out and had to walk our fully loaded 18 foot raft up a ripple to a round of applause from our group since we did have the lunch on our boat. After lunch, a bunch of us got off at Carbon Creek to hike over to Lava Canyon while the others took the boats down to the Lava Canyon campsite at Mile 65.9 river right.
Monday 9/19 Got out earliest start and visited the Unkar Delta with the ancient ruins. Riley and Sam did the IK on Tanner rapids and flipped but got right back in the boat. Camped at Upper Rattlesnake Mile 74.6 river right and had a big turkey dinner with all the trimmings.
Tuesday 9/20 Cloudy day which worked perfectly for our hike up 4 and 1/2 miles 2200 feet to the Tabernacle and no wind. This was a layover day. Melinda cut her leg and Bill went back with her. Great 4 1/2 hour hike and great views.
Wednesday 9/21 A lot of big rapids today. Flipped our 18 foot raft on Grapevine with Mark. Big hole at the end of the rapid and I thought we could punch thru it but it was much bigger hole then expected. Lost the firepan, my umbrella and my sodas. Holly led the group in flipping the raft right side up. I did grab one Pepsi floating by before I got pulled in. Stopped at Phantom Ranch and mailed postcards. Rangers said Melinda needed ‏first aid for her deep cut on her leg and so she got flown out in a helicopter. Camped at Below Pipe Camp Mile 89.9 river right.
Thursday 9/22 Ran thru a lot more major rapids and watched a commercial trip run Granite and we followed their line which worked perfect. Camped at Upper Crystal Mile 98.7 river right.
Friday 9/23 Ran Crystal on the left and all the Gem rapids, everybody did fine. Stopped at Elves Chasm and camped at Mile 120.3 river left.
Saturday 9/24 Short hike up Blacktail Canyon. Pete and Bill ran Bedrock to the left and got banged against the rocks losing and breaking 3 oars but did not flip. Camped at Racetrack Mile 134.2 river right so we were set up for Thunder River loop.
Sunday 9/25 8 of us did 9 mile loop to Thunder River, Surprise Valley and Deer Creek while the others moved the rafts. Hot hike and needed our water filter to refill our water bottles. Camped at Pancho's Kitchen Mile 137.6, nice site in the shade.
Monday 9/26 Ran Upset rapids and did Matkatamiba and camped at Ledges Mile 152.1 river right.
Tuesday 9/27 We did not stop at Havasu because the Havasupai Reservation has not wanted visitors since covid per the NPS rangers. A long rafting day covering 26 miles and camped at Above Anvil Mile 178.0 river left.
Wednesday 9/28 Everyone made it thru Lava Falls and we stopped at Tequila Beach to toast Melinda and our successful runs of Lava with her tequila. Stopped at the pictographs. Camped at Fat City Mile 192.3 river left.
Thursday 9/29 Layover day to hike up 192 mile canyon for an 'easy' hike to a unnamed butte. When we got close to the butte, it was still a ways to go and Sam is the only one who made it up the butte. The rest of us went up a lower butte close to the canyon we hiked up. Bill turned around early and then got dehydrated. Several people ran out of water and when we hiked back down, we helped Bill get back. Sam got back to camp first and had Polk run the water jug up to Bill and others so Bill could get down ok. The book said a half day hike but it was much more than that plus the later it got, the hotter it got. It was a team effort but everyone made it back to camp fine.
Friday 9/30 Another rapids day in the low 200's and we visited Pumpkin Springs camping there at Mile 213.3 river left. This was a 21 mile day and put us in good shape for the end of the trip.
Saturday 10/1 Went pass Diamond Creek, stopped at Travertine Canyon (only 3 boats made the pull-in) and then Travertine Falls which was a little further. Three boats hit the fangs on Killer Fang Falls rapid but noone flipped. Camped at Mile 235.1 river left.
Sunday 10/2 Passed all the rapids now and did a 25 mile day with lunch on the boats all tied together. Stopped at Separation Canyon to read the plaque about the people from Powell's expedition who died trying to hike out this canyon. Camped at Mile 260 (not an official campsite on the map) near Quartermaster Canyon where all the tourist helicoptors fly in non-stop from 7am to 6pm. Our boats were attacked by the Saskatchewan River Pirates (Polk and his crew) demanding pirate booty. They raised the pirate flag and boarded all the other boats demanding booty (mostly beers).
Monday 10/3 Strong tail wind all day which made it easy for all the flat water rowing and a stop at Columbine Falls for lunch. Camped at Mile 279 river left just a mile from the take-out.
Tuesday 10/4 Got to Pierce Ferry at 8am and derigged our rafts by 9:15. Walked to see Pierce Ferry rapid and then back to meet Canyon REO truck at 10:30. Loaded up the truck by 11:00 and had a delicous fried chicken lunch.
Another great raft trip with great group of people and experiences. The weather was great with a little rain the whole trip but very moderate temperatures. Thanks to everyone on the trip to make it so enjoyable.