Webster dictionary defines Alone as “without anyone or anything else: not involving or including anyone or anything else: separate from other people or things.” In today’s world, I don’t think someone can truly be alone, with Social Media, phones, internet, etc. most humans have some form of human contact. For the last 21 days, I would like to think that I was alone in the Grand Canyon. As a crew of 7, we didn’t see another group on the water until day 12. While excited to see other people, little words were exchanged between passings. To be honest, not seeing anyone else for a period of time was nice and a feeling I like to embrace. It was just us and the wilderness. As we hiked for 2 hours to the Canyon rim and looked outside the giant ditch, we discovered hundreds of miles of barren land in all directions. This was a true feeling of being Alone.
This all started two years ago when Mike, Rick and I started talking about applying for a canyon permit. After looking at dates, the three of us strategically applied for dates that worked for us and gave us the greatest chance of winning. It worked, and after a lot of invites was sent, the original core members: Rick, Mike, Nicky, Amanada, Brad, Courtney, and I, embarked on the journey.
As a first time down the canyon for every member of our crew, we decided to go with an outfitter to help provide gear and food for us. Canyon REO, out of Flagstaff, did not disappoint. Their gear set up was top notch and we eat like kings for 21 days. Enjoy, until the next adventure.
The trip covered 225 river miles over the course of 21 days. We ended up having 3 layover days to help catch up on rest and to do some hiking. We saw all forms of weather, warm and sunny to snow. The trip was one of the most amazing adventures I have been on. Here is some pictures and daily notes I took of the trip.
*disclaimer, pictures were hard to take because of the Canyon walls. Either there was not enough light or too much.
Day 1 - December 19
Today we went to see Red Mountain. Red Mountain is a volcanic cinder cone that rises 1,000 feet above the surrounding landscape. It is unusual in having the shape of a "U," open to the west, and in lacking the symmetrical shape of most cinder cones. We then drove to the South Rim. After checking out the visitor’s center we hiked the South Kaibab trail down to Ooh-Aah Point. Seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time was eye opening.
Buddy Check
Red Mountain
Playing around in the snow
Trail Head
South Rim
Hiking South Kaibab Trail
Mike doing his thing
Ohh-Ahh point
Day 2 - December 20
Snow overnight stopped us from being able to go to horseshoe bend. So, we stayed in Flagstaff to finish all last minute items. We started our day, of course, in the hot tub. We spent the evening packing all of our personal gear.
Enjoying the hot tub
Wal-Mart has solar!
Gear Everywhere
Day 3 - December 21
Canyon REO picked us up early in the morning and took us to their warehouse where we loaded into a large truck and headed to Lee's Ferry, about a 3 hour drive. We unloaded rafts and packed them up for he trip. We camped at the put-in that night.
Our Gear
Driving to Lee's Ferry
Here she is!
Navajo Bridge
Unloading at Lee's Ferry
Adding the final touches
River day 1 - December 22.
We meet the Park Ranger at 9am for our pre-trip talk. At 11:45am, the seven of us sang the National Anthem and finally took off down the river. That night we camped at Below Jackass Campsite. Wind picked up during the night, it was like getting sand blasted.
Getting ready to take off!
Off we go!
Navajo bridge, river view
Finally some moving water!!
River Day 2 - December 23
After getting the rafts beached we had another short day on the water. We stopped at soap creek to hike and to scout the rapid. Soap creek was one of our first bigger rapid. As we continued down the river we entered sheer wall canyon. Stopped for the night at Hot NaNa. One of our favorite campsites.
River Day 3 - December 24
Today we covered 15 miles, and went through a lot of fun wave trains. We also stopped at lone cedar, which isn't really a cedar. At night, Mike brought out white elephant gifts and we played the game. All the gifts were items functional for the trip. We camped at mile 32 South Canyon campsite.
Merry Christmas! We went to sleep with a clear night of the stars popping and awake to snow covered canyon rim! From camp we paddled down and saw Vasey's Paradise, a waterfall that comes right out of the canyon rim. Further down stream was Red Wall Carven. We hung out here for a bit. To make up time on the water we did a floating lunch, this was the only time I did not kayak during the whole trip. We then saw the area of the proposed dam. We covered 10 miles today and camped at Bush Creek Campground.
SNOW!!
Indian Ruins
Vasey's Paradise
Red Wall Cavern
Natural Land Bridge
River Day 5 - December 26
This morning we got an early start to help cover some miles. After getting in 11 miles we stopped at Nankoweap Granaries. We hiked up to the granaries and got some photos of Rick and Nicky paddling down stream. We then continued down stream 3.5 to camp at Kwagnat camp.
View from the granaries, can you spot the 18ft raft in the river?
Nankoweap Granaries
River Day 6 - December 27
No words can describe what I've seen. The Canyon has changed from a tall, tight walled in canyon to large wide valley. Today we covered another 16 miles, we could see the desert watchtower, had lunch at Crash Canyon, and stopped at Little Colorado River. The LCR had baby blue water, it looked amazing against the red cliffs. We ended up stopping at the Unkar Delta at mile 73
Little Colorado River
So blue!
Unkar Delta
River Day 7 - December 28
Today was our first layover day. We all slept in, and had a late breakfast. After words we did laundry and went for a hike into the delta were we saw old foundations of Native American houses. We also all showered for the first time, it was nice. The sun was out and was warm enough to wear shorts.
Camp
Doing some laundry
Unkar Delta
Indian Ruins
Sunset
River Day 8 - December 29
Today was a big day of Rapids, first we scouted Hance rapid and then the canyon tightened up and the water got pushier. Sockdolager was a huge wave, it felt like 15ft tall. The canyon also changed from sandstone to granite. We ended the day 15 miles later at lower Creation campsite. Here we were about 1/4 mile from phantom Ranch.
River Day 9 - December 30
After waking up we headed down to Phantom Ranch to check it out. Phantom Ranch has hiking trails that access the rim, so there is a campground with a small restaurant and store in the canyon. It also has mule service, where people can have their packs carried down for a fee. Once heading back to paddling he had Horn Creek , Granite, and hermit rapid. Hermit had the biggest waves on the whole river. They could easily flip a raft if not lined up correctly. In a kayak it was like a big roller coaster. That night we stayed at Boucher campsite at mile 97.
Hiking to Phantom ranch
Phantom Ranch store/restaurant
Black Suspension bridge to South Kaibab trail
River Day 10 - December 31
Today we ran the famous crystal rapid, the first wave put me on the back deck of my kayak. It was a run rapid. The group is starting to struggle a little with the cold and making mileage. We ended the day at mile 109, Bass campsite. In the evening I hiked up to get a couple photos. At night we had a New Years party and in true fashion we were all so tired, so at 9:13pm we decided to call it and have a count down.
View from above
Hanging out on the edge of the rock wall
River Day 11 - January 1
This morning while getting breakfast ready I saw a fish jump. After I saw a second jump I decided to get Brad's fishing pole and try to catch a fish. On the first cat I got a bit and by the third cast I caught a nice rainbow trout. Today was our first aholua Friday! For Christmas Brad and Courtney got everyone Hawaiian shirts. On the river today we covered a lot of miles, 18 total. The water was really moving. We left the granite rock and entered a Tapeats Sandstone canyon. We ended the day at mile 127 Randy's Rock.
My first Trout © Courtney Hart
I said do something funny and this is all I got
River Day 12 - January 2
Today we woke up and the rafts were completely beached. After trying a while with a z-drag, we ended up using the oar shafts to roll the raft on top of them. I stopped at Stone Creek and Deer Creek. While in some moving water I noticed Amanda's bow line was loose and in the water. It then got tight and her raft can to a stop. By the time I yelled rope, the current had push my kayak up and under her raft. As I wanted to flush out the back side, I then hit my roll, coming out of the water yelling "cut the rope!" Amanda and Courtney then found a knife and cut themselves free. It's was a kind of unreal monument. We set up camp at mile 140.5, keyhole campsite. At dinner time we saw out first other rafting group. It was another 3 rafts that were doing the trip in 15 days. They were up the next morning at 5:30 eating breakfast, a little bit different then our trip of sleeping in.
Kitchen at work
I don't think the boats should be there
Stone Creek
Deer Creek Falls
River Day 13 - January 3
Today was mileage day. We stopped and hiked up Mat-Kat canyon. It was a really cool slot canyon. We covered 17 miles and stopped at mile 157, last chance campground
Mat-Kat Canyon
River Day 14 - January 4
Today we got a little rain in the morning, a storm that would stick around for the next 4 days. We stopped at Hava-us creek and Tuck up Canyon. Hava-us had water just like the LCR blue. It was really pretty. We also were passed by a 3 kayak self supported trip. The only other trip we would see the whole time. We ended up stopping at mile 171, Mohawk canyon.
Sleeping under the stars
Rain, ugh!
Havasa Creek
Barrel Cactus
River Day 15 - January 5
Nothing on the other side
Barrel Cactus everywhere!
River Day 17 - January 7
Today we had some hard rain and with a strong head wind, it was pretty cold. We paddled to Parashant campground at mile 198.9. After lunch we hiked up Parashant creek to see the book of worms and old avatal roasting pits.
Trying to knock over a rock
Book of worms
Agave roasting pits
River Day 18 - January 8
Today was our third layover day. We decided to try and climb Molly's nipple, at over 3,000 vertical feet it was going to be a challenge. There wasn't much of a trail and with rain moving in, we decided to call it before someone got hurt. The trail, at parts, was about 5 feet wide on an angled surface of loose rock that was next to 100ft drop.
Not much of a trail
As high as we got
The hiking Crew minus Brad
What a hat! © Amanda Lappe
Our TL
Amanda
River Day 19 - January 9th.
After a slow start, we covered some miles til we came up to more pictographs up a side canyon. We also stopped at pumpkin spring. As we paddled down we could get glimpses of the rim. The rain we got, cover the rim with some heavy snow. We stopped and set up camp at mile 214. That night we had a cool fire next to some rock cliffs.
More pictographs
More Snow!
Pumpkin Spring
Setting up camp
Campfire
Night shot
River day 20 - January 10th
Today we paddled to about a mile from the take out and set up our final camp. While paddling we could see the diamond mountain that gives diamond creek its name. Once in camp, I hiked a little to get some pictures of the river. We camped at mile 224
What comes in has to be carried out
Last night
Diamond Creek © Nickey Neal
River day 21, January 11
Our last day. We woke early to break down camp and be a diamond creek before canyon REO got there to pick us up. We paddled about a mile to the take out and Canyon REO arrived just as we started breaking down the rafts. After loading up the trucks, we had a 3 hour drive back to flagstaff, an hour of which was on the dirt road in diamond creek.
Gear truck
Leaving the Canyon
