I'm awake a couple of hours before dawn, seeing how desperate my need to urinate must become before I venture down the rocky incline to the river. It's not just falling that worries me, but reaching my hand out in the dark to balance myself and finding a scorpion or snake. When I finally do brave my way down, I discover it isn't so difficult. Squatting in the river, looking downstream, I can see the Desert View Watchtower on the horizon. I brush out and rebraid my hair. Then as the day finally dawns, I stretch out the kinks in my joints. The rest of the camp stirs slowly.
Today is a big day on the river.
As we move through miles 66 to 70, the landscape is markedly different. Chuck calls this area Furnace Flats, and the first of the Cardenas Basalt is sighted here. The canyon opens up to rolling hills and muddy flats. Away from the canyon walls, there is no shade. We stop in the reeds above Unkar Rapids for a bathroom break and to let Allen move the motor-rig downriver so he can take photos. Unkar Rapid has a sheer red cliff on river left and then the river bends sharply right. After a morning of sun, it's a relief to get drenched in the rapids.
Unkar Rapid. Notice how tiny the motor rig looks.
At Mile 75.5, the boatmen pull over river left to scout Hance Rapid. I walk along the beach to watch the motor rig go through. AJM stays with the boats and when I return I give him a hug and tell him to remember that I always loved him best. The boatmen all give each other hugs. Chuck reminds us of what to do if the dory flips or if he loses an oar and other emergency procedures. Amy goes through first; the Coconino seems to take on a lot of water. Next we go through. No problems. Some water gets in the front of the boat, but Pat and I don't have a drop in the back. When the Vishnu goes through, Steve loses grip on one oar. Once all three boats are together at the bottom of the rapid, everyone whoops and cheers.
Next we take Sockdolager without even scouting it. It's an easy run for Chuck (at least he makes it look easy) and again we don't get any water at all in the back. Now that we are in the narrow gorge of Vishnu Schist, the scenery looks like the Valley of Cyclops in the Seventh Voyage of Sinbad. We pull in at Mile 81 left, above Grapevine Rapid, for lunch. There is a great sandy beach with an alcove in the rock which provides some shade. Everyone but AJM and SAM has a nap after lunch. Morning's are magical on the river, but it's wonderful to lie about in the shade during the hottest part of the day.
By the time we take Horn Creek rapid, we are feeling a bit complacent. Pat and I are so involved in our conversation about movies that we barely notice the rapid until we are right on it. It's not a long rapid, but it is quite a plunge.
AJM and I walk up the sinuous canyon of Trinity Creek. Thunder echoes around us. We imagine a wall of water rushing down the narrow canyon just like in some Indiana Jones movie.
The camp at Trinity Creek is a single narrow stretch of sand with few defined campsites. The water is running fast creating white noise. I find a separate indention. After everyone has unpacked, I see a more secluded campsite on the other side of the rock closer to the river. No one else wants it, possibly because it is covered in large ants. So we move up-market and leave our campsite to Colby and Frankie.
We have been very impressed with these large Arizona ants. Very mannerly they are. They go to bed at night and they don't bite you unless you provoke them. I wake up to scores of bats darting overhead.
