2001 River Excursion

Well, we waited for eleven years, but the permit finally came through. As usual, it was easy finding passengers but not so easy rounding up boatpersons. We finally wound up with Jim's two 15' RTI Yampas, Paul's itty bitty Achilles, and an 18' rental boat from PRO. The only problem with the brand-new big yellow boat was it made Jim's boats look even more like dinosaurs than they already are. Launch date was September 30, 2001.

Weather was fine. We only got rained on one evening. It rained somewhere, because the last two days it was obvious that something upstream had flashed. We started out hot enough to sleep outside the bag liners, and ended up cool enough to zip our sleeping bags all the way up.

One new thing was the bugs. I have never had trouble with bugs before in the Canyon, and at Silver Grotto we were eaten alive by something. We all started sleeping in our tents: something I usually don't do unless threatened by grizzlies, hurricanes, or volcanoes.

At Phantom we switched boatmen: Chris for Dave. What an intro! "Welcome to the Canyon. Here's your boat. Today we do two nines and a couple of eights, and tomorrow morning there's Crystal!".

Chris and I became the Kamikaze boat, going through backwards, sideways, and every way but on dry land. In Granite, an oar popped out, and all the dry bags came loose and started floating down on their own. The next morning we spent extra time strapping everything down tight enough to withstand an earthquake. We even put Pam's bag that wouldn't fasten inside another bag. This turned out to be an exceptionally good idea.

The water level was really low, and Bedrock looked nasty. Hether ran it: no problem. Jim and Paul ran it: ditto. The Kamikaze boat lined up with its fearless co-pilot in the bow ready to highside or lean into the waves, whatever it took. We started in, and the rock got closer, and closer, and closer...and I said something like, "Chris, aren't we supposed to be on the right side of the rock?" when "SPLUT" the boat and I parted company.

First thought: I don't think that went according to plan.

Second thought: I was supposed to take a deep breath, but, I'm underwater now, so I guess that option is no longer viable.

Third thought: There's a green light. Is that the surface, or is that the light I'm supposed to stay away from?

Then: my head was above water. The waves were plashing in from all sides, so I was afraid to take a really deep breath in case some of that green water wanted to join in. I finally caught sight of the boat: upside down: and swam for it. Brad and Paul are yelling, "Over here, over here", and I'm thinking: "No, I'm supposed to be with the boat!".

Brad pulled me into their boat and Paul grabbed Chris (so that's why we brought them along!). That sort of thing makes one pause and reconsider, so we did that while Hether, Tony, and Teri flipped the boat back upright. Because of our trouble in Granite, everything was tied on tight and nothing was lost. I got cut on the shin from being pulled back into the boat, my hand was scraped on the rope in Paul's boat, and I had black and blue marks on my arms from where Brad grabbed me. My rescuers did more damage than the rapid.

Chris got right back into the boat, and profiting from the experience, ran the rest of the rapids better than ever. The fearless co-pilot, however, had to walk around the next couple of rapids. I only did that so I could take pictures of everyone else, of course.

So that was the only trouble we had. No one lost any gear. Paul got swept up right out of his seat and into Spectre, but Brad grabbed him and pulled him back in. Teri fell in leaning way, way over to grab Paul's hat. Robbie jumped in a couple of times voluntarily, but that is to be expected.

I didn't see any rattlers. Brad saw a pink up Shinumo Creek, and Becky camped right next to one across from Deer Creek.

After two weeks on the River, leaving was like abandoning reality rather than returning to it. My on-sale wet suit was worth every penny, even when I wasn't thrown into the water. It is cold sitting in those itty-bitty boats! Next time I'll check my rain pants to be sure their waterproofing isn't peeling off. Tying my glasses on with two cords worked: I didn't lose my glasses or my hat in Bedrock. As happens on hikes, the first week we were storing all sorts of food leftovers, and the second week we ate everything in sight.

Other useful facts:
Pita bread keeps for two weeks if you keep it dry.
Baby carrots keep for two weeks, but broccoli goes south after a couple of days.
Enough toilet paper is key.
Ditto enough moisturizing lotion.
A hand pump does not work as well as a water cannon to get the other boats wet.
River sandals don't protect your toes.

Ballad of Bedrock

About a boat I'll sing a song, sing rickity tickity tin.
About a boat I'll sing a song, that didn't keep her passengers long.
And when she hit the rapids wrong
She threw every one of them in, them in, she threw every one of them in.

They hit Bedrock on the left side, sing rickity tickity tin.
They hit Bedrock on the left side, and when the rock the pilot spied
At the bottom of the river he did reside
For his butt to the seat was pinned, was pinned
His butt to the seat was pinned.

And when they finished their soggy ride, sing rickity tickity tin,
And when they finished their soggy ride they crawled up onto the shore and cried:
"The author of the book had not lied.",
The left side he did not recommend, commend,
The left side he did not recommend.