Schist Camp

MILE 96.5

As the sun set, we began to see camera flashes and even some headlights (the shuttle bus?) up on the rim (Pima Point?).

Pound cake, with strawberries and whipped cream for dessert. And strawberry shooters for the more courageous and less inhibited of our group!

Hermit Rapid

MILE 95.5

We scouted Hermit, as much to set up to take photos, as to decide the best route. Flows aren't all that high, so everyone pretty much headed straight down the middle. It was a great roller coaster and much less technical than Horn Creek at Mile 91 and much less chaotic than Granite back at Mile 94.

The lower portion of Granite and all of Hermit can be seen from viewpoints on the south rim - but they look an awful lot smaller from up there!

Phantom Ranch

MILE 88

Phantom Ranch is about half a mile up Bright Angel Creek from the river - an easy 10-15 minute walk. And a brief foray into civilization in the middle of a wilderness trip. Lemonade, post cards, and a chance to sit at a table out of the sun. We even called Mom back in Seattle to let her know we were still alive and that we'd check back in another 8 days.

Bright Angel

MILE 88

Bright Angel Creek is a large stream that comes down from the north rim and its mouth is also located directly below Grand Canyon Village on the south rim. This makes it a major trail crossing - with two suspension bridges and watering facilities (for both mules and raft trips). This is where river trips are broken - with some folks only running the first part and others only running the second. On our trip, we had 17 passengers from Lee's Ferry to here. Three couples are leaving us and no one is being added, so we have only 11 folks (plus 7 crew) for the next 8 days. Rachel hiked out this morning with Greg, Camille, Bill, Dianna, Joe, and Ricki, and Colby hiked in to take her place.

Zoroaster

MILE 85

The limited number of good camps, and the complexities of exchanging passengers and crew the next morning at Bright Angel, leads to some interesting gamesmanship in this reach of the canyon. We decided to cross the river from Clear Creek and camp at Zoroaster - which sounded much better to some of us than camping at a place called Cremation farther downstream! This is a narrow camp at the base of the cliffs on river left. The Duke was placed in a dramatic cleft in the rock, out of which I expected to see emerge orcs or a giant spider (more Tolkien).

Very early the next morning, two boats took off with Rachel and our six companions who would hike out to the south rim. That would let them begin the hike up from Pipe Creek before the heat got too bad. The rest of us would rejoin those boats below Bright Angel and Phantom Ranch later in the day. The six that hike out will get showers and dinner at the El Tovar.