Travelogue

Good morning Grand Canyon!I was still a little bit shaken from our frightening experience in Bedrock Rapid two days ago when we actually slammed into the large rock dividing the rapid, so I asked Daniel if we could ride with him in his boat again today.

All the guides were really great, but Daniel had a very comforting way about him. Plus he could read the river really well and was very strong, which I felt might be an advantage in getting out of a bad situation.

Havasu CreekSo after breakfast, we loaded the boats and set off once more down the river.

About four miles down the river, we came to our only challenging rapid of the day. It was called Upset Rapid (a Grand Canyon 8), named in 1923 when the head boatsman in a U.S. Geological Survey Expedition, dropped into the steep “hole” at the bottom of the rapid and “upset” his wooden boat.

Havasu CreekIt was Daniel’s job to run either left or right of that hole, but not into it, where it could possibly flip our boat.

He and the other boats in our group ran it perfectly. It was actually quite fun.

From there, it was pretty much flat water for the next seven miles where we beached for our main stop of the day, Havasu Creek (Mile 157), another side canyon similar to the Little Colorado River in that it had beautiful warm turquoise water.

Hanging out on the ledgesFor over 700 years, this creek has been the home of the Havasupai, the “People of the Blue-Green Water.” Approximately 450 Havasupai still live along the creek, mostly upstream in the tiny village of Supai, which is located 2,000 feet below the South Rim, a short distance from famous Havasu Falls.

It was a very popular stop for pretty much all of the river trips, so it was a bit difficult finding a place to squeeze our six rafts in near the mouth of the creek.

Cooling off in Havasu CreekOnce we did, we all piled out of the rafts and headed up the creek for about a mile to a series of lovely pools in which we could swim and frolic for an hour or two.

Its beautiful cobalt blue water was very much like that of the Little Colorado River, but a little more on the green side of the blue-green spectrum.

Havasu CreekLike the Little Colorado, the brilliant color of the water is the result of magnesium and calcium being absorbed into the water from the rocks around it and forming calcium carbonate. These minerals in the water reflect the sun, creating the electric blue coloration.

The calcium carbonate also creates a material called tufa, a harder, chalky limestone material called travertine settles out of the water and coats the rocks and boulders in a white hue, adding to the river’s color palette.

Heading to campThese travertine-coated ledges and boulders have created ledges to sit on and a wonderful array of pools, making it possible to swim in many different places throughout the canyon.

We spent a few leisurely and fun hours hanging out on the ledges and playing in these lovely pools.

Back on the boats, we had seven miles of relatively flat water to get to Tuckup Canyon, our planned camp for the night, so Daniel gave Herb the chance to row as much as he wanted.

My birthday partyDaniel told him he was good enough to be a river guide, but perhaps that was his way of getting Herb to row more while he got to pretend he was just a passenger laying back against the bags and watching the canyon walls go by. I think Daniel had a little bit of Tom Sawyer in him.

That evening I was really touched when everyone remembered that it was my birthday. Mitchell, one of our assistant guides, even baked me a rice krispie cake, a recipe from his grandmother, complete with candles for me to blow out while they sang Happy Birthday. These people had become very special to me in our short time together.