Saturday, September 23, 2017

Our Grand Canyon Whitewater Rafting Adventure! ~ Day 5

Day 5 began with the typical coffee & tea (oh, and it should be mentioned that this was “cowboy” coffee ~ hot water and grounds mixed together, ya then poured through a strainer) and Suzanne’s favorite breakfast: breakfast burritos! (Of course, with fresh fruit as well.)



Ya know the routine by now ~ everyone packed-up, we loaded the rafts, and we were off on the Colorado River once more.



So there were other rafting trips that we passed, or passed us, as we were on our journey. Some were in large rafts like us, others small wooden dories and others in small inflatable rafts.  At one point this morning our raft was flagged down by a group of people in smaller rafts – seems as if one of their rafts “go away” sometimes during the previous night and they asked Stephen (the leader) if he sees it along our travels, to please tie it up for them.  Well, we found it jammed by a canyon wall on the edge of a rapid, so Nick got out and paddled it to a safer place for the smaller boats to get it. By the way, as we passed people in these smaller boats, they did NOT look like they were enjoying their trip – it was hot and when ya row, there isn’t much of a breeze. And the boats are small – you’re stuck sitting in the same position all day. Not the way we wanted to go, that’s for sure!



Some more scenery




And an upcoming rapid



Then we landed and went on a hike up to Stone Creek Waterfall ~ the warmest water in the Grand Canyon. Considering the Colorado is about 52 degrees Fahrenheit, we appreciated the warmer water!

Just some cool cairns along the way…….



Stone Creek Waterfall…….



Is this considered a shower?



Back to the rafting……….





And then another hike ~ this time to Deer Creek Waterfall, one of the highest waterfalls in the Grand Canyon and very difficult to get all in one shot.



Back on the raft…..look who’s riding in front!



Fist bumping after riding a big rapid!



Now floating along…………



We stopped for lunch ~ a very yummy bean salad with fresh veggies and chips~  by Olo Canyon with a very small waterfall (at least it was small in September…….)




Then we were back on the water a bit as we worked our way to Matkatambba ~ an awesome slot canyon!

We first had to walk through some warmish water…..



And work our way through some narrow areas (This is Tom, by the way. Suzanne was following him and it was a one-person-at-a-time kind of thing. Eventually we had to put the camera away so we could use our hands and arms as well to get around.)




Some more pics~





Eventually we all worked our way out and continued walking towards the “end” of the canyon.





After our slot canyon adventure, we worked our way to our camp for the night at Upset Rapid.


We ended up with a very crooked tent that night! (Good thing we continued to sleep outside! Oh, we didn't always get the same tent each day.)





Dinner that night was hamburgers/veggie burgers, brats, baked beans, salad and pumpkin pie for dessert! (Again, we’ve forgotten the appetizer….)



Eating dinner by Upset Rapid……….



On a side note, this camp won the “best toilet placement” (judged by one’s view from said toilet) prize:

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