Travelogue

Some fun on the riverToday was going to be a pretty mellow day - no big rapids, just swimming in the river, watching the scenery go by, playing ultimate frisbee, and hiking up to an ancestral Puebloan architectural site..

Since we were encouraged to switch boats throughout the trip so that we could try each type of boat, as well as each guide, we shopped around for a boat to spend the day on.

Our fleet consisted of six boats in total: three oar boats, which were each rowed by a river guide and held 4 passengers, another oar raft which held much of the supplies needed for 14 days on the river, a paddle boat in which 6 of us could paddle each day, and a classic Colorado River dory, which could hold three passengers.

Frisbee between the boatsI was probably the biggest chicken on the trip in terms of fear of the boat flipping or being flung from a boat into a rapid, so I had avoided the paddle boat and dory up to now. I would try to eventually work my way up to having the courage to do so.

So until then, I would stick with an oar boat. Today we would ride with Robin, our trip leader, who was extremely experienced, having gone down the river over 40 times and could read the water in her sleep.

We were all in a pretty playful mood today, so during our short 12 miles on the river today, we jumped and did flips off the raft, we swam through mild rapids, and we even tossed a frisbee (amazingly successfully) between the boats.

Ultimate Frisbee on the RiverBy three days into the trip, the 20 of us were definitely coalescing into one big family, something I didn’t really expect when we first met in that orientation room back in Flagstaff, what seemed like a week, rather than just 3 days ago

The only rapid of any note today was President Harding Rapid at Mile 43.5 (a Grand Canyon 4). When we asked Robin if President Harding had run this rapid, she laughed and told us that it was actually named by the U.S. Geological Survey expedition in 1923, when they learned the news by radio that President Warren G. Harding had died.

Views along the hike up to the GranariesIf I knew today was going to be such an easy rapid day, I should have taken the opportunity to go in the paddle boat or dory. Oh well. I’m sure there will be more easy days (well, there weren't),

We got to the Nankoweap Canyon Camp (Mile 53) by 2:00 in the afternoon, probably the earliest we would ever arrive at a campsite.

Nankoweap GranariesWhen pulling onto the beach, the guides pointed out a fairly big beach a short walking distance from the beach we were camping on that might serve as a good place to play ultimate frisbee. The group of six ultimate frisbee players were very excited.

A bunch of us walked over to the nearby beach, and the guys began drawing boundary lines in the sand. Rules were explained and teams were then selected.

Nankoweap GranariesI was so tempted to join the game, but I was literally twice the age of anyone playing, so I volunteered to photograph the event instead. I didn't want to show them up - haha.

It was really fun to watch, even if I wasn’t exactly sure what the heck was going on. During one exciting play, Kayla, one of our river guides and first time player of ultimate frisbee, caught a beautiful pass behind her back and ran for a touchdown, or whatever it’s called in this game.

What goes up must come downWhen it cooled off a bit, one of the guides came over to tell us it was time to come back to camp and get ready for our hike up to the Nankoweap Granaries. We felt a little bit like kids being told recess was over.

The hike was to be short and sweet - 1.5 miles with a 617-foot elevation gain.

The trail began right from our camp and led us up a steep slope to an absolutely incredible view of the bends in the river below.

The Golden HourPulling ourselves away from the view, we continued up the trail to a series of ledges set against a limestone wall. Under an overhang there were what looked like a row of four square windows cut into the cliff wall.

These were the granaries, cut into this wall by Native Americans from the Ancestral Puebloan culture almost a thousand years ago. If we thought this hike was tough, just think of Ancestral Puelbloans hauling their grain, including pumpkin seeds and corn, from the river delta below to these “storage units.” The granary helped keep the food dry during floods and protected it against rodents and other hungry creatures.

Dinner back at campWe sat on the ledges for a while, contemplating the fact that a thousand years ago, people lived in this canyon that we were rafting through, and envisioning what their lives must have been like.

On the way down, the golden hour was approaching, so the view of the river bends were even more stunning than on our way up.

Back at camp, we were spoiled again with another delicious dinner cooked by our trusty river guides.