Colorado River Day 2

July 6, 2008



This morning started early with the roar of an incoming helicopter at 5:45 am. The Bar 10 Ranch is a pickup and drop off spot for river tours. There was a group of about 35 people arriving from 6 days on the river as we were getting ready to head out for our two days. After a delicious pancake breakfast we got all of our gear and headed for the heliopad. We were "forced" to give our weights again..this time stating it outloud. They said, "If you lie, you die." but I suspect they add 10% onto each person's answer. They tell you exactly where to sit so the helicopter is well balanced. The flight was great fun, with a very able and precise pilot. We flew over the area we had traveled in the ATV's last night and after a couple of masterful manuvers by the pilot we landed safely on the Colorador River shore, right by the two rafts that we would be spending the next 48 hours.

The rafting crew of four, including one female, were also young twenty-somethings. They had just brought in the 6 day people and were busy getting ready for us. All of this process of getting people to and from the river with all of the gear probably took about an hour. After a brief orientation and stowing all of our gear, we headed out. The Grand Canyon from the river defies description. Words do not do it justice. We were on two motorized rafts. There were 14 of us on each raft with two crew members. This day's travel was long, but the scenery was magnificant. We stopped for lunch beside the river and then continued on our trek through the calm waters and the occasional rapids. We were entertained by the crew with tales of adventure and misadventure by the early river runners. The afternoon became a little overcast and we had intermittent light showers. They were very welcome as they kept the termperatures down. I'm sure that the pictures everyone took will not be all that we hoped, but there was never a word of complaint about the cooling rain.



We had been told to expect temperatures in the 105 to 110 range at the bottom of the Canyon. The crew worked hard to keep us hydrated (to include cold Coors and Bud as well as sodas and plenty of cool water) and nourished and there were frequent stops for forays into the extremely cold but refreshing river.



We stopped for the evening along a sandy bank of the river and unpacked everything. We were amazed at how much "stuff" came off the rafts. We all selected an area for sleeping by the river, put up our cots and organized our cots, sleeping bags, and inflatable "hard as rocks" pillows. We had to let the air out of the pillows to have more comfort. As all of this was going on, the staff set out hors'dovres of cold salmon, watermelon, cheese and crackers. The crew chief also produced two bags of wine...one red and one white. Dinner was salad and spaghetti, with en exceptional strawberry cheese cake for dessert. How they kept all of this food cool amazed me. Everything that we were served had been on the raft for 6 days before we were served and the quality was very good. Quantities were virtually unlimited.



Dark settled in soon after dinner and Sue and I were off to our little piece of shoreline. As you might imagine, we were covered with a fine sand and smelled very "fresh" after a long day. Sue shampooed her hair in the cold Colorado River and said it was truly a breathtaking experience. I simply found my cot. We slept side by side under the sky beside the river. The day's rain kept temperatures lower into the evening and all night. We both rested comfortably after gazing in awe at the beauty of God's heavenly star-filled sky and giving Him thanks for the opportunity to enjoy the unbelievable beauty of God's creation.