July 1, 2015

July 1, 2015

Last night one of the other campers gave me Pepto-Bismol tablets they had in their first aid kit.  It was almost instant relief.  Thank god.  After 24 hours of misery, I was considering getting myself helicoptered out.  Instead I awoke refreshed and happy.

As we cruise down the river the canyon walls get taller and taller.  We can see the effect of the river cutting down into the Colorado plateau uplift in the rocks being exposed.  Every few miles a new rock layer is exposed.  The boat captain identifies each strata and its geologic source.  Most of the rock must be very hard and durable as the walls are surprisingly sheer and vertical.

Our major stop today is the confluence with the Little Colorado River.  The LCR comes from the south across Navajo land cutting its own major canyon.  Aimee and I are stunned.  The Colorado is fairly clear but greenish brown.  The LCR is a brilliant teal blue color.  It stands in marked contrast with the red canyon walls.

From the confluence we hiked up stream.  The guide shows us a spot we can slide down a chute in the river using our life vest as a diaper or butt protector.  Aimee loves it.  Besides being fun, the water is a pleasant 70+.  Aimee can’t stop herself from making run after run.  She and two other girls even form a train and pretend they are water ballerinas.  Our whole rafting trip would have been worth it just to see this amazing spot.  Unfortunately this little slice of paradise is under pressure.  Even though the Navajos consider this piece of land sacred, they want to cash in.  They are hoping to build a gondola that would shuttle 2 million people down to this site every year.  The uniqueness would be destroyed.

While Aimee played, I walked upstream to investigate more.  I have never seen a teal-colored river, only glacial lakes with their finely divided silt.  Travertine bowls are all over the river.  Apparently this river picks up a lot of lime underground and now it is degassing causing the precipitation of finely divided calcium carbonate.  Very cool and already the trip has exceeded our expectations.

Back in the raft we continued our journey downstream.  The LCR marks the historic beginning of the Grand Canyon.  From here the canyon walls rise even higher and set farther back.  How truly grand it is.

Just downstream, we pass aluminum glinting off the canyon wall.  This is the site of the 1956 crash of two passenger jets that killed all 128 aboard.  At the time it was not uncommon for passenger planes to make maneuvers to improve views of the Grand Canyon.  This first major crash prompted the establishment of the FAA.  Eerily one of the lost souls has my same last name, likely a long lost relative.

On the opposite bank, we pass an area where salt clings to the side of the canyon walls.  Some of the rock strata include sediments formed when the ocean covered this area.  That deposition must have trapped salt water that now leaches to the surface with groundwater seepage.  The Hopi Indians used to travel to this spot to collect salt for preservation of meat.

Tonight we camped near mile marker 75.  While setting up camp we were blasted with gusts of hot air and sand.  The sky was beautiful with storm clouds and lightning but not a drop of rain to dampen the sand.  It rains little in the desert.  We left the tent in the bag.  Like previous nights we slept on cots outside under the stars, or in this case clouds.