Our day began by getting up at 5:30AM, so that we could get checked out, eat breakfast, and get to the rafting company by 7:30. Everything we had packed from Florida, in addition to our four river bags were packed into the car. The only person who could see was Jennifer, because she was driving.
The drive to the river put in point at Potash, only took about 30 minutes. We stopped on the way to see Indian drawings on a rock face cliff. We pushed off by 9:45
Today was, as the guides call it “all about comfort”. We all just found comfortable spots on the rig and lounged. At about 1:00 we stopped riverside for fresh lunchmeat sandwiches.
In the afternoon, we did a one mile (each way) hike up to some falls. The guide’s suspected that it might be dry due to the lack of snow melt, but we made the hike anyway. The altitude and the 100% rocky terrain took its toll on Jennifer.
About 5:00 the guides began planning to stop for camp. A park ranger boat came up and gave us the situation of downstream camps, noting that the first couple were taken. We ended up in an extremely small camp, but everyone made due.
During the setup of camp, we were hit with a rain storm which lasted about 30 minutes. During it, we were getting heavy gusts of wind: one of which took hold of the kitchen canopy and knocked over the kitchen stove and the cake mix that the guides were working on. The prepared mix was on everything in the kitchen for the remainder of the trip.
The guide’s improvised with desert to keep the kids happy, by breaking open their personal stash of candy bars for the kids. So they made S’mores out of Snickers.
Highlights of Today:
- Massive Canyons
- Adventure of camp setup
- Swimming in the Colorado
Advice/Lessons Learned
- Bring a battery powered fan – It took quite awhile to get our body tempatures down to a comfortable level when going to bed.
- Bring two pairs of Tevas – The hikes are not simple flat terrain walks. You are climbing over and through rocks. Wally World sandals will not cut the mustard.
- Button-up Long Sleeves – Cheap ugly thrift store shirts would be perfect!
- Bring your own water bottle – They provide cups, but you truly need a real water bottle that you can attach a carabineer to
- Bedroll or SleepSock – There is sand EVERYWHERE. A simple sleep sock (sheet sewn like a sleeping bag) will greatly aid in your sleeping comfort.
More athttp://www.flickr.com/photos/jking89/sets/72157606448670293/