Journal Notes - August 22, 1983

Camping on the river

Lorrie and Stephen playing Frisbee

August 22, 2014

Right now I am sitting on the side of one of the boats at the base of a canyon to the river. This morning we woke up at 6 AM, packed some of our stuff, ate breakfast (eggs, bread, bacon and coffee and Tang), packed the rest of our bags, and hopped on our boats for an hour ride through the canyon to the Havasu (blue-green people) Canyon. I was a little late getting started because I had to put on my boots. After finally getting going, everybody was way ahead of me, so I started to go and find my own way. 

Now it is nighttime. It is still the 22nd. Tonight for dinner we had guacamole, Spanish rice, hot meat sauce and coleslaw salad. The soup was onion.

I had to go to the bathroom real bad, so I checked to see whether John, the boatman, had returned from guiding the hike, or whether Chris and Ron had started  since they were still behind me. Neither were in view so I went. 

Afterwards, I kept walking up the trail, trying to find a place to cross the river. I was getting frustrated because all the water was deep, and I didn’t feel like getting them wet since I took such pains to keep them dry while in the boat. I decided to sit and wait for either Chris, Ron or John. 

Finally Chris and Ron showed up. They decided to cross the creek in a deep part before a fall. 

I stuck with them up to where we met Noreen, Lorrie, AnnMarie and Joan. Jim was off searching for bugs. 

We hiked about a half mile from the boats to a small fall that dumped into a huge pool of clear water. It was beautiful! The sun was hot and the water was real cool. We sat in the sun and swam in that one area for over three or four hours until the sun left the spot. Then we hiked down the trail towards the boat until Ron slipped and hurt his ankle. Nearby was the river that was almost as beautiful as the first spot. It had the same small falls into a huge pool of clear, cold water. 

We have two more days on the River. Thursday night we are spending at cabins at the Bright Angel lodge. I am unclear about the plans for Friday and Saturday, but I believe we are spending Saturday night at Yosemite. I can’t wait for that. I haven’t been there for over three years. Talk about beautiful!

I still can’t believe that this notebook is holding up. I have had it in my waterproof bag that is inside my daypack, but today I discovered that my so-called waterproof bag has a rip along the seam.