The Roaring Twenties

After packing up in the morning we made our way the short distance down river to the scout for House Rock. It was a little intimidating for me. The last rapid that I scouted was big drop number three on Cataract Canyon. That was by far my worst run through a rapid ever. On House Rock Rapid there are obstacles at the top right, and really crazy hydraulics and a cliff wall on the bottom left. The idea is to get right as soon as you are past the obstacles. The run I made was almost exactly like the run I planned. I set up center right, pointed my stern to the right, waited for my moment, and then rowed for everything I was worth. It was a big confidence boost to have the first big rapid under my belt, even if it was not one of the big six.

After House Rock we visited North Canyon. It is a pretty side canyon where we hiked and later had lunch. It is really fun to go into the small side canyons after being in the large main canyon.

Then it was off to row the Roaring Twenties. This is not the hardest section of the canyon, but there are a lot of rapids in ten miles. In reading about this section I read about early trips and the people who drowned on those trips. Additionally I had heard that most flips happen in that section of the canyon. By the time you get to the really hard stuff you are a seasoned pro.

So it was that in Indian Dick rapid we had a flip. When a raft flips it is no fun at all. First you have to catch the raft and most importantly the people on the raft. Keep in mind that they are both moving targets that are not necessarily going down the river the way you would choose to go. Once you have gotten the people and raft to safety you have to flip the raft right side up and get everything together. The only thing I can compare it to is being involved in a car accident. There is a lot of rehashing of the incident and wondering what went wrong. To be honest I feel a little bad that I was so happy that it was not me who flipped. Fortunately the only damage from the flip was a lost hat. The rest of the rapids went well. I felt good about most of my runs, and I felt good about being through the roaring twenties. Now I really hoped that by the next big water day I would be a seasoned pro.

Our camp that night was at South Canyon. The camp was nice, but it was my least favorite place to park our boats. The beach was covered with driftwood. As the water rose through out the night, a consequence of changing flows from the dam, our boats would rise and hit the driftwood. In addition the water was very turbulent. Which meant our boats would be constantly crashing into the driftwood despite our best efforts to clear a spot for them. Luckily Driftwood is mostly smooth. With all of waves I was getting a bit sea sick so I decided to abandon sleeping on the boat and head for shore. Below is a picture looking from our camp south toward Vasey's Paradise and Stanton's cave