Day - 7 The Exchange

I knew that we were camped close to Phantom Ranch the night before, but I had no idea how close. The boater’s beach was just around the bend. Brian and Seth had done an early morning float down to the boaters beach so that those hiking out could get an early start. We thought we would have to wait for the people hiking in, but that did not prove a problem. The kayakers were so excited that they started hiking early. That made it easy for us. We were able to make the quick hike from boaters beach to Phantom Ranch without having to wait. It was kind of interesting to see buildings and people. Going to an actual bathroom was kind of nice to.

From Phantom I was able to make my call home. It was nice to be able to talk to Adrienne and the kids. It is hard to describe how nice it was to talk to someone who was so excited to talk to me. It also touched my heart when Adrienne told me how well the ward was taking care of her. Honestly, being in the dark as I was, I thought maybe they were going a little overboard. Adrienne almost let it slip, but she made sure not to tell me why she was being taken care of so well. A few days earlier our baby had spent a night in the hospital. Under the circumstances I appreciate her keeping it from me. Jane was okay, and at that point the only thing that I would have been able to do would be to worry. It was so nice to talk to Adrienne that I was really sad when we had to hang up.

We hung around Phantom Ranch for awhile. One of there biggest sellers there is lemonade. Once they are done with the lemonade they fill the bottles with water and freeze them. Then they sell the ice to boaters that are coming through. It is quite the business they have going. We bought all of their lemonade bottles and a few bags of ice, which then had to be carried to the boat. As hot as the day was, I think the bag of ice I had was one of the most pleasant loads I have ever carried.

Once back at the boats we met our new members of the group and had lunch. There were two kayakers, Curtis and Jon, as well as Mark who would spend most of the rest of the trip on my boat. The group was not lacking in enthusiasm. That first day the kayakers were practically giddy with excitement. I don’t think they could have wiped the grins off their faces if they had wanted to.

After lunch we made our way down river. There was only one big rapid for the day but it was a dozy. Horn Creek is one of the big six. It is easier at higher water so we had planned to go when the water would be at its peak. There really is not a good scout for this one. There are two rocks on this one called the horns. One was more in the center than I was expecting, the other is on the left. The run is right between them. For some reason Craig was in front of me when we went through. He ended up taking a run that went over the right horn. Because of the drop I could not see his run well, but it looked like a crazy ride. He made it through all right though. There was a funny moment afterward when Curtis paddled up next to him and yelled, “Nice Run.” At first Craig thought he was being made fun of, but kayakers are different breed. Curtis saw the run and though it just looked fun.

We arrived at camp a short time later. Monument Creek camp offers a great view of Granite rapid. The first thing we did when we got there was to watch a commercial group run the rapid. It was kind of scary to see the rapid at high water. It was like the whole stretch of river left to right top to bottom was full of gigantic waves. There was so much big water I did not really see a path that I wanted to take.

We went back to camp, where I tried not to think about the next day. Granite would be the first of three big rapids the next day. In addition to those there would be several other rapids that are big in their own right. Luckily that afternoon I found a nice spot to set up my cot for the afternoon. It was a spot nestled under a tree at the bottom of a cliff. I do not think the spot gets hardly any sun. I was able to curl up and take a fantastic nap. It was good to get some rest. The next day would be the biggest water day of the trip.