Day 11 - Part 2 :: Matkatamiba Canyon to Tuckup Canyon

Saturday, September 27th... continued.

After our shortened hike at "Matkat" we would travel 15 miles further down the river.

There were only three rapids along the way, two rated 3-4 on the Grand Canyon scale, and Upset Rapid (rated 8-9 and one of the longer rapids).  Riding with Matt on this day with Patrick, Jason, and Sarah we were the first raft through Upset Rapid. It was definitely a "fun" ride! Above, Chelly starts her run through...

Stands up to get a better look...

Pushes forward...

And zips past us!

Less than an hour after leaving Matkatamiba Canyon we watched the rain move toward us from downriver. We stopped on-river to let those who hadn't already put on their splash jackets before leaving MatKat do so and - if they had them in the day bag - rain pants too.

And then the rain came.

The wind had come along with the rain, it stung exposed skin like thousands of needle pricks. The sleeves of my splash jacket were long enough that they could be pulled down over my hands... I tightened the hat strap and just bent my head into the wind. The strong wind and heaviest rain lasted perhaps fifteen minutes. Then it turned into a steady drizzle that lasted all afternoon.

Matt pulled out his "special" rain hat - the water slides right off it.

The clouds came down to fill the upper canyon. 

We pulled into this spot for lunch (photo was taken as we left). It didn't look like much but behind that high pile of rocks there was an overhanging cliff and protection from the elements. And that pile of rocks was steeper and bigger than it appears!

Wet clothes were removed and hung up to dry... the heat coming off the rock wall and boulders was amazing and oh, so welcome!

Bless them! The guides packed buckets, tables, and everything else needed for lunch up to the ledge. They even pulled out the propane tank, heated up a big pot of water and fixed broccoli-cheese soup. Hot soup never tasted so good! Thank you very much, it was greatly appreciated!

The view from the ledge. See Chelly down by the rafts? Yeah, it was further up to that ledge than the earlier photo shows. It's all a matter of perspective!

It was a long and leisurely lunch break. The rain had tapered off considerably, even stopping now and then. As we departed our lovely lunch spot it was raining once again, but in the distance we had hope from the brightening sky that the rain would soon be over.

The guides had told us to watch for waterfalls along the top of the canyon walls. We saw several small ones like this but there just hadn't been enough rain to create the gushing falls that they talked about.

The "landing area" of our campsite at Tuckup Canyon presented a few challenges with all of the rocks on the "beach" but by then the rain had stopped and the sky was clearing.

We even saw a little sunshine!

For the most part, the rain didn't dampen our spirits. We got wet. We got cold. But that really wasn't much different than going through the rapids, except that we usually got drier and warmer rather quickly with the latter. The rain just lasted a little longer. It was all part of the overall experience of rafting through the Grand Canyon!

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Note: The page Grand Canyon Raft Trip lists all of my posts published about this Grand Adventure!

Published under a Creative Commons License.
Becky Wiseman, "Day 11 - Part 2 :: Matkatamiba Canyon  to Tuckup Canyon," Kinexxions, posted November 9, 2014 (http://kinexxions.blogspot.com/2014/11/day-11-part-2-matkatamiba-canyon-to.html : accessed [access date])