Day 12 - Part 1 :: Tuckup Canyon to Vulcan's Anvil

Sunday, September 28th was a gorgeous day! We would traverse 18 miles on the Colorado River (from mile 165 to mile 183), take one short hike, go through two small rapids, and run the biggest, baddest rapid on the river (Lava Falls) as well as enjoy the beautiful scenery along the way.

Sunrise at Tuckup Canyon.

Busy preparing for the day ahead.

Approaching National Canyon, at mile 167, where we would go on a short hike.

Entering National Canyon through a rocky stream bed that had a little standing water.

Further into the canyon.

The rocks got bigger.

And bigger... I had passed Matt a short distance back. (We were on our own on this hike since there was no way we could get lost.) He had said to just keep going until you can't go any further. I had no idea what was up the canyon that we were going to see, I don't remember him telling us although I'm sure he did.

I had seen several of the others climb over that "little" rock on the left (which was bigger than it looks) and thought perhaps I could make it through. I checked out the right side of the big boulder, but it didn't look like there was a way around it, besides the mud looked really, really sticky/slippery. And there was no one else around to help in case I got stuck or slipped. So, reluctantly, I decided that I had reached that "no further" point.

It was nice just being there. It was quiet. It was peaceful. It was beautiful.

The play of light and shadow in the canyon was incredible.

A shaft of light came down and accented just that one big boulder!

Back on the river, light and shadow continued to play well together.

 We stopped at Cove Canyon, at about mile 175, for lunch.

I wandered around, admiring Mother Nature's handiwork.

A water hole in a rock alongside dappled sand... indications of the recent rain.

Three miles down the river we passed Vulcan's Anvil, a sign that we're not far from Lava Falls Rapid. Still two miles away, we don't hear it yet, but are very much aware that it is only a short distance ahead of us.

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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 12 - Part 1 :: Tuckup Canyon to Vulcan's Anvil," Kinexxions, posted November 10, 2014 (http://kinexxions.blogspot.com/2014/11/day-12-part-1-tuckup-canyon-to-vulcans.html : accessed [access date])