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])

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])