Start: Mile 63 Finish: Mile 108
We left “Crash” campsite and officially entered the GRAND canyon.
Everyone had on full rain gear (pants and jackets) and we were all excited about the big rapids.
Tracy rode on the forks (3rd position) through Tanner Rapid (2-4), Unkar Rapid (4-7), Nevills Rapid (4-7) [video].
The canyon is now very wide [video].
One of the big rapids of the day was Hance Rapid (7-8) with a 30 ft gradient drop. Joey gave us a description of the rapid [video] and Tubbs was the boatman (ran the motor/navigation). We had an awesome hit but the motor came out of the water and came back down on a rock which broke the prop. We got through the rest of the rapid okay but they had to change out the motor (each raft had 2 spare motors).
Tracy rode up front and Panther was right behind her starting at Sockdolager Rapid (5-7) [video].
We came to the Kaibab Suspension Bridge which leads from the Kaibab and Bright Angel Trails. We saw several hikers crossing the bridge. The sun was very hot and these hikers had large packs. The Bright Angel trail comes straight down from the rim for 8 miles. This is the only way off the river for 181 miles.
We also passed under the Bright Angel Suspension Bridge which was built in 1970 as the mules refused to walk over the Kaibab Bridge. This bridge is wider with better footing for the animals. We saw a group on mules a little further down stream heading to the Bright Angel Bridge.
This is also the home of Phantom Ranch. Phantom Ranch is a facility at the bottom of the canyon that can only be reached by hiking, mule or rafting. It has a canteen which serves meals and snacks and has a dorm style cabins or private cabins to sleep in. The water for this is run down from the north rim of the canyon and you can see the tube that runs up the south rim so they have water on the south side of the canyon. Phantom Ranch is where some trips end.
We had lunch at First Aid beach. It is called First Aid beach because this is the first point for stopping after running the rapids if your trip started at Phantom Ranch.
After lunch we ran Granite (7-8) [video], Hermit (7-8)[video] [video], Boucher (4-5) [video], and then Crystal (7-10) [video].
Check out this awesome video of Hermit Rapid by clicking here.
We had an awesome hit at Crystal! The J-Rig’s motor cannot stop during this rapid because of a large rock in the middle and massive side waves coming in from both sides of the canyon.
Then we started the Gem series of rapids: Sapphire (6), Turquoise (2-4), Ruby (4-5), and Serpentine (6-7). We had awesome hits through all these rapids and a big hit in Sapphire.
As we were pulling into our camp, we saw 2 large big horn sheep. They stuck around for a little while so we could see them from our camp.
We camped just below Bass Rapid (between miles 107 – 108) [video], [video]. Tonight we celebrated ABC = Alive Below Crystal! We had dancing [video] and music [video] and burritos for dinner.
After dark, Joey, Wiley and Dinshaw had a jam session with their guitars. This is the first night we heard Joey on the mandolin.
Powell Report: August 13, 1869
“We are now ready to start on our way down the Great Unknown.
We have but a month’s rations remaining. We have an unknown
distance yet to run, an unknown river to explore. With some
eagerness and some anxiety and some misgiving we enter the canyon
below and are carried along by the swift water.”