First stop on river trip, had to dry out. Water's temp 47, we were almost as blue as the boats.
Dry those t-shirts people , fine day on the river, nice and warm ready to go again.
Come on you pusseys !!! You can't back out now, so what if the worst is still to come. It's only water, no soap in it.
Start of nature hike to water falls in cave, cut stone steps and rope ladders !! OH MY!!!
All that water coming out of that hole in the rock, wonder where it all comes from.
Kind of dark for pictures, but it looks a lot better in person.
Looking staight up from water falls. Nice rock.
Looks like a dead end , but keep going , to the left and around the corner is the water falls. I took this on the way out.
Coming back out and down those nasty rope ladders and stone steps. Look out for that lizzard!!!
Just sit down and slide.
Stop pushing you're almost next, Ican see the river, we're saved, get your hand off my lunch.
Just more rocks. If you missed these , don't worry there's more.
Lunch stop and loose sand , screw it, lets eat here. Ican't get no satistraction. How about those purple legs? Does that tell you how cold we were?
This be boat and Frank, mighty Walapai's Indian river guide and boat driver, tourist sitter, chef and buddy.
Front of boat!! When we started, that piece of plyboard wasn't there, so the water just came up and over the front and into our faces, mouths, noses,you name it. We got no pics of the rapids cuz we were the last boat through, and we were too busy hanging on. The other boats got good ones of us, but they didn't share.
Same lunch stop, I made it up the hill, loose sand sucks, going down was a snap.
We could of had lunch in the shade and the mind was willing but the bod wasn't. And dragging a fat gal up the hill was out of the question. There's always next year.
On the river again. This last twenty miles is flat and no more rapids. The start of Lake Mead.
Looking up at more big rocks.
Separation Canyon. All you history buffs should know the story. This canyon goes into Utah.
You'll have to read up on the details.
Looking up again. Man, there's a lot of rocks down here.
Speed it up boss, we're heading home!!
These three peaks are part of the Walapai' spiritual history. The peak on the left is Coyote, middle is Bear, and the right one is Lion. Learned about these at the Dude Ranch where we sat at the campfire and listened to Michael Jackson.
Closer view of the Spirit Guides.
The boats in front of us.
This group of boaters where out for 3 weeks, we dropped off some supplies for them. Everyone has to have a permit from the tribe to even be on the river. There is an 8 to 10 YEAR waiting list. That is what the man said. The guides bring down what is needed, ice, food, etc. All of that for a small fee of course. Oh yeah, plus gratuities. That statement was behind every paragraph of literature.
Part of our group. The next day, they were going to rent Harleys from Las Vegas and ride on another tour. They were from Pittsburg.
This photo doesn't show how really beautiful this landscape is. The colors are indescribable and the size is in comparable. How do you like them big words?
Coming to the end. Ain't you glad?
Here's Hank! Or Frank. Take your pick. The young lady is from Ireland, works at a radio station in London.
Richard's new hat. I was smart and hid it when the guide said we could lose them in the rapids. Guess who didn't listen. Red hat on its' way to Mexico by way of Lake Mead. Sure hope the catfish don't fight over it.
Irsh lady and London man. This pretty lady put on makeup before we left. The river quickly took it off. She had freckles that weren't there before! And black streaks down her cheeks. Great sense of humor about it all though.
Coming into Helicopter pick up zone.
Up Up and Away! Damn I hate the back seat. I'm scared of heights and so they stick me by the window!
Point and Shoot! Short ride and tight quarters. Pilot and 2 in front, 4 in back.
Coming over the Rim!
Look out below! Lord help me. Damn that's a long way down!
Still Flying. Looking for solid ground.
Eureka! Safety is in sight! Where's the out house?
Next stop, the Walapai' River Ranch for the "Tranquility Experience."
Next moring at the ranch. Breakfast for the crew. Ah, the smell of fresh horse apples. Like we never smelt that before! Just like home. Except the flies are bigger!
Just waiting for some one to PAY for a ride.
Just one of the guests at the Dance Hall. This is Clyde. Food was great, and lots of it. The first night, we were almost too tired to eat, but it smelled so good! BBQ, corn, beans, cold milk. And chocolate cookies. All this after we had a hot shower and clean clothes. No radio, tv, phones, newspapers, just pure tranquility. It was wonderful. Especially after the raft trip. We weren't sure if we would make it to dinner, it was a job to get off the bed to go eat.
There's Clyde's buddy Cecil. Live music on Friday and Saturday night. Of course we were there on a Tuesday nite. We got to listen to the crew.
The Crew! Most evenings, there is an old fashioned gun fight at the OK corral. Every one of the men came over and spoke to Rich. They found out we weren't "dudes" and they could relax. Had some interesting conversations.
Dance hall junk.
You guessed it, more stuff.
Time to go to work.
Medicine Man Wa-ka-liva. He drew his name in Walapai' on a rock. Skyline of peaks and mesas. His name means "Broken Sky." You have to see the drawing, it was done in Sharpie Marker on a rock. It really is a treasure.
Two dummies trying to bit a horse that didn't want to cooperate. He ends up standing on a bucket. The headstall was already on the horse, bit attached on one side. This operation concluded with us rolling in the dirt laughing our butts off. 45 minutes later...success. What a cowboy.
Another sign said "Free Beer! (tomorrow)"
Sheriff Bob. Right after breakfast. The whole crew were the sheriff. No one wanted to be a deputy.
Meet Michael Jackson, this is he, all his buddys call him "the gloved one". He was our campfire story teller. Well, that's it boys and girls. The trip is over, it's back to "lost wages" and the flight home. Stay tuned for the next adventure, like next summer there is a Hells Canyon jet boat trip being planned, if you want to go, just let us know, and send money.
We could of had lunch in the shade and the mind was willing but the bod wasn't. And dragging a fat gal up the hill was out of the question. There's always next year.
On the river again. This last twenty miles is flat and no more rapids. The start of Lake Mead.
Looking up at more big rocks.
Separation Canyon. All you history buffs should know the story. This canyon goes into Utah.
You'll have to read up on the details.
Looking up again. Man, there's a lot of rocks down here.
Speed it up boss, we're heading home!!
These three peaks are part of the Walapai' spiritual history. The peak on the left is Coyote, middle is Bear, and the right one is Lion. Learned about these at the Dude Ranch where we sat at the campfire and listened to Michael Jackson.
Closer view of the Spirit Guides.
The boats in front of us.
This group of boaters where out for 3 weeks, we dropped off some supplies for them. Everyone has to have a permit from the tribe to even be on the river. There is an 8 to 10 YEAR waiting list. That is what the man said. The guides bring down what is needed, ice, food, etc. All of that for a small fee of course. Oh yeah, plus gratuities. That statement was behind every paragraph of literature.
Part of our group. The next day, they were going to rent Harleys from Las Vegas and ride on another tour. They were from Pittsburg.
This photo doesn't show how really beautiful this landscape is. The colors are indescribable and the size is in comparable. How do you like them big words?
Coming to the end. Ain't you glad?
Here's Hank! Or Frank. Take your pick. The young lady is from Ireland, works at a radio station in London.
Richard's new hat. I was smart and hid it when the guide said we could lose them in the rapids. Guess who didn't listen. Red hat on its' way to Mexico by way of Lake Mead. Sure hope the catfish don't fight over it.
Irsh lady and London man. This pretty lady put on makeup before we left. The river quickly took it off. She had freckles that weren't there before! And black streaks down her cheeks. Great sense of humor about it all though.
Coming into Helicopter pick up zone.
Up Up and Away! Damn I hate the back seat. I'm scared of heights and so they stick me by the window!
Point and Shoot! Short ride and tight quarters. Pilot and 2 in front, 4 in back.
Coming over the Rim!
Look out below! Lord help me. Damn that's a long way down!
Still Flying. Looking for solid ground.
Eureka! Safety is in sight! Where's the out house?
Next stop, the Walapai' River Ranch for the "Tranquility Experience."
Next moring at the ranch. Breakfast for the crew. Ah, the smell of fresh horse apples. Like we never smelt that before! Just like home. Except the flies are bigger!
Just waiting for some one to PAY for a ride.
Just one of the guests at the Dance Hall. This is Clyde. Food was great, and lots of it. The first night, we were almost too tired to eat, but it smelled so good! BBQ, corn, beans, cold milk. And chocolate cookies. All this after we had a hot shower and clean clothes. No radio, tv, phones, newspapers, just pure tranquility. It was wonderful. Especially after the raft trip. We weren't sure if we would make it to dinner, it was a job to get off the bed to go eat.
There's Clyde's buddy Cecil. Live music on Friday and Saturday night. Of course we were there on a Tuesday nite. We got to listen to the crew.
The Crew! Most evenings, there is an old fashioned gun fight at the OK corral. Every one of the men came over and spoke to Rich. They found out we weren't "dudes" and they could relax. Had some interesting conversations.
Dance hall junk.
You guessed it, more stuff.
Time to go to work.
Medicine Man Wa-ka-liva. He drew his name in Walapai' on a rock. Skyline of peaks and mesas. His name means "Broken Sky." You have to see the drawing, it was done in Sharpie Marker on a rock. It really is a treasure.
Two dummies trying to bit a horse that didn't want to cooperate. He ends up standing on a bucket. The headstall was already on the horse, bit attached on one side. This operation concluded with us rolling in the dirt laughing our butts off. 45 minutes later...success. What a cowboy.
Another sign said "Free Beer! (tomorrow)"
Sheriff Bob. Right after breakfast. The whole crew were the sheriff. No one wanted to be a deputy.
Meet Michael Jackson, this is he, all his buddys call him "the gloved one". He was our campfire story teller. Well, that's it boys and girls. The trip is over, it's back to "lost wages" and the flight home. Stay tuned for the next adventure, like next summer there is a Hells Canyon jet boat trip being planned, if you want to go, just let us know, and send money.
2 comments:
The river guide's name is a actually Ray. For some reason we couldn't remember last night. Too tired I guess. It bothered me until we went to bed. But it came to me just as I was falling asleep.
CB
That is AWESOME!!! I don't think I have the guts to ride the rapids on the Colorado. I'm so glad you had a great time, and thanks for sharing the pics.
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