Day 10 It’s another beautiful day on the river. Morning talk is blessed with the presence of a male Big Horn Sheep directly across the river. Some folks saw two males butting heads across the way last night, but I missed it. We’ve seen several female and baby Big Horn along the way, but this is my first sighting of a male. Cool stuff. We’re riding with Palmer today and will get to Deer Creek (mile 137) early this morning. Several of us want to stop there, but it’s a very popular stop and Jerry has already said that if there are a bunch of people there, we won’t stay long. Deer Creek is a series of waterfalls. The main Deer Creek Falls drops more than 100 feet directly into the Colorado River and is one of the marquee stops that I have read about. Then you can hike to Upper Deer Creek for more falls and swimming holes. When we arrive, there are no other groups there so we take the hike. This is another hike where I’m proud and amazed by what Kathy is doing… scrambling over rocks and walking a narrow ledge to find the pot of gold at the other end. It’s well worth the effort. We spend about an hour playing in the water, taking pictures, and chilling out in the shade. We hike back to the boats and head down stream. There are two opportunities to jump in and swim a rapid for anyone that wants to. The first is Doris Rapids (~mile 138) and the second is Kanab Rapids (~mile 144). Levi swims both rapids and “guilts” Amber into joining him for Kanab. As for me, swimming the rapid looks fun, but I’m just not down with that ice cold water! (I guess I’m old!) We camp in a beautiful spot at the base of Olo Canyon (mile 146); a spot that will look very different in a few weeks. In 1966, construction of the Glen Canyon Dam 15 miles above Lee’s Ferry was completed. The dam controlled flow of water reduces the amount of sediment that gets pushed downstream, depleting the once plentiful sandy beaches. While Kathy will tell you there is sand everywhere, the reality is that the sandy beaches throughout the Canyon are disappearing. In response, there have been experimental high water flow tests to see if any of the beaches can be restored. The beach we camp on at Olo Canyon was created by just such a high water flow experiment in December. However, the Monson season will begin in about 6 weeks and when that happens, it is pretty much a given that Olo Canyon will flash flood and this particular beach will get washed on down stream. For now, I will enjoy the last night of my 40s on this big sandy beach!
Posted on: Mon, 01 Jul 2013 10:33:12 +0000
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