Day 3

When we woke up on Day 3, the water was more of a reddish color due to run off from other creeks and parts of the canyon. It was interesting to see that the color of the water could quickly change over night. The Colorado is a huge,long river filled with lots of water and it still amazes me to think that so much water could easily be influenced by runoff from other places. Before we entered "The Gorge" we passed the Little Colorado. Because of the differences in color of each river, you could see where they merged and came together.

The Little Colorado joining The Colorado



If you look closely, you can see water spots where the colors are still merging

It was on this day that we took our second hike. This one was not nearly as difficult as Hike #1 and for this I was very grateful. We hiked up to some more ruins and a beautiful view of the river we'd already traveled and the route ahead.

The Ruins

Ken, me, and Evelyn from the viewpoint of Hike #2



The view below



Where the river would take us despues de our hike.



The view of what we'd previously floated.

At this point we got back on the river and headed onward. This day would be made up of high canyon walls and lots of rain.

Beautiful rock formations composed the scenery above



I'll let you use your imagination to determine
what this particular formation looks like



The skies were quite foreboding all day long



Winding our way closer to the Gorge



The canyon walls are starting to get higher and
the distance between them is starting to narrow



At this point we heard, "Everyone in the back get on the ground."
Apparently there were some huge rapids ahead and
the ground of the boat was the safest place to be.



A glimpse of what we were heading into



The pictures really don't do the rapids justice

The walls of the Gorge were tall and black and due to the rain, completely soaked. It rained all day and as we traversed through the Gorge we saw multiple waterfalls running down the edge of the cliffs. The Gorge was one of my favorite scenes on this trip. I can't say it was one of my favorite days, the rain tended to dampen my spirits (pun totally intended), but the scenery was unique and we wouldn't see anything like it for the remainder of the trip.

A couple of the waterfalls spotted on the canyon walls.

We took somewhat of a rest stop at Phantom Ranch. This is about midway point through the canyon on our river trip. If one were to float half the river, he would put in here and float the remainder or float to this point and go home. When you hear of people riding donkeys down the Grand Canyon, this is where they end up. There's some civilization in this area but really it's the only point of civilization on this trek.

Ken and Tammy at the bridge at Phantom Ranch.



Civilization meant a flush toilet!!!

I was very excited to set up camp that evening. The rain had finally stopped and the lightened my spirits quite a bit. The temperatures were a little cooler and the rain was threatening to come again, so Tammy and I slept in our tent that night. Aside from the first night of being forced into our tents due to sand blasting, this would be our first of two full nights in a tent. This was definitely the least miserable tenting experience.


I ended Day 3 with a journal entry: "Benji was blessed today and I missed it. That's the second blessing I've missed...

"It poured rain today and it was very difficult for me to maintain a positive attitude. Luckily, I have Ken's amazing attitude on the same boat which helped me turn things around. I've really enjoyed getting to know our guides and our boat-mates. I enjoy meeting new people and conversing with them. This has been, and will continue to be, an incredibly trip-a day of pouring rain and all."