Grand Canyon – Day 10
Day 10 – February 12
Bass Camp (109.0)
River Miles: 0
Layover day = day of rest. We woke around 7. Breakfast was slow in prep. We had pancakes, sausage and blueberries.
Dark clouds loomed in the sky so I found the rain tarp and coaxed Daddy to rig it up. He used two oars from the boats and created a shelter over the kitchen, and just in time. It was a rain filled day.
The rain showers never lasted very long but they were enough to get us wet. Then the sun would break through and warm us up. Four or five times this cycle repeated throughout the day.
Early in the morning, after breakfast, we organized the food. We have lots of food. Almost always too much and then we have to throw away leftovers.
(ammo cans held food and other sundries)
We’ve started to be selective and not make the full portions, which means we have a can of tomatoes or ½ bag of pancake mix or ½ bag of cereal left. To organize today we combined the two produce coolers freeing up one cooler. These coolers are massive – Daddy sits on the cooler when he rows. We rearranged back hatches and emptied some side boxes so garbage can go there. For the moment, I think we have garbage and extra food under control.
Late morning Daddy and I meandered up the shore. We picked our way through rocks and sand.
We thought of you all and prayed you were settling back into your school routine well. We prayed for a smooth first day back to school. We miss you all a lot! We are halfway through this trip and in a lot of ways it’s gone very fast but another 10 days without you all seems far too long. I pray it’s going quickly for you three.
Daddy and I climbed up to the first ridge. We saw a red ant hill (and gave it a wide berth!), sheep scat, and lots of cool rocks. The view of the river was amazing. We made our way back to camp and had lunch – pasta salad.
Too much salad for lunch! Next time – sandwiches! Or other simple menu items.
The afternoon had intermittent showers. We swapped dinners because the jicama was going moldy so I spent time rearranging camp bags so the correct food was available for the menu. Dinner tonight was enchiladas, black bean salad, and a jicama-cucumber salad. It was a bit spicy but overall tasty. It rained through much of dinner so we huddled underneath the tarp to eat. We had a reprieve from rain afterwards and Shawn built a roaring fire.
The warmth was welcome! The rain started again so I quickly went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth and retreated to the tent. I was in bed by 7:45! Were you?
Oh, I almost forgot, another rafting group passed us this afternoon.
(Cory, Bill, & Gerry were on a hike and captured this photo of the other group passing our camp)
They had 5 rafts, 5 kayaks, a stand up paddle board and 2 more kayaks strapped to their boats. They had 15 people on their trip and were doing it in 18 days. They launched 2 days after us. Our crew commented that they looked like river pirates. We anticipate that we’ll see them again since we are both pulling out on Feb 22 at Diamond Creek.
It’s still raining. Here’s hoping it’s blue skies and sunny tomorrow.
I love you all very much.
XOXO – Mom
P.S. We had a message from Grandpa this morning. His hike out went well and he made good time. He didn’t mention his flights though – was he delayed? I wonder if you got the first journal yet.
