Map for day 7
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Day 6
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Day 8
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Last night was the most uncomfortable night for sleeping. It was very warm and there was not much in the way of breezes to cool things off. Breakfast this morning was delicious as expected and consisted of French toast along with the usual melon. Camp was packed up and we were on the river just before 8 a.m. Today we rafted again with Fabry.
We had a very nice ride through Crystal Rapid. The river is green again and it did not look nearly as menacing as it did the day before when it was running reddish-brown and muddy. There was not very much action on the run, however, as the boats had to keep to the right of the worst waves. Crystal is a dangerous rapid and your just can't take too many chances with it and Fabry has been clobbered by Crystal before. While we were on the beach yesterday, waiting for the guides to scout it out, we watched a couple of motor rigs run it and even those monster rafts had some problems. One person riding in the front of one of the rafts was almost thrown out and was only saved from swimming through Crystal by the actions of a diligent guide.
After Crystal we ran Tuna Creek which is right below it and was a lot of fun. After Tuna Creek we started into "the gems". All of these (Agate, Sapphire, Turquoise, Ruby and Serpentine) gave us very nice rides and Fabry did a very nice job of catching as many waves as he could for us. Agate is really just a big riffle and not technically classified as a rapid even though it was a very nice ride. The best runs were through Sapphire, Ruby and Serpentine and I enjoyed them much more than Crystal.
We stopped just above Bass Rapid to inspect the Ross Wheeler and Chris gave us a reading from a book which described its story and how it came to be abandoned there. Bass Rapid was OK but it was not really very impressive. After that we stopped at Shinumo Creek to go for a short walk to see the waterfall there. Robin went for an unscheduled swim in the plunge pool while trying to make it up the creek to the waterfall.
After a brief stop we piled back into the rafts and ran through Shinumo Rapid which was a little better than Bass. Following Shinumo we ran a couple of smaller rapids, 110 Mile and Hakatai, before hitting Walthenberg, which was a pretty good ride. We stopped for lunch at Garnet Canyon and the guides made that strange cream cheese, olive and onion thing again. I made myself a tomato and cheese sandwich and after lunch I did a short hike up to a dry waterfall.
After lunch we cruised on down to Elves Chasm and we got there just as another party was leaving. Elves Chasm was "way cool". Many in the party climbed to the top of the waterfall and jumped into the plunge pool in front of it. I was first in after Dave showed us how it was done and then went once more after that. Robin went once also, after considerable hesitation. She is getting much better at these things considering she used to be afraid of any kind of heights.
After Elves Chasm we had a nice leisurely ride down through Stephen Aisle along which the scenery and especially the Redwall was fantastic. The Vishnu Schist has disappeared for the most part and the Tapeats is now at river level again. We made camp about a mile above Blacktail Canyon at a spot called Jacobs' Beach. It is named for Michael Jacobs, a river runner who died there after taking a fall while climbing in the Tapeats. I learned of this from a book that Chris let me borrow when I asked about how the beach got its name.
After camp was established, we played horseshoes while waiting for dinner to be prepared. Dinner tonight was another awesome feast as usual and consisted of BBQ chicken, Rice, broccoli and salad. For dessert we had cherry cheesecake.
Day 6
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Day 8
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