7:25 pm - Colorado River at Kanab Creek

Well, at least I/we are where we are supposed to be tonight. For a while there we thought we had lost Jasek but Mike finally got in touch with him on the radio and he is camped about 2 miles upstream from us along the Colorado. I guess he decided to do a dayhike this morning before starting for Kanab and just ran out of time and energy. He said his legs are beat and he will meet us here in the morning, about 10 am or so. I am glad that I decided not to go to Deer Creek or I might have got caught up in this as well---the day was long enough as it was. It felt very good to get to camp before dark today and there was still some pretty good light here when we did arrive.

It was a good day. We started at a reasonable time, about 7:30, and made steady progress with numerous rest breaks. It turns out the spring we found and used last night was not Siesta Spring after all and we discovered the real Siesta Spring about 1/4-1/2 mile further down river. I wonder if the spring we did find has a name?

We saw some rafts coming down the river around mid-morning and Chuck flagged them down for a chat. Bolek's pack is way too heavy and his feet are getting beat up so Chuck asked them if they would take the pack and drop it off at Kanab Creek for us. They agreed and it was a good thing as without the pack Bolek was just flying along the river.

Mike and Chuck started calling Jasek at 3 pm, the scheduled check-in time but could not reach him. I think they were beginning to get a little concerned but not too much since the range of the radio is quite limited down here.

The route along the river is pretty good in paces and pretty bad in others. I would say about 50-50. Luckily we had shade most of the day though, probably 90% of the time, and it was nice and cool for the most part along the river. The few sunny spots were quite warm though and it felt good to get past them and back into the shade again.

I was the first one to arrive at Kanab and got here right around 5. I found Bolek's pack right away and set my pack down next to it and then wandered around the delta with just my camera and waited for the others to arrive. I setup my tent on a dune on the beach tonight and this will probably be the last night I get to use it as I expect the quarters up in the side canyons to be cramped. I like my tent and now I can sleep on top of my sleeping bag in just my underwear and be quite comfy. I would never do that sleeping out in the open, not with all the creepy crawlies out there.

I was in my bag all last night and it was quite pleasant. It was nice to wake up and look at the stars occasionally. Dave found a scorpion next to his sleeping place this morning and promptly killed it.