The Pun-In on the Colorado

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As we got closer to the river, Diane and I were surprised at how green the river was. In all the pictures we had seen, it was always brown and that is what we expected. The green water confused me so much that for a second I thought it must be some tributary of the Colorado and not the river itself. We learned that the river is green at lower flows and brown at higher ones, and that because this was “weekend” water, the flow was reduced. There is less demand for power on the weekends so less water is released from Glen Canyon Dam.

At the put-in, we met the rest of our group. The new guests were Becky Blankenburg and Steve Lieske, Karl Claus, Susan Goodman, Larry Neufeld, Bill Goodman, Linda and Jay Jones, and Tamara Tulou. Susan, Larry, and Bill were from Canada. Becky, Steve, and Tamara were part of a group of friends from different parts of the U.S. This group also included Marcial and David whom we had met earlier on the trail. Linda and Jay were from North Carolina. Karl simply belonged to everybody.

We met our guides, Mike Cambel (Camby), Eric Christenson, Neal McAdam, and Alex Thevenin. Mike was the boss. There were two able bodied assistants, Anne Flinn, a friend of Mike’s, and Ann Harvey, a friend of Neal’s. All were experienced river guides and had many years of whitewater experience between them.

We unloaded our packs into dry bags. One bag was to contain what we needed during the day, and the other everything else. After a brief lunch we were off to the first rapid of our trip, Horn Creek, a Class IV+ by Eastern standards.

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Photos

Colorado Put-In
The Phantom Ranch or Bright Angel Trail put-in for the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon.

Sam and Lindsey at the Put-In
Sam and Lindsey at the Put-In

Julie at the Put-In
Julie at the Put-In