Despite the many remarkable vistas along the Grand Canyon , you really don't see the river much . As I couldn't hike all the way down ( cat ) I had to find another way to get my feet wet . Paddle time .
The only portion of the Colorado that you are allowed to paddle without a guide and permit, is the stretch from Lees Ferry up to the Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell . Lees Ferry is where the put-in is for the Grand Canyon tours . Its also as far upriver as you can get in a car . If you go down river without the permit ( impossible to get ) you get arrested immediately ! What most folks do who want to paddle ( instead of just float ) is pay an outfitter to haul them up to the dam in a big inflatable and then they just float on back down to the ferry ! I wanted to the paddle up as well !! Couldn't be worse than paddling into a hard spring tide with the wind in your face . Right ? !
Didn't know if the weather was going to cooperate with yet another series of flash flood warnings issued ( because of another hurricane in the Pacific) but it turned out to be a beautiful paddle and great day . It was one of the special moments of this trip with my heart just rocking as I worked my way up the river alongside these beautiful red cliffs ! The current was manageable if you stayed in the right spots …. and I had a blast . They even have primitive campgrounds along the way. The water was 47 degrees ( they actually manage the release to achieve that ? ) and pretty dang clear . There was nothing in the way of rapids but there was no way I wanted to capsize my big old barge of a kayak as I would probably die of hypothermia by the time I could get the beast right side up !
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| coming down from Kaibab & North Rim |
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| view up river towards dam |
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| marker for campground access |
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| this is for scale ! |
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| totally lost |
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| approaching horse shoe bend |
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| another campground |
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| changing light |
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| another campground marker |
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| craggy |
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| loose horse |
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| returning to put-in |
After a marvelous sunset I got up early and ran to the Lonely Dell Ranch and on up Paria River Canyon . The Ranch was similar to the Fruita scenario in Capitol Reef . The Paria River joins the Colorado a half mile downstream from this ranch and settlers obviously knew where the soil and micro climate were . The trees are still hanging in there . There is a wilderness trail that runs out the back of the ranch for miles that I just loved !
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| I kinda goofed and didn't get a good picture of the ranch |
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| any clue what that is ? |
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| hitting the dusty trail |
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| Rest stop |
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| Add caption |
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| gets to a narrow ledge |
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| hmmm |
a Pump for irrigation is what that is.
ReplyDeleteGreat pics again Keep it up
cant sneak anything past you !
ReplyDelete