grandcanyon08

Hey ducky ducky

Blog kitt decided around 16:52 on 31 July 2008 to publish this:

Kris and Andy finished the afternoon in the two duckies. I was way nervous about this, spending most of the first part of th epoast lunch, post hour relaxation in the shade, row to the campsite worrying about Kris. The worrying prompted me to comment, "this is why I'd make a bad mother," out loud to Sam and Adam.

My comment prompted a good discussion ("okay to worry, not okay to say no because of said worry") with Sam and Adam about mothering, parenting, jobs, etc. Adam had joined the boat when Kris left.

The camera began to dry out, so I started to get some okay photos, focus wise. Zoom doesn't work yet, as the gears are still full of sand, but at least I can take some pictures.

Sam paddled our boat back up a rapid so that I could take pictures of Kris and Andy running the rapid in the duckies. Just as Kris started his run, the paddle boat in front of him hit a big wave (a standing wave at that). I turned to look, and saw Kent jump from one side tothe other as the boat folded on the wave, and Pat went flying out in a V. "Welcome to the Grand Canyon Swim Club" was the Pat heckle of the day.

Kris, meanwhile, in the beginning of his run, saw Pat go flying, and has to abort his hole run (that's "hole" not "whole", as he was aiming to run the ducky through the rapid's hole.

I did manage to get some unzoomed photos of Kris, but they're not as spectacular as I wanted. I stopped worrying about him and the ducky after that.

Cooling the site

Blog Yeah, kitt finished writing this at 17:57 on 31 July 2008

So, after we paused at the shady alcove, watched another rafting group (a private one this time) go through Lava Falls Rapids both upside down and without rafts in some cases), we continued down to our campsite with Kris and Andy in the duckies. Our campsite at Whitmore Wash, mile 188, was in full sun, even when we arrived after 4.

After arriving and unloading the boats, I convinced Kris and Andy to try Kim's trick of watering down the tarp area to cool off the site. They were both skeptical of the idea, but willing to try.

Michael commented that the thermarests provided enough insulation from the ground to make the ground cooling beneath us unneeded. I countered with the argument that the ambient heat rises from around the thermarests.

We all agreed that the proper answer was, "We'll see."

My least favorite photo of Josh

Blog Yeah, kitt finished writing this at 18:05 on 31 July 2008

Yeah, that's a dead cicada.

Stacks

Blog Written with a loving hand by kitt some time around 18:12 on 31 July 2008

After setting up our campsites, we had lots of time to kill before the sun was sufficiently off the campsite to make it bearable. While we were all moping around, Josh offered Sonia and me a game of Stack, where you stack rocks on top of each other until the pile falls. The last person to successfuly stack a rock wins. Or rather, when the pile tumbles, the person who failed to stack loses.

Sonia and I kept playing smaller and smaller stones on the stock. Josh kept playing bigger and bigger stones.

Eventually, I just wandered away to take macros of rocks.

Josh's stacks were impressive.

Hunker Dow-wun

Blog Instead of being asleep at 18:19 on 31 July 2008, kitt created this:

Tonight, we learned of Hunker Down, a game where two people stand on ammo boxes with a long length of rope (60' of rope, maybe?) between them. Each contestent starts holding an end of the rope. On the count of "3... 2... 1...

Two nights left

Blog Yeah, kitt finished writing this at 18:20 on 31 July 2008

I switched the camera back from superfine, as I have only 79 superfine pictures left. When the lense fogged, I should have switched it immediately as the photos are crap anyway, with the soft focus. 131 photos left on this card with the 'fine' setting.

Wow! I'm halfway through this moleskine, even though I'm 7.5 days into the journey. I wish I had been more prolific earlier in the trip, writing out entire entries instead of just notes to fill out later.

Tonight is supposed to be a party night, now that we're past Lava Falls. I wonder if I can get the Lava Falls video footage from Sam.