Winter in the Grand
Loading ...The Grand Canyon is something many Americans associate with the wheeled pilgrimage of their youth, that family trip to national treasures half endured and half enjoyed. These memories of pulling up to the rim of the canyon, looking out at the poster child for geologic time, form a hazy montage of a place worthy of it’s status as natural wonder. Memories of other visitors, dry air, heat, and red tinted, monochromatic, landscape are ingrained in our minds right next to the ones of Arches and Yellowstone.
For a smaller subset that view is not enough, it’s too detached, too passive. These people are driven to experience the power of the fluid blade that continues to carve the ‘Grand’ deeper and deeper. The peak season is gorgeous and there is more to this section of the Colorado River than the rush of running rapids. There are storied sites of native history and natural beauty such as the Nankoweap Granaries, Deer Creek, Elves Chasm, the confluence with the Little Colorado, and Havasu Canyon. All these places are visited by thousands of river travelers. Clean but well-worn paths cut through the ancient soil of the desert to beautiful overlooks, waterfalls, caves, and amphitheaters. Combine that with some of the largest and well-known rapids in North America and you can understand why river lovers covet a trip down the Grand. Even with so many visitors each year there are still hundreds of private boaters who do not receive access to this section of the Colorado River in the lottery based permitting system. Access to the river on a commercial and private level has always been a touchy subject and the recent move from a wait list to a weighted lottery hasn’t alleviated the discord. During the peak seasons bumper to bumper commercial traffic, both human and motor powered, as well as private trips of varying size make for a bustling canyon.
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laThis December we were alone. The twelve of us left from Lee’s Ferry on December 18th ready for three weeks on the river. The mid-winter launch date caused much skepticism; heads were filled with thoughts of drysuits frozen stiff and cold, cold nights. I can only assume that these same thoughts in others are what left the Colorado River nearly deserted during our entire journey. Our trip had the feeling of moving through a ghost town, not because of physical evidence of prior inhabitants but because one can feel the lingering presence of the thousands of people that floated downstream in the months before. And the vacant campsites and miles traveled downriver seeing no one but those on our own little trip. It would be like being in New York City and every famous restaurant, museum, and street were empty. No lines, solitude where it isn’t expected. The difference is that the ‘Ditch’, as it is affectionately known, is a wilderness attraction. Solitude is one of the beauties of experiencing the wilderness and the majority of the thousands that head out from Lee’s Ferry experience this natural wonder from within the buzz of the swarm. The buzz and the swarm can add other positive elements to the experience – camaraderie and community. For me, a wilderness experience is defined by eliminating that static and reducing the experience to its quintessential clarity. This past December that clarity was there, along with good friends, and a beautiful canyon. The distractions were few.
The clarity provided by the ‘off-season’ put-in date was well worth the trade off. The supposed harsh conditions of a winter trip were no worse than a fall trip down an Alaskan river and with less rain. In our twenty days on the river, on only three of them did rain fall on our heads. A few other nights the depth, dryness, and colder weather at the rim swallowed the moisture before it could reach our camp. Waking with frost on our tent flies and a ring of white clinging to the upper walls of the canyon sometimes revealing what could easily have been missed without that white layer. We reached Owl Eyes camp at around mile 134 on day eleven, but it wasn’t until the next morning, with the snow providing contrast, that the enormous owl-like eye sockets were apparent, 100 feet across, a mile behind us high on the canyon wall.
The 12,000 – 19,000 cfs flows were perfect; exciting when steep and swift in the flats. It was easy to average 13 miles a day and even our 30 mile day was far from arduous. The classic rapids from Hance through Lava Falls were at perfect levels. With no raft capsizes and only a couple swims, the whole trip was relatively carnage free. With our crew of seasoned paddlers, former and current guides, everything off the water from dinner to dishes to setting up camp went just as smoothly. Everything was aligned, good weather, good flows, and great friends. This wintertime trip on the Colorado was the perfect blend of solitude and season.
