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<< previous: Beginnings
In the evening, the AZRA staff prepares a delicious meal. As we
dine on salad, fresh salmon and imported beer that’s been chilling
in the river for the past two hours, I feel a twinge of guilt. Goldwater
had to toil just to find drinking water. He explains in "Delightful
Journey:"
"Drinking water is also hard to find. Owing to prolonged
drought, nearly all the springs have dried up; thus a fresh spring
of water is more valuable to us than gold. On most days we have
had to drink river water. We do not dare to drink it directly
out of the river because there are towns whose sewers find their
way to the river… When we need water and no springs present
themselves, we boil river water in buckets for fifteen minutes,
allow the silt to settle, skim off the scum and pour the water
into canteens. The resulting drink has the flavor of burnt wood."
Our first camp is North Canyon. It is as Goldwater described it:
"We are camped tonight at the mouth of North Canyon,
through which in wet seasons flows a small stream known as North
Creek. This stream rises near the head of South Canyon and flows
northeast, entering the Colorado at this point in Marble Canyon.
North Creek, like its sisters, has removed from above what appears
to be half a plateau in the form of huge boulders that have created
a big, fairly long rapid… We have been down to view the rapid
this evening, and its main channel looks not unlike a mean little
roller coaster.
Tonight Charlie and I are sleeping on the top of a rock to
escape the blowing sand that has bothered us for many nights.
I hope we have picked a good place."
Beth and I dutifully set up our sleeping bags on top of a rock
too. It is so warm we need to lie on top of our bags. The sky is
filled with stars. We see a shooting star and know this is a good
omen for our trip. The roar of North Canyon Rapid lulls us to sleep.
day two: bugs, rocks & stars >>
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