Barry Goldwater
© Arizona Historical Foundation

© Jim Ryder

<< previous: day two

It is so crowded on the river that we need to ask a pair of scientists if we can share their campsite tonight. They have been gathering sedimentary samples in this spot for ten days, so they are glad to have the company. I think of the startling contrast between the river now and in Goldwater’s era. Today, roughly 20,000 people per year go down the river. In 1940, Goldwater was among the first one hundred people to travel the Colorado to the mouth of the Virgin River.

Our congenial group is getting pretty casual. Guys are flossing their teeth after dinner and swapping "groover" stories (a.k.a. the portable toilet). We are settling into river life.

After we’ve helped clean the "kitchen", a few of us lie on the boats and look at the stars. Dykinga talks about how the river changes people. He says people see better at the end of a trip: Their vision of themselves comes forward; therefore, their photographic vision is also extended. Pat, the guide on the group boat, talks about living life to the fullest. He says this is something he admired about Goldwater: he packed so many lifetimes into one.

I think what Goldwater said of these moments:

"Charlie and I have set our cameras for pictures, and are back in bed. We have been talking. The exchanges I have had with different people at night, lying under the stars, constitute one of the trip’s most enjoyable phases. Tonight in its full moon glory has been no exception. A mind is improved only by being taken out once in a while and kneaded on the boards of discussion."

Beth and I forego a tent again tonight. It’s so hot we strip down to bare essentials; we’re glad to be sleeping far from our mostly all-male group. We stretch out on top of our bags again. The sand is blowing so hard I need to put a bandana over my mouth to keep from eating the beach. Despite this, we are ready for sleep.

day two: continued >>

     "Footsteps"
     Quick Links:

     • Goldwater
     • Beginnings
     • Bugs, Rocks, Stars
     • The Little Colorado
     • Magic Hour
     • Delightful Camp
     • Matkat & More