Mordor

Thursday, December 5th, 2013

When we got up this morning it was clear and very cold. Any buckets of water had ice in them. I don't think the temperature got much above freezing all day.
About 2 miles down the river, we dropped off 8 of our group at Tapeats Creek so they could hike up, around and down on a 7 mile trek to the mouth of Deer Creek. The rest of us rafted to a campsite across from Deer Creek at Mile 137. We were there in the early afternoon.
Through the day we rafted through Granite Narrows where, at 76 feet wide, the canyon is at its narrowest point ("Mordor" as Andy calls it). There was a fairly strong headwind and little sun due to the high canyon walls. We stayed dry but it was still a cold day.
Near Tapeats, we passed another group camped for a layover day. The women were all in some kind of costume and mooned each raft as we went by.

Our campsite across from Deer Creek is small, shady and cold. Water froze in the buckets in the middle of the afternoon. I crawled into my sleeping bag and slept for an hour just because that was the warmest place to be. Six of our rafters ferried across the river to pick up the hikers. When they arrived, they told us that they had a beautiful hike but at one point were walking in a bit of snow higher up the canyon.
Our crew was on kitchen duty but then it was an early night.

Friday, December 6th, 2013

 We woke to a very cold, clear morning. The water in my water bottle froze to slush in my tent through the night. Anything wet in camp, like the water pails, water lines for hand washing or any of the cam straps are all frozen. Everyone was anxious to get packed and get out on the water where we might get some sun.
It was just Zack and I in our raft this day. We ran quite a few Class 3 & 4 rapids plus Upset Rapid (8) which had a big hole in the middle that we skirted nicely. We were going to camp at Ledges campsite at Mile 152 but we got there about 2 pm. It was shady and cool so we decided to push on. Once we had gotten going in the morning, the day wasn't too cold and everyone was warm enough. This narrow part of the canyon is as beautiful as the rest but everyone is looking forward to the canyon widening out so we can get more sun.

 We stopped at Havasu Canyon, a side slot canyon, for a quick look at the turquoise water coming into the Colorado.

Eventually, we camped at Mile 158.7 on some rock ledges. We had travelled about 22 miles. I found a patch of sand for my tent but most people were camped on flat rock. We were very careful near the water's edge because the river is fast and deep. Falling in during the night could easily be fatal.