Day 1: Lees Ferry to Bush Head Canyon
And we’re off! After a nice day’s relaxing at the AirBnB yesterday, this morning we were up bright and early at 4am, ready for a 4.45am rendezvous with our guides at the La Quinta Hotel in Page, where we would park up, transfer to the Backcountry Found van and head off into the Paria Canyon Vermillion Cliffs Wilderness area for the start of our adventure! It was still pitch black outside, so most folk took the opportunity to nap while we made our way to our starting point. Unlike ManpanionTM, I have trouble napping in public places (due to a fear of someone drawing on my face with an eyeliner pencil and/or uncontrolled drooling) so I stared out the window, listening to the sound of everyone’s backpack straps rattle and bounce against the roof of the van like rain, and watching the sky slowly lighten with the rising sun.
After an hour’s drive, we reached Lees Ferry – an historic place which serves as the starting point for all river rafting trips down the Colorado river into Grand Canyon. There was a big open-aired shelter under which we had a quick breakfast of bagels, granola and yogurt to fuel us all up for the day. The night before, I had brought a selection of fake tattoos for everyone to choose from to mark our badassery as Women Who Explore. I couldn’t decide on one, so I picked three – including one inspirational message of “Nothing Is Impossible” that I placed on the inside of my right wrist. I figured it would help me get over any really tough parts of the hike – one glance at my arm and my resolve would be stiffened, my grit restored and I’d be able to keep calm and carry on. Well, I called its bluff before even one foot was set upon the trail. I discovered that nothing is impossible EXCEPT trying to have a poop at the last flush toilets before you head out into the backcountry for a week. I tried so hard. I relaxed so hard. I even tried to shartle myself into action. But nope. Nothing was moving or shaking. By the time I emerged, crestfallen, the whole van was waiting for me with an expectant look on their collective faces. I felt bad having to tell them of my failure to…er… launch.
So just a quick aside, given we are here already. As you recall, last night, we were all issued with our own “poop tubes” – large white canisters into which we were to deposit our, err…, deposits (deposhits?). There were some deodorizing crystals already at the bottom of the poop tube to get the party started, but we were also paired up with a Poop Buddy with whom we would share an additional small container of amusingly-named deodorizing crystals. This gave rise to my asking Amanda (who I had met less than 24hrs earlier) “would you be my poop buddy?” – not a sentence I commonly use, to be honest. She graciously agreed to share Dump Truck with me and I knew a new friendship had been born. In addition to the Dump Truck, the other key component of the backcountry backside system was a smallish black bag. You would place this, unfolded and ready for action, into a small hole you’d dug into the ground. You’d then do your business, give it a little sprinkle with the Dump Truck, tie it up and then stuff it into your Poop Tube. Jobbie’s a good ‘un, as it were. We were each issued with 5 bags, enough for a poop a day, but were advised to tie each bag with a slip knot, so that we could untie the bag and re-use it if necessary. Ummm….no fucking way, I thought to myself as Pika and Ronnie happily shared that info with us. Once that sucker is tied up, I’m not going back in to double dip. For the more adventurous/athletic defecators, there was the option to not dig the hole but to simply hold the bag against you and poop freestyle. To my already fragile mind, that was some Advanced Level Wilderness Pooping shit, so I figured that would be something to aim for next time.
Anyhoo….back to Lees Ferry and the start of our hike. Today’s route was going to be the longest in terms of distance, with just over 11miles to cover. Unlike pretty much everyone else, we were going to be doing the Canyon hike in reverse, starting at the end of the canyon and hiking upriver, from its widest point to where it starts to become narrower and narrower. I think its such a genius way to do it as the scenery will become just more and more spectacular as the canyon walls get higher and higher and close in on you. As we started to hike out of Lees Ferry, we went past an old settlement encampment where we could see some of the old buildings of Lonely Dell Ranch that the “first” settlers back in the 1800’s lived, including a cemetery where a number are buried. Any time you see historic settlements like that, I am forever grateful I was not born 150 yrs ago! We also saw a number of petroglyphs carved into the rock by the ancient tribes that lived here a thousand years ago, etched into the desert varnish that coats the giant sandstone rocks here. (fun fact – did you know the difference between a petroglyph and a pictograph? Well, a petroglyph is carved into the rock and a pictogram is painted! Now you know!)
Before long, it was the moment of truth – our first river crossing!! Up until this point, my secondhand mens size 9.5 trail running shoes had performed admirably – but this was to be the test! The river was only ankle deep, but the water was very muddy (the color of chocolate milk) so you couldn’t see where you were putting your feet. Our guides gave us some tips about how to safely navigate the water – basically rocks are NOT your friend as the water will eddy around them, causing deeper pools and possibly quick sand. They showed us how to use our hiking poles to feel our way ahead of us, testing for where there may be higher ridges or more solid surfaces to aim for. The other variable was the slickness of the sand and mud underneath our feet – slightly damp, the sand would crumble underfoot to resemble the type of cookie crumbs that you use for a cheesecake base and was No Big Deal. Fully wet, the sand would take on a sheen that reminded me of a shiny ganache (so many baking analogies on this trip) and would Take You Down the instant your attention strayed from where you were putting your feet. Which it did – with me, 10 mins in. Yep – I was the first of the group to wipeout on the mud. Which didn’t really hurt – but I did get completely covered in red sticky mud which put an early end to my feeling clean and not gross. To continue the baking comparisons, there was another variant of sand that wobbled like the top of a crème brulee when you put your foot on it. We called it Wibbly Sand. And somehow, this wibbly sand did not crack when you put your full weight on it, but wibbled and wobbled as you stepped on and over it. It was very strange. After a while, the river crossings became so routine and mundane, it became second nature (a good trait for crossing rivers, less so for serial killers, I suppose).
Unlike some of the previous hiking/backpacking trips I’ve been on, our entire group kept pretty much the same pace, so we didn’t end up splitting into two groups with a slower and a faster paced group. This trip, you could be at the front or at the back or somewhere in the middle – it was all good. Over time, we all rotated round naturally – sometimes being at the back was an advantage as the folk in the front had forged a path through the sticky mud for you, so it was easier to step in their footsteps. Other times, the sand ledges were crumbled by the time you were trying to step up on them, so it was harder. We took regular breaks to make sure everyone was well hydrated and had an opportunity to have a snack. On this trip, we were responsible for our own lunches and snacks and our guides would be responsible for cooking breakfasts and dinners (more on that later). On one of these snack breaks, I was minding my own business munching on a cereal bar when I suddenly felt a sharp pain behind my right knee – I looked down to see that I was being bitten by a fucking red ant! Little shit! I managed after some prolific swearing and jumping around to flick it off – but it really hurt! It felt like I had been stung by a bee and after a few minutes it was bright red. It was still sore the next day – but fortunately it didn’t get any worse or get infected, so I guess I chalked it up to a New Experience and tried my best to Be Brave.
During our hike, our guides pointed out various sites of interest including cool rock formations such as Scorpion Rock and Victory Notch, as well as the native plants and shrubs. At a couple of points, I did regret wearing shorts as we hiked through particularly aggressive patches of Russian Thistle bushes that did their best to scratch your legs to bits. We went past another old settlement called Wilson ranch where you could see the Olde Timey equivalent of a Jiffy Lube and the remnants of a horse corral. For most of the day, the trail had been pretty flat, as we were following the river bed – however, the last 2 miles crossed an area where there were a ton of big fat boulders, scattered across the trail like giant red sandstone dice. This actually required some effort to scramble over them. So, by the time we were done, after 11 miles and 7hrs of hiking, I was pretty tired. Our campsite for the night was called Bush Head Canyon camp and we got there just after 5pm. Sunset was at 6.20pm, so fortunately we had enough time to set up our tents before it got dark, though we did end up eating dinner after the sun had set. We were all bushed after what had been a very long day, so after a quick story by Ronnie about the area (I can’t remember exactly what it was about now), we all retired to sleep by 8pm. Tomorrow, we would get up with the sun at 6.30am and set off for our second day’s adventure, heading further up into Paria Canyon. All in all, a great first day!
