Grand Canyon Day 2

Thursday, March 22

The date above documents the passage of time. Honestly, when we were actually there we didn't know or care what day of the week it was. Everyday life and work and all its worries and cares were forgotten. This place was ours. The busloads of tourists on Pima Point (second frame, top left) might as well have been on another planet. You can get no transportation to Granite Rapids, not even a mule, and at this time of year the rafting season has not yet started. We earned our right to be here.

Naturally I'm up pretty early. I try to capture the atmosphere of the rapids with intentional underexposure. The roar is very loud. It will be with us for the next day, until we hardly notice any more.

2001:03:22 07:18:17 2001:03:22 07:18:58 2001:03:22 07:51:03 2001:03:22 07:57:58 2001:03:22 08:30:58 2001:03:22 08:46:54 2001:03:22 08:47:22 2001:03:22 08:53:36

Poking around on the upstream side of the rapids, I found a bunch of prepared campsites that we didn't know about, and a woman and her 11-year-old daughter camped there. With the constant roar of the rapids, they hadn't heard us and thought they were alone. On the way out, they pay us a visit.

2001:03:22 09:13:42 2001:03:22 09:23:30 2001:03:22 09:38:58

We enjoy our rest day. We even have a frisbee - a Texas souvenir in the shape of a cowpat that Andrew and Lorraine retrieved from a geocache on their first day in Las Vegas.

2001:03:22 10:28:49 2001:03:22 11:01:04 2001:03:22 12:04:45 2001:03:22 12:05:00 2001:03:22 12:45:38 2001:03:22 13:14:54 2001:03:22 13:15:28 2001:03:22 13:19:08 2001:03:22 13:43:19 2001:03:22 13:45:53 2001:03:22 13:47:01 2001:03:22 13:48:43 2001:03:22 13:59:38 2001:03:22 13:59:46 2001:03:22 14:07:07 2001:03:22 14:09:18

Jody has been missing for hours. Andrew and I go poking around and discover him on the upstream side of the rapids, where the proper campsites are. He has been enjoying the peace and solitude with a book.

2001:03:22 14:35:21 2001:03:22 14:40:37

It is estimated that six litres of liquid will be just enough to get us and our 45-pound backpacks back up to Santa Maria Spring. Here are mine, all prepared. PeterG and Jody are busy with the filter pump. PeterK is not.

2001:03:22 16:05:36 2001:03:22 16:56:10

Bad weather rolls in. We hurry to cover our tents, then watch the show. The clouds break up the sunlight to create my favourite Grand Canyon picture yet (fourth frame). There is a rainbow. Lorraine models rainwear.

2001:03:22 17:05:28 2001:03:22 17:05:38 2001:03:22 17:08:16 2001:03:22 17:54:54 2001:03:22 17:57:47 2001:03:22 17:58:08 2001:03:22 18:00:34 2001:03:22 18:22:21 2001:03:22 18:25:22 2001:03:22 18:40:51

The second-last picture is intentionally underexposed to show the gloom surrounding the covered tent. If the picture looks too dark -- you should see a saturated green tent and medium blue clouds -- you should adjust your monitor, at least to view these pictures. Digicams use a different "gamma" value (about 1.8) than most PC displays (about 2.5).

Anyway, we hit the sack as soon as it's fully dark, because we'll have to get up at 2:30AM for the hike out.

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