Kayak trip prep

That's pretty much all we did today. I did a bike ride pretty early, it's now 7:30, the sun has set and we just finished getting ready. As usual I don't think it's remotely possible that we can get all of this stuff in our boats. I'm disgusted. I'm always disgusted with our load when we start out. I've got 2 weeks of food that I think we'll need. The problem with that plan is Jenny won't eat what I will so we will invariably have a lot of food left over when we arrived back here. Anyway, here's the plan: We pick up our shuttle driver (Vaughn) at 8 in Page. We drive 5 hours to Hite, which is on the Colorado river arm of the lake. It's 150 lake miles back to the dam. The money pit will be parked in a big lot near the dam. We'll take 10 days to 2 weeks to paddle what amounts to the length of the lake. When we get here we beach the boats, get in the MP and drive it to where Vaughn has left the car (his uncle's house in Page). We camp in Page one night and then begin the drive back to S.A. . Of course Jenny will probably call a divorce attorney as soon as we get cell coverage. That reminds me, we will be out of touch for the duration I suspect. Maybe not but probably so. I will be sending Spots. I know you all look forward to those. I'm sure the boats won't float with all the stuff I have to put in them so you'll probably hear from me tomorrow.

Lake Powell

There was some serendipity going on today. We got here pretty early with no problems. I had made an appointment with a dentist in Page to have a look at the crown that fell off a week or so ago. My temporary fix was real temporary. I told the hygienist our story and that I needed someone to shuttle us to The Hite marina on the Colorado river. A 10 hour (at least) round trip. Story short. I hired one of the dentists nephews. They couldn't fix the crown because my teeth had already shifted a little. We decided to just forget it until I get home. I have been de-crowned. I didn't even abdicate. Jenny is busy roaming around the campground taking pictures of the clouds as the sun sets.

Dave does a beer run

Today we just chilled. Greatly needed. Except for doing laundry that is. Tomorrow we leave. 26 days in The Grand Canyon. Half of that below the rim. We feel like residents. It's sad, but we gotta go. Tomorrow is Page AZ and Lake Powell. I made a beer run to the market and bought a 12 pack of Grand Canyon beer.

Back from Horseshoe Mesa

Here's the synopsis: The Grand View trail is very steep. You loose 2500 feet in 3 miles. Jenny doesn't do downhill too well, especially with a heavy backpack. A couple of hours in it started to rain. The steep rocky trail became a muddy river. It was pretty gross. It took 4 1/2 hours to cover the 3 miles to the camp site. I knew then that my 4 day plan wasn't going to be possible. We decided to base camp at our Horseshoe Mesa camp and day hike. The problem with that was water. I was going to have to spend 2 1/2 hours every afternoon doing a harrowing hike to a spring. Starting on day 1. I did that hike 3 times. It was a trail suitable for a mountain goat. It rained all night that first night. Day 2 we hiked to the tip of the west fork of the mesa. It is a special place. I had been there before and wanted Jenny to see it. On the way back we looked for and found "The cave of the domes" it goes back 1/2 mile under the mesa. We went in maybe 200 feet. The cave is not marked on charts and visiting it is discouraged by the NPS so I was happy we found it. The next day we hiked down to cottonwood creek and around the western tip on the Tonto trail and then back up. We were out 5 hours. Today we hiked back up the steep Grand View trail. It took us only 4 hours to get up. Jenny does uphill better. We're in trailer village again. This time for 2 nights. I didn't take my phone so no pics for the blog. Tomorrow will definitely be devoted to the Laundromat.

Backpack tomorrow

Had a good long hike along the Rim trail today. We rode the shuttle to Hermits Rest because we have been there several times and never seen the building Mary Coulter designed. It's on the rim and its a really neat building. We walked back 5 miles to a bus stop and rode the rest of the way. After lunch I spent the rest of the day getting our packs together. Our permit # is 12-04561. We'll be hiking down the Grandview trail camping at horseshoe mesa. Day 2 will be Hance creek. Day 3 Cottonwood creek. Day 4 out and back here to trailer village. I'll be sending spots. Seth & Lindsay, you should hear from us on Saturday the 25th.

Rim trail

Watch "Jenny on the edge" on YouTube

Down day

I've tried to avoid the utterly trivial minutiae that occurs daily in The Money Pit, but I can't resist this. I lost a crown this morning. There seems to be an endless amount of----well---crap, that happens to occur to me/us with predictable regularity. That being constantly. In my zealous planning I have some glue that is specifically for crown failure. I performed this dental procedure, and, knock on wood, it stuck. I did another bike ride after my oral surgery. I talked some foreigners into taking this pic. After lunch we tried to set up our Lake Powell kayak shuttle for the end of the month. It will be a 10 hour drive for someone. It doesn't look like plan "A" is going to fly. I've got a plan "B" and even a plan "C" so I'm not to worried. We're having hors d'oeuvres for dinner. Gotta go.