Count–Before trip: 27, plus 7 from this trip = 34. 80-34 = 46 left. Count includes 3 big waterfalls, one small waterfall coming off the cliff into the River (onto my head), huge waves of rapids (I just counted all the rapids as one), and the torrential rain from two hurricanes (Polo and Rachel) that bookended our trip–just counted as one.
The waters of the Colorado have soaked into my skin and into my cells. She is part of my body and I am a part of Hers now too. She has touched me with her ancient stones and shells, her mud has coated my body, sunk deeply in at a landing. The clear creeks that feed her refreshed my unshowered body, the blue of the Havasu fed my soul again and again. We slept under her stars when it wasn’t raining, and we raised our voices in song before bed. Every living thing we experienced over sixteen days–our fellow travelers and guides, plants, animals, rocks, waters–was pure joy. Oh, except maybe those damn biting flies. 🙂
I am silt
I am sandstone
I am deeply sculpted by my time
on the water and in the Earth
How could I not be?
River Swim
The water shone red and brown
with silt from ancient times
from mountains and landscapes far away
moving through this major meridian of Mother Earth
I open my eyes underwater
to pitch black
Luscious, dark energy, full of nutrients
healing Her wounds
healing my being.
So, the reason I do this silly counting thing is to encourage me to keep seeking out beauty. And to share it.
Waterfalls—
Waterfalls--Shinumo Creek (I think), Elves Chasm, Deer Creek, Havasu. Shinumo–we crawl through rock behind the falls and creep our way under. The falls drags us under and spits us out. Exciting! That’s the big photo above. You can see we’ve been baptized! Elves Chasm–the emerald pool! Some people climbed up and jumped in. I took the sensible route and just immersed with pure joy. Deer Creek–a blasting falls with a very cold pool. The water came down so hard it created a very impressive wind! Where Deer Creek entered the Colorado, we bathed and washed our hair, which was basically nirvana after many days of muddy water and hat wearing over unkempt locks. I did not go to the Clear Creek Falls, darn! I was resting from more hiking and less sleeping than I was used to. I won’t count it, but wanted to share Harold’s time there.
Havasu–though we did not technically go to the falls (way up there), we did experience a challenging hike into wondrous pools with cascades to immerse in. Here’s our “parking spot”–had to crawl over boats (like an agility course) to get to land to scale up and over and down into the pools. The Havasupai have stewarded these waters and lands since time immemorial. Avery, one of our amazing guides, their boat, and then I’m in the next boat next to the wall. Look at the color of the water!!!
Waves (aka Rapids)-–The majority of rapids are Class III, with notable exceptions like Lava Falls and Crystal Rapid, which are rated Class IV+. Lava Falls drops over 30 feet in a few hundred yards https://www.riversandoceans.com/grand-canyon-rafting/grand-canyon-rapids/
Rain as Waterfalling (I decided I get to count Hurricane rain as a waterfall from the sky)
In Boat Waterfall--Oh, and when we were in Avery’s boat, he asked if anyone wanted to go under a waterfall that was falling into the river. Of course, I said yes. Cha Ching!
Oh, and I swam across the River at its narrowest point–shore to shore to shore! Apparently was over 100 feet deep! See poem at the beginning of this post. 🙂
