It’s day one of Woody’s annual self support trip through the Grand Canyon. This will be his 7th straight trip in the winter, brrr. After this year he will have done more than 1500 miles of self support kayaking in the Canyon. I don’t think there are many people that are a part of that select crew. There have been a bunch of cold days around the Grand Canyon this week and this first day is no different. There is snow at river level and temps are well below freezing. There are reports of a warming trend and I think everyone on the trip is excited about those prospects.
Day 1 is a frenzy of paperwork, checklists, inspections, and finally fitting everything into your kayak. It is a relief to finally push off of the gravelly beach at Lee’s Ferry and only have paddling and camping to worry about for the next 9 days.
Top 5 highlights of Day 1 in the Canyon.
1. Finally pushing off into the river.
2. Passing under the Navajo Bridge.
3. Tanner Wash Eddie
4. House Rock Rapid
5. Setting up camp the first night. The goal this year is to make it to mile marker 20.7 at Upper North Canyon Camp, which is at the beginning of what is known as the roaring 20s. They are just about to get into some fun stuff. It looks like a great camp! Here is the link to the street view. https://www.google.com/maps/@36.6294161,-111.7645669,3a,75y,177.49h,48.63t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1soqzpxSTqv_sAAAQIuAJRWA!2e0!3e11
Wish them luck!
Shane