havasu canyon flood - part one

Every action has a reaction:

     I look out the train window at the giant cement piers that holds me and a hundred tons of rumbling motion above the bay and think 'all this started with one step, one person, one action.' In 1869 John Wesly Powell decided to row down an enormous waterway from the headwaters of the Green River down the Colorado to the Gulf of Mexico. He was not a boatman at the time, but he thought it would be a good adventure. Now the Glen canyon dam holds back the Powell Reservoir. How ironic that the enchanting canyons he claimed his favorites now lay still and dark under millions of cubic feet of water bearing his namesake. Is it just my race of people or all of mankind that needs to change, develop, and improve every nook, rock, and cranny of Mother Nature, no matter how beautiful and functional it is to begin with? In fact the more pristine and perfect it is the more we want to change, groom and manage it. I wonder if Powell knew how far reaching his ‘one step’ would be, what reaction his one action would bring.

 

Aug. 16 2008

     It is still dark but I can tell it is predawn by the subtle changes in the night sounds. I lay here and watch the stars fade. I can’t sleep but I don’t want to get up either… even though this day has been promised to be “the best so far!” Havasu canyon. Ayla has been talking about this hike since the day I met her four months ago. “Oh wait ‘til you see it. It is the most amazing canyon in all of Arizona!”

     I see a dark figure moving along the beach, I’m sure it is her.  She probably hasn’t slept a wink in anticipation of today’s adventure. Ayla’s face is weathered with adventure, deep smile lines and bright blue eyes. Her figure pushes the boundaries of slender and her strength is graceful and seemingly endless.

             Dooooooooong

    There is it ... the  beautiful, vibrating clang of her ancient brass bowl. My body jerks with a negative response.  It is confused by the conditioning of the last two weeks. By which that beautiful sound normally mean scrupulous food is ready and the conflict of knowing that this morning it is telling me to just ‘GET UP.' Something I don’t necessarily want to do but am not really opposed to either. I guess it is just the idea that someone is telling me "do it ‘right now’" that pushes my rebellious button. It isn’t quite 5:00am and the work will begin the minute I drag my sore bones off this paco pad, at least I’m not on kitchen duty this morning.

     Sixteen years ago Ayla, returning from her first Grand Canyon rafting tour, wholeheartedly signed her name to the ever growing list of people asking for permission to float the mighty Colorado. Sixteen years of waiting for this day! Today we will hike the pristine Havasu Canyon.

     It’s 7:20am we are packed, strapped and pushing off the banks of Upset Hotel camp. Seven cool, tranquil miles slip by in little over an hour. We arrive at the Havasu eddy around 8:45am. Not surprisingly we are the first party to anchor here ... all a part of the plan that was formulated months ago around the table of our trip leader.

    To everyone’s great relief we all catch the tricky eddy and tie the lead boat to the webbing attached along the canyon wall just outside the tiny mouth of the expansive canyon. I’m not sure exactly how wide the mouth is but our boats are 18 footers and they defiantly can’t fit through sideways.  We tie all the boats securely to each other.