June 12th

Our last day on the river. We had breakfast quickly and were all packed up by 8:00, an hour earlier than usual.

Evening view of Diamond Peak	Morning view of Diamond Peak

Joel - "The quest for a hot shower continues. We have just gone through the last rapid, 224 Mile Rapid (rating 4), the waves were just big enough to get us wet. Now we slowly paddle down the Lower Granite Gorge on our way towards a rendezvous with destiny."

We got to the take out at Diamond Creek (mile 225) and broke down everything. Joel had fun washing the boat. Alex held the boat up on its side and Joel and I threw pails of water to clean it out. Joel started throwing water on Alex saying, "And this one is for the wave in Granite, and this one is for the wave in Lava . . ." When he got to Hermit, Alex and I complained that he had run Hermit perfectly so didn't deserve that bucket.

After we had taken everything off and cleaned the boats and dried them. Joel and I sorted through our supplies, trying to select those things that we would bring back with us on the plane. Everything else we would ship. Since we would be camping in three weeks, we needed all of our camping supplies, so there was more than just the clothing on our backs, which needed to be packed for the plane flight.

Teva tans

Then came the long hot wait. We waited about an hour or so (maybe more, time moves strangely in the canyon) for the Haulupai Indians to give us a truck to load up on, and for the vans to take us back up to Peach Springs where our cars were waiting. They finally brought around the flatbed truck. We were hoping for a truck with sides, but it only had some wooden slats, not very tall. It was a challenge getting it all together well enough for the long and bumpy ride out. And long it was. It took about an hour or so to get to Peach Springs. The shuttle drivers from Canyon REO were there to give us our cars and take the shitter boxes.

Joel and I rented a shower room at the hotel where we met the shuttle drivers. For $15, we took a thorough soap shower with real shampoo and real hot water. We then put on the clean clothes we left for ourselves from our last stop at Lees Ferry.

We packed up the vans and trailers and got on our way. It was about an eight-hour drive from here to just outside of Durango where we would spend the night again. The next day would be an early flight out.

It is hard saying goodbye to the canyon. The canyon has been ingrained on my soul since my first trip down when I was only fifteen. Part of me wants to stay in here forever as a rock on a wall near the river. Experiencing the peace of the mornings; the violence of a thunderstorm; the heat of the relentless afternoon sun. I would never leave the canyon, but slowly over time erode away joining in the history of countless rocks through the eons.