Mr. Write's Page

In 2007, soon after a raft trip down the Colorado River through Grand Canyon, one of my trip mates sent me a photo. It shows yours truly during a hike on the ONE DAY that I didn’t have my camera with me. Here’s the story.

On day five of the trip, we got pounded by a rainstorm. It was a first for me. Never before in 18 trips to Grand Canyon had I been rained on. It was quite an experience.

Luckily, we were already on the river when it started, so the gear was stowed safely away. The storm lasted about two hours. All we could do was hunker down and watch it fall.

And it was a sight to see. Pourovers began to appear everywhere. Side streams, both permanent and intermittant, were dumping muddy water into the river. The sheets of rain and the clouds and wind really put on a show.

Conveniently, the storm broke by noon, and we tied up at Unkar Delta for lunch. After that, we set out on a short loop hike to see some of the many Anasazi ruins on the delta. I left my cameras on the raft because the ground was icky and wet, and we thought the rain might start again.

But it didn’t start again, and I longed for my camera when we came across a flash flood churning down a dry wash into the river.

It wasn’t much, as flash floods go, but seeing one in person is rare. The flow was strong, the water warm, and the volume of silt it carried was amazing. The clacking of rocks tumbling along in the current made a surprising amount of noise.

Judging from the size of rocks and the thickness of the debris flows in that drainage, the place gets some serious runoff when it rains.

Having this photo makes me feel much better. On the other hand, if I had taken my pocket-sized Canon that day, I would have video footage now, with sound.