After an eventful day one, we had planned to wake up before sunrise on the second day of our adventure but our bodies had other plans for us. The hike in had really taken it's toll and we needed all of the extra energy that we could get. I slept like a baby that night.
I was awoken by faint jingling and what sounded like an animal of some sort approaching our camp site. Was I dreaming?
The jingles started getting louder- it was just a dog... wait... two dogs and Jen. I figured that they must be on their way to the confluence (yay!) and I might be a horrible person because I didn't even bother to get up and say hello... but my body wouldn't let me. I rolled back into my sleeping bag and went back to sleep, not caring that it was well past sunrise.
About an hour later, the sun beams were warm enough that if I stayed in that tent any longer, I would have started melting. I got up slowly, but as fast as my body would let me, and unzipped my side of the two-person backpacking tent that I shared with Harriet and Kyle. I heard rustling and knew that Peter and Kellie must be awake too. Five minutes or so later, we were all bright-eyed and ready to take on the day.
Kellie asked us if we were still planning on hiking to the confluence and I said that I hoped we were, as I looked over at Harriet and Kyle for confirmation. They definitely still wanted to go. It didn't take much to convince Kellie and Peter to join us, I could tell Kellie was feeling brand new compared to how she was feeling the day before.
We grabbed our day packs, our extra bladders, and headed downriver. Out of all the hikes I had ever done in my life, I was most excited about this one. The confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado Rivers had been near the top of my bucket list for over two years and I was finally getting to go. My pure excitement helped bury whatever exhaustion I may have been feeling.
The first crossing that we came to was just beyond our camp site along a travertine dam into what seemed like some pretty thick bush. We waded through water up to my belly button (remember, I'm only 5'1"), trudging through thick silt on the bottom that was trying to suck my water shoes off my feet. Luckily, I had my trekking poles with me and was able to use one to steady me as I waded across.
We continued on a flat, sandy trail on the left side of the canyon downriver, occasionally through thick bush. Unlike yesterday's hike, this trail wasn't littered with cairns, in fact, we barely saw any.
We didn't get much farther before a familiar sound rattled off the canyon wall... it was the jingle from a dog collar. We warmly greeted Jen and her sweet pups as she approached us, covered in a thick layer of silt. She hadn't made it to the confluence but seemed genuinely happy just to be exploring the river. She was also able to get plenty of clean water and returned my filter to me. We invited her to join us to the confluence but she politely declined, explaining that she wanted to give her dogs a break before the hike out. Good enough reason as any, we wished her well and went on our way.
About a mile further downriver we came upon the sacred Hopi Sipapu. In my research leading up to the trip, I had read about the Sipapu and it's significance in Hopi mythology. According to Wikipedia, the Hopi teach their children that this is the location from which they emerged into the present, or "Fourth World". It was exciting and humbling to admire this site from across the river but as intriguing as it may be, it is a sacred place and would be disrespectful to explore. Thus, we headed on to our destination.
Along the trail, we stumbled upon a ton of interesting things:
-Animal prints
-Fishing nets
-Solar panels
-A red onion floating leisurely downriver (I thought it was a snake)
-A beheaded snake
-Cool rock cliffs
-USGS monitering components & gear
-Beamer's Cabin (on the way back)
By the time we reached the confluence, we were still looking for the second river crossing. We never found it. Instead, we hiked up a large hill of sand expecting another mile or so and there it was: the confluence.
HOLY SHIT.
It was one of the most beautiful natural wonders I had ever laid my eyes on. No pictures, videos, or written accounts could do it more justice than seeing it with my own eyes and the emotion/accomplishment I felt to have finally arrived.
Each of us sprinted down that hill and into a narrow runoff of the LCR, hugging the beach until we were at the exact spot where the two rivers met. It was absolutely incredible.
I wish I had more words to convey how breathtaking this place was but you're just going to have to take my word (and my pictures) for it. We had this place completely to ourselves for over two hours. We spotted fish, walked the canyon walls (in what was now officially in Grand Canyon National Park), relaxed in the water, took pictures, walked the beaches, cracked jokes, and filled our bladders with fresh, 50 degree (10 degrees for you Brits, Harriet!), water from the crystal clear Colorado River.
I was just thinking about how surprising it was that we hadn't encountered any Grand Canyon rafters, when I looked up from my solo walk along the beach and saw Peter and Kellie chatting it up with three unfamiliar faces. As it turns out, they were from the parking lot on day one, and the last of those that we hadn't met since our hike in. One man and two women from Flagstaff, who had been to this spot once before by rafting the Colorado, hiked in via the Salt Trail and tubed down the Little Colorado all the way to the confluence. Yes... tubed! Smart way to get from point A to point B.
After talking with the Flag tubers for a bit longer, we parted ways. We took a little more time to explore the icon of a natural playground that is the confluence, then we started heading back to camp. None of us wanted to leave but we only had so much daylight left and there is absolutely no camping permitted at the confluence (not that we would have camped there without all of our gear anyway). Alas, we had to head upriver and back to camp with one last thing on our minds: the hike out.
Nothing really notable happened on the hike back except that we were able to find Beamer's Cabin after somehow missing it on the way in. In that moment I could see how Benjamin Beamer would have been happy here, way back in the 1890's when all he had was a dream and some prospecting gear. Must have had some interesting stories to tell.
We made our lone river crossing just as the sun was setting and had to use our headlamps the rest of the way back to camp. I ate the shit out of some ramen noodles and Harriet adorned me with her delightful British couscous. We packed up all of our trash, along with trash we picked up along the trail, and gathered our gear as best as we could. Was it already over? Wasn't I just on death's door the day before? It surely didn't feel that way. I felt like a new person, like there was a piece of my soul that I didn't knew existed and had been brought to life. I had a new perspective and an abundance of appreciation for life. Cliche? Maybe... but it's true.
We all stayed up as late as we could, eating, drinking our delicious Colorado water, and listening to Kanye rapping about poop. We laughed until we couldn't laugh anymore... which was around the time we realized our alarms were set at 4:00am. Waking early to hike out was the only way we were going to beat the sun out of that canyon and since none of us wanted to experience an early death, we had to make sure we were ready for the 3 mile, 2700+ foot climb up the Salt Trail Canyon. Morning was inching up on us... were we ready?
(To be continued...)
I was awoken by faint jingling and what sounded like an animal of some sort approaching our camp site. Was I dreaming?
The jingles started getting louder- it was just a dog... wait... two dogs and Jen. I figured that they must be on their way to the confluence (yay!) and I might be a horrible person because I didn't even bother to get up and say hello... but my body wouldn't let me. I rolled back into my sleeping bag and went back to sleep, not caring that it was well past sunrise.
 |
| Sunrise from camp on day two |
Kellie asked us if we were still planning on hiking to the confluence and I said that I hoped we were, as I looked over at Harriet and Kyle for confirmation. They definitely still wanted to go. It didn't take much to convince Kellie and Peter to join us, I could tell Kellie was feeling brand new compared to how she was feeling the day before.
 |
| We stopped for lunch among some cliffs that provided nice shade during the hike |
The first crossing that we came to was just beyond our camp site along a travertine dam into what seemed like some pretty thick bush. We waded through water up to my belly button (remember, I'm only 5'1"), trudging through thick silt on the bottom that was trying to suck my water shoes off my feet. Luckily, I had my trekking poles with me and was able to use one to steady me as I waded across.
We continued on a flat, sandy trail on the left side of the canyon downriver, occasionally through thick bush. Unlike yesterday's hike, this trail wasn't littered with cairns, in fact, we barely saw any.
 |
| The sacred Hopi Sipapu |
About a mile further downriver we came upon the sacred Hopi Sipapu. In my research leading up to the trip, I had read about the Sipapu and it's significance in Hopi mythology. According to Wikipedia, the Hopi teach their children that this is the location from which they emerged into the present, or "Fourth World". It was exciting and humbling to admire this site from across the river but as intriguing as it may be, it is a sacred place and would be disrespectful to explore. Thus, we headed on to our destination.
Along the trail, we stumbled upon a ton of interesting things:
-Animal prints
-Fishing nets
-Solar panels
-A red onion floating leisurely downriver (I thought it was a snake)
-A beheaded snake
-Cool rock cliffs
-USGS monitering components & gear
-Beamer's Cabin (on the way back)
 |
| The confluence of the Colorado River (right) and the Little Colorado River (left) |
HOLY SHIT.
It was one of the most beautiful natural wonders I had ever laid my eyes on. No pictures, videos, or written accounts could do it more justice than seeing it with my own eyes and the emotion/accomplishment I felt to have finally arrived.
Each of us sprinted down that hill and into a narrow runoff of the LCR, hugging the beach until we were at the exact spot where the two rivers met. It was absolutely incredible.
I was just thinking about how surprising it was that we hadn't encountered any Grand Canyon rafters, when I looked up from my solo walk along the beach and saw Peter and Kellie chatting it up with three unfamiliar faces. As it turns out, they were from the parking lot on day one, and the last of those that we hadn't met since our hike in. One man and two women from Flagstaff, who had been to this spot once before by rafting the Colorado, hiked in via the Salt Trail and tubed down the Little Colorado all the way to the confluence. Yes... tubed! Smart way to get from point A to point B.
After talking with the Flag tubers for a bit longer, we parted ways. We took a little more time to explore the icon of a natural playground that is the confluence, then we started heading back to camp. None of us wanted to leave but we only had so much daylight left and there is absolutely no camping permitted at the confluence (not that we would have camped there without all of our gear anyway). Alas, we had to head upriver and back to camp with one last thing on our minds: the hike out.
 |
| Kellie and Peter checking out Beamer's digs Did you know that Peter loves his sunglasses and his Vibrams? Now you know! |
Nothing really notable happened on the hike back except that we were able to find Beamer's Cabin after somehow missing it on the way in. In that moment I could see how Benjamin Beamer would have been happy here, way back in the 1890's when all he had was a dream and some prospecting gear. Must have had some interesting stories to tell.
We made our lone river crossing just as the sun was setting and had to use our headlamps the rest of the way back to camp. I ate the shit out of some ramen noodles and Harriet adorned me with her delightful British couscous. We packed up all of our trash, along with trash we picked up along the trail, and gathered our gear as best as we could. Was it already over? Wasn't I just on death's door the day before? It surely didn't feel that way. I felt like a new person, like there was a piece of my soul that I didn't knew existed and had been brought to life. I had a new perspective and an abundance of appreciation for life. Cliche? Maybe... but it's true.
We all stayed up as late as we could, eating, drinking our delicious Colorado water, and listening to Kanye rapping about poop. We laughed until we couldn't laugh anymore... which was around the time we realized our alarms were set at 4:00am. Waking early to hike out was the only way we were going to beat the sun out of that canyon and since none of us wanted to experience an early death, we had to make sure we were ready for the 3 mile, 2700+ foot climb up the Salt Trail Canyon. Morning was inching up on us... were we ready?
(To be continued...)
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