Iceaxe
02-14-2012, 04:27 PM
Anyone want to read an interesting tale about a group of canyoneering pioneers? The story is a little on the long side but worth the read. -Enjoy....
Little Colorado River Gorge
January 1980
Rex Welshon
In January, 1980, Charlie L, Gary W, Ron W, Frank V, John B, and I hiked from Cameron, Arizona, to Grand Canyon National Park by descending the Little Colorado River Gorge, traversing the Beamer Trail, and ascending the Tanner Trail to Lipan Point. The trip took us fifteen days from start to finish, four more than we expected. Along the way, we crossed the Little Colorado almost a hundred times and encountered deep quicksand. Gary partially tore his ACL on the fifth day and completed the trip using a jerry-rigged splint and crutch. During the last three days we were in the Little Colorado River Gorge itself, the river flooded and stayed above flood stage almost until we got to the Beamer cabin at the confluence with the Colorado.
It's been a long time since this adventure, and the six of us are now a long way from being who we were then. Nevertheless, many of my memories from this trip remain utterly vivid. No individual part was as frightening as, say, a long free rappel off a single bolt, and no single day was as individually memorable as a couple of others I've spent in the boonies. But the way the various aspects and components added up together have made this trip indelible. A while back, I had the idea of gathering my remaining thoughts about it. It's taken a while.
The rest of the story is here:
http://climb-utah.com/Misc/littlecolorado1980.htm
http://climb-utah.com/Misc/Files/littleco17.jpg
Little Colorado River Gorge
January 1980
Rex Welshon
In January, 1980, Charlie L, Gary W, Ron W, Frank V, John B, and I hiked from Cameron, Arizona, to Grand Canyon National Park by descending the Little Colorado River Gorge, traversing the Beamer Trail, and ascending the Tanner Trail to Lipan Point. The trip took us fifteen days from start to finish, four more than we expected. Along the way, we crossed the Little Colorado almost a hundred times and encountered deep quicksand. Gary partially tore his ACL on the fifth day and completed the trip using a jerry-rigged splint and crutch. During the last three days we were in the Little Colorado River Gorge itself, the river flooded and stayed above flood stage almost until we got to the Beamer cabin at the confluence with the Colorado.
It's been a long time since this adventure, and the six of us are now a long way from being who we were then. Nevertheless, many of my memories from this trip remain utterly vivid. No individual part was as frightening as, say, a long free rappel off a single bolt, and no single day was as individually memorable as a couple of others I've spent in the boonies. But the way the various aspects and components added up together have made this trip indelible. A while back, I had the idea of gathering my remaining thoughts about it. It's taken a while.
The rest of the story is here:
http://climb-utah.com/Misc/littlecolorado1980.htm
http://climb-utah.com/Misc/Files/littleco17.jpg