Cold Spaghetti

Based on the brief conversation I had with my Dad before the phone gave up its signal, they started the day about three miles east of Deer Creek and were going to hike the Creek and Narrows. (Narrows are falls are pictured below.) Here’s the gouge:

A popular hike for rafting groups is to climb up from the river at the base of Deer Creek Falls to at least reach the open valley above the falls (small green area near the lower edge). As the trail zigzags up out of the schist and Tapeats Sandstone that forms the cliff next to the river, a spectacular view unfolds. (“Throat clutching view” might be equally descriptive.) If you continue to follow the creek up to Deer Spring, you get to see another large waterfall where the stream bursts out of a cave system in the limestone cliffs.
The trail up from the river uses a slope that is the result of a large slump (very slow motion landslide). Water is able to seep down through the broken material of the slump while the underlying solid rock keeps the water near the surface. As a result vegetation (including one of the few locations that Poison Ivy exists in the canyon) is able to grow in areas several hundred feet away from the river.

The poison ivy part has me a tinsey bit concerned for Paul (he gets poison ivy out of thin air) but I don’t think there is any real reason to worry. How could you when you’re in the middle of all this??(Side note: this is of Tapeats Creek confluence with the Colorado, which they saw either early Monday or Late Sunday.)

In an extremely short conversation at 7:15am where I spoke with my Dad and heard Paul say “hey you” before cutting out, I learned that they:
— had satellite phone reception for the first time this morning
— are having an amazing time; beyond imagination
— did hike Elves Chasm (see yesterday’s Where in the World)
— were starting their day from a camp about 3 miles east of Deer Creek (which they were going to hike later in the day)

The family’s City Slickers had “big rapid day” today. This is the complete description from the guide. They went from about mile 75-120.
I found this amazing website that helped piece together the maps below. Google earth actually picked up some of the white water from a few of the rapids, so here are so close-ups to check it out.
Map above — they passed by the main Grand Canyon National Park Visitor’s Center on the South Rim. Also, they went under the bridge that connects North and South Rims and allows visitors to travel from the South Rim to Phantom Ranch, which is located up Bright Angel Creek. When we descended the Canyon back in ’94, we did not go down as far as the Colorado (just a day trip) but we went far enough to see the river… taking Bright Angel Trail the whole way.
These two points off of Tonto Plateau are two of the most famous for big canyon views… pictures further below.
More of their trip today…
Views from Pima Point from NPS. Elves Chasm…I don’t know if they hiked here, but it is a well-loved spot along their path.
From Hopi Point
View of the River from Hopi Point.

Side note: Dad took a satellite phone on the insistence of work… we thought they’d call us at some point on the trip, if the phone functioned. My guess would have been that today would have been the most likely range for the phone to pick up a signal. No call!

Kate is quiet, relatively still, curled up at my side. She looks up from nursing, smiles her biggest, sweetest smile, and reaches her hand up to rest at my cheek. If, in this moment, she were to ask me for a pony, she’d be saddled up the next day.

Instead, she looks deep in my eyes and says: “Da Da.”

Day Three: 50-75 mile, possible stop at Little Colorado River or Nankoweap Indian Ruins (Anasazi Granaries).
(Picture above: Anasazi Granaries at Nankoweap.)

The Nankoweap and Little Nankoweap Creeks drain into the Colorado River at the Nankoweap Delta, one of the largest deltas in the Grand Canyon. Between 900 and 1150, Ancestral Puebloans built an impressive row of granaries and other storage structures 500 feet up the cliff face. Accessible by a recently produced footpath, the granaries stored corn, squash, beans, and other crops. Although the word “weap” is Paiute for canyon or wash, the precise definition of Nankoweap — “place where people were killed” or “singing or echo canyon,” depending on the source — is lost. Major John Wesley Powell supervised the building of the Nankoweap Trail, accessible from the North Rim, in 1882-1883 for a geologic expedition.

The Granaries are at mile 53. Beyond them is the confluence of the Little Colorado River with the Colorado… and the point where the Grand Canyon officially begins.
They are getting ready to ride some big rapids, because all the rough guide has for tomorrow is “big rapid day.”

Over the car radio, Junior Walker and the All-Stars start belting out, “What Does it Take (To Win Your Love)” launching my Mother into a ‘my generation made the only music that has ever been and will ever be’ moment. (Granted, she has a point, it being Motown and all.)

Mid-lecture on the lasting appeal of the song, she turns to rhetorically ask Will: “Will, What Does It Take to Win Your Love for Me?”

In a surprise move, Will answers:
“Lobster.”

“Rain is when the dark brown in the sky gets a lot of heavy water. And it’s sometimes dark. Dark like clouds. And it rains and Rains and RAINS. Sometimes it falls down. And sometimes it hits your nose.”

Wombat et al. rode this morning from Las Vegas to Lee’s Ferry, Arizona. (I think) they are entering the Colorado (probably as I write this) at Cathedral Wash, which is about a kilometer by river from Marble Canyon. The photo below is the Colorado River at the end of Cathedral Wash. You can see more here.

After a whirlwind weekend of working, packing, prepping, cleaning and readying (we enjoyed a rare treat on Sunday when friends babysat for us… so we could work… how’s that for weekend excitement?) we left Monday night for Mobile.

Tuesday, Paul tried to get in as many hours as he could while I wrangled kids and continued in the readying process. One afternoon trip out for sunglasses (can you believe that my super-fair hubby does not have a pair of SUNGLASSES?) and they were ready. Dad and Paul took off from Mobile, met up with Skip in Houston, and arrived in Las Vegas without incident. Paul reports that their fellow rafters seem nice and include several from the UK and least two families with pre-teen aged kids. They were very excited and full of anticipation over the coming adventure!

They emerge from The Hole at Pearce Ferry sometime next Thursday.

While in Mobile, Kate and I enjoyed treats that my parents brought back from Skip and Emily… including an incredibly thoughtful Mother’s Day card for me and birthday presents for Kate!
Emily and Skip found a selection of Wombat stories and a Wombat doll for Kate. This has significance: Wombat is Paul’s moniker, a name by which he is well-known personally… and, believe it or not, professionally. When he was co-opting in college, a “WOMBAT” was a “Waste Of Money Brains And Time” and Paul, plucky guy that he is, picked it up as his own. (Yes, I have been called “Mrs. Wombat.” What can I say? I married up.)

This was primarily a personal call sign until a few years ago, when his teams of co-workers became filled with other Pauls… everyone used nicknames. Paul became “Wombat.” This continued into his telecommuting roles, which is where things get interesting. Paul rarely goes into the DC-area office (once in 3 1/2 years) and is known as “Wombat.” He is also very good at what he does, creating a curious mystique about this super-smart guy called “Wombat” who no one has ever seen. I think this makes the perfect movie …

Scene: Computer lab in some dungenous CIA facility. Top secret agent Denzel Washington is leaning over a computer screen where his leggy co-star, a mid-level employee unwittingly pulled into the fiasco, types frantically.

Co-star: “I just can’t do it. This is stuff that I don’t understand and can’t access.”
Denzel: “We need more information! Isn’t there someone who can help us?”
Co-star: “Well…there is one guy… he’s a legend. I’ve never seen him, few people have. He’s so good that some say he doesn’t really exist, but I’m pretty sure I could find him.”
Denzel: “Who is he?”
Co-star: “I don’t know his real name. He’s called ‘Wombat’…”
Denzel: “Wombat???” (pauses) “Well, if you say he’s that good, we need him. Where do we find this ‘Wombat’ guy?”

Cut to sunny fly-over shot of Beautiful New Orleans and bright sounds of New Orleans Dixieland…!

This is what I see in my head when I think about Paul’s work. I picture stuffy CIA-officials that look like Denzel Washington trying to track down the mysterious ‘Wombat’ in the middle of a Mardi Gras parade. What can I say? The woman known as “Mrs. Wombat” has to get her excitement from somewhere.