Canyon Day Sixteen

We started the day at our last camp, 221 mile camp. Our takeout appointment was eleven in the morning. We could land and begin breaking-down the rafts at ten. The Diamond takeout is at mile 225.5, about; so, we dawdled. It was the first time on the trip that we didn’t rush and rush to break down camp and get on the river.

We dawdled again on an eddy with a sandy bank a mile above the takeout. Faerthen dubbed it “the deadly sand bar” because first, Chris found a tiny scorpion on his sleeve. Then, Mia was frightened by a big spider crawling on her. When we all stood up there was a warning rattle. Right behind where we were sitting was a black-tailed rattle snake. The snake had laid low. When we all got up it felt menaced by us, made itself known and fierce looking. We regarded it cautiously and curiously while it faced us down, driving us back onto the river.

The takeout was fast and fast. The drive up twenty miles of gravel road, in a van, out of Diamond, was the most dangerous part of the trip. The driver kept the speed up to minimize the duration and have the tires planing over the ruts and ridges in the road. The van did not so much lurch as drift when we hit them. We drifted around corners and forever uphill until we drove through a housing development and out onto a highway.

By mid afternoon we were dumping our gear out of the back of the PRO truck onto the parking lot at the hotel. We slept that night in beds, with air conditioning, for the first time in over two weeks. We took long showers.

After dinner together at the same restaurant where we dined together on the night before launch, we said some goodbyes and parted. End of canyon trip.

Find photos made on day sixteen of our GC river raft adventure at Canyon Day Sixteen Gallery

Take ten minutes (plus a few) to watch this video. It contains photos and live footage.