Camden's and Lathum's Excellent Adventure
Day 6 — Exploring School Section Canyon
August 2016
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Day six was our last full day on the river.
School Section Canyon was coming up,
and it is one of the few narrow canyons right off the river.
We headed down that way and stopped for lunch,
then hiked up it.
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| Lunch |
We found a cool spider web with the center part built up with debris like a caddis case;
I don't know what kind of spider makes it.
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| Randy and Camden entering School Section Canyon |
Gary and Diana
Photo by Joni |
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| Spider Web |
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| Photos by Joni |
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| Bouldering |
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| Xxx Lizard |
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| Photo by Joni |
As we walked up the canyon we heard a really strange sound.
I can't really remember it well enough to describe it,
but I remember just trying to figure out if it was a bird or a small mammal like a chipmunk.
I think Steve or Joni thought it might be a young bobcat.
We finally narrowed it down to the cliff wall,
then to a large horizontal crack in the wall.
I took off my pack and scooched underneath and got to where I could tell it was coming from a
pile of debris caught under there.
Whatever it was,
it was hunkering down in the pile of debris
and complaining,
probably yelling for its mother.
I was going to tease it out with a stick
but Steve objected — thanks, I needed some restraint in the excitement of the moment.
The poor critter didn't need its life screwed up by a bunch of tourists.
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Checking out a strange sound
Photos by Joni |
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| Photo by Joni |
Camden, Lathum and I tried to get close to all the lizards,
but without much success.
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| Camden
| Lathum and Gary in a Lizard Quest
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| Photos by Joni |
We tried to pretend we were a flash flood and roll a big rock.
It didn't want to roll.
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Not Moving a Boulder
Photo by Joni |
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| Dried Mud |
We got to the head of the canyon and climbed out.
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| Head of the Canyon |
Looking Down from the Top |
Once we were up on top,
Lathum wanted to down climb part way at the lip.
I asked him not to because
- I'm really nervous about youngsters climbing in dangerous situations
- He was wearing his spongy river shoes which have close to zero traction and no stiffness
- I hadn't brought the climbing rope in case he couldn't climb out
- I hadn't brought the climbing rope and couldn't belay him
- I didn't think anyone down below was going to be able to catch him if he slipped
- I didn't like the idea of Randy holding on to Steve's ankles while he's holding on to my ankles while I reached down to give him a hand to get out
He's a pretty good little climber,
but it would be a heck of a way to spoil an otherwise great trip.
I wish I had brought the rope,
as it would have been a great place to practice some rappelling.
We could-a / maybe should-a gone back and gotten it,
but I didn't think we had enough time for that.
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| Lathum Looking into School Section Canyon |
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| Landscape above the head of the canyon |
Lathum and Randy helped the erosion process along a little.
It's hard to resist when you have a place to yourself...
I had brought some climbing gear with me.
Originally my neighbor who is my climbing partner was going to come along
and I had hoped to do a little climbing.
He couldn't make it,
but Steve was interested in working on rappelling and
I thought it might be fun for the kids to get stretched out a little more on a rope.
I was hoping to find some things close to camp on days when we had time,
but that didn't happen.
On this trip I should have brought the gear up to the head of School Section Canyon
and Lathum could have climbed a bit more and we could have rapped down from the top.
Something for next time...
There's also a hunk of rock at the entrance to the canyon that has a nice crack in it
that would be a fun climb.
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| Rock outside School Section Canyon |
As we were exiting the canyon we saw a pointed spire on the top of one of the walls.
It looked like an artificial structure,
but when I took a picture of it with a telephoto lens it looked like real rock.
But it still looks totally out of place,
and maybe next time we will hike up there and see what the heck is going on.
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| Spire |
We hopped in the boats and skipped a half mile down river to camp at Rattlesnake.
Steve dropped his toothbrush in the water when we got ready to leave,
so he had to jump in after it...
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| Steve Rescuing his Toothbrush |
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| Lathum Heading into Rattlesnake with the Ducky |
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| Camden and Lathum Working on a Whale Belly |
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| Lathum burying Camden in the Sand |
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| Photos by Joni |
Clouds had been building all day long,
and after we ate dinner it started spitting.
The wind kicked up, and we scrambled to realign our camps with the impending thunderstorm.
We all turned in, drifting off to sleep to the sound of thunder, the flash of lightning,
and our tent flys beating in the wind.
Fortunately we had lots of rocks to work with to help hold things down.
My tent in particular needed them,
as it was an old A frame design.
Sturdy and a good tent, but a pain in the neck to pitch in sand.
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| Camp at Rattlesnake |
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| The Group at Rattlesnake, our last Camp |
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| Photo by Joni |
Next: A Leisurely Row Out and Burgers at Ray's
