We went through a couple small rapids and passed the Little Colorado River which was silty and warmer than the main river. We also passed some walls lined with salt which were used by the Hopi indians to gather salt.
The canyon has gotten a little wider which is different from the cliff walls we saw the previous day. We cut into a new layer of rock which was 750 million years old.
We stopped at Carbon Creek for camp and hiked up a long narrow side canyon. The side canyon looked as though a side had fallen over. We had to do a lot of scrambling to get over it.
After that point the walls got narrow and they had this weird blobby layered look.
After that we made it out of the canyon to a wide open top portion of the Grand Canyon.
I followed Geoff, one of the guides, through a cactus filled field to a large rock sitting in the open, which we had to climb to get to the top. From there we had a beer (a rare treat in the canyon!) and viewed the North and South rims of the Grand Canyon. Previously only the South rim was visible. The North rim had some snow on it. On the South rim we could see a lookout tower.
We hiked back to a dinner of pork chops. So far the dinners have consisted of manicotti, fajitas and salmon. The meals have all been very good, which is impressive since all the food is carried with us.
Finally, Julie and I decied to camp without the tent. It was nice looking up from bed to see a star filled sky. Except for a little bit of cold, I slept very well that night.
May 5, 1999