Day 6 would include a swim at Havasu Creek.

The morning sunrise is always different because of the topography of the canyon.

Being our last full day on the river, everyone was a bit slow in packing. We chilled in our camp chairs until it was time to load the boats.

The river level had dropped over-night so before the boats could be loaded, they had to be pushed/lifted back into the water…it was easier said than done, but the “guys” succeeded!!

It was then time for the last fire line of the week. Our group got better as the week went along about sorting the items to make loading easier. There were four piles…pumpkin bags, camp chairs, cots, and tents. Many hands make light work.

The beauty of the Canyon can not be described

We had a few rapids to start the morning

We pulled into the outlet of Havasu Creek, which enters the Colorado River through a narrow slot canyon. There are cleats anchored into the canyon wall, to tie up the boats.

Havasu Waterfalls is 10 miles upstream and Beaver Falls is 3 miles. To enter that area, you have to pay a fee to the Havasupai Tribe and the hike would take most of the day coming from the river. Most people hike in from the south rim.

We swam up the slot canyon, aided by a rope that JP secured up-stream, as the current was swift. Normally the water would be turquoise blue, but we were there during the monsoon season, so dirty brown is what we got.

The scenery was always changing

A group of us, decided to continue up the canyon in the time that we were allotted, just to see what we could see…

We walked as far as we dared with the time we had been given. We returned to the first water fall area, where everyone was given a lollipop

Floating down Havasu Creek was much easier than coming up and more enjoyable…lol

Loading back onto the boats

Our lunch stop was a place called the Bleachers. David and I shared the last package of Necco Candy.

After lunch we went through Gateway Rapid

We had 2 hours of calm water, so it was time to enjoy the river and also take a nap.

Our final afternoon pit stop. The canyon is looking very dry and arid

The rock formation known as Vulcan’s Anvil is the gateway to Lava Falls. There have been at least 12 lava flows in the Grand Canyon. The river’s erosion left Vulcan’s Anvil as a remanent of one of those flows. The canyon walls above us were almost 3000 feet high and we could start to see a basalt rock layer.

Lava Falls has the largest drop of any rapid on the Colorado River. Depending on the river level it can be 12-13 feet. The rapid did not disappoint.

With the last major rapid behind us, Matt, JP, and Dani gave everyone cheese sticks and candy bars. Our rafts had amazing coolers!! Jim also drank the last bottle of soda. On the trip, you could bring whatever beverages you wanted for the week. Every morning, you pulled out what beverages you wanted for the day, and they were put in a drag sack, that was pulled behind the raft. Because the sack sometimes hit the bottom of the river, the cans and bottles were pretty banged up. We usually had to borrow Matt’s wrench to open our bottles and the lid was usually covered in river grit, but it still tasted great.

Our last view of the river from the boat

Our last camping spot was at the Whitmore Helipad site.

The next morning we would be flown out by helicopter, but the boats would make a 100 mile journey down the river and across Lake Mead. To make the trip more efficient, the side pontoons were removed. Everyone helped with the process.

One more final night for those silly cots. It was really hot the final night, in the upper 90s and we thought about sleeping outside like the rest of our group, but the other raft had a black light… did you know that when a black light shines on a scorpion, it glows neon green. We had a lot of scorpions around our tent, so we slept inside.

Dinner was chicken with cheese tortellini and asparagus. We had strawberry shortcake for dessert. Wow we ate so good all week.

Final night good-byes are never easy, and Matt and Dani are two of the best people. They made the week so enjoyable. To finish the evening, we were treated to an amazing view from our tent.

One more adventure the next morning!!