A Really Grand Time

Philip Schreiber meets the hole at House Rock.

  Met up with an old friend who invited me to join seven of his paddling buddies to float down the Colorado River thru the Grand Canyon. Never knowing what to expect even after a number of trips, I could not have asked for a better mix of really adventurous and easy going folks. Not sure if it was the Colorado origins or the somewhat like mind sets, of all the trips, this felt the most like a real team.     The Canyon never ceases to amaze, and with monsoon season starting the water went the full range from crystal clear to chocolate milk and a few shades between. Side canyons flooding and making spectacles of waterfalls, hikes up ancient paths and all in a chasm exposing rock that is more than a billion and a half years old. How is that to make your life seem rather minuscule in comparison.

Taking a break at the Phantom Ranch boar beach. 

The morning sun lights up the entry to our adventure at Lee's  Ferry.

Silver Grotto makes the red canyon walls glow.

The crew takes advantage of the shade in Redwall Cavern.

A campfire of molten wax and coffee cans.

Our version of a Disney Cruise. 

Colors like a rainbow everywhere you looked.

Holding Up a Caddy

Every time I pass Cadillac Ranch on Interstate 40, the bright colors of the upended tail finned Cadillacs  draws me in and gets me to stop for another view. It always delights with a different perspective. More color with additional layers of paint and sometimes the cars are sitting in the dirt,but after a rain they are reflected in a pool of deep blue sky. Always a treat regardless of the time of year and this time they look so heavy from all the additional paint I had to help hold them up. .

Propping a Cadillac with my shadow.