The tour begins below Hoover Dam at Willow Beach ( GPS 114:39.48, 35:52.24). We were picked up at our hotel (115:09.48, 36:07.32) in Las Vegas at 7am in the Hummer (military Humvee that cost over $100,000 after the conversions) and went down to Hoover Dam (114:44.16, 35:52.24). We stopped for a view of the dam (114:43.57, 36:00.45), then drove to a fish farm to kill time while they prepared the raft.
After getting in the raft, shoes and sox came off. There was about 4 inches of Colorado River water sloshing around our ankles. The guide said they kept that much water in the raft for ballast. The water was ice cold and toes slowly became numb after the first hour.
Not a tree, branch or sprig anywhere. Just dark rock shooting up out of the ground. We saw some bighorn sheep, but I couldn't imagine how they survived in this barren landscape. Unless they ordered out for Chinese food.
The other boat which was part of our tour was actually nicer than the raft we were in. You couldn't get any wet feet in that boat. But then the water wouldn't spray up in your face either which was part of the fun of rafting. Nor could you feel the the Colorado River undulating underneath in such a sturdy craft as that.
One of the guides in the lead boat coming alongside our raft. His job was to carry our shoes and lunches. He spotted some big horn sheep and a coyote for us.
Rock formations like this were all around us. Very impressive for any visitor to Black Canyon. But especially awe inspiring for us and another couple from South Florida where the elevation above sealevel doesn't get much above 5 ft. South Florida is so flat (how flat is it?) that you can drop a ball on the road and it won't roll away until a car hits it.
The guide didn't have much to say as we floated along the river. But he did bring us close to some boulders which he claimed had ancient indian glyphs on it. As we slowed, pulling alongside the rocks, there was the scribbling , "ANITA LOVES JERRY" or something similar to that. OK, so we pretended real hard that it was ancient indian scratchings. The guides wasn't shook in his belief at all.
This was the end of the rafting tour and where we had lunch (GPS 114:42.44, 35:42.43). Cold chicken, cold sandwiches, cold drinks and even more...cold feet. The few bushes and many rock outcroppings made wonderful toilets. You just had to find a spot away from where the last tour went thru.
Now began the second half of the tour which was an off-road adventure thru the Mojave Desert. One fellow sitting across from me actually drove a Humvee in DESERT STORM, that's the war where American service men and women fought to keep America's gas stations with their mini-marts open. Viva le petrol!
10-23-98. In two weeks I will post the Hummer adventure thru the Desert part of the tour. Check back then at the INDEX at the top of this page.
EMAIL: midi-guitar@worldnet.att.net