I know this is REALLY off topic, and a good number of you probably hoped I fell in the Grand Canyon never to return again........but something compells me to report back just the same. As for all the homemade gear.......great! With a few exceptions. Wickaway (or Coolmax) fabric is GREAT for the underwear where you want it to dry quickly after river crossings or evening washing....but in the dry canyon we learned that we would have probably been better off choosing cotton. Yes, ordinary cotton. Our wickaway shirts dried in minutes....leaving us NO cooling effect from the water we would wet them with when we made it to puddles or streams. The 1/3oz silicone coated nylon was ultra light and made great rainproof tarps. They seemed to have an electric-static effect though and everything, every grain of sand would stick to them and we soon gave up trying to brush them off to keep them clean. A dip in the river would return them to their brilliant color/cleanliness....and they dried quickly, because they didn't really get wet, just shed the water....but it wasn't worth the effort in the morning when trying to pack up. The sleeping bags made from the 1 oz slippery ripstop were heavenly! Just perfect. Lightweight and wonderfully soft to sleep in.
Our trip turned out to be more brutal than we could have possibly planned on. In some areas we were hiking on disintigrating shale walls with sheer cliff drop offs. Not enough water to turn around and hike out....but scared to death to continue on! Although we had carried the recommended water and cached 4gallons for our return hike out....we had taken a wrong turn and hiked 16 hours the second day......forced to continue on to reach a water source. None of the trip reports I read prepared us. Luckily it had rained the day prior and we were able to find some puddles to filter water from......because we didn't have enough water to make it either out or to the next water source without these rain puddles! Half way down we slept under a big rock ledge. One of my boys was waking during the night delerious and confused. At 4:30am we woke to try to make it down before it got hot again. We made it to a waterfall and river. We rested and drank water for 6 hours. Then, at 3pm, we knew we had to wake and start hiking to make it to the Colorado river by nightfall. We had to cross what the park service called a creek....but since it had rained it rushed like a river and was waist deep!! I wouldn't have crossed it except there was no other way! My husband and self crossed it first with difficulty to unload our packs on the other side and then take one child at a time between us. But then, after 3 days of being alone....a voice called out to us. Three hikers had come from the river below and appeared to be just as surprised to see us as we were happy to see them. After we had crossed the river 2 times they led us along a strenuous trail.....we hiked on at their prodding. We drank all their water. They carried our packs.....Yes....they carried OUR packs! That meant that a couple of them carried 2 packs at a time. They sang to us.....yes, they sang to us to keep us moving. We arrived at their boat shaking and exhausted at nightfall around 8pm. They offered to raft us back to their group ......and mentioned that they had a member leave the group a couple days earlier so one of us could continue on with them. It didn't even need a moments thought...we were in this together and we would find a way out together. The rest of their rafting group welcomed us and fed us. They were planning to raft us to our next trail-head down the river....thus saving us a whole day of hiking! We felt so blessed. A couple of them had done the hike we were doing and were giving us advice before we fell asleep on the beach. (I think I owe them all gear and shirts ....because they liked our gear so much). Anyway, daughter and I got up during the night to go to the bathroom.....and when we returned my flashlight scanned the brightly colored tarps to find one empty. Not even the sleeping bag was there. I quickly woke my husband and asked if the older son had gone to the bathroom? He said he had no idea. OMG!! Panic! My flashlight scanned the beach.....nothing.....and then I cried out my sons name and as a mother does in hopes of stirring a response. The rafters quickly jumped from their sleep and then we heard a help from the river.........my son had been so exhausted, dehydrated and delerious that he slept-walked into the Colorado River!! Come morning the rafters decided to "keep us." Not one...but all of us. The Park Service was busy because Laura Bush and one of her daughters with 16 Secret Service people was hiking from Phantom Ranch that day.....so they gave permission for the rafters to help us. They kept us, cared for us, fed us.....found room on their boats for our packs....and basically saved our lives!! We white water rafted with them for the next 6 days. I am not talking about large commercial boats....but One of them and one of us per boat. At Lava Falls...North Americas largest navigatable rapids...my daughter fell from the boat and ended up swimming the whole thing! When we got out at the bottom we rented a car and drove a whole day back to our car at the trail-head. This odd group of river rafters touched my life in a way I can't fully describe. In their own way, they had each overcome more troubles than I will ever know. I am so grateful. And I guess it feels really odd to have a vacation be out of control.....to not go as planned.....to get so desparate. And as I look back....I am sadly disappointed....yet I know I shouldn't be because the experience we gained was one the kids will never forget. They ended up having a great river trip and learning the kindness of a great bunch of people. And upon closing...I want to say, that the river people at the camp said that there was a brilliant full rainbow out of nowhere at the time we were being rescued by the three hikers from their group. And oddly, that was the only hike any of them went on. Joy