In
July, I had the unique opportunity to spend 9 days in Arizona, 7 of which were
floating down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. I’m in the
middle of blogging through the amazing week from my hand-written personal journal. Bite-sized chunks ... I hope you enjoy
them.
Thursday, July 12, 2018 6:34 AM – camp/breakfast
I thought night #1 on the
River was rough. Boy was I wrong! Last night was absolutely horrifying. Got to bed just after dark, 8:45. Had my tarp properly situated to be able to “burrito”. It was warm, of course. The wind started almost immediately. Apparently, it gets so windy at night because
of pressure and temperature differences in the Canyon. Down Canyon is considerably warmer (which
means our days are going to get hotter), and at night the heat releases by
blowing up-canyon. Sensible explanations
for what we experience.
Anyway, I tossed and
turned in the warm & wind, and actually got a little bit of sleep. Then, around 10:30, the rain started. But this time it got very heavy, and it didn’t stop until 3:00. Which means I got precisely NO sleep between
10:30-3:00. My burrito sprung a
leak. I had the tarp nicely secured at
the head and foot of the left side of the cot.
I pulled it across my body, trying to tuck the bottom corner under my
right foot, and holding the top over my head.
It worked for the first bit, but with the wind and the heaviness of the
rain, the bottom corner of the tarp pulled away, and water started coming in by
my feet. It seemed impractical to get up
and reposition the tarp. I would have
needed to get my glasses and flashlight, 
Around 1AM, between the
rain and the isolation, I was crying, and crying out to the Lord. Momentary feelings of abandonment swept over
me, and I blamed God for my discomfort.
Mostly, I was really just feeling sorry for myself. When I reflected on that this morning, it
seems kind of pathetic! I have this
tremendous privilege of rafting down the Colorado River through the Grand
Canyon, primarily through the generosity of others. My family is experiencing the sacrifice of
missing husband and father for over a week.
There are billions of people around the world whose normal living
situations are worse than I got last night.
So who do I think I am, that I should feel that God owes me comfortable nights in the midst of this great adventure?
So this morning, I’m
trying to keep perspective. It’s easier
once the sun is up, and I see the sun washing the tops of the Canyon walls in
brilliant light. But I am tired, and
exhausted. It was a rough night, and I
miss the physical presence and comfort of my family. Lord, please help me to maintain a
God-oriented perspective, to focus on You and Your grandeur, and the majesty of
Your creation. Be with Mataeo, as he
works and prepares to go camping in Colorado.
Help Keilani to keep positively occupied, and to be a help for Mom. Help Alethea to remember how loved she
is. Comfort Vanessa with Your presence,
and help the days go quickly for her.
July 12, 4:50 PM – Mile 76 (Nevill’s Camp)
We had a shorter day on
the river today – only about 19 miles.
The river level rose 3-4 inches overnight because of the rain. The river level is also affected by water
release levels from the Glen Canyon Dam upriver. The flow from Glen Canyon is based upon
hydroelectric energy demands. High
energy days require higher flow releases.
The fact that the water in Grand Canyon is released from Glen Canyon
also means the water is a reliable temperature: 46F at the dam, warming about 1
degree every 50-80 miles.
So, water level was
higher today. The river is also
incredibly muddy (and chocolate brown) because of the heavy rains. Side canyons would have had flash floods
overnight, which washes a great deal of silt and mud down side channels into
the Colorado.
The river yesterday was
clear and clean, which made my bath both effective and refreshing. No bath today!
There were 3 nice-sized
rapids today, including Neville Rapids where we are camping. But there is a lack of suitable camping sites
over the next 15 miles, making this a logical stopping point for the
night. Tomorrow is promised to be the
most exciting day of rapids, with three “9”-rated rapids and our only “10”.
We saw a few new rock
formations emerge today, including our first volcanic rock – the Cardenas
source. The rim rose as much as 4500 ft
(South Rim) to 5400 ft (North Rim) above the river level. The pictures I’ve taken certainly won’t do
the views justice, but hopefully they will convey something of the immense
scale and beauty.
Another wondrous
site/sight today was the “Hopi Salt Mines”.
The cliff walls down at water level were a very striking white because
of salt leaching out of the limestone and forming deposits on the surface –
including some that look like icicles hanging from ledges. It was fascinating and beautiful! Also striking is the salt’s role in Hope
life. The rite of passage for a young
Hopi teen boy was to hike down the Little Colorado River canyon, then trek
along the river a couple of miles to place their feather in a salt deposit and
remove an already-placed salt-encrusted feather. How on earth did these unguided boys make
their way along a raging river with sheer cliff walls?!?!?
At camp we had lunch, set
up our cots, then reconvened for a teaching time. A brief little rainshower came through, and I
was able to try out the Frog Togg jacket, which kept my upper body completely
dry. So, the equipment works!
After teaching time, we
went for a short hike up 75-mile canyon.
The canyon is fairly narrow, and very steep, and there is neat evidence
of flash flood deposits along the canyon walls at head-height. We would have hiked farther up, but Bill was
a bit concerned with the possibility of a minor flash flood given the rain we
had seen. So we turned back toward
camp. (I would have carried on
up-canyon, but I explicitly asked permission and was denied … so down we went!)
I did talk B. J. into
going exploring – we climbed up the shale formation above our camp, resulting
in a stunning overview about 300 ft up the canyon wall. It was a very pleasant side trip – I am so
thankful to have a reliable spelunking buddy on the trip! 
We’re in a Q&A time
now. The teaching times all week have
been very good – I think there is a lot of persuasiveness and helpful material
which has made me start to re-think YEC vs. OEC. Not sure that I need to change my view, but
there’s certainly more evidence (scientific) for YEC than I expected. But the Q&A time is not quite as
helpful. I find that the leaders,
particularly Terry and Andrew, get unnecessarily defensive about YEC, and quite
harsh toward even potentially dissenting positions that are expressed. That has been a bit disappointing. It is not
disconcerting that they hold their position strongly – that’s healthy and
expected. But YEC (and OEC and TE)
proponents could learn some gentleness in dialogue!
8:30 PM – continued
That said, I am extremely
grateful for the opportunity we’ve had this week to learn from leading YEC
scholars. There is more by way of scientific
reasoning behind YEC than I realized. Their
flood catastrophe models are persuasive to some degree, especially with the
evidence from the Mt. St. Helens eruption, where vast canyons were carved very
quickly by massive mudslides.
Furthermore, the type of conditions necessary for fossilization was
persuasive – animals that die normally decay or get scavenged – they are not
left for sufficient time for the fossil layers to represent ‘millions of years.’
So there’s lots I’ve
learned already, and lots more yet to learn.
Tonight … I have a
tent. Kevin offered his up, and after
protesting mildly, I gratefully accepted.
It will be warmer, but more familiar and comfortable. I left the doors open to cool it off, and
unfortunately let hundreds of little gnats in.
But they are better than rain! Praying
for a good sleep, for me and my family. 
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