Toroweap to Lava Falls Rapid (Oct 2007)

Two nights at Toroweap Campground on the edge of the Grand Canyon was beautiful. Mike and I hiked from the campground around the cinder cone and down 2500' on the Lava Falls trail 1.5 miles to the river where we hung out for several hours by Lava Falls Rapids--the biggest rapids in North America. We watched two different groups come through--scouting first, then going through one boat at a time. The first group was all women. They had a paddle boat that was hit by a lateral wave and knocked every one of them out of the boat without flipping the boat! One lady was slammed into the cheese grater rock and took nearly 20 seconds to surface farther down river. The second group made it through without any mishaps. We made it to the river in 1:25, and back up in 1:50. The next day we hiked down the Tuckup Trail 4 miles and hung out above Cove Canyon, while we watched little dots of rafters float by 3000' below us.





Sunrise over the campground, where I slept in the back of the truck. Temps were pleasant.











Canyon X women paddlers one second before getting slammed.











The guide was the only one who immediately was able to climb back in.
















Sunset from Toroweap! Lava Falls Rapid looks puny from here.

















Click on the photo to see me on the ledge above the river!