2010 River Trip Day 8 - 9/19 Above Lava Camp to Pumpkin Spring RM212.9 river left

September 19 2010 waking up in Above Lava Camp

Lava Falls RM179.5
Whitmore Wash rock art and debris flow RM188
Parashant Canyon lunch stop RM198.5
mega-slides and Conor Watkins links RM205

Pumpkin Spring 212.9

07:13 lava dike visible across the river from camp

07:44 view upriver

07:44 view downriver

08:56 loading the boat

08:56 old river channel deposit across from our camp

09:01 raven claims our camp as we leave

09:03 lava dike cut thru old river channel deposits not how the fin above eroded out of its matrix

09:04 we stop to scout Lava Falls rm179.5

  
John Zambrano shot this kayak

09:27 lava above spire

09:47 columnar basalt

09:48 lava deposit on old river channel debris

09:52 pretty lava

10:04 great lava flows stacked on top of each other

10:25 another classic columnar basalt

10:33 we reflect on how lucky we are to be in this incredible place

10:36 we stop at Whitmore Wash RM188 for a quick hike up to an arch site

10:44 we arrive

10:45 John Zambrano at arch site

10:45 various members of the cast

10:45 view from our vantage point above the river

10:49 I continued past the end of the trail to get a view from higher up and took this stitched photo of the deposits across from the arch site - Wayne explained the debris flows from the Whitmore dam failure - we see on top of the lower lava remnants of the massive debris flow when the over 200m tall dam failed

10:50 we start back

10:57 looking back up the trail we came down

 

11:01 re-boarding the boat

11:18 passing another river trip

11:19 notice how high up the lava flow had filled the river channel

11:24 Ocotillo cactus

12:30 first attempt at a lunch stop finds quick sand

12:53 lava flow on top of old river channel - since eroded thru to present level

14:26 mega-slide debris - start of RM205+ slide series

14:34 slide debris - we continue passing thru several mega-slides
Conor Watkins did a lot of original research on Grand Canyon mega-slides starting with his PHD thesis Here is a link to some summary data
and a much better link with slide explanation in powerpoint

14:43 main part of RM205 mega-slide

15:33 Brandan talks about Pumpkin Spring

15:35 Pumpkin Spring comes into view

15:36 it really does look like a pumpkin

16:12 we make camp here - there is a perfect bathing area as Wayne demonstrates

16:21 I remembered potholes in tapeats ledges upriver and Delores and I hike up to inspect and take photos

16:27 even on bare rock we find plants clinging

16:28 our boat the Philomena at our camp

16:28 pothole island we had jumped over to

16:41 lava boulder on beach above camp

17:20 there is a perfect sand playing field for a boccie ball game

17:46 obligatory groover photo

17:46 wins "Best view from a groover" for this trip

17:48 our dinner chair circle

18:00 John Zambrano photo