by Gary Hansen
Julie looked at her husband. "What does that mean? Should we just go?" She wondered if they had enough gas to get back to Wahweap where the truck was parked.
Greg checked the gas gauge and shook his head. "There's no way. We don't even have enough gas to make it back to the houseboat."
Paul interrupted. "Are you sure we should even try to leave?" Wouldn't it be safer to just wait it out?"
"Wait for what?" Greg asked. "To get stranded someplace up here on the rocks, fifty miles from civilization?"
"Yeah, but if we head down river, we could get pulled over the dam, couldn't we?
Julie didn't like the way that sounded. "Maybe he's right Greg."
Erika nodded.
Greg turned back to the man in the boat next to them, who had been listening to the argument. "What are you guys doing?"
The man pointed south. "As soon as we get some gas, we're heading home. We might not make it to Wahweap, but we're going to try to get as close as possible, Warm Creek maybe, PadreBay for sure."
"Wouldn't it be safer to wait for help?" Paul asked.
"From who?" The man said. "Do you have any idea how many people will need rescuing? You could be waiting for weeks."
Greg looked at Julie. "He's right honey, we need to take care of ourselves."
Paul nodded as if he concurred.
Julie looked at the mob of boats waiting for gas. "Well, we better get in line then."
* * *
1:15 p.m. - Grand Canyon, Arizona
Keller told the rafters to paddle hard at the shore. David felt the raft nose up onto the sand. The landing had been small and a little tricky and they almost missed it. The rock cliffs and sandy beach looked enticing. Named Elves Chasm, the place featured a small stream that trickled through white and orange rock walls. According to the guidebook, Elves was located at Grand Canyon mile one hundred sixteen. A large waterfall, one of many at Elves, was visible just two hundred yards from the landing. The water seemed to flow right out of the rock then fall about twenty feet into a pool at the bottom. Half way up, there was a big cavern in the rock behind the fall, which Keller said they could climb up into. In the mist of the small waterfall, green plants covered the rock walls, more like a rain forest than a desert. It was one of the most incredible sites so far on the trip. Keller said that Elves Chasm continued above the lower fall with more falls and more small pools.
Judy expressed what David felt, "Wow, it's so beautiful."
They were all tempted to run toward the site, to explore it, but they were hungry. It was after one o'clock and they hadn't eaten since breakfast.
"Let's eat first," Keller said. "Then you guys can climb into that hole above the waterfall and I'll take a picture of you. We'll hang out here for a couple hours. There's more waterfalls and pools upstream from the main one." He looked directly at Becky and Sam. "It's very romantic up there."
Sam blushed enough to make the others laugh, but Becky showed no embarrassment.
"When are we going to meet up with the other raft?" asked Sam.
That morning, the group in the other raft, had decided to sleep in. They had seen Elves Chasm before and were feeling lazy. So the guides had agreed to separate.
Keller motioned upstream. "When they finally get up, they'll meet us here. It'll give you guys some time to explore Elves."
Afram popped the top on the cooler "All right. What's to eat?"
Keller looked confused. "I thought you guys were doing YOYO for lunch."
"Screw YOYO," Afram said smiling. "We'd all starve and you know it."
Keller gave in. "All right, who wants to make the sandwiches?"
No one actually volunteered, but everyone in the boat pitched in and helped. Why not? They were at an incredible spot and the mood was upbeat.
* * *
1:30 p.m. - Dangling Rope Marina, Lake Powell, Utah
Julie checked her watch. They had been waiting for gas at Dangling Rope for almost forty-five minutes and there was still a crowd of boats ahead of them. This was taking way too long. Additionally, the wind had started blowing, which was typical in the afternoons at LakePowell. Patience was wearing thin in all the boats, and numerous arguments about who was next had taken place. The gas pumps had been operating non-stop since they arrived.
Dangling Rope's gas pumps were self-service with a slot to insert credit cards, and there were a total of eighteen pumps. On a big day, the marina pumped twenty thousand gallons, but Julie thought today might be a new record.
"What if they run out?" she asked.
Paul shook his head. "They better not."
While waiting, Greg had continued to nose the boat closer to the dock. Now they were pinched by boats that had arrived after them. They were committed to pump #11. A small yellow boat had just replaced the nozzle in the pump, and was trying to back out of the slip. The crowd of boats made his exit very difficult.
"Make room!" someone shouted.
Another man waved his arms at a red boat blocking the exit of the yellow boat. "Get out of the way!"
The man in the red boat looked uncomfortable, and when he tried to back his boat to make room he nudged a boat behind him.
"Watch it you moron!"
The small yellow boat took the opportunity to slip past. As soon as he was gone a large white boat pulled up to the pump. Instead of inserting a credit card, he started jogging down the docks toward the store.
A fat guy in an orange shirt in the boat next to Julie, yelled at him, "Where the hell are you going?"
The man's wife, who was still in the white boat, stood and faced the man in the orange shirt. "Sorry, but we only have cash."
"Then get out of the way, and let somebody else pump."
"It'll only take a couple minutes," she argued.
"We don't have a couple minutes, lady."
"Leave her alone," Greg said.
The yeller turned toward Greg. "Stay out of it. I don't have to wait for them. If you want to wait, you get behind them."
Julie wished that Greg would have stayed out of it, even though the lady needed somebody to support her.
The man in the orange shirt turned back to the white boat. "Move it out of the way lady."
She turned away and tried to ignore him.
"Lady, I'm talking to you."
Julie spoke before she could stop herself. "You're not helping."
"Like I said, if you guys want to wait, go ahead. But, they're not holding the rest of us up." He motioned at the other boats behind him as if everyone supported what he was doing. He turned back to the white boat. "Lady?"
Julie saw that the man from the white boat was now running back down the docks toward them. She pointed to him. "Here he comes."
The man in orange sat down and didn't say anything else.
While Julie watched the man take the nozzle and put it in his boat, she calculated that each boat took between ten and fifteen minutes to fill, and there were still four boats waiting for #11 ahead of them, including the man in the orange shirt. Counting their own boat, that was five boats total. She guessed they would be stuck at Dangling Rope for another hour.
While they were waiting, they overheard that at Dangling Rope, which was just over forty miles upstream from the dam, that water levels were dropping approximately ten feet per hour. Closer to the dam, levels were dropping even faster. At the upstream end of the lake, another hundred forty miles away, they hadn't noticed anything yet. Paul had pointed out a man adjusting cables on the floating docks to compensate for the changing levels.
Julie let her mind wander downstream to where the dam was supposed to be. She imagined boats getting sucked over the top, and people drowning. Maybe they were better off up here, miles away from the dam. But on the other hand, Greg was right about getting stranded, and staying this far north would guarantee days or more before they were rescued. Julie wondered if they could save the Mastercraft. They had paid over twenty thousand dollars for it. She wondered if insurance would cover it, if they abandoned it some
place.
Hopefully, Max and Darlene would be waiting when Greg got them back to the houseboat. Julie wondered if Darlene would take the initiative to pack everything up in preparation. Then again, what if Darlene and Max didn't know. Maybe nobody had told them what was going on.
* * *
1:40 p.m. - Lake Powell, Utah
Max felt someone shaking him. He opened his eyes and saw Darlene's face.
"Wake up." She pointed at where they had kayaked through the slot canyon. "The water's gone."
"What water?" he mumbled. What was she talking about? He pulled himself up on his side and looked at where she was pointing. Then he sat bolt upright. "What the--"
"It's gone," she said.
Max saw that the water had dropped at least five feet since he fell asleep, because there was no water at all in the canyon, and the muddy bottom was at least five feet below where the water had been, when they paddled in.
After they had stopped an hour before, Darlene had spread out the two beach towels and they ate a quick picnic lunch. The romantic atmosphere of the private rock cavern interrupted their lunch, and well, one thing had led to another. Afterward, Max had taken a nap, while Darlene read her book. And obviously, while he was asleep, the water had disappeared.
Max stepped carefully over the rocks down into the wet streambed. His feet sunk up to his ankles in deep sticky mud. He moved forward with slow movements and wet sucking sounds, until he rounded the corner and could see into the narrow canyon. No water. He yelled for Darlene to wait, while he looked around. His movements were slow and awkward, but he managed to move all the way through the narrow portion, until it opened up and he could see. The water was now visible, about a hundred feet away.
Max tried to imagine what it had looked like when they kayaked through here. The water had been approximately ten feet deeper and had covered the bottom of the muddy canyon. Max looked at the shore, and the wet band, and cursed that he had ignored the signs. He realized now that he had noticed something even before they left the houseboat. In total, he guessed the water had dropped over thirty feet.
But, how could this happen? LakePowell was a hundred eighty miles long. How could the water drop so fast? And then it hit him. There was only one answer. Something had happened to the dam. He turned back into the canyon.
"Darlene!" He tried to move quickly through the sticky mud. "Darlene!"
* * *
2:15 p.m. - Grand Canyon, Arizona
David looked at the rock ledge. Keller had said that the way to the upper falls at Elves Chasm was tricky, but he didn't think it'd be this bad. The ledge was only about a foot wide. If someone fell, they'd die. "I dunno," he said, shaking his head.
"Don't be ridiculous," Judy said as she slid past. "You desk jockeys are all chickens."
She stepped onto the narrow ledge and grabbed at the rock wall for hand holds. She shimmied carefully along the ledge without ever looking down and without hesitation. At the other end of the ledge, about fifteen feet away, she hopped onto the cliff and turned around. She motioned with her arm. "Come on, it's easy."
"Nothing like a girl to make ya feel like a complete wuss, huh?" Afram said, smiling.
David nodded. "Go ahead while I clean out my pants."
Afram started across, much slower and much more careful than Judy.
Although the ledge scared David, Elves Chasm had turned out to be a blast. After a leisurely lunch, they had hiked up to the lower falls and played for over a half hour. They climbed up behind the waterfall and maneuvered until they were all in the picture. Per Keller's promise, he played the photographer. Of course Becky and Sam had their arms around each other. It ended up being one of those screwy scenes where Keller had everybody's cameras around his neck and the group had to stay in place while he took a picture with each one. David's leg was stretched across a wet rock and it felt like it was going to slip. He needed to stand up and adjust it, but Keller kept yelling for them to hold still for a couple more.
After the pictures, Judy jumped down the waterfall into the pool at the bottom, something David had not even considered. After some amount of prodding from Judy and Keller, Afram followed, then Sam and Becky. David would never have done it, but after watching the girls and seeing that it was no big deal, he mustered up the courage and jumped in himself. After resurfacing from the cold water David realized that it had been no big deal after all. The entire group climbed back up and jumped again. Afram must have jumped five times, the last time holding one knee into his chest to splash everybody. At one point the whole group floated around in the pool under the waterfall. The weather was incredibly hot so the cold water felt good for short periods of time, but after a few minutes of sitting in the pool, the whole group felt hypothermic. Becky's teeth started chattering. Everyone climbed out and sprawled on the hot rocks to get warm.
Keller told the group how to get to the upper falls, then he headed back to the rafts. The group climbed higher. A short hike later they had arrived at the ledge where Sam and Becky had just made their way across, practically holding hands.
"Okay David," Afram called.
David approached the ledge, still nervous. However, watching the rest of the group go across without incident had convinced him that it was possible. His feet seemed heavy and unresponsive. When he gripped the rock with his hands, in spite of the great handholds, he kept imagining the rock breaking loose or his hand losing its grip, neither of which happened. He reached the other side and took what must have been his first breath since leaving. His heart was racing, but he'd done it.
Judy patted him on the back. "You need to get out more."
They continued up, hiking over and around some large boulders until they came around the bluff and could see some of the upper falls of Elves. The first thing they noticed was that they were not alone. A couple was lying next to the large pool completely naked. The group stopped when they saw the sunbathers, except for Judy who hadn't seen them yet.
"Hang on, Judy." Afram said in almost a whisper and Judy stopped.
David noticed that the sunbathers had noticed them too, but they didn't seem to mind, not even bothering to cover up. He had a better view than he wanted and even from thirty feet away got an instantaneous refresher on male and female anatomy. Aside from their lack of clothes, he noticed the almost white hair on the guy and the obviously non-shaven armpits on the girl. He guessed Europeans, which explained their comfort in lying around naked. Although he'd never actually been to Europe, he'd always heard about them hanging around without clothes in city parks, and beaches. Since there were no other rafts at the bottom, David at first wondered how the couple came to be at the site, and then he spotted the backpacks.
When the naked couple noticed them, the man stood and waved them over. "Come, we can share this place."
The accent seemed German to David. They were obviously friendly, but who wanted to walk up and shake hands with a naked guy? The girl must have figured it out, because she said something to the guy in another language. He nodded and they both retrieved some shorts and pulled them on. By then, the rafters had reached the pool. The man and the woman walked over to shake hands, neither of them wearing a shirt, which for the man was normal enough, but for the woman, well, not something you see every day.
"I am Ralph," the guy said, but it sounded more like Rolph. "This is Anna." He pointed to the smiling topless girl.
The groups shook hands. David had never shook hands with a topless girl before and although he was extremely nervous, she was not, and so he relaxed slightly. He tried to keep his eyes high. Each of the rafters introduced themselves. David happened to glance back while Sam was shaking hands with Anna, and he couldn't help notice the scowl on Becky's face in the background.
David waited until Ralph was looking, then pointed high on the cliffs. "You hiked down from above?" He over-enunciated to make sure he was understood."
"Yes, we hiked down from Royal Arch this morning." He pointed up above the falls. "There
is a small cliff that requires a rope to descend. We left the canyon rim the day before that."
The English was near flawless and David regretted the way he had asked the question. He had heard that Germans spoke better English than most Americans and Ralph seemed to have driven the point home.
Afram asked the question that David wanted to. "Are you from Germany?"
They both smiled and nodded. David found his eyes drifting back to Anna and tried to control them, aiming them someplace safe.
"How far does this go?" Judy asked, pointing above the waterfall.
Ralph explained. "There are a few more small waterfalls and many pools above this one. If you haven't seen them, you should go. They are very beautiful. Anna and I will wait for you here. When you return, we can talk for a while. Yes?"
Judy answered, "Okay, we'll be back in a while," and she started heading up a trail.
David and the rest of the group followed. David consciously avoided taking a last glimpse toward Anna.
* * *
2:25 p.m. - Dangling Rope Marina, Lake Powell, Utah
Julie watched the gas pump count past fifteen gallons. "That's enough!"
Greg held the nozzle. "No. A little more, just in case."
Paul and Erika both stood and nervously watched as the gallon numbers counted higher.
Julie looked back at the boats behind them. There were even more than when they arrived an hour and a half before. She pitied the poor people who would be leaving hours from now.
Greg released the lever, climbed out of the boat and replaced it in the pump. He jumped back in the boat and fired up the engine. Julie noticed the gas gauge climb up to just over half full. The other boats made a space for them to back out of the slip, and Greg expertly backed the Mastercraft into the small spot. Immediately, another boat pulled into the space. Paul jumped up on the bow to prevent the boat from hitting anyone else, and Greg began a slow tedious meandering through the crowd of boats waiting to get fuel. Julie saw what looked like envious glances from other boaters.
When they finally passed the last boats and were out in open water, Greg pushed the throttle forward, ignoring the low speed buoys. The rangers had more important things to worry about than speeding tickets.