Lee's Ferry to Rider Canyon!              "Running a Rapid" 1873,  2nd Powell Expedition, Engraving by Artist R.A. Muller

December 07, 08 1996        Mike Mahanay

The first section, 2.7 miles from Lee's Ferry to Cathedral Wash is pleasant and easy. There is no trail but the walking is easy along sand and rocks. I did it on a cold and snowy winter afternoon. No one was at the ferry that day and I saw no bank fishermen. It was nice to see the snow on the Vermillion Cliffs and Echo Peaks. I followed Cathedral Wash back to the road and walked back to the car. Cathedral's narrows makes a pleasant half day hike.

The second section begins at Cathedral and follows the river downstream. There is no trail. Only a route along the river, on the sand at low water, through the tamerisks and over, between, and around the rocks. About mile 3.5 the cliff comes down to the water. Here in 1983 we found the remains of a herd of sheep that had been driven off the cliff in the old days. A few skull and bones still remain. A bit of climbing is involved at this point. First up and around a narrow ledge and then down thirty feet. A rope for the packs is essential here. It was hard to make sure the pack had a soft landing on the sand and not the water! The climb down was a bit scary. This section had turned us around in 1983.

The two bridges come into view after the climb. There is some remains below the bridge, steel, big bolts etc. that were dropped during the construction. The way is clear to Badger Rapid at mile 8. At mile 6.2 there is a Harvey route out. At Badger I ran into a river trip setting up camp. They were a hardy group and the only one on the river this cold, clear December day. I pushed on fast through the tamerisks to Soap Creek to meet Mike Quinn and Charlie Bongo. The sun set and I was just ready to pull out the flashlight when I heard them waiting for me. Short days are the only drawback to the winter season.

We had a moonless cold night, and moved to the sun as soon as we could in the morning. The hike up Soap Creek to The Vermillion Cliffs Airport was easy except for the one liitle climb in the big rock area.

Soap to Rider November 26-28, 1994

Bill Keryan and I parked at the Vermillion Cliff's Airport after some fun at Cliff Dweller's Lodge, and started down Soap Creek under a past full moon. Bill and I always wind up hiking in the dark together, planned and unplanned! We used the moonlight until the top of the Supai where the trail became confusing in the darkness. So we set up a late bivy for the night.

Early Sunday we were at the Soap Creek Beach in a little over an hour, less than three hours total from the Airport to the beach. Heading down river we stayed close to the water until the Supai began rising to give us a ledge to walk on. Bill and I loaded up with seven quarts of water, planning for a dry camp later on. Four hours from Soap we found a nice pouroff to camp on. We had fantastic views of Marble Canyon up and down the river and saw three boats go by hurrying in a big way for a late camp. We talked of the possiblilty of a similar hike on the reservation side of the river. Three Ringtails passing through gave Bill hell a good portion of the night but ignored me completely even when he put his food under by bivy sack!

Monday we got an early start and followed the Supai for five more hours to Rider. The view from above looking staight down to House Rock Rapid was spectacular! The rapid looked big and difficult, and it is. A little less than a mile up Rider a huge cairn shows the way down a crack in the Supai to the bed of the canyon where siltly pools of water wait. Rider is fast and soon we were past the trail up to the rim. After some backtracking we made the proper turn and went up the extremely steep but fast trail to the rim. There is one place near the top where the packs must be dragged under a big block.

A super sunset and we started our long walk back to the Soap Creek Trailhead. We couldn't arrange a shuttle so decided to do the return as part of our hike. Rather than follow the winding road we compassed west, then north for six hours in the darkness until we hit the highway. From there it was three miles back to the car. Oddly enough Stanton did a similar night hike to get help for an injured member of his party, only he went all the way to Lee's Ferry!