Downstream from Lake Powell at Lee’s Ferry, Kathy, Jim, Dave, Peggy and I met Loren, Al and Tim. Together, we formed the group of eight who will begin the journey down the Grand Canyon.

We arrived just in time for Al and I to motor upstream with Josh and David, two young guides who operate one of the many large inflatable motor rigs that ply this section of the river.

After an hour-long ride up the river to within a few hundred yards of Glen Canyon Dam, at 6 pm Al and I began paddling our kayaks the fifteen miles back downstream towards Lee’s Ferry.

What this section-the last remnants of Glen Canyon-lacked in whitewater, it more than made up for in scenery. The high red sandstone walls and sandy beaches were more numerous than I could count.

When the dam was being built, a two-mile long tunnel was blasted into the wall forming the south boundary of the canyon. Addits, (not sure of correct spelling) which are holes where blasted rock was tossed into the canyon from the tunnel, were visible and clearly marked the descending route of the tunnel.

As the sun slowly (but not as slowly as we would have liked) set in the western sky we made our way through the shadows on the flat water. The last hour of our time was in pitch dark and we were relieved to arrive once again at Lee’s Ferry at just after 10 pm.

Water is released through the dam from deep below the surface of Lake Powell. At the surface of the lake, the water is between 71 and 78 degrees; when it re-enters the Colorado River, it is 46 degrees. It is not only quite cold, but quite clear.

Conditions like these have not been present since the first few days of the journey high in the Colorado Rockies.

Due to changing daily demand for electricity, the flows from the dam fluctuate between 7,000 and 15,000 cubic feet per second, and the warm canyon walls heat the water about 1 degree for each 30 miles it travels.

Five of the eight of us have never been on this section, and it was with great anticipation-and some trepidation- that we camped near our boats. I have been here four times, most recently in 1994, and each experience truly seems like the first.