After another good night’s sleep, we were loading gear when Ranger Dave arrived at about 8 am. Along with his normal duties, he and several others were collecting biological information from some of the side canyons. We had a good chat and found out we know some of the same people.

About five miles down the very flat water we came to Lava Falls.

It isn’t like any other rapid on this river as it was formed by (you guessed it) lava that flowed into the river from a volcano that appeared very recently in geological time. This lava is black and is much harder than any of the surrounding rock.

A huge ledge in the middle about half the river’s width starts the drop. Even the motorized 36 foot long rigs don’t go there; on the right are several waves, each large enough to easily flip a large raft. The left side is a boulder field with many holes and pour-overs.

After studying it from the left shore, I thought that if I could get through three separate drops on the left side, I would be able to move to the center and ride out the last of the big waves there.

Because the water drops over a horizon you can’t see from the low vantage point a kayak affords, it is extremely hard to judge where you are as you enter this rapid. Consequently, I entered farther to the left than I expected and had a rough ride through the upper sections, but stayed upright.

I had just made it into the calmer water where I planned to move to the center when I dropped sideways into a pour-over at the bottom that I didn’t see from where I had scouted the rapid. I was immediately upside down and tried twice to roll back up before swimming out of it.

While I was disappointed, there are two things I know: (1) I tried where others didn’t, including the lead kayaker in another group who ran it just before us, and (2) I made it upright closer to the end of the rapid than I have in four previous tries.

I liked Loren’s comment the best: “it just means we’ll have to come back”.

Spencer kayaked near the route I had hoped to and did fine, as did all three rafts.

Steve and I rode on the raft the rest of the day and enjoyed seeing more bighorn sheep; the wind was mostly light or non-existent.

By 4:20 we had made a total of twenty-five miles and were ready to call it a day. We enjoyed yet another fantastic campsite on the river’s left side at mile 198.