m) When I was in the kayak, I wore a semi-dry top over my usual long-sleeve shirt. The semi-dry top was hot when I put it on, and I did a few practice rolls to cool off, but I was glad I had it on when I swam, and it was a lot easier to put on and take off than my dry top would have been. I also wore the semi-dry top in the raft for Hance and Lava, just in case I went for a swim. We were never cold except in the water or in the rain, or briefly after a big rapid in the front of the raft. I liked going this time of year, even though it was hot and sometimes humid. It was nice to have green water for most of the trip, but to also experience the monsoon and the red river. And it was nice to be able to take a shower after dark using a water bottle heated by the sun and not be too cold. (I painted some 1-gallon jugs black, filled them each am, and they were still lukewarm after dark unless it had rained and been cloudy in the afternoon. This worked better than a solar shower because I could pour water on myself in the raft rather than finding a place over the river to hang a solar shower from a tree.)

n) Kayaking – As trip leader, I granted myself the luxury of bringing my hardshell kayak, a Liquid Logic Jefe. I had purchased it less than a year prior from Canyon Reo, and they had said that it was a great boat for Grand Canyon. My wife was concerned that I was going to be in the kayak all of the time and not with her in the raft, but I planned to split my time between the raft ant the kayak and hoped that she would be comfortable rowing more of the rapids and would enjoy doing so. Ted, who we had sent to Grandma’s on our 2009 trip for fear that he was too young, also brought his Jackson Sidekick hardshell, and David and Tom each brought an inflatable kayak, each a Tributary Strike. As it turned out, except for Ted, we did not choose to use the kayaks on the river as much as I had expected. We found the funny water, eddy lines, and whirl pools to be difficult and tedious. The flat water between rapids was much more difficult to paddle in a kayak than flat water in the Upper Salt, Verde, or other rivers I had paddled. Ted seemed to get better as the trip went on, but I just got more tired and my confidence level in the kayak was rather low. In addition, everyone who took a turn in a kayak on this trip went for a swim in the river except for Ted and Maya.

o) On the first day of our trip, I started in the raft, sharing the rowing with Michelle and coaching her how to row through Badger. She did much better in Badger than I had two years prior. After Badger, I got in the kayak and padded it from Soap Creek Rapid though House Rock Rapid. I only got one successful combat roll of 3 flips in Grand Canyon on this trip, which is a little discouraging and far below my average for the last year or two. None of my flips occurred while running rapids. My first flip occurred after I ran House Rock in the kayak. I ran the right side and snuck the big stuff, but still hit at least one really big wave. Ted and I eddied out on the right in the highest eddy below the rapid. After the other rafts came down, I decided (foolishly) to head over to the tail waves for some fun. I realized that was a bad idea as I got closer and could see the turbulence and the speed of the current better, but by then the river wouldn't let me change my mind. I flipped when I hit the eddy line before I even got to the first wave. Upside down, I opened my eyes in the white water and tried to set up for a roll, but by then the fast water was throwing me around and I couldn’t feel a well defined surface with the paddle to roll off of. I probably should have waited, but I pulled the skirt and went looking for some air. It was a while before I surfaced, but not so long that I was desperate. The water twisted my paddle out of my hand, but somehow I caught it between my legs. The rafts picked me up quickly and I didn't get very cold in my semi-dry top. My second flip was in a whirlpool when it sucked my stern down and endered me until I fell over upside down. I rolled up for that one on my first try and was clear of the whirl pool.