Zoroaster camp to Below Pipe Creek camp-5 miles.
We got a nice early start and made it to the boaters beach at about 10:20 to find 27 rafts pulled in there already, 2 commercial groups and the Beckwith and Montana groups, and another we don't know, with the only parking space left being up at the end that is mud. I feel annoyed by the sloppy parking, since there was space if people had pulled in tight, for all to be on firm sand. The private boaters are the sloppy ones, the commercial groups are all tight and neat. We unloaded Scott and Marshall and their gear, and they were on the trail 15 minutes later, just before 11. It's sad to see them go, they were integral parts of our little tribe, and will be missed...
Most of our group set off pretty quickly for Phantom Ranch to see the sights, send mail out, and/or use the phone, a few hung w/ the boats, including me and WW. Eventually we moseyed up to use a phone which is near bathrooms right at the bridge nearby, over Bright Angel Creek, and by then, others were coming back. There are thunderstorms at the rim and some rain showers intermittently from noon-2, but nothing heavy. When Sam and Martie returned to the beach there were strangers sitting in his raft, because he was parked between a couple of the Beckwith group's boats and they were getting ready to go with their 3 exchangers, who didn't know from rafts. In the confusion of dozens of people exchanging, and dozens of boats on the beach, someone took Sam's PFD, which he only discovered when they had gone with it. We suspect someone from the Beckwith group.
By one o'clock the down hikers have not shown and we are getting anxious, and wondering what might be delaying them. So we had lunch and then cleaned up and still no hikers are showing up. About 2PM Tim's brother John Kennedy hobbled onto the beach, looking very tired, sore, and happy to be done with the hike. Dan M. and I headed back up the trail to relieve Wendy's brother Brad and Alison of their packs for the remainder of the hike. Brad is pretty whipped, had been cramping up since about midway down. Brad and Alison gladly relinquish their packs and the four of us reach the beach about 2:40.
We get some food and drink in our new arrivals and finally get on the water at 3:30. We are aiming just to get past the closed to camping area around the riverside trails here, so are looking to stop at a camp just below Pipe Creek rapid, and there are no hard rapids to face before that, luckily. Dan and Erin are back in their kayaks, but we have not re-deployed the inflatables yet, so I am kayaking still. We do not want to miss the one good campsite that lies above Horn Cr. rapid, so we scout a couple possibilities, but eventually find the site at 4:30. Nice sandy and bouldery camp with a steep slope at river edge and not really an eddy, but ok. It took some coordination and teamwork to get the rafts in and unloaded, but once that was done it was a really nice spot, with lots of room, and good "furniture", tamarisks and rocks that serve to hang or pile clothes and gear up out of the sand.
In the middle of the night we got an unexpected wind, and I get up to grab my stuff that I left hanging from branches or on the rocks. Scrambling around in the dark, I got a red ant bite picking up a stuff sack that I had placed earlier near a red ant nest to mark the ants, but forgot in my half asleep state that it was a warning! Those tiny ants have a wicked painful bite, and it took some ibuprofen to get back to sleep.
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