Camden's and Lathum's Excellent Adventure

Day 6 — Exploring School Section Canyon

August 2016

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Day six was our last full day on the river. School Section Canyon was coming up, and it is one of the few narrow canyons right off the river. We headed down that way and stopped for lunch, then hiked up it.

Lunch
Lunch

We found a cool spider web with the center part built up with debris like a caddis case; I don't know what kind of spider makes it.

School Section Canyon Randy Camden School Section Canyon 6544
Randy and Camden entering School Section Canyon Gary and Diana
Photo by Joni

School Section Canyon Spider Web
Spider Web
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Photos by Joni

School Section Canyon Boulder Joni Camden School Section Canyon Climbing Joni Camden Lathum
Bouldering

Xxx Lizard
Xxx Lizard
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Photo by Joni
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Photo by Joni

As we walked up the canyon we heard a really strange sound. I can't really remember it well enough to describe it, but I remember just trying to figure out if it was a bird or a small mammal like a chipmunk. I think Steve or Joni thought it might be a young bobcat. We finally narrowed it down to the cliff wall, then to a large horizontal crack in the wall. I took off my pack and scooched underneath and got to where I could tell it was coming from a pile of debris caught under there. Whatever it was, it was hunkering down in the pile of debris and complaining, probably yelling for its mother. I was going to tease it out with a stick but Steve objected — thanks, I needed some restraint in the excitement of the moment. The poor critter didn't need its life screwed up by a bunch of tourists.

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Checking out a strange sound
Photos by Joni

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Photo by Joni

Camden, Lathum and I tried to get close to all the lizards, but without much success.

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Camden Lathum and Gary in a Lizard Quest
Photos by Joni

We tried to pretend we were a flash flood and roll a big rock. It didn't want to roll.

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Not Moving a Boulder
Photo by Joni
School Section Canyon Dried Mud
Dried Mud

We got to the head of the canyon and climbed out.

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Head of the Canyon Looking Down from the Top

Once we were up on top, Lathum wanted to down climb part way at the lip. I asked him not to because

He's a pretty good little climber, but it would be a heck of a way to spoil an otherwise great trip. I wish I had brought the rope, as it would have been a great place to practice some rappelling. We could-a / maybe should-a gone back and gotten it, but I didn't think we had enough time for that.

School Section Canyon Lathum School Section Canyon Steve Lathum
Lathum Looking into School Section Canyon

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Landscape above the head of the canyon

Lathum and Randy helped the erosion process along a little. It's hard to resist when you have a place to yourself...

Trundling Lathum Trundling Randy Trundling Randy
Trundling

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On the Way Out

I had brought some climbing gear with me. Originally my neighbor who is my climbing partner was going to come along and I had hoped to do a little climbing. He couldn't make it, but Steve was interested in working on rappelling and I thought it might be fun for the kids to get stretched out a little more on a rope. I was hoping to find some things close to camp on days when we had time, but that didn't happen. On this trip I should have brought the gear up to the head of School Section Canyon and Lathum could have climbed a bit more and we could have rapped down from the top. Something for next time... There's also a hunk of rock at the entrance to the canyon that has a nice crack in it that would be a fun climb.

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Rock outside School Section Canyon

As we were exiting the canyon we saw a pointed spire on the top of one of the walls. It looked like an artificial structure, but when I took a picture of it with a telephoto lens it looked like real rock. But it still looks totally out of place, and maybe next time we will hike up there and see what the heck is going on.

Spire Spire
Spire

We hopped in the boats and skipped a half mile down river to camp at Rattlesnake. Steve dropped his toothbrush in the water when we got ready to leave, so he had to jump in after it...

Steve Toothbrush
Steve Rescuing his Toothbrush

Ducky Lathum
Lathum Heading into Rattlesnake with the Ducky
Mud Camden Lathum
Camden and Lathum Working on a Whale Belly

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Lathum burying Camden in the Sand
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Photos by Joni

Sand Camden Lathum Sand Camden Lathum

Clouds had been building all day long, and after we ate dinner it started spitting. The wind kicked up, and we scrambled to realign our camps with the impending thunderstorm. We all turned in, drifting off to sleep to the sound of thunder, the flash of lightning, and our tent flys beating in the wind. Fortunately we had lots of rocks to work with to help hold things down. My tent in particular needed them, as it was an old A frame design. Sturdy and a good tent, but a pain in the neck to pitch in sand.

Camp6 Rattlesnake
Camp at Rattlesnake
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The Group at Rattlesnake, our last Camp
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Photo by Joni

Next: A Leisurely Row Out and Burgers at Ray's