Crystal Rapid, October 15, 2006

Crystal Rapid is runnable on the left at low water, and on the right at higher water. With around 8000 cfs, we were somewhere in between. Most of our guides went right, but a few went left including our one dory.

Walt went right. It was much easier to get to the right as opposed to my own two runs at 28,000 and 21,000 cfs, but much rougher once there. It's a narrower passage between the rocky right bank and those huge waves, but not that big a deal if you're in the right place.

The boats that went down the left did fine, though it looked like the problem over there was staying off the wall.

As we started, Walt called Crystal "the real deal!" That phrase would not be used again until Lava Falls.

Talking with Walt later, he helps run a Spanish language school in Costa Rica and he'd be going down there very soon after this trip. He runs a couple of Grand Canyon trips each year.