The route down the Colorado from Lee's Ferry to Diamond Creek.

Seventeen days on the river.  Sixteen days of rafting.  There is nothing quite like a man-powered whitewater trip through the Grand Canyon to give one a sense of Time.  The Canyon reeks of time.  The stone walls tell the story of time.  The depths of the Canyon plumb the expanse of ages.  The very act of powering your small raft down the river, one stroke at a time demands an awareness of time that rarely exists in the daily succession of urban living.

Our trip was a trip of time and through time.  Beginning just 15 miles below that great sin against nature, Glen Canyon Dam, we assembled at Lee's Ferry, Mile 0 on the river runners map.  Lee's Ferry starts the journey at Zero - Zero Miles, Zero Days.  It also starts with the equivalent of Zero Years, for here the rocks we will encounter, the story of the Earth's time, at their most modern with the Moenkopi Formation to it's oldest with Vishnu Schist.  From Point Zero we will progress millions of inches, thousands of yards, hundreds of miles, tens of days and millions of years.

The chronology of our trip is straightforward and shown below.  It wasn't what we planned - in wilderness trips your plans never quite materialize perfectly.  But it was acceptable.  In fact, it was incredible.