ff) We stopped and saw the historic abandoned boat the Ross Wheeler, hiked up Shinumo creek to the water fall, and Ted, Wesley, and I hiked up above our camp at Garnet, climbing almost to the top of the Tepeats before deciding it was too exposed to go on without a belay. That hike above Garnet was one of the highlights of the trip for me. I love those Tepeats ledges and route finding where there is no trail. The next day, we hiked up and swam at Elves Chasm, but did not go above the popular swimming hole. Mike lost his camera in the pool, but Ted dove down and found it while I was hiking back to get some goggles to use to look for it. That day, most of us also hiked into the narrows at Blacktail. Later, we explored the Doll House above Bedrock rapid when we scouted or walked the rapid. The next day we hiked to the water fall at Stone Creek, skipped Tepeats Creek, stopped to explore a cave on river right, and stopped at Deer Creek Falls but did not hike up to the patio. From the books that we had, we decided that Olo would be too hard to get into and floated past it, and camped at the Matkat Hotel. From that camp, Mike, Wesley, Ted, and I hiked back to Matcatamiba, which was a long and exposed trail, and went upstream from where the trail dropped into the canyon. We did not do the Muav narrows which were below where the trail intersected the canyon. Next time, I would like to spend more time in this area. I would like to try to pull into the mouth of Matkat canyon and climb up the narrows rather than hiking back from the Matcat Hotel. Further upstream, Tepeats creek would have been a nice hike, as would have the hike to the patio at Deer Creek and dropping down into the slot. I would also like to try to get into Olo next time. There was no rope in place at Olo, but we might try lead climbing the route into the canyon.

gg) Further downstream, Mike, Ashley, Michelle, Wesley, Maya, Ted, and I hiked up National Canyon, but it was hot and humid. Michelle waited in some shade before we reached water, and Mike, Ashley, and Maya waited in some shade further up by the water, Wesley, Ted, and I went further and climbed some muav narrows and swam some pools. The crux was a chimney problem and it turned Ted back the first time that he tried it. Then I climbed it and gave Wesley and Ted a hand from above. It was unusual for me to be able to climb something that either of them could not.

hh) At Havasu, we decided to plan on a little over five hours to hike to Beaver Falls and we were about a half hour late returning. Seven hours would have been better. Mike, Ashley, Bryce, Wesley, Maya, Ted, and I hiked to Beaver Falls, and the others stayed closer to the river. It was hot and humid that day and the water in the creek was brown at the mouth but turned blue by the time we reached Beaver Falls. We climbed and swam around the falls and Mike showed us a place we could swim under water to a cave with an air pocket. The guide had showed him this place when he hiked there on a commercial trip in 2004. Ted and I brought tubes, PFDs, helmets, and gloves and tubed back to the river from below Beaver Falls. I used a big River Rat tube, which was the right size for me. A smaller cushion or butt board in the middle would have been ideal, but I made it without significant bruising. Ted wore his PFD as a diaper and wore though the fabric. But we had a blast tubing the creek and went about as fast as the hikers. I let Mike take a turn and offered a turn to Ashley, but she declined. Ted and I ran the big water fall near the mouth, but portaged at several other locations.