TECH: Flotation Devices -- Giant Pink Bullets

Guided a trip down a West Clear Creek tributary for the Phoenix Mercury (women's basketball team). When we arrived at the main canyon we stopped to take a break. In the distance, up canyon, we noticed four giant pink bullet-shaped objects bobbing up and down above the vegetation. Couldn't see any people, just the rounded tips of those giant pink bullets.

The bullets grew larger as they approached. Still no people. We started to make guesses regarding the size of those pink objects. Six feet? Eight feet? But they kept growing as they got closer. Finally we could see the four people, each with an inflatable raft lashed to their packs. The rafts towered over their heads. 12 feet long.

They told us it became a hassle to keep inflating and deflating their rafts, so they left them inflated after they came out of the white boxes. Figured they'd keep them inflated through the red boxes. 20+ patches required as the vegetation poked holes in their rafts.

--- In Yahoo Canyons Group, "Rich Carlson" <rcwild@w...> wrote: > Guided a trip down a West Clear Creek tributary for the Phoenix Mercury (women's basketball team). When we arrived at the main canyon we stopped to take a break. In the distance, up canyon, we noticed four giant pink bullet-shaped objects bobbing up and down

Gee, Rich. You get all the good jobs. Hanging with women taller than you and who could beat you up!!!

West Clear Creek is famous for the odd. I found a mattress miles from the nearest road. Kelsey had it in his early editions with odd floatation idesa and we found shredded forms of everything you can imagine down there. Bet Todd and Stheph have some tales too. When we first went there (July 1988) our idea was to use black inner tubes, partially blown up. Throw a pair of shock cords across them, in an X shape, on the back of the pack and voila! Floatation...Just one problem....a big one. It is 5 miles of hike in, mostly in the sun...It's july.....got about 3 miles and a HUGE explosion. The sun on the black tubes...BAM. The other 3 blew in the next 15 minutes, each scaring us to within an inch of our lives. Camped above the biggest water section, that night, without a clue on how to float the packs. What worked was using our bivy sacks, which were air tight, filled them with a little air, used the same shock cords, creating four pillows of air, loaded it toward the bottom of the packs and our packs looked and acted like buoys, bobbing out of the water at 45 degree angles. Lighter, easy on and off and effective. Ram

Back in 95 or 96 I backpacked the length of West Clear Creek, including the feeder canyons, Willow and Clover, for the Forest Service to inventory campsites and trails of use. Amazing what people had hauled into, then abandoned, in that canyon.

At one point, deep in the canyon, I found a permanent camp up on a shelf. Bed frame, mattress, propane stove, large propane canisters (not the little green ones), kerosene lantern, a trunk, stockpile of canned food, etc. I believe someone was living down there.



> West Clear Creek is famous for the odd. I found a mattress miles from > the nearest road. Kelsey had it in his early editions with odd > floatation idesa and we found shredded forms of everything you can > imagine down there. Bet Todd and Stheph have some tales too. When we > first went there (July 1988) our idea was to use black inner tubes, > partially blown up. Throw a pair of shock cords across them, in an X > shape, on the back of the pack and voila! Floatation...Just one > problem....a big one. It is 5 miles of hike in, mostly in the > sun...It's july.....got about 3 miles and a HUGE explosion. The sun on > the black tubes...BAM. The other 3 blew in the next 15 minutes, each > scaring us to within an inch of our lives. > Camped above the biggest water section, that night, without a clue on > how to float the packs. What worked was using our bivy sacks, which > were air tight, filled them with a little air, used the same shock > cords, creating four pillows of air, loaded it toward the bottom of > the packs and our packs looked and acted like buoys, bobbing out of > the water at 45 degree angles. Lighter, easy on and off and effective. > Ram