The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon (82 page)

Mills’s rig was flipped upside down
: Gorospe, “Crystal @ 72,000,” 44–45. Also see Westwood,
Woman of the River
, 221–22.

catching a breath in the waves
: Gorospe, “Crystal @ 72,000,” 44–45. Also see Westwood,
Woman of the River
, 221–22.

yet
another
accident was unfolding
: Cross Expeditions. Ironically, the owner of this company, John Cross, had been the first boatman to successfully run the rapid after the debris flow of 1966. See
Case Incident Record No. 831574
, Grand Canyon National Park Archives.

Thirty-three passengers had been dumped into the river
: Ibid.

An evacuation will be staged from Bass Camp
: Ibid. Also, author interview with Kim Crumbo.

By 10:00 a.m., Crumbo’s chopper was airlifting people
:
Case Incident Record No. 831574
, Grand Canyon National Park Archives.

a reporter walked into the Kiva Lounge
: “Passengers on Capsized Boats Rescued.”

“We got bit by Crystal”
: Ibid.

Litton placed several phone calls to
: Steiger, “Speed,” and author interviews with Litton.

Marks was in the middle
: Steiger, “Speed.”

“He says if the answer is no, he’ll phone tomorrow”
: Ibid., 161.

“Now if he
doesn’t
call me, what do you suppose”
: Ibid.

19: Ghost Boat

The details of this day are drawn from a variety of sources. The author has conducted interviews with a number of passengers who were eyewitnesses, including Walt Gallaher, Bob and Colleen Paparelli, Sally Lonner, Lin Sultzer, Mary Ann McNammee, Elizabeth and Gary Ungricht, Jeffe Aronson, and Richard Kocim. Extensive details are drawn from
William R. Wert Fatality, Case No. 831592
and
Case Incident Record No. 831941
, as well as from Dave Stratton’s
Oral History
and Ghiglieri and Myers,
Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon.

“It was impossible not to think”
: Kane,
Running the Amazon
, 114.

the temperature was already in the low eighties
:
Old Farmer’s Almanac
, June 25, 1983.

the air was so clear that
: Ibid.

Bill was fascinated by geology and photography
: The details about Wert’s curiosity come from the author’s interview with Lonner and are corroborated by interviews with Sultzer and McNammee.

Layne Parmenter had grown up in
: Most of the details about Parmenter come from
William R. Wert Fatality, Case No. 831592.

Crystal was three times more dangerous
: Ghiglieri,
Canyon
, 5. Also see author interviews with Petschek and Aronson.

duct-taping foam padding around their bottles
: Aronson, “High Water of 1983,” 38.

Joe Sharber heard a splash
: Sharber and Ranney, “Memories of the ‘Way Too Fast Trip,’ ” 20.

even the beavers are portaging
: Ibid.

spending almost forty-five minutes examining
: See
William R. Wert Fatality, Case No. 831592.

explained to his colleagues they were all going
: Stratton,
Oral History
, NAU. Corroborated by author interviews with Walt Gallaher and Gary Ungricht.

“See the tammies that are in the water?”
: Stratton,
Oral History
, NAU.

“You get in there and it’s over”
: Ibid.

Ellen was concerned
: “Interview with Ellen May Wert,” Supplementary Case Incident Record,
William R. Wert Fatality, Case No. 831592.

“What’s the use of going on a river trip”
: Ibid.

one of the Butte Ladies cried out
: Author interview with Sultzer.

Roberson yelled, “Down and in!”
: Ibid.

they felt as if they were standing
: Author interviews with Aronson and Kocim.

“Do you have a fresh roll of film?”
: Aronson, “High Water of 1983,” 38.

“See that pink dike off the wall?”
: Ibid.

The gestures had only one possible meaning
: Ghiglieri and Myers,
Over the Edge.

“we’re going to hit the hole!”
:
William R. Wert Fatality, Case No. 831592.

We’re going over
: Author interview with Lonner.

Bill had stood up just prior to the moment
: This detail comes from Sultzer, who says that this story later circulated among the group. It is echoed by Elizabeth and Gary Ungricht.

Those details could only come
: These details are illustrated by Kocim’s photographs and corroborated by Kocim and Aronson, but I am indebted to Ghiglieri and Myers (
Over the Edge
), who have parsed out what took place with exceptional clarity.

“You’ve got to get down and get your people”
: Stratton,
Oral History
, NAU.

“Well, we may end up flipping too”
: Ibid.

His job was to chase those people down
: Ibid.

“What am I going to do with that?”
: Author interview with Sultzer.

“You might need something to eat”
: Ibid.

“Are you okay?”
: Ibid.

“I think my legs are broken!”
: Author interview with McNammee.

“let’s see if we can get you to shore”
: Author interview with Sultzer.

“Mary Ann’s behind me”
: Ibid.

“I will never take another drink for as long as I live”
: Ibid.

“He doesn’t look very good”
: Stratton,
Oral History
, NAU.

“Let’s get him some CPR”
: Ibid.

Gallaher turned his head to the side and spat
: Author interview with Bob Paparelli.

“I just don’t think this guy is going to make it”
: Stratton,
Oral History
, NAU.

At 10:36 a.m., an orange-and-white Park Service helicopter
:
William R. Wert Fatality, Case No. 831592.

On board Helo 210 were a pilot named Mike Bertoldi and Curt Sauer
: “Pilot Interview/Debriefings,”
William R. Wert Fatality, Case No. 831592.

Less than ten minutes after takeoff
: Ibid.

Sauer radioed the South Rim
: Ibid.

immersed in the fifty-degree water
: “Water temperature was estimated at 45–50 degrees.” Patricia Baker, Summary, Supplementary Case/Incident Record,
William R. Wert Fatality, Case No. 831592.

“I don’t know where my husband’s at”
: Stratton,
Oral History
, NAU.

“We don’t have everybody accounted for right now”
: Ibid.

“I know something’s wrong”
: Ibid.

McNammee’s injuries were so severe
: Author interview with McNammee.

It was Cook who took
: “Darrell Cook Interview,”
William R. Wert Fatality, Case No. 831592.

Dale had been leading a squadron
: Author interview with Regan Dale. Also see Dale,
Oral History
, NAU.

“Hey—
lookit
”
: Dale,
Oral History
, NAU.

Dale kept his thoughts
: Author interview with Dale.

The boat glided past without giving up an answer
: Ibid.

20: The Doing of the Thing

“We are now ready to start”
: Powell,
Diary
, 107–10.

Ninety-one people had been evacuated
: “Evacuations on 06/24 and 06/25/83,”
William R. Wert Fatality, Case No. 831592.

had cost $9,778
: “Helicopter Costs,”
William R. Wert Fatality, Case No. 831592.

the Colorado had managed to drown only nineteen boaters
: Twenty people had died while attempting to cross the river at places such as Lee’s Ferry, twelve while swimming, and six by falling into the river and drowning—three of whom were drunk. See Ghiglieri and Myers,
Over the Edge
, 215–25.

not one of those accidents had taken place anywhere near Mile 98
: Ibid.

drawing serious media attention from the
CBS Evening News
: “At the beginning of the CBS National News in late June, Dan Rather announces that the Grand Canyon is flooding.” Steve Nicholson, “The Three Day Grand Trip of 1983,”
Boatman’s Quarterly Review
21, no. 1 (Spring 2008), 24.

his river rangers, pilots, and communications team for a briefing to address
: Thomas and Lawton were both debriefed on the South Rim at 7:29 p.m. that night. The Overhead Meeting was scheduled for 8:30 p.m. Source: “Crumbo/Goodrich on South Rim,”
William R. Wert Fatality
,
Case No. 831592.

Three options lay before them
: “14:00 Meeting in Albright,”
William R. Wert Fatality, Case No. 831592.

Dave Buccello, Workman’s counterpart
: “David Buccello, Supplementary Case/Incident Record,”
William R. Wert Fatality, Case No. 831592.

“The superintendent has closed Crystal Rapid”
: Jennifer Lawton, “Crystal Rapid to Lee’s Ferry: Message Drops,”
William R. Wert Fatality, Case No. 831592.

The records indicate that this subject was never discussed
:
William R. Wert Fatality, Case No. 831592.

they decided to start gearing up
: Details for the speed-run preparation and drive to Lee’s Ferry come from the author’s interviews with Petschek and Reynolds.

At 10:30 p.m. on the night of June 25, however
: Author interviews with Bruce Helin and Michael Ghiglieri, two of the OARS guides who were sleeping aboard their rafts that night at the ferry.

Who, he wondered, would be crazy enough
: Author interview with Ghiglieri.

Ghiglieri shook his head with an amused and bleary-eyed indulgence
: Ibid.

“Wow,” Wren murmured to himself
: Author interview with Reynolds.

led by Charles Zemach, a theoretical physicist
: Author interview with Charles Zemach.

Zemach was neither amused by nor
: Ibid.

Zemach didn’t have the faintest idea
: Ibid.

Part VII The Speed Run

“When the rapids are mentioned, I forget everything else”
: See Westwood,
Woman of the River.

21: The Old Man Himself

Note: all scheduling times come from Petschek.

“And in the great wink of the moon”
: Wolfe,
Of Time and the River
, 514.

Was this going to be a cinch? Grua wondered
: Steiger, “Speed,” 148.

Roaring Twenties and encountered the first of
: The Roaring Twenties are designated not by names but by their mile-marker numbers, an artifact of the Birdseye Expedition, the government’s first official survey of the canyon, conducted in 1923. See Lavender,
River Runners of the Grand Canyon.

It also scared the dickens out of them
: Author interviews with Petschek.

in earnest with their biggest fear
: Ibid.

and call out, “Okay,
go
!”
: Ibid. Confirmed by Reynolds.

Petschek and Wren found themselves increasingly reliant on Grua
: Author interviews with Petschek and Reynolds.

“He’d never run that water before, but”
: Author interview with Petschek.

angular, rolling waves that built on a cycle of roughly ten seconds
: Details of the hydraulics of Nankoweap come from P. T. Reilly, who ran the rapid at a somewhat higher level in the late 1950s. See Reilly, “My High Water Experience.”

“We made it through the night”
: Author interview with Reynolds.

as if to say,
Wake up, dammit!
: Ibid.

the only man-made structure that was visible from the bottom of the canyon
: Many years later, the Hualapai tribe built a “skywalk” at the edge of a tributary canyon much farther downstream, which is now visible from the bottom of the canyon.

clattered above the main buildings
: Details of John Thomas’s experiences on June 25 come from an author interview with Thomas. However, many of these elements are also elaborated on and confirmed in the Park Service’s
Case Incident Record No. 831941.

The size of some of those haystacks was shocking
: Details of what it felt like to handle the hydraulics come from author interviews with Petschek and Reynolds.

Hendrick pulled off an impressively coordinated feat
: Details of the speed run’s encounter with Hendrick come primarily from an author interview with Petschek. Also see Hendrick,
Oral History
, NAU, and
Case Incident Record No. 831941.

22: Perfection in a Wave

I am indebted here to Lew Steiger, whose work is further described in the final chapter of this book. As noted below, several quotations have been taken from Steiger’s superlative 1994 story, “Speed,” which was published in the anthology
There’s This River: Grand Canyon Boatman Stories.

“Do or do not”
: Yoda,
The Empire Strikes Back.

Don’t look at the ranger
: Author interview with Reynolds.

“What do you think we should do if he”
: Author interview with Petschek. Also see Steiger, “Speed,” 165.

“Wave back?” replied Petschek
: Author interview with Petschek. Also see Steiger, “Speed,” 165.

Inside his heart, however, each boatman knew perfectly
: Author interviews with Petschek and Reynolds. Also see Grua, oral histories, NAU.

“We fantasized that it might be okay”
: Steiger, “Speed,” 165.

with an entirely different tangle of conflicting impulses
: All details about John Thomas’s state of mind come from an author interview with Thomas.