August, 2004. My buddy John, a.k.a. "Bugs" invited me along for an incredible 10 day rafting trip down the Colorado River. John and the flotilla of five rafts put in at the start of the Grand Canton, at Lee's Ferry (Mile 0). Six of us hiked down from the Grand Canyon Visitor Center to rendezvous with Bugs & Co. at Phantom Ranch - about Mile 68. We traded places with 6 of the folks who rafted down from Mile 0 and hiked out that day. Here, Bugs secures some bags on the raft, ready for whatever fury the river would throw at it. When I left the 70-degree warmth of Alaska, I did not get outside until I left the air-condioned coolness of the Las Vegas airport. I walked smack into 110-degree heat, and in the hike down to Phantom Ranch, it was 113 in the shade. To sleep at night, it helps to take a cotton sheet and soak it in the river and drape it over yourself.