The longest houseboating trip

[Canyon Glen]

Captain Tanner was in a good mood. He and his crew had successfully fulfilled their duties in the gulf and were rotated out. Besides their C-17 needed some long over due maintenance back home at Travis A.F.B. On this last leg of their journey after refueling in Grand Junction he was looking forward to giving his crew a chance to do an honorary flyby through Glen Canyon as has been a tradition at the end of a successful mission in the Air Force.

Skip Tanner grew up in St. George. His family always spent 4th of July on the Lake growing up. Soon other families joined too. He remembers as a teenager 5 houseboats filled with friends and family parked together with jet skis, inflatable toys, illegal fireworks, water skis(I almost typed wake boards but they hadn't been invented yet in the timeline of this story, writing fiction is hard) and more. One friend remarked "When we showed up we made Wilson Creek look like a trailer park!"

Back then jets would flyover their houseboat. Looking up Skip new someday he'd be flying for the airforce and buzzing his family's houseboat. In fact next month a big lake trip was planned with his family after he mustered out.

Unfortunately after getting approval from command the San Juan Arm was not on the itinerary. But, Skip asked for and got clearance to drop below the canyon walls. "100 feet minimum altitude, Captain" Tanner knew he'd go lower.

"Roger"

After the months in country he looked forward to sharing the beauty of the Lake and his crew looking "up" at the Tapestry Wall during the flyby.

But first he thought he'd show them Moab and the Canyonlands from above when the radio crackled to life.



"Scramble the fighters do it!"

"Sir" that's not how it works. The "fighters at McClellen don't carry the kind of ordinance needed for the situation and any asset we have with that kind of fire power would take hours to get in place"

The President scowled. "You mean to tell me that I have the ability to push a button and bomb without mercy any where in the world, Right Now, but I can't put a bomb in Utah"

"Well, that's why they call it the D.O.D. Department Of Defense"

"Sir", "We may have an asset in the area" An aide to the Air Force Chief of Staff chimes in.

The room goes silent and looks at the aide.

"Who is it?"

"Captain Tanner sir, Just returning from duty in the gulf on his way home. The log says he still has 2 M.O.A.B.s onboard."

"What's a M.O.A.B" someone asks.

"Mother of All Bombs!" the president answers.

"Get this Tanner on the phone Now!"

 

[Hillbilly]

If you don't write for a living, you have missed your calling

 

[birdsnest]

How about visiting the strip in your Myacht. I,m pretty sure Wayne's not a gambling man so he could save California while your making a couple of bucks. Did I just say save California. Get out of there JFR

 

[JFRCalifornia]

How about visiting the strip in your Myacht. I,m pretty sure Wayne's not a gambling man so he could save California while your making a couple of bucks. Did I just say save California. Get out of there JFR

I think your actual words were indeed "save California". I'll make a note of that.

 

[wayne gustaveson]

What roller coaster ride! I don't know what to do next. When the lake was overfilling in the early 80's some 4x8 sheets of plywood were put on the top of the spillways to prevent the lake water from going over the dam. They held well overnight and the next morning the lake level hit the peak and then began backing off. Maybe a bunch of plywood could reinforce the broken dam???

Better yet! how about a giant school of stripers joined forces by biting the tail of the fish in front of it and holding on until there was a silver curtain of fish to plug the hole in the dam until it could be repaired. These fish gave their lives to thank Wayne for putting them in the lake where they had so many great years of healthy production from 1975 to the present!!!

 

[SkibumUT]

I've reread my tattered copy many times. If you like that one I recommend John McPhee's book, Encounters with the Archdruid. At least the chapter about Lake Powell. Maybe I'll start a new thread where everyone can list Powell related books. It would be nice to have as many titles as possible in one place....

I’ll looked both up and they look great. Please do (make a list that is).

 

[Canyon Glen]

I thought I was done with tellin this story then this jumped into my thoughts.....

Deb and Jennifer were familiar faces at the inn below the Vermillion Cliffs. For the past 20 years they had welcomed guests in the stark beauty below Lee's Ferry bridge.

When the earthquake hit they were serving breakfast for their guests. The pinelogs brought in to build the inn 100 years ago held strong under the tremors. But the tables inside had bounced around tossing the plates and silverware astray. Some of the customers were still sitting in their chairs others were on the floor next to their toppled seats.

"Everyone outside now" Deb said. Worried for the safety of her customers.

Quickly the restaurant emptied. As they gathered their wits outside in the dusty parking they heard a rumble.

The rumble accompanied the ground shaking again. It was coming from the south across the canyon

"Deb, what's going on" Jen asks?

"Earthquake fer shure " An old long haired gray bearded patron of the restaurant in the parking lot offers.

Deb says, "I been in earthquakes growing up in california, but they usually rumble through then all gets quiet."

"I'm scared " Jennifer says. Looking in the eyes of others in the parking lot you could see many felt the same way too.

Then a plume of white smoke shot in the air not more then ten miles south of where they were. No one moved or spoke. Shortly the shock wave hit them and knocked every one of their feat.

Dazed and confused they slowly regained their footing but were having a hard time hearing each other. The plume was shooting higher and higher into the atmosphere.

The long gray haired named Dreamweaver said." I think that shaker may have taken out the dam, might be best if we head for higher ground. above the inn."

Folks made their own decisions. Some ran back to their rooms to grab their stuff, some ran to the bluff above the inn, some jumped in their cars and drove to the bridge. some drove downstream to higher ground.

The ones who ran to higher ground above the inn for safety heard the second rumble first. This was coming from the canyon of the Colorado river to their left. The old man had been right. The dam had burst and the fury of a river impeded for 60 years was coming down the canyon.

Busy looking upstream waiting for the flood they hadn't noticed another blast from the south. It hit stronger than the first and knocked them off their feet again.

Looking south they not only saw smoke but fiery lava shooting up into the air thousands of feet.


...Rounding the bend Rimrock could help but notice that the 3 smokestacks he had used as a kid to navigate on the lake weren't where he expected them to be. Granted he Kbass and Gold Cup stopped going to the south end of the lake yeas ago he was sure his memory placed the stacks but they weren't there.

"Gold Cup, shouldn't we be seeing the smokestacks by know?"

Before Gold Cup can answer a C'17 flyin below the canyon walls buzzes over head. It's engines rattling the houseboat frame.

"What the hell was that?" Gold Cup asks.

"The Calvary?" I suggested limply


"
....."You want me to do what?" Captain tanner asks in disbelief of his orders, much less who their coming from. In the situation room "As the Secretary of the Air Force I'm ordering you to bomb what's left of the dam!"

From above in his pilots seat he had no idea there had been an earthquake much less the dam had burst. When the quake hit they were at 10,000 feet and the lake looked fine.

Back in the situation room the president rips the phone of the Secretary's hand. "Tanner, this is the President! You'll do it and you'll do it now!!"

That's when the proper authorization codes came through. Drop a bomb on Utah as the president had said. But in this case it was Arizona. Skip couldn't help but think of his history books.

No one has bombed the continental U.S. soil. Ever. Except 2 times. The first coincidentally in Arizona the site of the first bombing by Patrick Murphy(wiki link cuz I ain't got time to embellish:

Patrick Murphy (pilot) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The second being when Japan fire bombed the Oregon forests in WWII in the hopes of setting them ablaze(mother nature pulled that off this year)

Captain Tanner quickly alerts his crew to the situation. The navigator and the bombardier coordinate. A discussion of ordinance ensues.

Bombardier : " I suggest we drop the 2 M.O.A.B."s on the cliffs on either side of the dam then circle around to empty every thing on board to what's left"

Navigator:" After that we could parachute out and crash land her into the rubble."

"Hope it won't come to that "Tanner says confidently" Let's make it happen.. That's when he saw the plume of white smoke in the distance. and asked his copilot.
"um, what do you think that is?"

"missile strike?"

"Unless they nuked page there are no missiles that can do that"

........"Start climbing" The long haired man yelled at the others who had stayed at the inn. The first froth of the deluge was coming down the canyon. The could see the cars on the bridge as they tried to flee get washed away with the bridge. The sound was getting louder but so was the roar to the south. Now it was clear. Lava was spewing high in the sky and flowing down hill towards them from a new hole in the earth's crust. quake had created.(look up sunset crater)


......."Whahweap is coming up" I said when the explosions' hit. Two big plumes of smoke carried into the air. Further downstream.

"How did they get a plane with ordinance here so fast?" Rimrock wondered out load. Not knowing his childhood friend from the Wilson Creek days was pulling the trigger.

"Do you think it will help?" Kbass asks

"Hard tellin" Me, Gold Cup and Rimrock all respond in unison. A moment of silence then the whole boat cracks up in laughter despite the dangers faced.

....."I don't like the looks of that" Jennifer says. looking at the lava flow heading towards them below a fiery smoke cloud.

"Climb higher" The Oldman urges every one who decided to stay at the inn. The water has left it's channel and is filling the basin below the Vermillion Cliffs.

...The M.O.A.B.s left the bomb bay with precision. They are laser guided bombs, so once the bombardier pushed a button locating a target the bombs would follow to the target. Perfect strike every time! These hit their targets successfully. As Tanner maneuvered for another run to empty the planes munitions on the rest of the dam a shock wave rattles the c-17. Skip noticed it pushed his plane 30 feet side ways and 10 feet down. The C-17 held strong. His first thought was who has anti aircraft assets nearby. "Your not in country Skip, no-one is shooting at you" he thinks to himself

"Captain, you gotta see this" the co pilot says.

Out of the copilots window he can see the volcano forming.

Keeping to task he orders "Gentleman we have a job to do, let's stay focused"

The M.O.A.B.s had done their job they were designed for. Blowing things up. Unfortunately the rock that fell wasn't enough so the flood continued but now the dam was a big waterfall which the myacht was heading for.

"Captain, ready to launch what's left" As the plane sets up for it's 2nd bombing run. This time heading upstream.

"Fire away" Tanner orders Focusing his eyes on the river and what's left of the dam.

The familiar low sounding thump and corresponding jerk in the plane as his plane does what she was meant for and what he trained for, he notices a houseboat in the deluge about to go through the falls of the remainder of the dam.

"Jesus, I hope nobody is on that boat" Tanner whispers

...."I don't have a good feeling about this " I say to the crew of the myacht as we approach what's left of the dam. As an angry military plane looking all business is bearing straight down on the boat. BOOM!BAM!CRACK!BANG! the plane looks like a Fourth of July barge giving every last fire work during the encore as it buzzes overhead. The canyon walls crumble under the onslaught as we float by. A couple boulder almost crash into the deck as we pass by.

The lava flow that the inn folks had been watching was increasing in viscosity. It seemed it wouldn't be long before it filled the valley and swallowed them up. The only thing between them and it was the flooding river.

 

[Bill Sampson]

So, I'm kinda stuck on what to write next because I've been making it up as I go. I'd intended to make it to Baja then I heard about the book that already did that so I switched gears. Every thread to continue the story I think of doesn't bubble up to the level of wasting time to type and edit to share on a fishing related message board.. Notice I skipped the ride through he confluence.

So. I'll let it up to you, the bored out of your mind thinking this entertainment fellow Wayne's Worders to decide which story you want to be told next.

Should I:

1 Return to the myacht with Gold Cup, Rimrock and Kbass?

2 See what Wayne does next after the phone call?

3 Stay in the situation room with the president?

4 C.O.'s office at McClellan A.F.B.

6 other

1 please

 

[Dougie]

So the houseboat makes it over the waterfall caused by what's left of the dam and our heroes on the boat survive that rock and roll? And lava is flowing up from the south from Sunset Crater? If it could make it 40 miles north, that lava would flow into Little Colorado canyon, which would divert it to the west 60 miles south of Lees Ferry. What happened to the power plant at the dam and the Glen Canyon bridge--guess those are now bombed out? This is great reading.

 

[Bub]

It has been a long time since I have posted anything as o haven't been to lake as much as I would like. My wife has some business at the hospital today so I read this thread,and what a great story very entertaining.thanks for sharing it

 

[Canyon Glen]

>>>And lava is flowing up from the south from Sunset Crater

sorry I was lazy in the flow of creativity that I didn't differentiate from what had happened in the past and what was happening in my story
But the new fumarole was located across the river from the Vermillion Cliffs



"Climb higher!!" Deb and the old timer Dreamwever said in unison as the river of lava oozed closer to the river and where they stood. It was a box canyon above them but being near the inn there was an easy path to head away from the river higher into the canyon.


The houseboat collectively gasped for breath after what they had been through, Some looked back at the ruins of the dam and the leftover smoke from Captain Tanner's efforts.

Rimrock was the first to say:

"Gold Cup, looks like we're going to run the "Canyon" with these boats. You've run it more than most what's the plan?"

"More than most?" Gold Cup says "Nobody has run the river ever like this. How can I be more than most?"

as the myacht approached Horseshoe Bend. Noticeably the river behind them isn't quite as tumultuous. Maybe the airforce's efforts helped slow the tide?

Deb took a minute to look behind her. She was the the last in line as the guest and employees ran up the trail. Nimbly the old timer led the way. Making sure no one tripped on a stray rock on the trail.

The lava flow had hit the river. The eerie sound of lava flowing through the parched desert meeting water is a sound Deb will never forget.10,000 steam locomotives couldn't replicate the sound she heard that day.

The old man leading the way uphill stopped to turn around too when he heard the sound.

The rest ran past him, leaving him and Deb standing still in awe, marveling at the geologic phenomenon they were witnessing.

Back on the myacht morale was low. It seemed our destiny was to run the Grand Canyon at flood stage. Some argued that was a good thing.

"We'd float right over the worst of it..?"

Others thought we'd best "Divide us among the little boats and hope we can ride it out or make it to shore?"

The boat queen quietly made more sandwiches while no one was watching.


VROOOOOOMMMMM

As Deb and Dreamweaver were affixed on the river a low flying airplane shook there bones and snapped them out of there trance.

"Higher the old man yelled" to Deb



"Captain",

"There's people down there"

Skip Tanner had seen it too. Flying south his copilot had only seen the civilians scrambling away from the flooding river and lava, what his copilot couldn't see off to the left of the cockpit was the houseboat they had seen survive passing the dam. Heading towards the lava!!

"Get me channel 16! ASAP" Tanner barked, cursing himself for not thinking of it before.

Deondre his radio man new exactly what the Captain meant. His family had gone back generations crabbin' and shrimpin' in Lake Pontchatrain where communication on the water can mean life or death. Channel16 was in his blood

Before he said yes Captain, Skip Tanner was broadcasting on 16

"Mayday,Mayday Houseboat myacht do you read"

crackle of static

"Mayday,Mayday Houseboat myacht do you read"

Everyone one the myacht freezes and looks at each other. Except Kbass's wife. She quickly grabs the mic and responds "Mayday Mayday, Yes we're in a myacht!"

"This is Captain Skip Tanner of the United States Air Force, We saw you make it past the dam. An amazing feat but your heading to worse trouble...."

Just then a huge fireball shot in the sky from the new opening in the earth. Tanners aircraft felt like it was getting flac. Alarms were buzzing and the plane wasn't responding properly so he steered his plane away from trouble.

Deb and Dreamweaver and the guests they had saved were knocked to the ground for a second time from the volcanoes' belch

 

[Canyon Glen]

Back on the myacht they were safe from the blast deep in the cliffs but above the roar of the flood they heard and saw the fireball shoot in the air.

"MayDay Mayday," Now Rimrock is calling on the radio. He recognized his old friends voice. "Skip this is Rimrock, do you read? over"

Silence.

"Mayday mayday, Captain Tanner this is Rimrock, do you read? Over"

Silence

Everyone on the boat had been staring at the radio when Kbass said.

"We still need a plan. Keep the boats together? Or split up in the little boats?"

"I vote sticking together" Gold Cup said "More hands on deck the better..."

We all agreed.

My geology classes reminded me that hot cinders could be falling from the sky from the last blast. Even though the boat was mostly aluminum there was lots of rubber and fiberglass on the boat that could ignite easily.

A few years back we installed a custom cooling system for the boat. On the hottest days in August our 2 rooftop ACs couldn't keep the boat cool. I remembered my swamp cooler at home .So I piped and attached a 12v pump that sucks lake water to my canopy and hoses down the boat. We even have misters up top so we can enjoy the top when it's hot.

"Grab a broom or whatever, turn on the roof water and remove the misters. We need to flood the roof and sweep off any hot rocks or ash that falls on the roof!" I say "Hook up the hose up there too to put out any fires, grab extinguishers too!!"

"What about the extra 20 five gallon cans of fuel up top?"

"DUMP IT OVERBOARD!!" I yell

"Better bring as many as we can down here then dump the rest just in case" Rimrock says calmly.

The crew gets busy

"I have an idea" Kbass mumbles. He grabs some lines and hops on his little boat. While others are busy he cleverly ties lines to each of the aluminum little boats tied to the myacht. The lines were then fed into the houseboat. Giving a way to steer the little boats from inside the big boat.

"We leave them throttled up and we can steer from here" he announced when done

Others had finished their tasks too.

"Sandwiches?" the Boat Queen offered






"Captain Tanner we've been hit" the copilot reported

The cockpit sounded like a busy Vegas casino. Lights were flashing. Multiple alarms were buzzing. The plane wasn't responding to his efforts to fly to safety.

"Status report" Captain Tanner calmly said to the crew

"Radio is dead"

"Nav is a no go"

"Engine 2 is on fire and 1 is smoking"

The copilot was good. He had to be to make it Skip's team. He assed the situation as fast as his Captain had. Reflexively without saying anything they both stretched out of their seat took look out of the cockpit windows for a place to set their bird down in a hurry.

Skip knew the area. He remembered there was some reasonably flat clear desert right below them. But that was the last time he was here. Now it was filled with either lava or water.

"Dump the fuel" he ordered. He wasn't worried about ordinance because they had dropped it all on the dam

The copilot gained confidence in the situation. His Captain had a plan.

"It would be wonderful if you get the radio working again.." he added calmly

Brrrrinng riiinnnng(I don't know how to type the new fangled iphone ringtones)

Tanner's personal phone rang in his chest pocket. He remembered they had a direct sight line with the cell tower on Navajo mountain..



Deb and Dreamweaver looked at each other on the ground. Then back at the volcano.

"Run" they said at the same time.

The group from the inn made their way up the box canyon.

"Quick, make it under that ledge. Lava is gonna rain on our heads"

They gathered under the cover of the sandstone ledge and looked back.

The lava flow had crossed the river bed. Meeting the flood. The flood flowed over the top of the hot lava cooling a layer. Then more lava, more cooling. It seemed the lava and flood waters were building a dam.

That's when they heard the sound of an airplane in distress.

The military plane they had seen earlier was on fire and smoking as it flew over head again.

Then it disappeared into the steam created by the flood and lava.


On the myacht everyone was looking at Rimrock calling his old friend from The Wilson Creek days on his cellphone.

"It's RINGING!" Rimrock's eyes lit up. It was a miracle. The were getting close to Lee's Ferry.

Kbass and Gold Cup were manning the rigging steering the little boats at full throttle heading down river with the flood.

Up top the crew was brushing off embers and hosing down hotspots while the 12v pump soaked the boat.

"Uh oh" Gold Cup says.

A stone size flaming rock slams into the little boat he's steering

"Cut her loose I yell" As the flames grow. How much gas is left in her? I waste a moment to think about.

The crew reacts and cut the lines. Now the boat, aflame, throttled up and no one steering it decides it wants to steer into the big boat.

Kbass has the gaff. Instead of pushing the boat away he grabs the steering wheel. The boat jerks so hard away that he didn't have time to let go of the gaff and gets pulled into the water.

Up top the crewman that had been hosing down to roof had been hosing down the little boat when he saw Kbass go overboard. Quickly he threw his hose where he thought Kbass could grab the hose.

Flying of the big boat Kbass first thought was. "Dang, that was a good gaff."

Then he realized his situation. Before he hit the water he saw the hose coming of the roof and lined up his shot to grab it once he resurfaced.



In the cockpit Tanner's phone had stopped ringing. He hadn't a chance to pull it out of his chest pocket. He didn't dare take his hands off the helm.

"How's my radio doing" Tanner asks

"No go, Captain."

Skip turns to his copilot. Would you mind pulling my phone out and seeing who called. Straining to circle the plane back.

"Brace for impact gentlemen" He orders on the comlink

The copilot does as ordered. "It says Rimrock?" The copilot looks questioningly

"Call him back!" Tanner smiled


Rimrock had hung up when the little boat caught fire and exploded not too far away from the big boat. Thanks to the crews efforts we were all safe.

Thankful Kbass was back on board we were shocked when Rimrocks phone rang.

"Skip" Rimrock said. Not "Hey, Skip how you doing? It's been awhile" More hesitant hope in his voice.

"Dave, My plane has to land now." His tone was all business with a hint of Wilson Creek days

Skip and Dave had taken the runabout when the were 13 year old's together, A storm came up and the 2 had to use what wits they had between them to survive. Funny, the same storm hadn't hit as hard at Wilson that day. When they returned they thought their families would have been worried about them. They weren't at all and they never shared what they had been through. Mostly if they had they might not be allowed to use the runabout unsupervised again.

"I thought that was your voice on the mayday call" Rimrock said

"I have people on board" Captain Tanner said. Worried for his crew.

"Copy" Rimrock got it. "Where do you want us?"

"Remember the old Vermillion Cliff inn? I'm coming from the south. Gonna try and put her down there if I can"

"Negatory, Negatory!! Head up stream in the middle of the channel if possible. The edges of the flood are a no go!"

 

[scubatim]

Back on the myacht they were safe from the blast deep in the cliffs but above the roar of the flood they heard and saw the fireball shoot in the air.

"MayDay Mayday," Now Rimrock is calling on the radio. He recognized his old friends voice. "Skip this is Rimrock, do you read? over"

Silence.

"Mayday mayday, Captain Tanner this is Rimrock, do you read? Over"

Silence

Everyone on the boat had been staring at the radio when Kbass said.

"We still need a plan. Keep the boats together? Or split up in the little boats?"

"I vote sticking together" Gold Cup said "More hands on deck the better..."

We all agreed.

My geology classes reminded me that hot cinders could be falling from the sky from the last blast. Even though the boat was mostly aluminum there was lots of rubber and fiberglass on the boat that could ignite easily.

A few years back we installed a custom cooling system for the boat. On the hottest days in August our 2 rooftop ACs couldn't keep the boat cool. I remembered my swamp cooler at home .So I piped and attached a 12v pump that sucks lake water to my canopy and hoses down the boat. We even have misters up top so we can enjoy the top when it's hot.

"Grab a broom or whatever, turn on the roof water and remove the misters. We need to flood the roof and sweep off any hot rocks or ash that falls on the roof!" I say "Hook up the hose up there too to put out any fires, grab extinguishers too!!"

"What about the extra 20 five gallon cans of fuel up top?"

"DUMP IT OVERBOARD!!" I yell

"Better bring as many as we can down here then dump the rest just in case" Rimrock says calmly.

The crew gets busy

"I have an idea" Kbass mumbles. He grabs some lines and hops on his little boat. While others are busy he cleverly ties lines to each of the aluminum little boats tied to the myacht. The lines were then fed into the houseboat. Giving a way to steer the little boats from inside the big boat.

"We leave them throttled up and we can steer from here" he announced when done

Others had finished their tasks too.

"Sandwiches?" the Boat Queen offered






"Captain Tanner we've been hit" the copilot reported

The cockpit sounded like a busy Vegas casino. Lights were flashing. Multiple alarms were buzzing. The plane wasn't responding to his efforts to fly to safety.

"Status report" Captain Tanner calmly said to the crew

"Radio is dead"

"Nav is a no go"

"Engine 2 is on fire and 1 is smoking"

The copilot was good. He had to be to make it Skip's team. He assed the situation as fast as his Captain had. Reflexively without saying anything they both stretched out of their seat took look out of the cockpit windows for a place to set their bird down in a hurry.

Skip knew the area. He remembered there was some reasonably flat clear desert right below them. But that was the last time he was here. Now it was filled with either lava or water.

"Dump the fuel" he ordered. He wasn't worried about ordinance because they had dropped it all on the dam

The copilot gained confidence in the situation. His Captain had a plan.

"It would be wonderful if you get the radio working again.." he added calmly

Brrrrinng riiinnnng(I don't know how to type the new fangled iphone ringtones)

Tanner's personal phone rang in his chest pocket. He remembered they had a direct sight line with the cell tower on Navajo mountain..



Deb and Dreamweaver looked at each other on the ground. Then back at the volcano.

"Run" they said at the same time.

The group from the inn made their way up the box canyon.

"Quick, make it under that ledge. Lava is gonna rain on our heads"

They gathered under the cover of the sandstone ledge and looked back.

The lava flow had crossed the river bed. Meeting the flood. The flood flowed over the top of the hot lava cooling a layer. Then more lava, more cooling. It seemed the lava and flood waters were building a dam.

That's when they heard the sound of an airplane in distress.

The military plane they had seen earlier was on fire and smoking as it flew over head again.

Then it disappeared into the steam created by the flood and lava.


On the myacht everyone was looking at Rimrock calling his old friend from The Wilson Creek days on his cellphone.

"It's RINGING!" Rimrock's eyes lit up. It was a miracle. The were getting close to Lee's Ferry.

Kbass and Gold Cup were manning the rigging steering the little boats at full throttle heading down river with the flood.

Up top the crew was brushing off embers and hosing down hotspots while the 12v pump soaked the boat.

"Uh oh" Gold Cup says.

A stone size flaming rock slams into the little boat he's steering

"Cut her loose I yell" As the flames grow. How much gas is left in her? I waste a moment to think about.

The crew reacts and cut the lines. Now the boat, aflame, throttled up and no one steering it decides it wants to steer into the big boat.

Kbass has the gaff. Instead of pushing the boat away he grabs the steering wheel. The boat jerks so hard away that he didn't have time to let go of the gaff and gets pulled into the water.

Up top the crewman that had been hosing down to roof had been hosing down the little boat when he saw Kbass go overboard. Quickly he threw his hose where he thought Kbass could grab the hose.

Flying of the big boat Kbass first thought was. "Dang, that was a good gaff."

Then he realized his situation. Before he hit the water he saw the hose coming of the roof and lined up his shot to grab it once he resurfaced.



In the cockpit Tanner's phone had stopped ringing. He hadn't a chance to pull it out of his chest pocket. He didn't dare take his hands off the helm.

"How's my radio doing" Tanner asks

"No go, Captain."

Skip turns to his copilot. Would you mind pulling my phone out and seeing who called. Straining to circle the plane back.

"Brace for impact gentlemen" He orders on the comlink

The copilot does as ordered. "It says Rimrock?" The copilot looks questioningly

"Call him back!" Tanner smiled


Rimrock had hung up when the little boat caught fire and exploded not too far away from the big boat. Thanks to the crews efforts we were all safe.

Thankful Kbass was back on board we were shocked when Rimrocks phone rang.

"Skip" Rimrock said. Not "Hey, Skip how you doing? It's been awhile" More hesitant hope in his voice.

"Dave, My plane has to land now." His tone was all business with a hint of Wilson Creek days

Skip and Dave had taken the runabout when the were 13 year old's together, A storm came up and the 2 had to use what wits they had between them to survive. Funny, the same storm hadn't hit as hard at Wilson that day. When they returned they thought their families would have been worried about them. They weren't at all and they never shared what they had been through. Mostly if they had they might not be allowed to use the runabout unsupervised again.

"I thought that was your voice on the mayday call" Rimrock said

"I have people on board" Captain Tanner said. Worried for his crew.

"Copy" Rimrock got it. "Where do you want us?"

"Remember the old Vermillion Cliff inn? I'm coming from the south. Gonna try and put her down there if I can"

"Negatory, Negatory!! Head up stream in the middle of the channel if possible. The edges of the flood are a no go!"

Are you related to CLIVE CUSSLER????

 

[Canyon Glen]

Are you related to CLIVE CUSSLER????

Dirk Pitt is my uncle.

Most times he was awesome and played ball with us kids, but sometimes he was awkward but polite at holiday family get togethers. You could tell his mind was occupied...

 

[Canyon Glen]

"Copy?" Rimrock" yells into his cellphone.

Silence. The rest of the houseboat crew looks anxiously on.

"Skip! Skip!?"



Our we safe here?" one of the guests who had scrambled uphill from the inn to shelter under the alcove

"Hard Tellin'" Dreamweaver said. His grey eyebrows looking concerned at the maelstrom below.

Hot rocks and spherical bombs of lava started raining down below them. Anything that could burn in the dry desert quickly set aflame.

Deb and the old man observed that after the last eruption the lava flow seemed to subside. For a bit.

Also the flood waters meeting the newly formed lava dam seemed to slow from a flood to a stewy cauldron where the magma hissed meeting the flood waters.

"We should run to higher!" one of the guest said under the ledge.

"Stay put" Deb said with authority

It looked from their vantage point that the lava flow and the flood waters had reached their peak after the last blast.

Flood waters were starting to back up against the current. As more water poured in and turned to hot vapor against the new formed obstruction in the rivers path a whirlpool started to form.

Again they heard a plane in distress. But they couldn't see it behind the cloud of steam.


"Where are we? I ask"

I didn't recognize Lee's Ferry because I hadn't been there but once.

"100 feet over the Lee's Ferry bridge." Rimrock says in awe.

Exiting the canyon is when they saw the 10,000 ft cloud of steam ahead of them.

(this is awkward but I can't think of a clever way to fit this in)

Being the myacht had started at the top of Good Hope Bay when the earthquake hit, she was at the "top" of the flood. So when she reached Lee's Ferry the bulk of the fury was ahead of them cooling the lava dam. Captain Tanner's M.O.A.B.'s dropped on the remainder of the Glen Canyon Dam held back back a measurable amount of flood waters behind them.

"Oh My" The Boat Queen broke the silence as the houseboat crew collectively gazed in awe at the cloud of steam in their path.


"Hey! Look there's a boat!" Jen points out from the safety under the ledge.

Clearly visible a houseboat was exiting the canyon

 

[Canyon Glen]

"There's the plane!" Deb shouts.

Sputtering and flying at an awkward angle the C-17 emerged from the cloud of steam.


The myahct was still staring at the cloud the Boat Queen had pointed out when they saw the plane emerge.

It was heading straight for them!!!

Rimrock shouted "Hard to port, full throttle!"

I steered the big boat while Kbass tugged on his rigging to steer his Lund to the left

The boats weren't responding. As the flood met the new dam a whirlpool had formed and was pulling the boat to the right.

The plane was getting bigger in their windshield.



"How's my radio" Captain Tanner asks

"Still no go Cap"

"Brace for impact" Tanner says

His copilot noticed a small bead of sweat fall from his captain's brow as he struggled to hold the disabled aircraft "on course"

There was nothing to look at outside the cockpit window but steam flying past. Streaks of moisture formed on the outside of the glass.

Suddenly they emerged from the cloud.

"Oh SHEEP!" Tanner said. He had miscalculated. He had perfectly maneuvered the plane by memory to a course flying in the middle upstream but he had calculated his altitude according to where the Lee' Ferry bridge had been. Not where it was now. Under 100ft of water.

"Captain!" The copilot said in shock. He wanted to point out the house boat in there path but it wasn't necessary because the both could clearly see it.

There wasn't much Tanner could do at this point. He tried pulling up to expose the belly of the plane to the water rushing underneath them. They had kept the landing gear up so the fuselage would mimic the hull of a boat upon impact.

Thankfully the houseboat started to veer off their course to the left. Tanner took a quick glimpse to his left. He thought he saw a group of folks huddled under a ledge high up the canyon above where the Vermillion Cliffs Inn had been.


"They're going to crash in to that boat" Jen exclaims

The group under the ledge watched in awe as the plane was heading right for the boat.

Dreamweaver wondered aloud

"Can you imagine? Surviving the flood on a houseboat only to get hit by an airplane?" shaking his head

But ever so slowly the boat seemed to get out of the way of the smoking plane


"Starboard Starboard!!" The boats quickly respond. Barely getting out of the way As the plane roared by splashing into the water behind them

"Kbass, take Gold Cup and some life lines and life vests and cut your little boat loose from the myacht" Rimrock added "You're going fishing"

"Cleat our longest anchor line to Kbass's boat" I suggest.

No one asked why, They all knew what I was thinking. With a line between both boats we would have a better chance of rescuing any airmen floating in the water.

"Is it getting hot in here" The Boat Queen quietly asks

As the boat floated closer to the dam of lava, the water temperature was increasing. The heat easily transferred through the aluminum pontoons.

 

[GoldCup]

I am truly enjoying this story and can't wait to find out what happens in the end. If anyone can get us out of this mess it would be Capt. Rimrock. I am so happy and grateful to have known this great man and Mayor of the Bullfrog slips.

 

[GoldCup]

I had some questions about the dependability and floatability as Rimrock finished his checklist and tightened up the ropes.
Rimrock looked at me and said "don't worry this is the Unsinkable Molly Brown". She can take us from one end of the lake to the other and beyond. Who can you trust if not Rimrock

 

[Canyon Glen]

"Prepare for evac,, starboard" Captain Tanner prepared his crew. He had noticed the whirlpool and thought it best his crew were behind the plane while exiting than in front if it got caught in the current.

The houseboat was getting closer in their view out of the cockpit. Tanner thought about trimming the aerloins a bit left or using what remained of his tattered rudder , but with what power he had left under his wings he didn't dare make a move.

"C'mon, C'mon Rimrock! MOVE THAT RUST BUCKET!"

The copilot looked astonished. He had never heard his captain yell before.

It was clear a collision was imminent. Even if miraculously they missed the houseboat they still were going to hit the water in a way his plane had not been engineered for.

Hoping to avoid his wing tips catching in the water and setting the plane in a sudden spin threating his crew safety he kept the line he had chosen as the last of the planes velocity finally gave up the ghost and let gravity take control.

Tanner's efforts were perfect!


"Oh My" Dreamweaver whispered..

From their vantage point under the safety of the ledge the survivors from the inn looked as the plane raced to a collision course with the boat.

From where they watched it looked like the plane would hit the boat but it had soared just inches above it.

Next thing they witnessed brought back memories for Deb, Jen and the other guest gathered. Dreamweaver was the first to vocalize what they all had learned as a kid.

"The plane looks like a skipping' stone!"

The 100,000 ton piece of heavy metal looked like a stone skipping across a still lake. The more it skipped the more it slowed down. By habit Deb counted the skips as her uncle had taught her. One , two, three, four, five......skips.

Then the plane settled down into the water as more flames engulfed the wrecked aircraft.

"Oh my" Jen said out loud. Although safe from the threat from fire from the volcano, Dreamweaver and Deb noticed the lava although not explosive was still flowing against the flood. It seemed their ledge of safety would be compromised soon by the rising waters


"Steer towards the middle of the whirlpool" Rimrock yelled. The closer to the center of the centrifuge the less velocity. The less stress on the the myacht. And, hopefully keep the boat cool from the transferred heat.



Tanner and crew safely hopped into the swirling waters. ( I could elaborate and I will but for now lets assume they were rescued but we all now our heroes saved the day.) Kbass and Gold Cup rescuing decorated servicemen and women with luck and ingenuity?



All of the air crew accounted for and aboard the myacht it was obvious the temperature had increased.

"Close al the windows and fire up the generator " Skip Tanner says. Taking command of the vessel.. There was more than steam in the noxious gas cloud hissing where the water met fire.

"We've never turned the AC under way before" I point out.

Gold Cup and Rimrock don't hesitate. Even though it's my boat I gladly relinquish command under the circumstances.

The crew fired up the generator and the rooftop AC units as Captain Tanner and his crew watched as their beloved bird sank beneath the waves.

No Nonsense Tanner says.

"Deondre where's my radio?"

without being told he already has channel 16 to the park service open. They had been hearing everything.

"Relay our status to HQ" he said calmly

"I saw folks needing to be rescued above the Vermillion Cliffs Inn" Tanner added

Rimrock spoke up.

"We can't beach in this torment. Maybe Kbass in his little boat can get a few at a time but there's no way we can beach this boat safely'


Under the ledge Deb and Dreamweaver looked at each other. There wasn't much higher they could lead the group to safety.

After watching the houseboat and little boat collect the fallen airmen they gained hope. But hope was fleeting as the waters rose behind the lava dam.

 

[Bill Sampson]

This story regarding volcanoes reminded me of a National Park Service lead tour below Hoover Dam. On this tour you could see where they tried to drill the spillways for the dam, but there was so much geothermal heat in the caves, that it could not be done. It was still hot in there in the early 2000's.