While the Coffee Boils and the Earth Turns

"I am Not a Morning Person"

While the Coffee Boils and the Earth Turns

I am not a morning person.

So it’s ironic that I find such joy in getting up early, starting coffee, making breakfast, and shoving off onto the river in the morning shadows.. Being out of camp early has a lot of advantages — mainly the chance to enjoy places before other groups get there.

But there’s also a selfish element to those five or ten minutes — usually in the dark — getting the coffee going. Everything feels more alive during that time of day. The river. The wind. The pre-dawn sky. 

Quiet moments are when the canyon and river tend to speak the loudest. 

Here is How It Goes

I always hope I wake up multiple times during the night. It makes it feel longer — as though you actually rested instead of closing your eyes and immediately waking up again. If you don’t wake up at all, it seems like the night never really happened. Of course, that’s the opposite of logic — more sleep equals more energy and a better day — but on the river, every waking moment day or night feels precious. 

The stars and moon shadows extending over and through the canyon are sometimes even more spectacular than the views of the canyon during the day.

During these times I wake up in the night, it’s a constant game of making sure the boat is still floating but not floating away, and that all of the gear on the beach hasn’t suddenly ended up in the river. 

When lightning strikes in the distance, I always hope it’s moving away from us instead of closer.  A large thunderstorm can interrupt the night in a hurry. And make the night considerably more stressful.  Things blow away, people get wet and cold, and as a trip leader it is your responsibility to make sure everyone and thing is safe and comfortable. 

That’s why I try to follow the “sleep when the wind blows” theme my parents and other guides bestowed upon me.

Before Bed

Before bed, I move everything along the shoreline that might be inundated by the fluctuating river up on shore a few more feet than necessary. The river level of the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon fluctuates up and down with the releases from Glen Canyon Dam, so the waterline can change significantly overnight.

I refill the water jugs, tilt my outboard motor out of the water, set my alarm on my Timex Indiglo watch and get in bed. I almost always have to get up one more time because I remember I forgot to check something I should have.  I look at the stars and listen to the wind and rapids as I drift into slumber.

Go Time

When it’s time to get up, I move quickly. I pack my sleeping bag and pillow back into my dry bag, clip in my 30 year-old Demaree Drybag, and move towards shore along my side tube.

More than once during my decades of guiding, I’ve been off balance with my first step and fallen into the river before sunrise. One of these times my friend swore she put a curse on me because of an oreo cookie with horseradish for the crème filling that I may or may not have been responsible for.

On Shore

If the raft is parked the way I like it, the kitchen is usually just a few steps from the raft on a mostly flat sandy beach, but this doesn’t always happen.    Sometimes the water has risen during the night and my boat is floating yards from the shore-requiring wading waste-deep or tugging on the bowline to bring the boat back in to shore.  Other times there is no beach at all and I have to carefully tip toe through driftwood or over boulders.  And other times we have had to move our rafts from their original parking spot because the water is dropping during the night, requiring me to walk sometimes as far as a few hundred yards to get to the kitchen.   This usually makes the early morning walk to the kitchen much more complicated and longer.

The River Kitchen

Once at the kitchen, I wash my hands, locate the striker on the propane tank, turn the propane tank on, and light the coffee, hot water, and dish buckets.  When the morning is cool I stand by the blaster for a half-minute to warm up.  I then lay out the table in an organized way.  Plates then cutting boards to cut up the fruit.  Then trivets for breakfast meat and other hot items.  Yogurt at the end of the table with the utensils and butter.  Next, I organize the coffee table for coffee, hot water, and juice.   Then back to the boat to gather all of the food and supplies from our coolers and boxes. 

By the time I get back to the kitchen and refill and Clorox the handwash,   its time to yell “C-O-F-F-E-E!” 

All along knowing Coffee isn’t the only reason to get up early.

--Walker Mackay