Read Wet Desert: Tracking Down a Terrorist on the Colorado River Online
Authors: Gary Hansen
"I don't think he's thinking that far ahead," Julie responded. "Or we wouldn't be having this conversation."
Max motioned at Greg. "Is Julie right? Have you thought it out?"
Greg chose his words carefully. He glanced at Julie,
then
pointed to the shore of the narrows. "Look, you can see how fast the water is moving here. It's reasonable to assume that it's traveling about the same down by the dam, or possibly a little faster."
With all the traffic in the channel, Julie hadn't even noticed the strong current carrying them down the narrows. She looked at the rock walls moving past on the shore and realized they were already being pulled toward the Glen Canyon Dam. It scared her.
Greg continued. "But, at full speed, the Mastercraft can do almost 30 knots, which is way more than enough to overcome this current."
"How do you know it's not way stronger down there?" Darlene challenged.
"The width of the narrows is relatively constant," Greg answered, "and it's the same water down there as it is here."
"Isn't the spot where the dam was built the skinniest part of the canyon?" Paul asked.
Greg shrugged. "Well, yeah, but it's much wider where I would be turning into Wahweap." He motioned at the shore. "It's at least this wide."
"What if you ran out of gas?" Julie argued.
Greg pointed at the gas gauge. "We have plenty of gas. That's why we stopped at Dangling Rope."
"What if the engine stalls?" Darlene asked.
"It hasn't stalled all week."
"But what if it does? You'll die!" Julie said.
Greg stared into his wife's eyes. "Julie, if I thought I was going to die, I wouldn't do it. The engine is running great. I'll be fine."
No one said anything.
Greg continued. "I don't think insurance is going to cover it, if we just abandon it. I think I should try."
Julie knew that Greg would not be able to afford to replace the Mastercraft for years without insurance money. And there was still the issue of the houseboat, for which hopefully, they would not be held financially responsible. But Julie still didn't feel it was worth risking a life. "The problem, Greg, is that there is no trying. Once you go left toward the dam, there's no turning back."
"That's not completely true," Paul inserted. "There's that new marina in the narrows."
"Antelope Point," Greg said, remembering.
"Yeah, you could get off there if you were in trouble," Paul said.
"If we can get to Antelope Point, why are we even talking about Wahweap?" Julie asked.
Paul shook his head. "Antelope Point was never designed to launch boats with the lake this low. You would basically be looking
a hundred-feet
up the cliffs at the launch ramp."
"Wouldn't Wahweap's ramp be the same?" Max asked.
"No." Greg said. "They used to launch boats at Wahweap while the dam was filling. The ramp goes hundreds of feet down."
"But it would be covered with moss and slimy stuff, wouldn't it?" Paul said.
Greg shrugged.
"Probably.
But all you'd need is a power washer to clean it off. Then you could drive right down and grab your boat."
Max leaned forward. "So is that your plan? Just park the boat next to the ramp at Wahweap, and retrieve it after they clean the ramp?"
Greg nodded.
The three couples looked back and forth between themselves.
"And you're dropping us off first?" Max asked.
Greg nodded. "Yes, both for your safety, and the lighter the boat, the better."
Erika spoke for the first time in a while. "But that means you'll be back to the marina
tonight,
and the rest of us will be stuck on the shore through the night."
Greg smiled. "That's the upside."
"I want to go with Greg," Erika said teasingly. "I'd willingly risk my life to avoid a night out on the rocks."
Julie could see that ahead they were quickly approaching the landmass of
"Danger.
Danger.
Currents downstream near the dam site are hazardous. All boats must detour right, into
Danger.
Danger."
Slightly past the first ranger boat, another one on the right side of the channel broadcasted a similar message. She could see that ahead most boats were veering right, but a small number were ignoring the warnings and turning left. The sight gave her the chills. When their turn came, Greg turned right with the larger group.
As they passed into
When the boats parted in the large bay, Greg accelerated toward Castle Rock. Julie was nervous about the separation that would occur in a few minutes. A million arguments were running through her mind. Too soon, Greg slowed and brought the Mastercraft up to the shore. He shut off the engine. Without saying anything, Max, Darlene, and Erika started gathering their clothes and blankets.
Paul walked up behind Greg. "I'll go with you."
"Not necessary."
Paul nodded, not waging much of a fight.
Max had jumped into the waist-deep water, and was helping Darlene down. Julie handed the pile of blankets to Max. Erika followed, then Paul. Julie handed Erika's and Paul's shoes to Erika. Greg moved to help Julie, but instead, she sat down in the front seat next to her husband.
"What are you doing, Julie?" he asked.
"I'm going with you."
He looked concerned.
"Are you going to die, Greg?"
"No, but--"
"Then, I'm staying with you." She could see she was making him re-think his decision.
"Honey, there's no reason for both of us to risk--"
She stood and raised her voice. "We both go, or we both stay."
He backed off, considering her statement. "Are you okay going?"
She nodded. "We can always ditch at Antelope Marina, right?"
He smiled.
"Yeah.
And you're not mad?"
She shook her head. "I want to go with you."
He nodded and turned to the others, who had been quietly watching the argument. "Okay, if everything works the way I think it will - and it will!" he emphasized, "--then I'll pick you guys up on the other side of Castle Rock in a half hour. Then I can motor you back to the marina and you won't have to sleep on the rocks." He winked at Erika.
Julie hadn't considered that option. That was better for them. Paul pushed the Mastercraft out into deeper water, and then both couples wished Greg and Julie good luck.
CHAPTER 22
8:00 p.m. -
Standing on the
Only after the first phase was done, sometime in the middle of the night, would they go back and extend the dike to its planned twenty-foot height and widen the base to the full width of the dam. And by building the dike in two phases, it gave them much more time, almost a day, before the water rose above the eight-foot first phase dike.
A man with a bullhorn moved along the dam, barking orders. "Overlap that one, soldier. That's it. Right to
left
.
Yeah you."
He pointed to someone placing a bag below him. "Butt it right up against the others or it'll be a weak spot. Yeah, pick it up and move it over. That's it. The stagger gives the dike strength."
Originally, Grant had expected to be in charge of the construction of the wall of sandbags, something he was not confident about, especially since he had never worked with sandbags before. However, the mayor told them about the man with the bullhorn, a retired engineer named Steve Alby, who lived in
Grant watched as the old man trained the soldiers. He was incredible. He watched the placement of every sand bag. He barked orders through the bullhorn like an auctioneer. When the cops found him at his house a few miles south of the strip, he was working in his yard. They hadn't allowed him to change. So he was still dressed in denim shorts, a grimy white t-shirt, black tennis shoes with contrasting white socks, and a green camouflage hat, which he hadn't been wearing when he arrived. Grant guessed he had been given the hat by one of the soldiers.
When Grant first saw Alby, he wondered if they had made a mistake. The man seemed feeble in his movements and speech. Grant guessed the man was in his mid-sixties. He had short gray hair, bird legs, and a potbelly that peeked out from under his t-shirt. However, after they explained to Alby the goal of the next 24 hours, the man went right to work. The National Guard gave Alby a bullhorn, and as soon as the trucks started to arrive, he transformed from a lamb into a lion. It was obvious he had done this before. When Grant looked at him, he thought he could imagine a much younger Alby, dressed in a raincoat in pouring rain, helping farmers build dikes along the
When Grant looked back at the incoming trucks, he wondered if everything could happen in time. These bags came from the construction companies. The bags from the volunteers would come later. The empty bags being flown in were not expected to arrive in
So much could still go wrong. The extra bags could be late. It could take longer than planned to fill them. Traffic could affect their delivery to the dam. And what if the call for volunteers went unheeded? Grant worried more about the opposite: that they would be bombarded by crowds too large to manage. Even if the plan for sand bags worked, what if the Bureau's numbers were wrong? What if the water rose more than fifteen feet over