Packing and labeling bags to get loaded onto the truck at the Grand Canyon Monitor and Research Center (GCMRC) in Flagstaff AZ.

The truck arrives with luggage and rafts. Everyone pitches in to unload it. It will take approximately 6 hours to fill the rafts, load them and get them ready for departure early the next morning.

Departure from Lee's Ferry and proceeding through Marble Canyon.

Many California Condors live around this bridge and are a treasure to see. Giant wingspans make them spotable and somewhat intimidating.

A new layer of sandstone emerges as we descend deeper into the canyon.

My brother Colin setting up a bug trap to collect data. At each beach the various scientific disciplines set up various forms of data collection which takes at least a few hours after arrival.

Mouse caught in a live trap.

Data being entered directly via laptop.

Caught scorpion modeled for a picture.

Any tool that can help research in the canyon must be well built and decorated.

My brother working an impromptu bug laboratory.

The truck is loaded and ready for the 2 hour drive north to Lee's Ferry near the Glen Canyon Dam.

Guarding essential items while the guides prep the oar boats.

Marble Canyon

A desolate but beautiful landscape.

An assistant for the "Bug Team" or entomologists watches bumble bees emerge from prickly pear blossoms.

A completed bug trap.

Wood rat caught in a trap an survived a tough night in the rain.

Ripples and mud.

Standard footware at the time for most rafters and guides in the Grand Canyon.

The traps were set early one day so we went for a brief side excursion 1000 feet above camp.

Nearing Lee's Ferry where the Grand Canyon begins. The Vermillion Cliffs emerging in the background.

A commercial trip also getting ready.

My Yashica twin lens with Benbo trekker tripod in position.

Insect net in hand, the assistant is visiting the bug traps in the morning to assess the previous night collection.

Setting the timer on a night trap equipped with UV light.

Researcher measuring and weighing various caught rodents and entering data.

Miniature wasp being cataloged.

Herpetologist cataloging a form of fence lizard or bluebelly.

What a great laboratory.

We took those rapids the next day. We were in an area heavy with ancestral Pueblan ruins and artifacts. The area could have supported quite a large population.

Beach at Lee's Ferry where most river trips begin. This is also a major landing where Wesley Powell stopped before entering the canyon.

Sunset over Lee's Ferry.

We get to relax along the quiet stretches while the guides pull the wood oars.

Fishermen in Marble Canyon who hiked one of the narrow slot canyons to fish the Colorado.

Myself hunting the elusive lizard.

The river guides get to relax and take some photos while the scientists get set up.

Assistant releasing rodents from the live traps after data has been collected.

Juvenile Chuckwalla captured after landing in camp by herpetologist.

Finished bug display which will be re-mounted back at Northern Arizona University.

We rafted that rapid the next morning right from the beginning.