Mexican Hat Expeditions Memories

Boy, the last two issues of bqr have really brought back some memories. First the story of the restoration of the Sandra, and now the latest on the River Rat pins.
I was an eleven year-old boy in the summer of 1969 when I had the good fortune to join a Mexican Hat Expedition through the Grand Canyon. That summer, I think they started in Green River Wyoming for a “Powell Centennial Expedition.” My parents and older brother were along for several of the early stages, and my sister and I joined them from Lees Ferry to Diamond Creek.
The Sandra was one of the boats used on our trip, along with six other Cataract boats; the Norm, Bonnie Anne, Bright Angel, CamScott, Mexican Hat III, and the Joan. The Bonnie Anne was an all fiberglass boat, and the CamScott an aluminum boat. The rest of the boats were wooden, some of which were in need of restoration even back then. I can remember watching Gay Staveley repairing battle damage by picking out the rotten plywood, and liberally applying epoxy resin and fiberglass to what was left, then throwing in driftwood, sand, and anything else that might add structure.
I kept a little journal from this trip that recorded a few interesting items including rocks being thrown off Navajo Bridge for good luck as we approached; having my oarsman Don Ross washed overboard at Soap Creek leaving eleven year-old me reaching for the oars;

flipping two boats near mile 24.5; swimming in the Phantom Ranch pool; lining Lava Falls; and a choice quote from Gay saying that we “had more accidents than all the other trips put together”.
Diamond Creek had washed out earlier that year making our extraction only possible by a couple of four-wheel drive jeeps and an old Bronco. Freewheeling up the creek as best we could with too many people aboard, I am sure we looked like refugees fleeing some Canyon war. I remember it being a bumpy and uncomfortable ride with a guy sitting on the hood of the jeep trying to give direction to the driver by pointing right and left, presumably in the direction of a perceived better route. In reality he was a hindrance as our driver simply couldn’t see anything in front of him. No wonder it was bumpy.
At Peach Springs we boarded a bus for Flagstaff and ended up at the Staveleys’ for a party, and during the festivities they gave us each a River Rat pin identical to the one pictured on the back cover of the Fall 2001 bqr.
Later on, my family purchased two wooden dories, and we made several private trips through the Grand Canyon as well as down the Green River in the early 1970s.
Keep up the good work, I enjoy every issue.

Andrew McKenna.