AZ Dan, thanks for the tips. I plan to take TWO walking sticks -- a pair if Leiki carbon fiber poles. I plan on starting before 5 AM, drinking as much water as I can before heading down, and carrying two liters on the way down. I'm expecting it will take about 4 hours to reach the river. Does that sound realistic?

KevinR, great pictures. I hope others can see them on the Facebook page. I'm really looking forward to seeing the views.

I can see now why one liter of water was all you needed...