Our Grand Canyon Adventure

 

280 miles - 22 days - 16 friends - 9 kayaks - 6 rafts.

Lots of work to get on the river, more than you realize. We all met in Flagstaff (Arizona), loaded our gear and took part in a two hour shuttle drive to get the boat ramp. Most shuttle/river rental companies that service the Grand Canyon are based in Flagstaff.

In these photos we are setting up the boats before launch....trying to figure out how this all works....

Last day of nice hair and easy to access basic amenities.

And the journey begins! 

First rapid requiring helmets.

The leader of our trip picked out a few festive themes (ie. Sparkle Saturday). This was on "Margaritaville" day.

Girl power

Beautiful sights to take in along the way (directly below is Redwall Cavern).

This is where the Little Colorado River (turquoise colored) meets the main river.

Some hikes were involved along the way....

Everyone had chores to do in rotation, and had to help with group meals. We got a kick out of these three trying to figure out how to make a 12 layer lasagna in a dutch oven.

Filtering water was required for clean drinking water at numerous points along the way. We worked hard to find the purest water sources (otherwise it can clog or break equipment).

Deer Creek Falls

Exploration of slot canyons....

There are constant tide changes, based on electricity demand cycles from Glen Canyon Dam. If you don't stay on top of it, the rafts can require a lot of effort to move.

This is near Havasu Falls, which was unfortunately severely impacted by recent storms.

Chuckwalla lizard

Elves Chasm waterfall.

It would start to get dark by 7 pm (PST) and the view of the night sky was usually spectacular and very clear. We often had views of the Milky Way.

Lots of games were played!

Every once in a while a kayaker would help with a friendly tow. The rafts were heavy and often would get stuck in boils (water churning and making it very difficult to move through).

One evening we joined forces and camped with another private group (below). A majority of them were based out of Colorado & Utah; lots of raft guides/ski instructors. We learned of some mutual friend overlap between our two groups, which was neat.

Lots of friends were cliff jumping (we were good spectators, the highest jump of the trip was ~60 feet).

Many card games and folks reading books on this trip. On this particular day we were in the shade avoiding a 110 degree high (above average temperatures for the area).

The hardest part of the trip was the all night float on the last evening, to get to our destination on time (this was pre-organized). It involved some serious lack of sleep but was a very cool experience. Headlamps and a few volunteer rowers in rotation guided us through the night. It is hard to see that in these photos but we had to tie all 6 boats together.

We got off the river around 7:30 a.m. and started to unload the boats, transfer everything to commercial vehicles. Then a 4+ hour drive back to Flagstaff. Pictured below: commercial and personal gear piles.

Our first reintroduction back into society was a quick stop at a fast food restaurant. A few members of the group parted ways at this spot & we partook in one last group team cheer (the cinnamon swirl).

And that's a wrap!! It was an incredible opportunity to be a part of such a special and unique adventure.