After going to Big Bend last Labor Day and seeing the Santa Elena Canyon emptying into the Rio Grande, I knew I wanted AJM to see the Grand Canyon. Ever since I was a teenager in Las Vegas and heard about the river runners, I wanted to raft down the Colorado. This summer seemed the best time to do it. SAM was old enough and yet not too old. In a few more years, perhaps, he won't want to spend his summers with us. We looked at the photos in Beneath the Rim and decided that, yes, we must go.
Our friends expressed an open incredulity that we'd spend 14 days camping, hiking, and running rapids. Why, I wondered. Is it because we're bookish, because we don't play team sports, or go mountain biking and rock climbing? And it's not as if I spend all my time wearing makeup and jewelry, cruising the malls. I spend five or six hours a day outdoors and like nothing better than walking the fells, especially being away from people. And I like rocks. True, I wasn't looking for excitement or adventure on this trip, though I knew there would be enough to keep SAM happy. No, I was looking for serenity in nature. And, we weren't going to be roughing it, exactly. Someone else would be carrying our gear, preparing our meals, and getting us from one place to the next. All I planned to do was sit back and enjoy myself.
People have since explained that they couldn't imagine me 14 days off-line, or AJM either. I did find it frustrating to have a conversation without being able to look things up, either in my library or on Google. And I can't discuss movies without quick access to the IMDB --or JQS. Luckily, one of our group, John, was a walking IMDB.
We signed up with Grand Canyon Expeditions Company because they had a 14-day dory trip, an informative website, 40 years experience, and were featured in Beneath the Rim and other books we read on the Grand Canyon. They provided everything I was looking for: transportation from and to Las Vegas (where we could fly in and stay with my parents), the meals, sleeping gear, and transportation of our personal items. But more than that, they provided a plan. If I'm going into the great unknown, then I feel much safer with an experienced guide.
Company and crew lived up to all our expectations and exceeded them. We would recommend them without reservation to anyone planning a trip to the Grand Canyon. Our boatmen were true guides, telling us about the history, geology, and botany of the canyon, as well as wild tales of riding the river. They were organized, informative, experienced, and careful. They were also easy-going, friendly, and very patient with our inexperience (I'm sure there were many canyon side trips where they wished they'd been with more more-experienced hikers; but they never let the slow among us get them down.) I felt comfortable trusting them with our lives, a very necessary trust. Nature is no Disneyland.
The dories we rode in are wooden row boats, but pointed at both ends. The boatman rows looking forward, rather than backwards, which is important when you are trying to avoid jagged rocks in whitewater. On our trip, there were three dories (the Zoroaster, the Coconino, and the Vishnu). Four passengers rode in each dory and we switched around every day so that we could listen to stories from different boatmen and mix with everyone in our group.
We had chosen the dory trip for several reasons: we didn't want to be crushed in a crowd of 14 people on the motor-rigged rafts, what we later dubbed party barges. We preferred the solitude and silence of the unmotorized dories. I thought it senseless to spend so much time and trouble to distance oneself from the modern world only to be reminded of it by the incessant whine of a motor. And we hoped that the additional time and expense involved for the 14-day trip would discourage people who were just there to party on the river. And so it was. The shorter raft trips that we encountered along the way certainly attracted people whose main desire was to party on the river; the canyon was just the background. In contrast, our group was very interested in the canyon, and the dory trip was a great way to experience it.
We fell in love with the graceful little dories, for no other boat takes the waves so masterfully, arcing up one side, then plunging down the other like a surfer. And in the slow, hot afternoons, the rhythmic dip of the oars and the water lapping against the hull lulled us into an embryonic calm.
We were well-prepared for the sun. In addition to waterproof sunscreen, we brought hats (which covered the backs of our necks), bandanas, and light-weight long-sleeve shirts, and polarized sunglasses. I also brought a variety of unguents: Jason's Witch Vera Gel, Jason's Tea Tree Gel, and Jason's Natural NaPCA Hand and Body Lotion. Knowing how the desert air dries out my nose, I brought saline nasal spray. I was most worried about my hair which tends to tangle and split even under normal conditons. But John Frieda's Shine Shock kept it under control, especially since I wore my hair in braids the whole time.
What we hadn't envisioned was the sand. Sand in the water. Sand on the beach. Sand in our sleeping bags, in our toothbrushes, and between the lenses of my camera. Sand scratched my glasses (don't bring expensive ones!) and wore down my fingernails like an emery board. The best thing I brought was the Olay wet wipes. They don't have alcohol so I was able to take a sponge bath each night, to get the sand out the creases in my eyelids and between my toes before applying lotion. The one thing I wish I had brought was some Hard as Nails polish.
Although we packed light, I didn't really need as much clothing as we brought. Because we usually got wet in the boats, I ended up wearing one pair of shorts during the day, then cleaning up and changing into another outfit for camp. Because I could wash and dry the boat outfit every evening, I only needed two changes of clothes. Sometimes I wish I had a lightweight shift for camp, especially to sleep in. It would have made going down to the river to pee in the middle of the night a lot easier. Our new Keen Newport H2 sandals were fantastic. I lost count the number of times they kept me from stubbing my toes on hikes through wet and dry creekbeds. For shirts, loose-weave, long-sleeve cotton is the best. Tshirts cling to you when you get wet (and the water is cold!)
One unexpected side-effect of this trip is that I've given up coffee. Before the trip, mornings were made worth getting up when AJM would make our cups of latte. And when he couldn't, I'd treat myself to a cup at Starbucks, Bread Alone, or Jo's. The day we spent in Las Vegas, I satisfied my morning thirst with a weak cup of freeze dried coffee and suffered a headache for it. And at that first breakfast on the river, I drank three cups brewed. Coffee does taste wonderful after a night under the stars. But it's also dehydrating. The number one rule in the canyon is to stay hydrated. Plus, I felt guilty asking the boatmen to pull for a potty break only an hour after we were on the river. So each day I drank a little less coffee and by the end of the trip, I didn't want any. Nor has coming back to the city brought back any craving for it. I actually tried a sample decaf at Central Market the other day, and couldn't get past the first sip.