A note from Claudine - Pictures to follow later

September 13, 2009

Hi Bob:

Here is a short report and a few photos from the Grand Canyon rafting trip I took the first week in September.

The rafting trip was six days and 187 miles down the Colorado River from Lee’s Ferry in Marble Canyon to the Whitmore Helipad right below Lava Falls at mile 187. The helicopter pad was about the size of a king size bed and the helicopter was tiny, holding only 5 passengers at a time. But at that point I would have hung from a rope ladder out to find my way to a flush toilet.

The rafting and rapids were unforgettable. The Canyon scenery was beautiful, wondrous and awe inspiring. The rapids were thrilling, exciting and sometimes scary. The rapids are rated from one to 10. We went through several 10’s and 8’s. Two of the tens, Lava Falls and Tanner rapids had drops of 14’ and 20’ respectively. An awesome adventure as the teenagers would say. The overnight/camping arrangements were very basic, but, unfortunately, part and parcel of the adventure.

Our outfitter was the Arizona River Runners. We were 21 passengers in two motorized rafts. The rafts normally hold 17 but because of the bad tourist year were had only 10 and 11 per raft for our trip. We followed one another taking the rapids one raft at a time, and seldom saw other rafts in that the Park Service allows only four commercial and three private launchings each day.

John and I and two other passengers were the oldest by about 10 years. Most passengers were in their early to late 50’s with two couples in their 40’s. Those 10 years really make a difference. If any of you have thoughts about going on one of these trips do it now. The trip is strenuous in parts and requires a good deal of strength and a lot of balance. I have lost a great deal of both in the last few years and so just managed to struggle through, awkwardly most of the time. (It is back to the Gym for me).

I can live without Camping period, but camping was the only way to experience this river and the Canyon. The camping was bare bones. Passengers loaded and unloaded the rafts, we slept under the stars without tents on difficult to assemble cots, and in very close quarters as there is very little flat space at the bottom of the Canyon. We were awakened at 5:30 AM for coffee and were underway by 7:00 AM whereupon the two male Scots began their second breakfast of Budweiser having allotted themselves 10 per day. But, they certainly held their liquor well and could bounce around the rafts like youngsters.

Skimmed over ever so slightly in the brochure were the toilet arrangements. For the ladies it was a real challenge and one became preoccupied with finding an appropriate place to take a whiz. The Park Service rules forbid urinating on sand (wet or otherwise) or any shrubbery etc. One must be IN the water which is 50 degrees. And one desires a shrub of some sort for privacy from the rafts and the gentlemen and shrubs are few, and one needed a path of sorts through the boulders to reach the water, a place where the water is not too swift etc. etc. So, each time we stopped, the hunt for an appropriate river latrine began in earnest. We became less and less modest as the trip went on, but nothing as bad as the men who got to the point they would whip it out no matter right by where the rafts were moored never mind who was standing by. Nighttime was treacherous as the boulders between the cots and the river were often sharp and the footholds very slippery. I took some big chunks of skin out of my arm one night trying to abide by the Park Service rules.

Solid waste was taken care of by a milk can of sorts placed in the woods. There are photographs attached.

I have only one photo of our raft going through rapids. One of the Scots on the other raft took it with my throwaway camera I had given him at the AM camp departure. You cannot take photographs of the rapids because you are holding on for dear life with both hands lest you pivot and tear out an arm socket. I do have a photo taken a few weeks previous to our trip by an Arizona River Runner passenger and made available to us. This is exactly how it looked and felt.

So, if you have ever considered going on one of these trips, do it next spring and you ladies do some strength and balance training in the meantime so that you can walk gracefully off the raft carrying your own belongings rather than half crawling and reaching for a hand to step off as I frequently had to.

But, do go. It is the adventure of a lifetime.

Your Classmate.
Claudine