Rafting the Grand Canyon

I’m just now getting around to publishing this post from a rafting trip to the Grand Canyon with my family, which included gorgeous views, lots of laughter, extreme weather, and some interesting people. I had a blast on this trip and I would highly recommend anyone considering a trip to this beautiful place to go for it! I swear it’s amazing. We did a six-day rafting trip and I thought it was the perfect length. The rafts are motorized, so no paddling, yay! and they hold about 14 people, at least for the trip that we went on. 

A typical day on the river would include getting up at about 5. We got up and went to bed with the sun. This ensured that we got on the river before it got too hot. Remember how I was mentioning weather extremes, yes, it was crazy but I’ll get to that later. Anyway back to the schedule. The guides would cook us breakfast, and we would pack up our things. Because we were in a national park we camped on the beaches on the sides of the canyon, so packing up meant folding up cots and taking down tents. After breakfast, we would try and get on the river as quickly as possible. Usually just as the sun was peeking over the top of the canyon. 

A view of the canyon from the raft

Ok I feel like I can get to the weather about now. The temperature throughout the day, while we were rafting, was about 95-105˚ Fahrenheit (35-40˚C). Now seeing that we were sitting on a rubber raft with no shade, that was really hot. I literally don’t think I had ever been hotter that at some points during this trip. Now I know what you’re thinking, but Emilia, going in the river would cool you down nicely, and considering that you were rafting you should get wet all the time, perfect solution. NOT! I mean, let me do a little bit of explaining. The water in the part of the canyon we were rafting was 45˚ Fahrenheit (7˚C), and if you’re like me, a little wimpy Californian, that’s really cold. So the water didn’t really help the situation on the raft. 

As you were floating down the river, you would start to get a little warm, and then get warmer and warmer until you thought you couldn’t get any hotter. Then the guide announces that there’s a rapid coming up and you’re like YES!, so you go to the front of the raft ready to get soaked and finally get to a normal temperature. So then you approach the first wave of the raft of the rapid and the water comes over the front in one big wave. It soaks you and suddenly you’re absolutely freezing. So you’ve just been transported to the opposite part of the temperature spectrum. But as you dry off you get about 2 minutes of time when you’re the perfect temperature. Other than that the only time that you’re the perfect temperature is when you’re eating dinner for a couple of minutes. It’s like heaven.

An action packed video of a rapid. Enjoy our screams in the background ;)

Anyway there were points in the day that we did little hikes to see other cool things in the canyon. During the trip we went to a couple of side rivers. They were much warmer, perfect for swimming, and really pretty. I really enjoyed these little trips because they were relaxing and it was super nice to cool off from the hot weather. The first river we visited, The Little Colorado, looks light blue but is actually white. The blue color comes from the reflection of the sky. It’s white because of the calcium carbonate contained in the water. The other river we visited, Havasu Creek, is one of the prettiest sites of the trip. These rivers were contained in side canyons and provided a nice break from rafting. 

Little Colorado River

Havasu Creek

A waterfall from one of the side canyons

Speaking of side canyons. In the later parts of the trip the guides tried to give us little breaks from rafting by doing some hiking. My favorite hike included a little slot canyon and hike on top of it to a great view. When we had finished our little hike we went on a little walk inside of the slot canyon to catch up with the rest of the group. If you don’t know what a slot canyon is, it’s a narrow opening in a rock face that you can walk inside. The ones I’ve been to are big enough that they go on for a long time. Enough to do a hike through. These canyons are formed by water slowly carving out the rock. They’re super cool to be inside and the one we went into wasn't an exception. As we rounded the corner we came across one of the guides from the trip doing a mini-concert. It was amazing. He had brought his guitar into the canyon and was playing and singing some of the songs he wrote. The canyon had great acoustics and everyone was having a great time.

I feel like I should talk about the camping situation a little bit more. I haven’t a huge amount of camping in my life and I wouldn’t say that my family and I were avid campers but I really enjoyed camping in the Grand Canyon. There really was no other way to do it. I felt like camping really allowed me to get in touch with all the nature that was surrounding us. I think the purpose and beauty of the trip would have been ruined if we had stayed at nice hotels. Watching the sun go down every night and eating dinner on the beach was really fun, even if it was super hot without air conditioning. My favorite part about camping was the stars. Since it was too hot to sleep in tents we were out in the open and falling asleep gazing up at the stars was the best feeling. We were out in the middle of nowhere so there wasn’t as much pollution, allowing the stars to really shine through. 

So you’ve heard all about our amazing time on the raft and the unbearable heat and maybe your next thought is, wait if you’re so hot and you’re camping, how did you shower? Great question and I can promise you that it has an interesting answer. Since we were in the middle of nowhere and there wasn’t any running water, we had to shower in the river. This sounds really good until you remember how cold the river is. I already complained about having to be dunked into it for a few seconds when going through the rapids, but showering starts a completely different set of problems. We had to wade in to wash and then stay in. Especially if we were going to wash our hair. It ended up being a lengthy process by the time you hold everything you need to, and finish washing. My strategy was to first wait until I got so hot I thought I was going to die. This usually happened during the set up of camp. This is a vital step of the plan and it can’t be overlooked. A person only has enough motivation to get in that water once a night, so you have to make sure that you’re really ready for it. The process of washing was made slightly better by wearing the neoprene booties that I brought. This was a cool trick I figured out a couple of days in. It saved me!

         Anyway then came the actual washing part. I usually went for washing my hair first. I would wade out until about knee height and then dunk my head. It was so cold that I immediately waded back to ankle-deep to put in the shampoo. Now some people might find it ridiculous that I washed my hair for every day of the trip, however, we were using biodegradable shampoo. It wasn’t doing the best job. Also, for a girl with a lot of hair, having my hair wet right after I got out, was really nice in making sure I didn’t get hot as quickly. Anyway, after putting in the shampoo, I waded back to ankle deep and put my hair underwater. I proceeded to scrub the shampoo out. MAJOR BRAIN FREEZE!! Practically shivering at this point I ran water up my arms, quickly put on soap and rubbed some water up my arms, legs, and back, and that ended my shower. I know I got really clean! Anyway, even though this was a unique experience. Emphasis on unique. I have to admit that it felt really good when I was finished. The best part of the process was sitting on the beach after your own shower and people watching everyone else do it. It was funny to watch the different strategies everyone had.

Now we’ve covered bathing, I thought I would touch on what we did before getting to the grand canyon. This part of America around the border of Utah and Arizona has some amazing scenery. We checked out a couple of slot canyons on the drive from the airport to where we stayed the night before getting on the raft and I highly recommend you do the same thing. If you can stomach a ton of tourists, Little Antelope Canyon is my favorite slot canyon that I’ve been to, especially if you can go in the morning to get the sun beams that filter in. 

Sunlight shaft in Little Antelope Canyon

If you’re looking for a more individual experience there are a number of people that offer private tours on less known slot canyons. Again, even though you’re not on the raft yet the temperature is still really hot so I would recommend you dress appropriately. If you’re taking iPhone camera photos in the slot canyons I highly recommend using the vivid or vivid warm filters because it makes your photos look way better. This filter really brings the red and orange tones in the rock.

Finally, I’ll talk a little bit about my packing tips for this trip, in case anyone is interested in booking one for themselves. First, an insulated water bottle is really important for this trip because you’re going to be in the sun a lot and you need to stay hydrated. I would also stress the importance of the big waterproof hat. I recommend something really lightweight and quick-drying with a chin strap so it doesn’t fly off when you’re going down a rapid. I’ve included a photo of mine so you can get a sense for what I’m talking about. I know that’s it’s not a very flattering look, but I promise you’ll need it. I also recommend you think about what you could bring to amuse yourself after you get off the raft. You can’t really use your phone because there is no service and nowhere to charge it, so maybe this is the time to start a new book! 

Me in my big hat (I know very fashionable)

Finally, for a fun tip, there are a lot of scorpions where you’ll be camping. Not to freak anyone out, but there is a reason they make everyone sleep on a cot instead of on the ground. One time when our family was playing cards on a big piece of wood one night we came back after we had packed up and saw a huge scorpion sitting on the log right where we had just been playing cards! It was a little scary to be honest. But if you’re looking for some fun, a blacklight will make the scorpions glow during the night when you can’t see anything. A fun thing to do if you think you’re alone, but maybe not right before bed. 

So, guys, that concludes my blog post. Thanks for sticking with me through it all and reading to the end. I had a great time on this trip and I hope this post inspires you to maybe book a trip of your own, or just helped you get out of the headspace you were in before reading this blog. See you next time!