GRAND CANYON
“Nothing prepares you for your first live glimpse of the Grand Canyon—not photos, not films. It’s so big, and so wide, and so deep; it simply isn’t possible to wrap your mind around the scale of it.”
From Arizona and New Mexico: 25 Scenic Side Trips ©2018, Imbrifex Books
For the last 17 million years, the Colorado River has drained the watershed of the great range of the Rocky Mountains, a continuous cycle of powerful flow and violent flood that has scoured away the layers of sandstone, granite, and schist along the rivers course, laying bare the bones of planet earth. In the process, the river has sculpted a geological masterpiece, the undisputed wonder of the natural world that we know as the Grand Canyon.
There’s a litany of statistics, a cascade of superlatives that go along with Arizona’s signature tourist attraction. It’s 277 miles long, 18 miles wide, and more than a mile down at its deepest. The stone that’s exposed at the bottom of the Inner Gorge is at least 2 billion years old, rock that was formed when our planet was so new it was still hot to the touch. Impressive stuff, but honestly, none of those numbers have a whole lot of meaning until you’ve put them in context; until you’ve seen the Grand Canyon for yourself.
You won’t be alone when you go. Grand Canyon National Park gets more than six million visitors in an average year. Most of them come in the summer, from June to September, and when they arrive, they tend to cluster along the South Rim, in the area nearest to Grand Canyon Village, where most of the hotels and other facilities are located. In peak season, the crowds get so bad it’s like gridlock on an urban freeway.
If you’re willing and able to drive a bit further, you can have a much more intimate experience on the other side of the Canyon, the North Rim. Because it’s more isolated, the North Rim only gets 10% of the South Rim crowds, and the drives to the North Rim overlooks are an adventurous road trip unto themselves (for all the right reasons).
Would you like to get closer? You can hike to the bottom, following any of the dozens of trails, but not everyone has that much stamina (bearing in mind that simple truth: he who hikes down, must hike back up again). If you’re like me, and you prefer to drive to the scene of your adventures, head west on old Route 66 to Peach Springs, on the Hualapai Reservation, west of the National Park. There’s a primitive road down Diamond Creek that will take you all the way down to the river, inside the canyon! (For information and required permits, stop in at the Hualapai Lodge.)
Want to get closer still? Want to see more? For the ultimate Grand Canyon experience, you’ll have to abandon your vehicle altogether in exchange for something that floats, because the only way to see ALL of the Big Canyon is from the river. That’s not a casual undertaking, as there are serious rapids in the Grand Canyon. If you’re not already an experienced river runner, the best, certainly the safest way to go is to sign up with an established outfitter. I can personally recommend Colorado River and Trail Expeditions (CRATE). They offer rafting trips anywhere from 4 days to 11 days in length, most on ultra comfortable 37-foot pontoon rafts that are specially designed for the purpose. These white-water rafting trips are not cheap, but in my view, they’re still a terrific value. It’s an experience unlike anything else, anywhere; the kind of adventure that might just change your life. That sounds pretty corny, but for a lot of people, it’s true, and you really can’t put a price on such things.
Check out my Postcards from the Grand Canyon (below) for a detailed account of my own rafting trip through the Grand Canyon in 2013.
Click any photo (below) to display the images full screen, with captions
Postcards from the Grand Canyon
This is an interactive Table of Contents. Click the pictures to open the pages.
A Grand Adventure! White Water Rafting on the Colorado River
Grand Canyon Rafting Expedition: Day 1
The two rafts were shoved away from the beach until they floated free, and the boat drivers eased them into the middle of the channel. We were mostly moving with the current, but the beach dropped behind us pretty quickly, and in a matter of minutes we were out there, rafting down the Colorado River, heading squarely into the enchanted depths of the Grand Canyon...
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Grand Canyon Rafting Expedition: Day 2
The cliffs and buttes were a perfect composition, the different colored layers of stone were all but glowing in the afternoon light, and we had this incredible world all to ourselves, not another boat in sight.
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Grand Canyon Rafting Expedition: Day 3
The waters of the Little Colorado are a turquoise blue that is so startlingly bright it doesn't even look real. There’s a well-defined spot where that warm, turquoise blue water from the small river collides with the cold, deep green water flowing upstream from the big river. The two dramatically different colors mix, forming a shifting, swirling line of chartreuse. That spot is the confluence. It's magical, and utterly unique.
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Grand Canyon Rafting Expedition: Day 4
I was still a little dazed by the whole thing, scenes of frothing, churning whitewater playing over and over in my head. Fleecy white clouds were piling up above the canyon rim, nearly filling the narrow patch of sky, until the lowering sun set them afire, a Grand Canyon sunset display that was the finest we’d seen, worthy of the spectacular setting. A fitting end to one of the most amazing days of my life.
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Grand Canyon Rafting Expedition: Day 5
The trail meandered for a mile or so, finally dropping down level with the creek, giving us access to a series of perfect swimming holes. There’s something about that exotic turquoise water that welcomes swimmers--you have to get in it, if only to assure yourself that it’s real. The creek was cool, but far from cold, and a welcome change from the icy water in the river. We stopped at a particularly inviting spot to swim, relax, and eat our lunch. Sitting beside that creek, with our simple repast--it was like having a picnic in the Garden of Eden.
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Grand Canyon Rafting Expedition: Day 6
“Two Hander!” John called out rather gleefully, and we all clung to the ropes for dear life as the raft picked up speed. We were headed straight for the boil of Lava Falls, which was roaring like a freight train, bearing down. We entered the churning whitewater pretty much dead center, then moved hard to the right to avoid the standing waves and the big holes in the middle of the channel. We got good and drenched at least three times, almost like running under a series of waterfalls, bucking and lurching like crazy, but the whole thing was over in less than a minute.
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Grand Canyon Rafting Expedition: Day 7
Immediately below that beach we hit Diamond Creek Rapid, then Travertine Rapid, where we pulled over to the bank at Travertine Canyon. The creek that entered the river here flowed across huge, slippery boulders in a series of small waterfalls, and we had great fun taking turns standing in the flow, almost like a natural shower.
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Grand Canyon Rafting Expedition: Day 8
The river broadened as we approached Lake Mead, and at mile 278 we entered the lake itself. Pearce Ferry was right there, and we were all pretty quiet as the rafts pulled in to shore for the last time. “Thrill of a lifetime” is a pretty strong statement, but it’s appropriate for this journey. There’s nothing else like it.
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Grand Canyon Rafting
You find a rope, any rope, and you grab on with both hands for all you're worth. The river boils like the North Sea in a gale, great, rolling green waves and troughs. The raft plummets sideways into a hole fifteen feet deep, the outboard motor shrieks, a monster wave towering ten feet above your head comes crashing down across the deck, pummeling the passengers like a gigantic liquid fist that takes your breath away, leaving you suspended, time stopped, frozen in mid-scream.
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There's nothing like a good road trip. Whether you're flying solo or with your family, on a motorcycle or in an RV, across your state or across the country, the important thing is that you're out there, away from your town, your work, your routine, meeting new people, seeing new sights, building the best kind of memories while living your life to the fullest.
Are you a veteran road tripper who loves grand vistas, or someone who's never done it, but would love to give it a try? Either way, you should consider making the Southwestern U.S. the scene of your own next adventure.
A few years ago I wrote a book about road trips in Arizona and New Mexico that's a lot like this website, packed with interesting information, and illustrated with beautiful photographs. Check it out! You can find it on Amazon, and at all other major booksellers.
