AMcanadian

My friend and I want to celebrate our 50th birthdays by possibly doing a 6-7 day group white water rafting trip through the Grand Canyon. She is in excellent physical shape while I am in moderately good physical shape.
I have found a number of companies that offer this but I would like to hear some suggestions (ie: which companies are best, length of trip) and experiences (best time of the season, strenuousness, likes, dislikes etc.) concerning this adventure.
Thanks.

karens

Hi. I can only give very general info. I think that if you do the whole length of the Grand Canyon from Lee's Ferry on, it is about two weeks. Week long trips either start at Lees Ferry and end at Phantom Ranch, or start at Phantom Ranch and go to the Lake Mead area. Getting to and from Phantom Ranch might be a factor. You'd have to hike down or up. The trail is long and steep and in the summer is extremely HOT. This is not an easy hike. Summer temps are brutal! I have been looking into this superficially and I think I would do the trip starting at Phantom Ranch, not so much b/c of the hike, but this trip would let you explore Havasu Creek. Havasu is this gorgeous blue green stream. We visited Havasu coming from the other direction (highway instead of river access) and it one of the most amazing places we've ever been. I'd love to see the part of the creek we didn't see last time.

I have a friend at the gym who did the trip and he said it was great. I think you'll have a trip of a lifetime.

AMcanadian

Karens,
Thanks for the response. We were thinking of a 6-7 day trip. My friend is the athlete, I am not. I presume that hiking up the trail is worse than dowm? I was thinking of making the trip in the beginning of Sept. For those in the know, is this too late in the season for comfort?
Any further advice is appreciated.
Thanks, again.

karens

Hi. You would think hiking down is easier than up, but it is tough on the legs hiking down b/c the trail is steep. Therefore, you always have to brace against gravity and watch against slipping. I've never hiked the trail, but I did ride it on the back of a mule! I think you are wise not to go in the heat of the summer. Hopefully, we can get some info from people who've actually rafted. I'd also like to know when the best time of the year is, comfort-wise. Rafting the Grand Canyon is something I'd like to do some day!

ALF

We have done the whole Canyon twice, and it is an experience not to be missed!

You can indeed do the entire Grand Canyon (Lees Ferry to Lake Mead)in one week, provided that you take a motor raft. Two weeks are required if the craft are self-powered.

There are pros and cons of each type of trip. If you only have one week and want to do the whole trip, you must use a motor raft. It will be noisier, and the raft is much larger - so the whole experience does not provide as much solitude and quiet. These trips tend to be a little cheaper, as there are not as many guides required.

If you select a paddled or rowed raft, there will be far fewer of you in each craft, and it will be quieter, but it will also take you a long time to get downriver. Despite all the famous rapids, there are great lengths of quiet water in between that can be a bit tedious to row. If you only have a week, you will need to choose either the upper or lower canyon, taking out or putting in at Phantom Ranch. It is a long hike from the Rim to the Ranch, on a well-graded switchbacking trail (actually there are two - the 10-mile Bright Angel Trail or 7-mile South Kaibab Trail). If you go in the early morning, it is a pretty easy stroll to the bottom. I have weak knees, so this trip is hard on them, but those collapsible hiking poles are great for this hike. I would still rather go down than up, and the longer Bright Angel Trail has a gentler slope that is a little kinder to the knees.

Early September is a good time, as the high temperatures have started to moderate. Still, it will be darned hot in the middle of the day, and possibly cool in the evening.

For myself, I would choose a self-powered trip because I value the quiet, solitude, and smaller number of people. If I only had a week, I would choose the lower canyon. There are many outfitters, but I would choose one that allows you to travel in different kind of watercraft - many trips include guide-rowed rafts, group paddle rafts, and inflatable kayaks. We did this sort of trip and enjoyed changing modes of transportation each day, depending on the level of physical activity we wanted. You should also decide how strenuous you want your hiking to be - some trips run lengthy hiking explorations, while others involve only shorter walks.

We really enjoyed our last trip with Canyon Explorations/Expeditions (http://canyonx.com/), which featured incredibly professional and experienced guides, choices of watercraft, and some fairly rugged hiking.

We would also recommend Colorado River and Trail Expeditions (http://www.crateinc.com/grand.html) for a motorized rafting trip.

Here is a list of all the GC outfitters:
http://www.gcroa.org/Pages/outfitters2.htm

You better hurry up, as I fear that most September trips are already fully-booked.

AMcanadian

Dear Alf and Karens,
Thank you so much for sharing your experience. You have helped me a great deal and I appreciate it.

Photodog

I have done the trip twice both times going the entire length -227 miles. The first time in a motorized raft, in a week. The second time in a dory as part of a nature tour spread over three weeks. The raft which is a "squeezed doughnut" with pontoons on either side and a steel frame work in the middle is called a Baloney boat. All the duffel bags are piled in the middle and passengers ride on the pontoons. It carried an 'icebox' so we had fresh salad for almost the week. The second trip I made was with Grand Canyon dories, in wooden boats similar to what Powell used. The oarsman(woman) and usually 3 passengers. The duffle bags were on a separate raft. The dories gave me a much better perspective of the earlier travellers since we would go into the bottom of the swell and not across the top like the motorized ones. On both trips you are expected to help unload the boats. The food was excellent on both trips, however the dories after about 4 days relied more on canned food than the rafts. It is much more tranquil on the dories. We had time on both trips to take in a number of hikes but then rushed down river on the raft to make up time. Better like to camp. We went in July. In the bottom of the canyon the temperatures were upper 90's to mid-100's but if you want to cool off in the water, which comes from the bottom of the Glen Canyon dam, it is in the 40's. The duffles are packed away for the day so what you want to use that day (suntan lotion,sunglasses, film etc) is kept in a metal ammo can.
I assume you will only being doing this trip once. I'd say go all the way and take the dories, you will not regret it.
Don't forget to take some underwater throw-away cameras.

AMcanadian

Thank you photodog and all for your replies. We have booked our trip with Tour West. Anyone have experience with this particular group? Some other questions: Would you suggest bringing my own sleeping bag or using theirs'. What about a sleeping bag liner? Also, what other gear did you find handy to bring? We are allowed 25lbs of personal belongings I am not much of a camper so any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks.

Cher

Regarding the motorized week long trips, do you get to see Havasu Canyon on these trips? From the pictures I've seen of this area, and from what I've read, it looks like paradise.

karens: You mentioned that you got to Havasu via road access from the other end? Can you provide more details?

karens

Cher - we flew into Las Vegas, and then drove to Peach Springs, which was a long drive of about 2-plus hours, I don't remember exactly. There we stayed at Hualapai Inn, which was a very nice, very clean hotel in the middle of absolutely nowhere. From Peach Springs it was a 60 mile drive to Hualapai Hilltop, the trailhead for the hike into Havasupai. The hike is about 8 miles to Supai, where we stayed at the lodge there (think Motel 6, but worse). But the waterfalls! From the lodge you can hike further and pass Navajo, and then arrive at Havasu Falls, in about 1.5 miles, I believe. They are amazingly beautiful - the water is this gorgeous blue green color, and there are small pools that formed that were great for swimming. From there it was about another 1/2 mile to Mooney Falls, which is even taller than Havasu. To get to the base, there is a very challenging "trail". The last 60 feet or so is nearly vertical, and you have to descend using chains and finally a ladder. From here, I believe it is an approximately 6 mile hike down to the Colorado River.

Because of the distance, I don't think Havasu Falls is best reached from the Colorado (although it's not a picnic to reach the other way either!) I believe, but I'm not sure, that most rafting companies stop at Havasu Creek and then hike up as far as Beaver Falls, which isn't nearly as tall as Mooney or Havasu Falls. We didn't hike any further than Mooney Falls, so I can't comment on the trail below there toward the Colorado.

I posted a more detailed trip report here a while ago. Search for Peach Springs and it'll be under there.

karens

Cher - my trip report is under a thread called Drive from Vegas to Peach Springs. Another Fodor person left a good trip report there, too.