Some old big-guy river rat on the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon.

The flight home was quicker than expected, but I just could not get comfortable in the seat, and didn’t sleep any -- but was rewarded by the sight of lightning in the clouds below as we approached Michigan. Dawn was breaking when Kathy showed up to pick me up at the airport, right on schedule. She drove home, as I told her snippets of the trip, then went inside and slept for half the day. Then, sadly, I headed down to the office to see what had built up on my desk while I was gone. The trip was over.

It had been a wonderful trip, as good as I’d hoped, the trip of a lifetime, through the most awesome scenery on the planet, bar none. The weather could have been better, but it could have been worse, too, and I’ll take being a little cold to a little hot, any time I can get it.

Would I do it again? The answer is yes, and no. I’d love to do it again, but there’s also other places on the list to go to, and other things to do. If I were to do it again, and could possibly manage it, I’d avoid taking a motor trip. The motors on the rafts, while not loud, were intrusive on the natural sounds of the canyon, but I had expected that, and it was part of the price that I knew that I had to pay for the limited amount of time I could get away, so I have no real complaints. However, the limited time also meant that we often had to rush past places that would have been interesting to stop and investigate, or to just kick back and drink in the views. So, if I do it again, it’ll be a paddle or an oar trip if I can possibly manage it..

Would I use Arizona River Runners again? Yeah, you bet. They did a great job, the staff was excellent, the food was great, their treatment of the customers was better than you expect in this day and age, and they’re a good bunch of people. However, I would also make the comment that they’re not the only ones. Joe is familiar with many of the companies operating down in the canyon, many of the boatmen, and tells me that generally speaking, the way they handle the customers on the trips doesn’t vary much from company to company. So, I wouldn’t have any problem if my own schedule and other factors dictated that I had to use another company.

If the chance arose, I’d go with someone on a private trip -- but I’m not putting in an application, considering that I’d be in my seventies by the time the chance to go on the trip came around. But, I don’t know what the chances might be of getting on someone else’s private trip, so it’s not something to actively consider, although I’d love to have had twice the time to make the trip.

However, if I went again, I’d still try to go in the spring and fall, to avoid the crowds and the heat of the summer. There are only a few commercial trips before we left, so it wouldn’t be crowded. The National Park Service doesn’t allow motor trips in the fall, so that might well be a consideration.

The trip turned out to not be all that expensive. After the early season discount, I wound up paying around $1400 for the trip itself, around $200 for air fares, around $250 for tips, car rental, the flight over the Canyon, hotel, meals, and incidentals, about $250 for film and processing, and about $400 for the new camera and outdoor gear, which I will continue to use for other trips, so shouldn’t really be counted against the cost of the trip. Not bad; I could have blown much more than that on one weekend and never left the Strip.

A few comments on the gear -- I’d definitely take a folding chair if I went again, especially with my back hurting if I have to stand for extended periods of time. If going in the early spring or along in the fall, especially on an oar trip, I’d be strongly tempted to take a wet suit, and neoprene booties, although I think I’d give the wet suit a pass if I were going in months when it was expected to be hot. It might feel good in the water but would be a killer in 100-plus degree heat. I would also be real tempted to take small fishing rod with a limited assortment of small spoons, to take advantage of the trout fishing.

The rain suit was a purchase well worth every penny, and so were the quick drying Supplex clothes. I would take real hiking boots, too, and not try to get along hiking in river shoes. Many people on the river used sandals, but they leave your toes exposed to lots of different things that could happen, including sharp rocks and cactus. I didn’t take along much that I didn’t use, and much of that was stuff that might well have been used in certain circumstances. If you go, take lots of film, twice as much as you think you need, and you’ll still find yourself rationing it. There are parts of the Canyon that are less spectacular than others, but it’s all pretty spectacular, especially to eastern eyes, and there are still so many scenes that scream to be photographed that it’s hard to pick and choose.

So now, the long-anticipated trip is a memory. Other trips beckon for the future, other new places to see, other new things to do. They’ll have to go some to top this one, for the memories of the continual spectacular views, the ongoing kaleidoscope of scenery, the thrills of the rapids, the quiet of the camp, the sight of the stars in the night sky seen from my sleeping bag, with a limited horizon cut off by the rim of the canyon, of the waterfalls and side streams, of the neat people. It was hard to go back to work on Monday, to get another routine paper out, while thinking of the boatmen with undiluted envy, knowing that they were busy getting ready to go and do it all again. How lucky they are.

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.