 | Grand Canyon National Park Rafting Reviews | Tips 1 - 10 of 71 |  |
At the end of Deer Creek valley, the creek drops in glorious fashion to hasten its meeting with the Colorado. On a hot day of hiking, the pools at the base of the waterfall make for a grand swim. You are at mile 136 near the narrowest stretch of the Grand Canyon proper. Leave a Comment
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Carved out of the cliff walls where the river makes a 90 degree turn is the Redwall Cavern. John Powell thought you could fit 5000 people inside here, but where are they going to come from? The South Rim? :-] With only a couple of raftfulls of folks, it seems much nicer. Redwall Cavern is only one mile farther on from Vasey's. Leave a Comment
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Crystal Rapids is one of the most fearsome on the river. There is a sizable creek - Crystal Creek - coming in from the north, bringing lots of boulders to build up the rapids out in the main river. This was during the two out of 14 days that rain fell. Much of the rain fell up higher above the North Rim, causing the Crystal Creek to run red with debris. You can see that the redness is lost quickly in the maelstrom of the main rapids. Crystal and Lava Falls are probably the two best know huge rapids in the Canyon, but you get to know many others just as big as you float through. We are at mile 98. Leave a Comment
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Desert View is one of the busier places atop the South Rim centered around the 1932 Desert Watchtower. For many, their first glimpse of the Canyon is from here. From down here, the tower is only a small stub on the Rim's surface. The river traveller is late in their fourth day at mile 65. Leave a Comment
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Outside of 4WD roads and air tours, you can only really discover Marble Canyon from wtihin - which means from the river. As the river wends its way south from Glen Canyon Dam - 88 miles to Phantom Ranch; 226 miles to Diamond Creek take-out; 240 miles to Separation Canyon where we took a jet boat out the next 40 miles on Lake Mead - the canyon deepens to over 3000 feet. Unlike in the Grand Canyon section where side creeks widen out the canyon in the vast fashion you witness there, there is very little side erosion here making the canyon a very deep trench indeed. Leave a Comment
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Right in the middle of the Marble Canyon you come onto a small side canyon contained several nautiloid fossils of over a meter in length. Just another reminder of the ages you are passing through. The campsite on the river is exquisite. One could stay here for awhile. You are now at mile 35. Leave a Comment
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These rapids are everchanging, big and downright nasty. Even with conditions much more controlled today by the presence of the Glen Canyon Dam, these are BIG waters. With a raft it is all about the initial commitment. What is your point of entry? How are you pointed? Where are your oars? What do you plan to do within the rapid? Will you try and turn the raft? Maybe going in backwards and letting the river swing you around? You have to figure it all out - or at least try and figure it out - before you enter the rapid. Once in, you're in and there is no time to think then. A mistake is nearly impossible to correct in these waters. The waters are cold and the swim can be long. Leave a Comment
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This is the last great rapid faced by boaters. Rapids are formed mostly where side canyons wash down huge boulders and debris across the main river's path, forming a dam, of sorts, for the water to roar over. If you see a side canyon coming while you are floating, best be assured that a rapid awaits. For some reason, the Grand Canyon has to be different and instead of grading rapids on the normal 1-5 scale (6 being unrunnable), the rapids here are graded on a 1-10 scale. Hance, Sockdolager, Grapevine, Horn Creek, Granite, Hermit, Crystal, Waltenberg, Duebendorff, and Upset are some of the biggest, though there are plenty of others that can overturn your craft , as well. Lava Falls and Crystal - maybe, Hance, as well, have a very special place among the riverfolk. You have reached mile 179. Leave a Comment
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Well within the main part of the Grand Canyon proper now, past the Desert Watchtower, the Colorado begins its mighty right turn to the west, entering the older sections of the the Canyon known as the Granite Canyon. After several large rapids, you are floating past rocks that are up to 1.7 billion years old. 80 plus miles have been completed. Leave a Comment
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Where Nankoweap Creek comes in from the west, a small delta is formed next to the Colorado. The delta was wide enough for a couple of Anasazi families to plant corn fields, storing their grain up high in granaries in the cliff walls. they were set up high to keep the grain away from rodents and the weather. The view downriver is classic. This is mile 52-53. Leave a Comment
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on November 7, 2003
