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Another new page going up!! This one is the Grand Canyon Page…and some of my thoughts, as a record for myself, as to what the opportunity to ‘lead’ a non commercial trip down through the Grand Canyon means, and; hopefully to others who are coming on this trip.
Grand Canyon National Park
A powerful and inspiring landscape, the Grand Canyon overwhelms our senses through its immense size; 277 river miles (446km) long, up to 18 miles (29km) wide, and a mile (1.6km) deep (NPS.gov)
The Grand Canyon is located in the State of Arizona, in the arid South Western United States. Before the United States Bureau of Reclamation began its programme of damming up the Colorado River System, in order to provide water for the rapidly expanding populations in the SW USA, the Grand Canyon was the biggest piece of an an even bigger area of Canyons, including Glen Canyon, carved out by the Colorado River and its tributaries.
The first dam constructed on the Colorado River was the Hoover Dam, which formed Lake Mead, the largest man made lake in the USA (35 km³ of water).
Construction started on Glen Canyon Dam, Page, Arizona in 1956 and flows, downstream through the Grand Canyon were affected from 1963, until completion in 1966, and ever since. The launch spot for river trips through the Grand Canyon is at Lees Ferry a few short miles downstream of Glen Canyon Dam; which flooded Glen Canyon creating Lake Powell, the second largest man made lake in the USA (24,322,000 acre feet (30 km³), when full). The USBR had plans for a series of dams throughout the Grand Canyon, but thankfully after oppostion was mobilised, mainly through the Sierrra Club, tha actual Canyon was left un-dammed, thus ensuring the survival of this awe inspiring place for future generations to visit and experience, both on foot and even more intimately by boat, for it’s entire length.
It is truly one of the natural wonders of the World, and a place that inspires and fills people with awe. It is a place that everyone with a love of the natural world should aspire to visit; a place that white water kayakers and rafters can experience from a unique perspective, travelling along the artery, providing the lifeblood of this dynamic and constantly evolving landscape, that is the Colorado River.
Grand Canyon of the Colorado River, Arizona, USA
Just the name alone is enough to evoke thoughts of a never to be repeated, once in a lifetime trip that I would feel privileged to have the opportunity to take part in. Never mind the awesome white water and the wilderness camping at the bottom of a mile deep canyon; the idea of being able to experience the Canyon in its entirety from the ‘artery’ of the river flowing through its depths, all the way from Lees Ferry to Diamond Creek, and take in all that the Canyon has to offer, is an idea that hits all the right buttons and tugs at all the senses, both physical and mental and ‘spiritual’. It is after all one of the Natural Wonders of the World, and a place that not too many people get to experience, at least not from water level. The Grand Canyon is just that, and a place that is so much more than the white water that is found along the length of the Colorado River, the lifeblood of the Grand Canyon.
When I received the email from the National Park Service in America saying I had ‘won’ a Non Commercial Permit as a Trip Leader on January 2nd 2009, after being on the waiting list for a couple of years and, subsequently being invited to compile a profile in order to enter the new weighted lottery for permits, I couldn’t believe; I even had to get someone else to re-read the email with the good news. Once it was confirmed that I had indeed won a permit thoughts obviously kept on returning to the Grand Canyon, even though the trip was 10 months down the road. Background checks were carried out just to gather more information about the Canyon, ranging from distances, what is required by the NPS, water levels, water temperatures, the climate expected in the Canyon, especially in winter, best access options, geology and formation of the Canyon to the grades of some of the named rapids.
After this, the initial payment of $400, to secure the permit, had to be made within a few short weeks, then the process of deciding who to ask along to experience the Grand Canyon. This was an onerous task; although I had space for 16 people on the trip a number of factors came into the equation. Filling the spaces was never going to be a problem, it was more a case of who do we want to share this experience with, and spend up to 2 weeks camping at the bottom of the Canyon with. One other major factor was the need for a qualified raft guide with suitable experience. I had initially thought of doing the trip in kayaks only, but to make it easier and a little more comfortable the consensus was that a raft would be required; this then led to whom could we get. Eventually things fell into place whilst on a trip to British Columbia, and we found a suitable raft guide, along with two other members of the team from Canada; thus the team was complete.
Once the team had been assembled a blog, www.jamvdb.wordpress.com, was set up in order to help communicate, plan and organise the trip (this blog also contains information on other trips, such as British Columbia). I then contacted an Outfitter, Moenkopi Riverworks, in Flagstaff, Arizona, who specialize in Grand Canyon trips, to hire all the necessary equipment, such as kayaks, raft, kitchen set up, toilet system, safety equipment etc, along with shuttles to and from the Grand Canyon. Once this had all been arranged things felt like they had fallen into place, and the trip planning was gathering momentum; it felt like the trip was getting much closer. This was reinforced with the 90 day to go deadline when our permit fees were due. Once the forms had been sent to the National Park Service and the permit fee paid and confirmed then I could take a breather and rest in the knowledge that we were going on this ‘trip of a lifetime’. In addition monies had to be paid to Moenkopi for their services; this has also been done.
We, as a team, are now almost set for our trip down the Grand Canyon. Most of the organising has now been done; apart from the numerous, and seemingly never ending, minor details, such as personal gear supplies, cooking arrangements and ‘tent mates’ etc.
With two months to go until the magical launch date of January 2nd , thoughts can now escape the interminable demands of organization to when we can finally take those first exciting paddle strokes in the cold waters of the Colorado, and push off, on a trip of 226 miles from Lees Ferry to Diamond Creek. Although it is a trip much traveled by many people, since John Wesley Powell and his team became the first to successfully navigate the lengths and depths of the Grand Canyon in 1869, it still feels like a step into the unknown, where the ‘experience’ of being deep within one of the Natural Wonders of the Earth is at the core of the raison d’etre of this trip.
Who knows what adventures await us, as a group, throughout the length of the Grand Canyon, with many dynamic variables at play; ranging from the weather, the water levels, the named and unnamed rapids, the length of the trip, the timeframe allowed, and last but not least the group dynamics; adventures that I can hardly wait to experience!
Check the weather in Wickow
Dargle Guage Feed
Online Kayaking Gear!!(and in person!!)
Blogspot for Team I-Canoe
From our man in Terrace: Jason's Blog
Grand Canyon Trip Planning
Private Boaters Association of the Grand Canyon
Irish Paddling Scene Information
message board
Water Levels Irish Rivers
my flickr photostream
Hey, silly question but I guess we are taking our gear bag on the raft to get it to the take out? Also check out my blog folks I have some pics of Hirsch Creek canyon in Kitimat and Rockstar canyon on Williams Creek.
Cheers Jay
Good work on the blog Jason…I had checked it out before. It’s always good to see stuff rom a place I have been to before and hope to visit again…I have not been to Hirsch but last year (2007) Pat nearly succeeded in sending us down Rockstar Canyon in high water levels, after giving us the wrong km figures for gets in on WIlliams! We realised fairly quickly after his description of the Upper run being easy and a little harder towards the end, when we came around a corner after a few hundred metres from the put in and had to check out some mad looking slide / drop thing….was n’t long before3 the decision was made to walk back out!!
Turning to gear bags…obvioulsy we will be taking off river, evening ‘dancing’ wear for the long cold nights ni the Canyon so my thinking is that that should see us til we get dropped back to Flagstaff, or the OUtfitter who is picking us up could have our gear bags for us when we meet at Diamond Creek…I will confirm the story…
See you soon big man…I will have my mobile phone so you can contact me when you get to Phoenix ./ Flagstaff etc…