Our group had landed on a campsite only across the Colorado River in Deer Creek Fall, and we weren’t about to let a little rain dampen our souls. The rain lasted as I built my goodwill, spread my spade and looked for relief. While the sun was buried in black clouds, a patch of blue growing on the horizon gave me hope. As the blue skies approached, I can see that the sun will be introduced and that we–and, more to the point, the falling rain–would be bathed sunlight. Rafting Grand Canyon offers a perspective on this particular iconic park, and something magical happens.
Dual rainbow along with Colorado River, Grand Canyon National Park.
A low sun angle, sunlight and rain are the components for a rainbow. Although I’d always dreamed of having a rainbow arcing above the Grand Canyon, I tried to not get my hopes up. But when it became evident that there was a rainbow inevitable, I suspended my campsite installation, grabbed my camera, and hurried into the river like Paul Revere, crying, “A rainbow is still coming! A rainbow is still coming! ” Of course, with the rain my shouts were greeted with skepticism, but I insisted, and in moments we were marveling in a rainbow exposing the Grand Canyon’therefore reddish walls. Ten minutes after, when the rain eventually ceased and the rainbow faded, our guide told us this was the most vivid, longest-lasting rainbow that he &rsquo.
There are several ways to experience Grand Canyon, yet to appreciate this natural wonder’s scale, diversity and power, nothing fits a trip rafting Grand Canyon on the Colorado River in the shadow of its walls. “Putting in” in Lee’s Ferry, about 15 kilometers downriver from Page, the Grand Canyon eases you in to its majesty. Here in the start of Marble Canyon, the Grand Canyon’s only important north/south trending segment, the walls are measured in tens of thousands of feet, not tens of thousands as well as the lake ’s pace is a gentle float punctuated by rare riffles and minor rapids.
Colorado River reflection, Grand Canyon National Park.
Back in Marble Canyon, the Colorado River has begun the relentless carving that will reach 6,000 feet to the plateaus downstream. As you float along, you’ll notice the canyon walls gradually climbing to expose layers of lithified sediment, each layer representing millions of years of Earth’s history. Even the Kaibab limestone that was only a few hundred feet above your head at the onset of the journey now towers over a million feet. And, being you’ll soon discover, that’s only the start.
About 60 kilometers (as the raft floats) in Lee’s Ferry is the confluence of the Little Colorado River, wherever your trip takes a metaphorical and literal turn. Just downstream from the confluence, the Colorado River makes a 90-degree bend to stream west, along with the Grand Canyon’s narrowly spaced walls open to show vast expanses of sky. Home to some of the darkest skies in North America, each square inch in the base of the Grand Canyon is magnificent for photographing and viewing celebrities, but nowhere else in the lake is really much skies visible.
The river also picks up speed after the Little Colorado. Not merely do the rapids increase in intensity and size, but also they become more frequent. And just as suddenly as the canyon walls opened, they lean, and you also find yourself careening beyond stones that are nearly 2 billion years old, through the inner gorge. In this part, under the scenic vistas understood to most Grand Canyon South and North Rim people, you get a chance quick before the looms.
Colorado River rapid, Marble Canyon, Grand Canyon National Park.
West, the action moderates somewhat –not in seriousness in frequency–but that the more sights continue to unfurl at a relentless pace. The river deposits you live in Lake Mead, you’re a seasoned river veteran with traversed a cross-section of Earth’s history dating back more than two billion years.
Balancing this intensity is going to be a few of the minutes you’ve. For much of the canyon’therefore 277 kilometers, the water is separated by long stretches of water. In such areas where calm prevails, utter silence is interrupted only by the sounds of wildlife, water and wind. At any point on the river, you might discover a hawk’s cry, spy on a California condor perched atop see or an outcrop a household of bighorn sheep scamper across the ledges. At night, if you’re lucky, you may see a ringtail cat glowing by the fires of your campfire’s eyes.
Deer Creek Fall, Grand Canyon National Park.
One of the things that struck me most on my excursion rafting Grand Canyon and that awes me with each return is the characteristics that include the canyon’s character and personality. Viewed in the rim, the expanse of layered stone, accented by occasional glimpses of the distant Colorado River’therefore meandering thread, create for photography. Up high, the stone is still king.
But in the canyon’s base, it’s clear the river is definitely in charge. You see that the stone that looks so solid from a space is riven with narrow slot canyons caves along with waterfalls that are spring-fed. Garnishing this detail are towering enormous buttes and spires, by hanging arenas that become excruciating cataracts and ridges cut.
Water, Little Colorado River, Grand Canyon National Park.
I think that the Grand Canyon characteristic I was most unprepared for is that the blue of the Little Colorado River and Havasu Creek during the months before the summer monsoon muddies the water with debris and sediment. And speaking of clean water, my preferred time for the excursion is spring, when the temperature is hot but not overly hot, along with the Colorado River runs a hot, translucent green which ’therefore a stark contrast to the opaque brown of the monsoon months.
But the Grand Canyon isn’t stone and all water. An eye might spot the remains from an home made plan to block the Colorado River. And also a detective function in the canyon shows ancient plant and animal fossils, and more signs of Native American inhabitation, like the granaries in Nankoweap.
Elves Chasm, Grand Canyon National Park.
One last component of sightseeing Grand Canyon that shouldn’t be missed is closeness and that the community that the experience promotes one of rafters. On each trip, lifelong friendships form between rafters (myself included) who were complete strangers when we pushed off in Lee’s Ferry. Nothing bonds strangers, friends and individuals alike, even more carefully than laughter, stories and shared meals, as well as a perfect moment in nature’s experience. The rainbow I began with occurred four years back, but memory, along with the memory of who I was with, will persist for a lifetime.
The article Rafting Grand Canyon appeared on Outdoor Photographer.
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