Rafting the Grand Canyon on the Colorado River

Wow, this was a big time bucket list item. It all started late 2023 when my longtime friend Lee Hunnicutt called Sara and me and invited us to join he and his wife Susan on a commercial rafting trip down the Grand Canyon. He had a bunch of friends in Salida, Colorado who were putting this trip together and there were still a few slots available. Lee and I were college roommates at the Citadel after we had both returned from Viet Nam. That was fifty four years ago so our friendship is long and wonderful.

The only rafting experience we had was a two hour ride down the Arkansas river where Lee lives in Salida, CO.  We were in Lee’s fourteen foot raft which he oared; it was very mellow and had no major rapids at all. The Colorado river would be very different. It has some of the biggest whitewater in North America so needless to say we were a little reluctant and nervous about signing up for a seven day trip. 

We thought we would regret not joining this wonderful adventure, so we decided to say "Yes, we’re in!".  We were also able to invite our good friend Karen Bilder (known as KB to her friends) who is one of our skydiving buddies. 

The trip was hosted by Arizona River Runners which is the premier rafting company for the Grand Canyon. We had a group of twenty eight, mostly people from Salida and California who were family members or friends. We were on two commercial thirty five foot motorized inflatable rafts with a driver and one assistant on each raft. Our crew was phenomenal. The man in charge was Brian Dierker. Brian is a legend on the Colorado river and down in the Grand Canyon. He grew up in the area and was on the river when he was thirteen and has spent 50 years rafting in the Grand Canyon. Every single rafter we encountered on the river knew Brian. His assistant was Walt, who was equally experienced taking people down the Colorado. He had been guiding for twenty seven years and his geological knowledge of the canyon was endless. 

Our other boat was captained by Page. She was an awesome young lady with seven years of experience on the Colorado and two years driving the big commercial rafts. She is also a professional Ultimate Frisby player and plays on the Arizona Sidewinders. Her assistant was Phil. This was Phil’s first time down the Colorado on a big commercial raft. He was in his twenties and lives in Telluride, CO where he's a mountain guide, speed flyer, and paragliding pilot. He was a friend of Page’s and was considering a career in commercial rafting.

The rafts were huge, thirty five feet long and about twelve to fourteen feet wide with an outboard motor. In the middle of the boat was an aluminum frame with metal storage boxes and place to strap on all our gear. The rafts carried all our bags, tents, cots, chairs, food, water, drinks and snacks, including an extra motor and plenty of extra propellers. You are truly in wildness with no options to resupply or stop at a gear store, so you must take everything needed for the seven days. We covered one hundred and eighty seven miles on the river, easily doing do thirty to fifty miles a day.

The trip started on Monday May 6th when Sara, KB and myself flew to Las Vegas the night before our trip started. Early the next morning we met many of the trip participants and boarded the bus to the Boulder City airport. We flew in a Cessna Caravan to Marble Canyon enjoying a great view of the area from the sky. Here we met our crew and connected with Lee and Susan and the rest of our group who had driven from Salida, Colorado. We had time for breakfast, and a briefing of what to expect for the start of the trip. Then took a short shuttle ride to Lee’s Ferry which is just south of Glen Canyon Dam. Here we  packed our gear into a large water proof bag to be loaded into the middle of the boat and a small waterproof bag accessible during the day. We were ready to start our journey down the Colorado river!

Sara and I made the mistake of getting on the boat last which put us at the front of the boat. As we started going through rapids we got completely soaked even though we had our waterproof jackets well buttoned up. The temperature of the river water was 50 degrees and the wind was blowing that day. We were soaked and got really cold to the point of shaking. Of course we were thinking “ holy cow we have six more days of this”. Finally we got to our first campsite, changed into dry clothes and warmed up.  Everyone on the boat was very supportive and everyone rotated so we could sit at the very back of the boat the next day. 

The campsites were on the sandy shores of the Colorado river. They were all incredible, with amazing views of the canyons and river. We really enjoyed relaxing in camp, chatting to people over dinner, listening to the singing birds and watching the bats flying around at dusk. Everyone had a different strategy for finding a spot that met their needs, some chose close to the boats so they didn't have to carry their gear too far. Others opted for more seclusion which meant carrying gear bags, tents and cots further up the river side. Of the six nights we camped we put our tent up twice, mainly because it was so windy the sand was getting everywhere. It was wonderfully relaxing and fun to sleep under the stars. Being down in a deep canyon with no lights around meant the night sky and stars were out and bright. I was able to setup my camera right next to my cot so I could take night photos without getting up.

Each day started at 5:30 with a loud yell from Brian with a thunderous “Coffee, Coffeeeeee“. We climbed out of our sleeping bags and started the process of getting dressed for the day and stowing our sleeping bag in our big dry bag along with other personal stuff like our clothes and toilet articles. As we were breaking camp Brian and his staff were cooking a fabulous hot breakfast for all of us. It could be eggs, sausage, hash browns or oatmeal or pancakes. It was always plentiful and very tasty. Once breakfast was over we started the process of bringing all our bags, cots, chairs, and tents close to the boats where we formed a double line from the bags to the boats. That’s when we started the “duffle shuffle“ passing everything from the shore back on to the boats. This was not easy. Some of the bags could weigh fifty pounds or more. On top of that, all the kitchen equipment had to be passed onboard - chairs, tables, cooking stoves, pots, pans etc.

And then there was “the Groover“! Everybody knew before they signed up for the trip that all urine had to go in the river, not a drop on the land. Poop had to go in the Groover. The Groover was an aluminum box with two handles and a toilet seat. The box was replaced every day with a new one. The Groover was set up each night in a discreet place out of sight from everybody, typically with a nice view of the river. 

Everybody got very comfortable and nonchalant about peeing in the river. Usually the girls would go on one side of the boats and men on the other side. At night everyone had a small personal pee bucket to avoid stumbling around in the dark trying to find your way to the river. Before the trip I was a little nervous about the peeing and pooping situation. Turned out it was a non- issue. When they instructed us on how the Groover worked I asked how it got it’s name. Brian explained the original Groover was a 20mm military ammo can with no toilet seat so when you sat on it you got two groves on your butt, hence “the Groover”.

Each day after we got the boats loaded and everything strapped down and secured we would start our journey down the river. During our 187 miles trip down the Colorado we passed through about 100 rapids. The rapids on the Colorado river are rated on a 1-10 point system. 1 is very mellow and 10 is a serious violent rapid where you better be holding on with both hands. Each day we passed through rapids that were exciting and definitely got us wet. It wasn’t until the third day that we faced a 9 rated rapid. It was definitely more exciting and huge walls of water but was also a confidence builder since we had two more 9 rated rapids to get through.

We would stop somewhere on the river for lunch, usually a place of geological interest or a good location for a hiking excursion. Lunch was simple and easy to fix like sandwiches but always tasty. We all quickly got into the routine of each day, and became a team that helped each other out when needed. A number of people had been river guides and others had rafted extensively which meant they knew what to expect on a 7 day trip. Brian jokingly told us the second night that we were all much better in person than we looked on paper. We think he looked at the list before the trip started, noticed the overall age of the group and thought "oh goodness this could be a rough trip"! 

We would motor on down the river and stop around 5pm in the afternoon to set up camp and have dinner. The meals were incredible, great fish or meat, fresh vegetables/salad, with rice or potatoes and always a desert. It was amazing what the crew could cook on the side of the river, we were particularly impressed by the lasagna made from scratch and a birthday cake! We all quickly got into the habit of washing our hands, and then washing all our plates and cutlery in each of the four water basins. The final rinse included a mild chlorine solution; it was critical with 32 people in the middle of wilderness that we all stayed healthy. 

After dinner we would gather and put our chairs in a circle for music provided by several of our group. On most nights Brian would bring a couple of tiki lights and give us an interesting little lecture on some of the history, folklore, or wildlife of the Grand Canyon. As we traveled down the river all of our guides explained the geology of the canyon. I distinctly remember sitting in the boat one day looking at a very tall canyon wall and hearing one of the guides tell us we were looking at rock formations that were 1.7 billon years old. It was truly amazing.

We rode with Brian and Walt on the first three days and then finished the last days on Page and Phil’s boat. On the fourth or fifth day we went through our second 9 rated rapid - Crystal rapid. They never told us too much about what to expect but on this rapid Brian and Page pulled our boats to the shore. They walked over to the rapid to scout and discuss their route and strategy. It was pretty violent with walls of water falling on us but not too terrifying. When we got through the rapid we heard Page say “ABC“.  Somebody asked Page what that meant and she said "Alive Below Crystal". Apparently Crystal has more boats turn over and accidents then any other rapid on the Colorado river. 

Here's a video of our trip, it's about 11 minutes long and is best viewed in full screen mode: Click here to view the video.  

Our final day there was great anticipation for our last big rapid. The mother of them all - Lava Falls. When we got to this one Page stopped the boat in the middle of the river and walked around the boat and inspected all our hand holds. That day Sara and I had ended up sitting on the front right of the boat, mainly because there were no other volunteers. Sara was in the front right position and had been getting soaked all day. When Page got to us she tightened the straps and told us that our position was going to get it, Big Time!! I was next to Sara in the number two position. The girl sitting next to me had been through Lava Falls before and told me it was terrifying - thanks Nicole!  

So we got our grips and entered the rapid. It was violent and we could only see a wall of water that encapsulated us. Several seconds into the rapid I thought to myself, this isn’t too bad. Then the boat heaved and I lost one of my grips and I thought oh shit this is very serious. We made it through and everybody was laughing, yelling, and very happy to survive Lava Falls. Phil stood up and announced we had just gone through the biggest, most bad ass rapid in North America. Finally that day we made it to our last campsite called Whitmore Wash. Brian wanted to get us there because the next morning a helicopter was going to come and take us to the Bar Ten ranch where we would fly back to Las Vegas.

Our last night was joyous for everybody. We had all bonded on this extraordinary adventure and gained many new wonderful friends. It was our last meal and they saved the best for last with a delicious steak dinner cooked on a big charcoal fire. What a trip. The memories of being down in the Grand Canyon looking up at thousands of feet of rock walls some of which were unbelievably old will never leave our minds. Big time bucket list. When we got home it took awhile to come down from the wonder of this fabulous trip.

Click here to see the photos!

Iceland - Western Shores

On Tuesday, March 12th we woke to a snow covered campground. Temperature in the van was 28F, so we started as usual with Sara shuffling to the front of the van to turn on the heater. We stayed in our sleeping bags talking about the day's plans until the van heated up to a balmy 50F. The heater was excellent and kept us warm the whole trip. We had extravagantly brought a portable blender with us, and enjoyed a fresh fruit smoothie to start the day.

We were still in the north and were treated to beautiful views of snow capped mountains. Driving was tough at times with complete white out conditions on the passes, alternating with great sunny weather. We were amazed how quickly road conditions could change, Icelanders are used to checking the national road conditions before any trip as high winds and snow can quickly turn a road impassable. 

By the evening we were in Iceland's west region and our last few days. We enjoyed dinner at the local restaurant which included an excellent mushroom soup made with wild mushrooms the owner picked during the summer! The campground was one of our favorites, with the bathroom and cooking facilities inside a converted greenhouse. There were only three other camper vans which made it delightfully quiet. 

In the morning we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, and then drove 20 minutes to a spectacular location with two very different waterfalls. The first, Hraunfossar is a wide series of trickling waterfalls, coming directly out of lava rock. A short walk up the trail is Barnafoss, a narrow, twisting waterfall hurtling out of a deep ravine. We spent several hours taking photos and then drove 160km to our final waterfall destination. Kirkjufell is a large free standing mountain with several waterfalls in the foreground. It is a popular location due to being used in Game of Thrones, much of which was filmed in Iceland. The weather was pretty atrocious, with a bitterly cold wind and there were a number of photo groups trying to take shots on the narrow slippery path. We both got a little cranky, but stopped at a lovely café for coffee, hot chocolate and cake which restored our spirits. 

It was a very windy drive to the camp ground and we arrived cold and worn out. We joined the rest of campers in the kitchen area and soon warmed up with a large dinner. We saw the Australians we'd met several days earlier, and also the couple from Vermont and enjoyed catching up with them all. We also had a fascinating geo political conversation with a couple from Germany. 

Thursday the 14th was our last full day of adventure. We stopped in the small town of Akranses to look at an old abandoned boat, and then drove into Reykjavik for lunch. We had an incredible meal at Old Icelandic Restaurant and then stopped in the Icewear store to buy some more clothes. Our final treat of the evening was a soak in the hot waters of Sky Lagoon a perfect end to our Iceland experiences.

Our campground for the evening was close to the airport and Happy Campers where we had to return the van in the morning. We arrived late after relaxing at Sky Lagoon and climbed into our sleeping bags for our last night in the van. In the morning we ate breakfast in the small camp kitchen and chatted to the couple from Vermont again, who we had also seen at the Old Icelandic Restaurant. We all laughed at how relative strangers kept meeting. After returning the van we spend a relaxing afternoon at a hotel before flying home the next day.

Here are John's final thoughts on Iceland. It’s a beautiful interesting country. It’s smaller than we realized, about the same size as the state of Kentucky so we were able to get from one destination to another quicker than we expected. The country's population is around 370,000, with about 1.7million tourists visiting mostly in the summer. Since it's an island situated in the North Atlantic ocean the weather is erratic and unpredictable which we knew that before we left America. Unfortunately, we never saw any Northern Lights because of overcast skies. When we were in the south it rained every day, which was hard for me because I don’t usually do photography in the rain.

Our camper van worked like a champ and was a fun little adventure driving it all the way around the country on the Ring road. The water falls were amazing and plentiful. Sara’s time at the horse farm was a great time for both of us, I’m so glad we pulled that off. A big highlight that was a bit of a surprise were the four hot thermal baths. The two famous ones, Blue Lagoon and Sky Lagoon are both near Reykjavik. Vox Baths was one of our favorites, it was on a lake just out of the town of Egilsstadir in eastern Iceland. It was beautiful and very enjoyable. Our other favorite was near Akureyri which is the biggest city in the north. It was called Forrest Lagoon and was up above the city next to a forest, it was really special and after a couple of beers pretty darn romantic.

All the people we met were very nice and all spoke English so communicating was easy. It was a great adventure and very memorable. One more bucket list item checked off.

All in all it was an incredible trip!

Click here to see the photos and videos

Iceland - Horses and Henges

Saturday the 9th we left the southern beaches and drove up the east coast, an area of Iceland we enjoyed a lot. The east region is much less crowed and undeveloped compared to the south, and full of dramatic fjords and soaring cliffs. We took our time on the drive, stopping a few times and arrived at the small town of Egilsstaoir late afternoon in time for a soak in Vox baths. This beautiful geo thermal pool is on the side of Lake Urriðavatn and exactly what we needed to warm up after getting chilled over the last few days. To follow Icelandic bathing tradition we experienced a quick dip in the freezing lake - yep it was cold! It was a beautiful evening and we enjoyed relaxing, a few local Icelandic beers and chatting to people.

The campsite we stayed at that night was one of our favorites. It had a large, warm kitchen and dining area, so we cooked a meal and used the laundry facilities. We had noticed we were by far the oldest people at the campsites and it was always fun talking to young enthusiastic people from around the world.

The next morning we were eating breakfast in the camp kitchen and noticed some advertising for horse riding. Horses are a big part of Sara's life since she had horses as a teenager and used to compete in show jumping and cross country. One of her bucket list items for this trip was to ride an Icelandic horse. Sara called the farm to see what options were available that morning. Yes, 11am is perfect, and no problem to be going out with the local children! It was an amazing, unforgettable experience, and Sara loved meeting Helga and Siggi the owners, as well as the local children who joined the hour long ride along the river. The horse she rode reminded her of her childhood horse - similar color and just as feisty.

The Icelandic horses are known for the special gait called a Tolt - a very smooth pace between a walk and a trot. It was very comfortable. After much discussion with her husband Helga gave Sara a horse who had a very good Tolt, and who also went into it very easily. He was an amazing horse, willing, and tolerant of miscues since she's not used to 5 gaits! Afterwards Helga wanted Sara to experience riding another horse, and let her ride Helga's horse on her own for a while, which was quite the gift and privilege!  As John commented Sara was happy all day long!

After a late lunch we left town and drove a dirt road to Stuðlagil canyon, full of basalt columns and frozen waterfalls. We continued driving east, now fully in the north region of spectacular frozen mountains and high road passes. We took a side road to check out Dettifoss, which is Europe's most powerful waterfall. The road had some areas of snow and ice and was slow driving, so we didn't arrive until 6:30pm. Since the viewpoint was at least a 30 minute hike each way on deep snow we decided not to risk a night time hike in freezing temperatures and after checking the road conditions realized the road north was impassable. So we drove back down the icy road and spent the night at a small campground near Lake Myvatn. We enjoyed a great pizza and beer right next to the camp site and chatted to some Australian's who were physical therapists temporarily working in the UK.

Monday the 11th was John's day for a bucket list item - the Arctic Henge. We checked the Icelandic road conditions national site which is excellent, and determined there were some open roads, so off we went. We drove north all the way to the very top of Iceland to a small town called Raufarhofn. It's just below the arctic circle and John has been fascinated with visiting since we started our trip planning. It's similar to Stonehenge in terms of concept, an arctic version built in the last 30 years inspired by the Norse poem Völuspá (Prophecy of the Seeress). Something related to the history of Norse gods, dragons and dwarfs. The weather cleared and we enjoyed a few hours walking around the stones and imagining Norse legends!   Click here for a video update from John! You will need to turn on the sound to listen as the video always started muted. 

On the way to our evening campsite we stopped at Godafoss, a magnificent circular waterfall, and then drove to Akureyri the largest town in the North. It was our longest day, driving 370km and arriving into town around 8pm we  realized we had time to visit Forest Lagoon. We spent a romantic few hours warming up in the hot waters, with a beer and admiring the night view of the town and the forest surroundings. We met a young couple from Vermont on a similar drive around the ring road and enjoyed chatting to them. The hot lagoons were fantastic for many reasons. We were getting pretty chilled being outside in the winter, and since we were camping showers took a lot of effort and typically required a wait. The lagoons all had excellent, clean shower facilities, so we could increase our core body temperatures with a soak, leave clean (with the required pre and post shower) and have an amazing experience. Vox Baths and Forest Lagoon were our two favorites for sure! We were exhausted by the time we stopped for the night so ate pickled herring (surprisingly good) and chocolate biscuits for dinner and crawled into our sleeping bags.

Click here for the photos and videos

Iceland - Southern Beaches & Glaciers

Thursday 7th March was the start of a few days of beaches and glaciers. We stopped in the town of Vik for groceries and diesel. It had rained off and on most of the morning so we popped into the Lava café for a snack and then went to the Icewear store so Sara could buy a belt. Oh dear!  Several hours later we left with a large credit card charge, an excellent pair of wool lined pants for Sara (which she wore for the rest of the trip), a beautiful sweater for John and two hand knitted warm hats - and oh yes a belt! Icewear started in 1972 as a local knitting company with the slogan" Be Warm be well" 

We got a break from the heavy rain and stopped at Reynisfjara Black Sand beach, which has impressive cliffs and sea views. The beach is also known for "sneaker waves" which often push further up the beach than expected. The offshore rip currents are infamous for their strength and ability to drag helpless people out into the freezing cold open ocean.

We carefully took photos, keeping an eye on the waves and the people who were getting knocked down by the sneaky waves. As we were leaving the beach we momentarily took our eyes of the sea and yes, got soaked over our ankles by a sneaker wave! Luckily we stayed on our feet and sloshed back to the van to change into dry boots. The second beach we visited was calmer and more enjoyable! We drove on 150km to Skaftafell National Park which was a great camp ground and enjoyed an excellent long warm shower after the cold wet day.

Friday we were treated to a cold but dry sunny morning and a magnificent view of snow capped mountains. We left the campground and quickly found an excellent view of Skaftafell glacier and stopped for photos, a drone flight and a quick hike. Our next stop was Jokulsarlon glacier lagoon and Diamond beach, and potentially a visit to an ice cave in the glacier. We parked by the beach and walked to the glacier lagoon, enjoying the views of floating icebergs and seals. The ice cave tour was closed due to raising water so we returned to the van and heated up a hot soup lunch, feeling a bit sorry for the people outside in the pouring rain eating their sandwiches. Yes, it was cold, wet and windy a lot in this area!

We got a bit of a break in the rain and explored Diamond beach which has huge pieces of ice from the glacier that reach the sea via the river and have been deposited on the beach. The icebergs are polished by the sea waves to look like incredibly large diamonds lying on the black sand. Enjoy the videos with the sound turned on to hear the waves.

We ended the day at another beautiful ocean beach area next to Mount Vestahorn. We had hoped to see the northern lights over such a spectacular scenery, but the weather wasn't cooperative with clouds and rain. So instead Sara made what John said was the best grilled cheese sandwich he had ever had. Amazing what you can do on a single camp stove inside a van.

Click here to see the photos and videos!

 

Iceland Expedition 2024

We arrived in Iceland late Sunday March 3th after a day and a half of travel, ready for 2 weeks of fun exploring the land of fire and ice! The next day we picked up our camper van and headed into Reykjavik, spending the afternoon wandering the streets and sights along the sea front. The city has interesting architecture and loads of good places to eat; we had an excellent lunch at the Bastard Grill. 

Tuesday the 5th we spent several hours in the hot waters of Blue Lagoon. Quite a unique experience with blue waters, rising steam and white silica face masks. The lagoon had been closed for a few days due to volcanic activity just 10 km away, and we were lucky it reopened. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience and continued to stop at hot springs for the rest of the trip.

After a stop for groceries, diesel and water for the van we headed to our first stop in Thingvellir National Park. We arrived at dusk in wet and windy conditions, something that was repeated for most of the week. Since it is winter most camp sites have basic facilities and we just parked the camper van in the parking lot with the other campers, had a quick snack and crawled into our sleeping bags. The camper van is a Volkswagen Transporter 4x4, converted to sleep two in the back, and a small area with a sink and camping stove. It worked amazingly well for the trip. 

The next day we drove what is called the Golden Circle - an area with stunning mountains, and waterfalls, including Gullfoss and Seljalandsfoss - two very large water falls. It was wet and very windy all day - good thing we had full "foul-weather" gear! We stopped to see some Icelandic horses, who are very friendly and very furry with their thick winter coats. 

We had lunch at a very cool restaurant that is inside the largest indoor tomato farm. Fridheimer's had amazing tomato soup and bread, and we took a delicious olive loaf with us to enjoy in the van. Iceland has huge heated and lighted greenhouses to grow their vegetables inside since the growing season is so short, with cold and dark winters. Energy in Iceland is very cheap, with 73% coming from hydro power and 27% from geo thermal, they lead the world in renewable energy.

We spent the night at Skogafoss campground, right next to the waterfall and were treated to a magnificent view in the morning (Thursday 7th). The weather is very changeable and by the time we had finished breakfast and made the short walk to the falls it started to rain. This was a pattern to be repeated most of the trip. Luckily by the time we got back to the van, rather damp and a little irritable, the weather cleared and John was able to get an excellent photo!

Click here for the photos and videos!