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Grand Adventure - Part 1

By: Tyler Bradt

By KAVU

May 11^th, 2021

Deep in a loaded truck, Whitney Fisher spoons with a rather large bag of snacks taking up half of the front seat. Every other spare inch of the truck being occupied by people, river gear, a mandolin, guitar, 19 cases of beer, paco pads, kayaks, paddles, and an assortment of all the other things you might (or might not) imagine needing for a month long river trip.

This was no ordinary river trip we were heading to. This would be a trip through space and time, into the depths of one of the deepest, most historic, and visually dramatic canyons on earth:

The Grand Canyon

Grand Adventure - Part 1

A year earlier, I had won the lottery.... pulling a permit for one of the most coveted river trips on earth, the Grand Canyon. I pulled the permit just as COVID began popping up in news articles and Donald Trump was peppering the country with campaign rallies. It didn’t seem like the time to start organizing a river trip so I didn't bother, there was just too much uncertainty in the world and planning a year in advance isn't my style anyway.

Now, sitting behind the wheel of Rush’s Toyota Tacoma on the 20 hour drive from White Salmon to Flagstaff, AZ, I was seriously regretting the decision to postpone my planning until the last possible moment. It was Saturday, our put-in date was Tuesday, and the majority of the essentials were still up in the air......

Grand Adventure - Part 1

Grand Adventure - Part 1

Grand Adventure - Part 1

Beer, liquor, a ball for the Spike Ball game, lotions, sunscreen, chicken hats, lasers, spare batteries, my own personal clothing, and even some of the crew was yet to be accounted for.

I thought back to the simpler trips, the ones where with a couple pairs of socks, some long underwear, a jet boil and river gear.... just about anything seemed possible. But Grand Canyon trips are different. On a Grand Canyon trip, you bring the kitchen sink, turn the dial up to 11, break the fun meter at the put-in, and then hang on for the ride. Adding to the suspense, the cast of characters making their way to Flagstaff was legendary. And now all that stood between us and the Grand Canyon was the logistics for 16 people to get to Flagstaff.

From there it was all downhill.

Around 1:30 AM on Sunday morning, in the middle of Las Vegas, the four of us from White Salmon were happily munching on IN-and-OUT burgers and sipping on vanilla milkshakes with the majority of the drive in the rear view mirror. Later that day we would arrive in Flagstaff, unite with an all-star crew of great friends and somehow, attempt to pull all the pieces together for what we all knew would be a once in a lifetime trip.

Grand Adventure - Part 1

Grand Adventure - Part 1

Grand Adventure - Part 1

From our rendezvous in Flagstaff, things began to escalate quickly. Monday afternoon found us surrounded by a loosely organized array of gear at Lees Ferry, the put-in, and Tuesday morning we were getting the usual lecture from a park ranger about peeing in the river, ravens in camp, micro trash, and generally making good decisions.

My hat goes off to the park service for keeping the canyon as pristine as possible despite the tens-of-thousands of people traveling through the canyon every year. I tried my best to listen and play my role as the trip leader but my mind was elsewhere, lost in a labyrinth of canyons and whitewater downstream. Once our lecture had concluded, our permit was finally issued, and the park ranger bid us farewell. Nothing stood between us, those 270 life-changing miles, and of one of the most incredible rivers on earth.

Grand Adventure - Part 1

Grand Adventure - Part 1

Grand Adventure - Part 1

Grand Adventure - Part 1

The Grand Canyon run begins at Lee’s Ferry just below the Glen Canyon dam. Finished in 1966, this tower of steel and concrete is over 700 feet tall, more than 1500 feet long and holds back 27 million acre feet of water of the Colorado River. It’s one of the largest dams ever constructed in the United States.

The dam tragically flooded Glen Canyon, an equally impressive section of the Grand Canyon as the one we were lucky enough to be floating. Our trip would eventually end in Lake Mead, the reservoir held back by the Hoover Dam. We would be traveling from reservoir to reservoir, floating on a river that would never reach the ocean. It’s a miracle there is still this section of the Colorado river left to paddle thanks to hard fought efforts to preserve this relatively small section of the canyon.

Grand Adventure - Part 1

Grand Adventure - Part 1

Grand Adventure - Part 1

Grand Adventure - Part 1

It is important to acknowledge these are the ancestral lands of the Puebloan People. Dwellings, granaries, and thousands of artifacts are still visible throughout the Grand Canyon. Many Tribes have historic connections to the Grand Canyon area: The Havasupai, Hopi, Hualapai, Navajo Nation, Yavapai-Apache Tribes as well as the Kaibab, Las Vegas, Moapa, and San Juan Bands of Paiute Indians call the canyon and its surrounding lands home.

The Grand Canyon is a special place geographically, geologically, and archaeologically. From the oldest exposed rocks in the world to ancient civilizations, this canyon holds important history and still untold secrets of the history of the earth and human civilization.

Grand Adventure - Part 1

Finally..... the morning of March 2nd we broke camp, boats rigged, drysuits zipped, spray skirts snapped into place, our tons of gear somehow floating high on the 18 foot NRS rafts. One by one the canyon drew us in, leaving roads, cell phones, jobs, obligations, and every other part of normal society behind us.

Grand Adventure - Part 1

Grand Adventure - Part 1

Grand Adventure - Part 1

We floated underneath the Navajo Bridge, the last major landmark of civilization in a hundred miles to Phantom Ranch, where the first half of the trip would conclude. Six of our friends hiking out, and six more friends hiking in. We had 10 days to get there, a wonderful leisurely pace to relax into after the buzz and high paced days of packing, planning, driving and preparations.

Grand Adventure - Part 1

Grand Adventure - Part 1

Grand Adventure - Part 1

Grand Adventure - Part 1

Weight lifted from my shoulders as the canyon began to deepen, towering ever upward into inconceivable formations of rock. Some of the greatest art on planet Earth. The river, a thin blue line dividing the two great walls of the canyon. We had finally embarked on a journey of awe and uncertainty, our reliance solely upon ourselves, each other, and the gear keeping us safe. It was simple yet unforgiving, the desert shows little mercy in its extremes of heat, cold, and all the critters and plants that call this landscape their home. It all began to settle in as we floated under the Navajo Bridge, the last major landmark of modern civilization that we would see in a very long time.

Grand Adventure - Part 1

We made our way about ten miles down river to our first camp, Soap Creek, a wash coming in from the river right just above Soap Creek Rapid. The usual bumps of getting the trip going were working themselves out, such as figuring out which food was on what boat, cooking crew rotations, the work flow of setting up, breaking down, placing the groover, cocktail mixing..... you know, the basics.

By day two we were finding our rhythm. I had given one of my now famous speeches the evening before and much to my dismay, the crew was up early, ready to beat the 10 am goal of getting on the water.

Grand Adventure - Part 1

After another 10 miles of bliss, beauty and laughter., the swim team was growing in number as a few of the kayakers were knocking off some rust and finding the flow of the Colorado. The raft team was another story. Operating like the finely tuned machine they were, Jim and the BioBio crew from the Futaleufu drove the heavy 18 foot gear boats gracefully, making the most challenging job on the river look easy. Red rocks framed against blue sky, fun, friendly whitewater and smiling faces began to sink in as common place.

Grand Adventure - Part 1

Our existences began boiling down to the bare necessities. Food, water, shelter, a few beers, libations, and our steady "march" down the river to the next camp. River time had set in, we had nowhere to go and all day to get there.

The Grand Canyon trip had finally begun.

We left North Canyon Camp early on the morning of day three looking forward to the infamous roaring 20s, a section of river known for a steady series of rapids, one after the other. Tiger Wash was the big rapid of the day and dad who was still getting used to his Alpacka Gnarwal was eagerly anticipating the rapid. Every rapid seemed to be Tiger Wash, and Tiger Wash soon became the running joke of the trip. Finally around mile 27, Tiger Wash finally appeared, a beautiful wave train into the usual mess of boils and seams that form as the rapids become disorganized; water swirling together at the bottom.

Dad stuck the line beautifully, piloting the Gnarwhal through the waves and strong eddy lines at the bottom. Our stoke was high, smiles touching the ears, yips and hoots echoing off of canyon walls.

Grand Adventure - Part 1

Grand Adventure - Part 1

Grand Adventure - Part 1

Grand Adventure - Part 1

Grand Adventure - Part 1

As the "roaring twenties" began to wind down, I made the call the push past a camp for the chance to experience Redwall Cavern in the afternoon sun. We floated past Vasey’s Paradise, a natural spring pouring of the bright red sand stone cliff, and looked up at enormous caves where some of the last remains of giant sloths had been found. As we turned the canyon into a windless corridor Redwall cavern came into sight, glowing in the afternoon sun.

Grand Adventure - Part 1

Our long day being rewarded by one of the most beautiful scenes imaginable. Redwall cavern is easily over a football field deep and as high as a stadium, filled with fine Grand Canyon sand. We spent the rest of the afternoon here, our musicians giving us the gift of one of the best musical performances any of us had ever had the opportunity to experience. Timmy on the mandoline, Jenner and Mark on the guitar. That evening our long 15 mile day found us at a beautiful camp just at the mouth of Nautiloid Canyon.

Grand Adventure - Part 1

Grand Adventure - Part 1

Grand Adventure - Part 1

The next day we were up early again. After a breakfast of Gallo Pinto, rigging rafts, last call on coffee and groover, another beautiful day on the canyon was under foot. In similar fashion, the days flowed by.... earmarked by weather, wind, stunning canyon walls, beautiful side hikes, sandy beaches, music, rapids, great food, and top-notch comradery.

Our final camps on the top half of the canyon rolled by: Carbon Creek, Rattlesnake, Nevills, Zoroaster, and Lower Cremation. The days were each unique and spectacular, the beauty of the iridescent blue waters of the little Colorado the excitement of Unkar and Hance Rapids, and finally the sadness of finally reaching Phantom Ranch where six of our friends would depart. Luckily we had one last treat before the crew departed, another crew hiked in, and we embarked on the second half of the journey.

Grand Adventure - Part 1

Dan, Morgan, Barry and Jordan hiked in early to to join the crew for a night with the full crew together. Laughter and songs filled the canyon walls, our assortment of characters now a river tribe, in harmony with each other and canyon. The crescendo of of the top half of the canyon had come and we dared the night not to end, but in the end it did. A light rain mercifully hid our watery eyes the next day as the crew leaving hit the trail early, half of our trip behind us but for Dan, Barry, Morgan, Hannah, Jordan, Max and Jody. It had just begun…

Tyler Bradt

Favorite KAVU Item on the trip

Grand Adventure - Part 1

Footnotes

Tyler Bradt is one of a kind, KAVU to the core and brings love and light where he goes, local world wide. Stay tuned for Part 2 of the Grand Canyon.

FootNotes

Tyler Bradt is one of a kind, KAVU to the core and brings love and light where he goes, local world wide. Stay tuned for Part 2 of the Grand Canyon.

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