Prepping for Your Grand Canyon River Adventure Part 1

A woman in a grey shirt is holding a piece of cake with strawberry jam on it.

By Luisa

For most, rafting down the Colorado River and camping IN the Grand Canyon is an once-in-a-lifetime trip. But for those who are privileged to have this amazing opportunity, preparing for your trip should start many weeks prior to departure.

Alas, I was too busy with my daughter’s high school graduation and all the pomp and circumstance surrounding it to prepare ahead of time for our family’s Colorado River rafting trip with Grand Canyon Expeditions. In hindsight, I wished I had prepared myself and my family more ahead of time. While the trip was amazing, the first day’s transition might have been easier had I prepared earlier.

Here’s what I learned from my family’s trip rafting the Colorado River:

PREPARING YOUR KIDS AHEAD OF TIME

One thing my nine-year-old son Ethan and I did do properly was watch the detailed trip DVD that Grand Canyon Expeditions (GCEX) provides to all guests. The DVD includes many short yet specific videos that gave us an excellent idea of what to expect on our upcoming adventure. For those who aren’t booked yet on a GCEX river rafting trip, you can view a general video on youtube.

My one suggestion is that you temper the shots of the white water with reassuring comments if you have grade-school children coming on the trip. My nine-year-old was a bit anxious after seeing video footage of the big river rapids we’d encounter. Now that I’ve experienced them with him, I realize if I told him that the rapids are nature’s version of water rides you find at theme parks he would have been less concerned. After day of running rapids with GCEX, my son’s trepidation waned immensely – as did mine. By mid-trip, Ethan was brave enough to sit in the front of the raft during rapids!

Another idea is to do a little research ahead of time online to learn more about the anatomy of a river rapid. Knowledge is power and it will help younger children feel more comfortable once they encounter Colorado River rapids.

Similarly, I wished I had gotten some books about the Grand Canyon prior to our trip for my son and me to learn more about this natural wonder. If Ethan had seen in a book or map where it is geographically located and how GRAND the canyon really is, it would have given him a helpful reference point. GCEX provides a link on its website to Google Earth which provides birds-eye views of the Grand Canyon:

“TO DO” LIST

In pre-trip documentation, GCEX sends guests a detailed list of what to expect and also what to bring. I strongly suggest you follow the “what to bring” list – I did not and almost regretted it. Here’s why:

One of the recommended items is rain gear. I thought, “Why in the world do I need to go buy rain gear since we’ll be in the sunny, dry Grand Canyon?” I didn’t realize that the water temperature of the Colorado River in the summer is in the 50’s. Therefore, when you’re runnin’ river rapids, the water feels mighty chilly when it cascades on you! If it’s early morning or late afternoon, chances are the sun’s position will create shade on the Colorado River. That means you will feel cold and stay wet after every rapid.

If you have to do any shopping for trip items, leave yourself plenty of time to find the items you need. For example, neither my son nor I had any proper sandals that could double as water shoes on the rafts yet have support for short hikes. Since I had to specifically shop for these items, I’m really glad I left myself time to do so since I did have to go to a few stores until I found the Keene-brand sandals that were perfect – and totally worth the investment!

I was very thankful that the personnel at the GCEX pre-trip orientation advised us that rain gear is necessary to keep dry from the rapids. Since GCEX offers a selection of rain jackets and pants to purchase during pre-orientation, I took advantage of this and was extremely pleased I did!

Another item sold at the pre-trip orientation is a laminated river map. Some of our new-found friends on the trip had purchased one. The kids and teens loved passing it around periodically to see what mile marker we were at or to learn fun facts about the Colorado River and its brave early explorers.

WHAT IS EXPECTED OF YOU

Every night and morning of your GCEX adventure, you are expected to pitch your tent(s) and then pack them back up, along with your sleeping mat and sleeping bag. (However, if you opt to sleep under the stars, tenting-pitching is not necessary. The choice is yours nightly.) As a suburbanite who had not camped before, I found this a bit daunting the first 24 hours of our trip. However, within a day it was no big deal and I got faster at accomplishing those tasks daily.

Once on the Colorado River by day, you will be expected to wear a life vest at all times. All clothes and rain gear fits under the life vest.

Oh, and for those of us who are middle-aged, keep in mind that there aren’t any steps to help you get onto the raft. You have to climb or hoist yourself onto the buoyant rafts. While at first my raft-climbing technique was very lacking, after the first day we made trip friends and some of the teens in our group would easily hop onto the raft and then hoist me up!

READY, SET, GO!

So you’ve been diligent packing and you’re becoming a pro at pitching your tent. What’s left?

Relax, sit back and enjoy the ride — literally and figuratively!

While I’ve been on hundreds of family trips – most of which offer some aspect that is relaxing – there is nothing like being on the Colorado River for a week to really re-wire you for relaxation. River runnin’ is the equivalent of watching an Omnimax-style movie – but you’re the star! Not only is the scenery that passes you by so amazing that it sometimes looks fake, but the constant sound of the Colorado River easily will lull you to sleep each night.