What a privilege it was to raft the Grand Canyon for a second time.
Almost a year ago, I set out on an adventure that changed my life. My family and I left for an eight-day trip through the Grandest Canyon on Earth, from Lee's Ferry to Diamond Creek with Arizona Raft Adventures (AzRA). Since then, not a day has gone by where I don't think about the mighty Colorado River, the canyon walls and the desert skies.
After our trip, I was looking for any way to get on another river trip, whether it was as a swamper, an assistant or a volunteer. I reached out to both of our guides from my first trip, the head guide at AzRA and found nothing. I gave up after a few months of digging. One day I was scrolling through Facebook and stumbled upon a link that AzRA shared, Arizona Game and Fish (AGFD) was looking for volunteers to help them electrofish and study the native fish populations for ten days. I applied without hesitation.
And here I am, on the other side, reflecting on my second time through the Canyon. I can't believe I've done it twice. 5 million people visit the National Park every year, only 22,000 ever get to raft through it—that's less than 1%. Only a handful of permits are given out to private boaters every year, some enter the permit lottery annually, and never are given the opportunity. This will be one of many posts about my twelve-day experience from Phantom Ranch to Pearce Ferry.
The Grand Canyon is something truly special. I'm not the first one to notice it, Native Americans have called it sacred for centuries; John Wesley Powell admired it's beauty in 1869 during his legendary expedition; Teddy Roosevelt said to leave it be, men can only mar it.
So about a week into our trip, we camped below Diamond Creek (new territory for me), had dinner, and the scientists went out to electrofish while we stayed behind to watch the sunset and relax. I set up my Gorilla tripod, neutral density filter, and wide angle lens, to capture this desert sunset that was forming around the canyon walls.
I sat on the beach, watched the moon rise, and began to think about what makes the Grand Canyon so special for me.
Rafting the Grand Canyon comes with a plethora of challenges. It's hot. It's dry. It's long. It's easy to get claustrophobic, dehydrated, cranky, hungry, exhausted, etcetera. But all these challenges come with great rewards: desert sunsets, sounds of the river, boatman's stories, the company of new friends, loads of history, and never ending beauty.
The Grand Canyon makes you feel small and insignificant. It makes you think about who you really are, what is important to you, and who you want to become. Every night, I watched unforgettable sunsets and reflected on my life and what I can do to make it better.