Grand Canyon Rafting: First Trip Mistakes, Second Trip Changes
After pulling a permit for a Grand Canyon rafting trip down the Colorado River a few years ago, I faced a daunting prospect: plan a month-long rafting trip for 16 people in the middle of winter with zero rafting or rafting trip experience.
Being the Trip Leader (TL) for a Grand Canyon rafting trip affords a permit holder a lot of power to shape their trip, but it comes with incredible responsibility and stress. Planning my previous rafting trip was one of the most stressful things I’ve ever done – made worse because most people on the trip had never been rafting before. I felt personally responsible for ensuring everyone’s safety and preparedness.
A lot can be accomplished by choosing the right crew for your trip. Honestly, that’s probably one of the most important things you can do for yourself and your group if you’re planning a Grand Canyon rafting trip: make sure you’re bringing people who won’t shy away from doing work, who won’t try to skate by on the back of others, who won’t flinch at the prospect of things being cold, difficult, or uncomfortable. Having a solid crew is the equivalent of being properly trained for a race; it can help you overcome unforeseen challenges and push through the tough times.
That said, here are some of the biggest changes I’ll be making on my second trip down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon.
Deli Lunch Every Day
One of the things that was decided early on during my first Grand Canyon rafting trip? Lunch should be a deli-style lunch – every day. That means sandwiches or wraps for lunch. Now, this may apply more to winter trips than summer trips (both the trips I’ve been the TL for are winter trips) because, in the winter, your daylight hours on the river are precious. Taking the time to stop and set up a table, put out a spread, and then have everyone make their lunches in the middle of the day is a waste of time. The smarter and more efficient move is to have everyone prepare their lunch sandwiches or wraps at breakfast before everything gets packed and put away on the boats. Put your lunch in your Tupperware and enjoy it at your convenience while on the river. This will not only save time – and the pain of having to pull over at a sometimes non-existent sunny beach – but it will also avoid any temper tantrums by hungry man babies.
Upgrade Your Plastic Bottles
There’s a rule on the river: no glass. Glass is not good for rafting. It can break, and shards can puncture – not to mention the nightmare of cleaning up shattered glass on an inflatable raft (or inside a kayak or dory, I imagine). This time, I’m bringing a Parkside Flask and a Firelight Flask from High Camp Flasks. Last time, I repurposed plastic water bottles and Nalgenes for my liquor and wine on the river. But the plastic taste and the risk of leakage made for a subpar experience. Pouring nice bottles of whiskey and wine into plastic bottles felt as bad as the whole thing made each of them taste. High Camp Flasks each come with two built-in tumblers/glasses (so you don’t have to take pulls straight out of some crappy plastic bottle). As a bonus, I can leave these loose in my bag, and I won’t have to worry about them coming open if someone steps on my gear while it’s packed up on the boat.
Decide Groups and Make Assignments in Advance
How the work on a Grand Canyon rafting trip gets divided can differ dramatically. With a long, 16-person trip, I decided last time (and am deciding again this time) to have four groups of four that rotate each day as far as chore duties go. One group will have the “big chores” (e.g., cooking and cleaning), and another group will have the “small chores” (e.g., setting up the groover and wood-burning stove). One mistake I made last time, and something I will not repeat, was not sorting out the groups beforehand. Unilaterally making the groups in advance is a much better move than trying to figure it all out at Lee’s Ferry the night before your trip launches. Along these same lines, I’ve also decided who will be rowing which boat ahead of time, and I’ve decided which boat will be carrying each piece of communal gear (e.g., the power station or the boot bag – I suggest having a communal dry bag for everyone’s boots).
Ensure Responsibility for Every Task
There’s a lot of work to be done on a private Grand Canyon rafting trip. The most obvious chores are the cooking, the cleaning, and the groover (that’s the toilet) duties. However, as I learned the first time around, several other chores – particularly on a winter trip – must also be delegated. These include setting up and breaking down the wood-burning stove, cutting wood for the wood-burning stove, setting up the communal power station and solar panels, filtering water for the group, and whatever else your specific group needs may be. Not delegating these tasks to a chore group or a rotating list of individuals means that the same person will likely do these chores, becoming the de facto person in charge. Chances are, this person will resent this, and if there’s one thing you don’t want on your river trip, it’s silent (or overt) resentment.
Plan Months Ahead of Time (& Have Alternates)
If there’s one thing I’ve learned as a Grand Canyon trip leader, it’s that people will disappoint you. Sometimes life happens, and other times people are straight-up flakes, but in both of my roles as a Grand Canyon TL, I have had committed crew members abandon the trip in the eleventh hour. Two things I recommend doing (and that I did this time around) are taking deposits from people (everyone “wants to come” until it’s time to pay up) and having alternates lined up and ready to replace anyone who tries to screw you. Both of my trips have been 16-person, month-long winter trips over the holidays; these are not trips I would suggest attempting to plan in just a couple of months. I began planning in earnest my most recent December launch in March (and I still had personnel issues).
Bring More Locking Carabiners
Locking carabiners are one potentially overlooked item that everyone on a Grand Canyon rafting trip should have. On my previous trip, I had just enough to secure all the bags I used during the day to the boat, but it would have been really nice to have some extras (especially to back up some of my items that only had one locker attached to them). Every time you’re on the water – and especially when you’re going through rapids – you need to be sure that in the event of a flip, your gear isn’t going to be lost to the river. This often means (at least) two solid contact points with the boat. Locking carabiners are also great for attaching your map to your seat (I run some paracord through the spine of the map where I attach a locker and also make sure it’s tucked under a cam strap). I suggest the screwgate carabiners instead of the autolocking carabiners because they are 1) less expensive and 2) less likely to get jammed up because of all the water and sand they will be exposed to.
Theme Nights Aren’t as Important as You Think
Rafting trips are supposed to be fun—at least, this is the impression I’ve gotten (I’m also open to “not fun” rafting trip suggestions). Something river trips are known for? Costumes, parties, and theme nights. Are costumes, parties, and theme nights fun? Damn right. Are they fun if you try to shoehorn them into a trip and make everyone stress about getting the “right” costumes for the trip? Not at all. Last time, I attempted to have designated theme nights on the river and encouraged everyone to bring fitting costumes. It did not work out. You cannot predict what life on the river will bring, and I think it’s best just to let everyone have fun with what they’ve got and let the parties arise organically. Some of the best nights on the last trip were completely spontaneous. Scheduling fun is no fun; let the fun just happen.
Bring Nice Saws (for a Winter Trip)
Another tip for winter trips down the Colorado in the Grand Canyon? Make sure you have some nice saws along for the ride. In the winter, you’re allowed to collect and burn driftwood. Some rafters might not think it a stretch to say you have to collect and burn driftwood. It’s cold in the Canyon in the winter – especially once the sun goes down. Two saws I’m bringing this time around to facilitate the wood-cutting chore? (A chore delegated to a specific group each day.) Two Agawa Gear folding saws and two Silky Professional Gomboy Curve Saws. Just be sure to instruct everyone how to properly use whatever saws you bring. Yes, you’ll have a nicely stocked First-Aid kit (as required of all Grand Canyon rafting trips), but you don’t want to have to use it because someone got careless sawing wood. Gloves recommended.
Use Walkie-Talkies
From what I’ve gathered, walkie-talkies aren’t a staple in most people’s rafting kits, and I don’t quite understand why. Last time, our group brought walkie-talkies, which worked great for communication between boats. On the previous trip, we had some walkie-talkies designed for construction sites with minor water and dust resistance; however, they weren’t intended to be submerged or exposed to the water for extended periods. This time around, we’re bringing Rocky Talkie 5-Watt Radios. These are GMRS radios with an IP67 rating (meaning they can be immersed in water up to 3 ft / 1 m deep for up to 30 minutes). They also have five days of battery life and 5-watts of power for extended range. Add the Carabiner Loop Attachment, which is a surefire way to ensure you’ve got a waterproof radio that will stay attached to your PFD.
Communication Is Key
One of the best things you can do for yourself and for the group you’re going to be sharing your time on the river with is to communicate. This means listening when instructions are given, paying attention when your crew members are talking to you, and remembering to express your concerns, suggestions, and feelings as they arise. The Grand Canyon is not a place for stewing; small things can quickly snowball if left unchecked. Spending up to thirty days with what could potentially be a group of strangers can be physically, mentally, and emotionally taxing. You need to accept that the people on the river with you are your family until take-out, and you need to treat them as such (and should be able to expect equal treatment from them). Make sure there is more than one person that group members can bring concerns to and/or that nobody feels unable to voice criticism of their fellow group members. Remember EGGS. Do what’s best for the good of the Expedition, then do what’s best for the Group, then consider what’s in the interest of the Group, and then think of yourSelf – Expedition, Group Group, Self. This isn’t so much something that went wrong last time but is instead something where there’s always room for improvement.
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