In the Fall of 2007, I flew down with 12 of my friends to Prescott, Arizona for a 21-day rafting and kayaking trip down the Colorado river through Grand Canyon National Park. The off-peak timing of our trip ensured privacy and solitude. We were alone. And unlike any other place on earth, cliff bands surrounded the banks and turns of the Colorado river.
We rented four inflatable rafts and two kayaks and packed them full with our gear as well as a 21-day supply of food and water. Knowing the raft could be subject to turbulence, each piece was tied down securely. The safety of the crew was a priority, so my friend Randy Johnson, a certified swift water rescue instructor, took a leadership role in the event one of our rafts flipped. Our ages ranged from the youngest being twenty-five to the oldest being sixty. In our midst we had qualified raft guides but equally we had novices and recreationalists, like me, on the trip.
With paddles in hand and our life jackets on, we set out in the early afternoon. Our two kayakers led the way scouting for rapids. In the first part of our trip, the waters lay still, so we paddled hard to move our rafts and took in the beauty and peacefulness of our surroundings. It was when we bonded. We laughed and made jokes, even about the unmentionables, like flipping the raft and if we flipped who would we save if we couldn’t save everyone? Seriously, everyone agreed that saving everyone was of utmost importance. Besides, the waters were cold measuring 50 degrees Celsius and dying a cold death and drowning was not anyone’s first choice of going out.
We passed Deer Creek and Black tail Canyons, where the rocks jutted out casting shadows along the river and then we passed Cosmic Chair Canyon, where it gets its name from a rock with Indian engravings.
A few hours had gone by before we even hit our first rapid. The Bedrock rapid as this one was called was 30 feet at its widest and about 200 feet long and categorized as a Class 3 (medium) rapid. A rapid is a shallow section of river where the water takes a steep decline on bedrock increasing in velocity and speed. This bedrock is resistant to erosion and large rocks litter the pathway. If the speed of the rapid is fast enough it can create white-colored caps on the water called whitecaps. At the top of a rapid, there is usually a stopping point and this is what we did. At the bottom of a rapid, there is usually a pool of water, deeper and still.
Getting through a rapid is strategic. A plan must first be created to ensure everyone’s safety. Randy, one of our kayakers, was chosen to be the first to go through since the kayaks are more maneuverable and since he had a lot of experience. He and our other kayaker made several runs to make sure the path chosen was the right one. As soon as we chose an appropriate path, the rafts, one-by-one, took their turn going down the rapid with the kayakers at the bottom and flank of the river. Since there were four rafts, the more experienced rafters were placed in 1 and 4 positions going through and the less experienced rafters in positions 2 and 3.
I was in the 2nd raft and paid full attention to how raft 1 went through. I studied how well the 1st raft paid attention to the recommendations the kayakers made. The plan was to bank left and then right and right again. At the last 40 feet, they should turn left and then straight avoiding any rocks in their way. There was a 5 foot drop where the water was the fastest and that scared me a bit. It would be the spot where a flip would most likely happen if it should.
There was a silence of concentration within the first raft. It didn’t take much paddling from the crew as the rapids took over. They used their paddles to steer and control their speed. They used their body weights shifting them within the raft to aide in their maneuvering. In less than a minute, the 1st raft made the left bank and quickly following to make two right turns. They took the 5 foot drop with ease. Cold water splashed all over the raft and they made their last turn at the 40 ft mark and eased into the still pool at the bottom. From the top of the rapids, I could hear a yelling of elation and victory. The first raft made it safely and with paddles in the air.
Our turn was next. We had four people in our raft, which gave us more weight. Yang, our raft’s leader, shouted, “GO! Go now! Go to the left!”
“Great! Now Gil, at the two right turns, lean your body out over the edge and stick your paddle into the water so we can make the two right turns. Ok?” He asked. I nodded. “Good. Do it now!” At that moment I did and we made both right turns leading to our drop. Yang shouted, “At this drop, I want everyone to lean forward ready to put your paddles back into the water!”
“Ready?”
“Lean forward! Now! “
The drop left my stomach up five feet up but we did it and were close to the finish. We stuck our paddles back into the water and paddled to the bottom of the rapid. With the same exuberance as the first raft, we yelled and screamed for victory. But the victory wasn’t complete – it wouldn’t be until rafts three and four came through the chute, so we sat at the bottom and waited.
We set up camp that evening at a place natives called the Sun because in the morning the sun will come out gloriously than the day before. We sat in front of our campfire celebrating today’s rapids and looking forward for more. We laughed and shared a most celebratory toast to victory on the Colorado.
Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President
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