A Look into Whitewater Rafting: My experiencing going down the Grand Canyon in a pontoon boat with Canyoneers!!
In the Summer of 2022, before my senior year of high school, my dad took my sister and I whitewater rafting down the Grand Canyon. This was a once in a lifetime trip that was truly so exciting and fun. I met some great people and experienced different ways of hiking, swimming, and trying new foods.
Starting the Trek
Our family decided to do the 5 day whitewater rafting trip with Canyoneers, which included hiking 7.5 miles down the Grand Canyon through Bright Angel Trail and meeting at Pipe Creek. This trip was 136 miles on the water, starting at Pipe Creek and ending in Diamond Creek, the lower canyon. My dad, sister and I trained for months for the hike down. This included stair master and treadmill for 30 minutes, 2-3 days a week. I definitely felt more prepared, but there were my moments when I got tired. Since the hike was downhill for 7.5 miles, we had to train for the amount of weight our knees would take going downhill. We had to carry everything we were taking on the trip down to the river. My sister and I each had 30 pound packs. We went on several hikes with that poundage so we were prepared. My dad, however, had 55 pounds because of the batteries for our cameras and to charge everything.
The beginning of the hike (for me, at least) was a breeze. We hiked at dawn and while it is scary to be hiking the Grand Canyon because of how deep and dangerous it is, I got over my heights fear and enjoyed the view. The sunrise on the rocks was beautiful. Every 2 miles, I took a break to wait for my dad and sister, recording the scenery around me. At mile 4, the last bathroom and water stop before the bottom, my dad was done carrying his pack. I offered a while back to carry it (because it was heavy), and I am glad I wasn’t given the pack until almost the end. The last 3.5 miles (personally the hardest 3.5 miles ever), I offered to carry my dads pack. The switchbacks for the last 3.5 miles were extremely scary and rough, but I made it to the end and got on the boat! The other people we hiked with, along with the people who chose to do the 10 day trip, were at the river waiting for us.
Days 1-2
The part one of my Youtube Video is days one through two. Day one of this trip was mostly us hiking down the Grand Canyon and ending with day 2 of our trip. Once making it to the water, we hopped on and went a few miles down the river before camping for the night. We were given sleeping pads, sleeping bags, a tarp and a tent. Since it was the summer, most of us decided to sleep under the stars rather than in a tent. My sister slept in the tent for the first couple nights and afterward, we used it sometimes to change. My dad and I slept under the stars the first night. At about 5 in the morning, we were woken by the light rain. Since we had our tarp, we were able to pull the tarp over us so we didn’t get all of our stuff wet. Everyone woke up with the sun and we to sleep after sundown. Our first full day on the river, I decided to go in a different boat than my dad and sister and that’s where I got to know Angela and Kristina, another pair of twins on the trip, like my sister and I. They are one year older than us and their birthday is only 2 days apart from my sister and I. Their whole family was on the boat I went on, so I got to know them better too. Day two was filled with many rapids, including ones with the rule “down and in”. If the guides deemed a rapid to be unsafe to be sitting up top, they would have us sit on the inside of the boat to prevent us from falling into the river. We did one “hike” that day. It included us walking to this nature-made waterfall from the rocks above. After that, we continued down the river. The days were long with river rafting which meant it was hotter as the day went on. Some people would get buckets of water dumped on them to cool them off. I personally didn’t want to take that plunge. Right as we set up camp for day 2, it started raining again. Luckily, we had a little spot that was under a cave/cliff so we were dry.
Days 3-5
Day three through five consists of going down the river, experiencing rapids, and going on cool hikes. We were given a map of all the rapids at the beginning of the trip, so when I edited this video, I went back and found every. single. rapid. we went through. We got to see Deer Creek Falls, go spelunking, and have some more “down and in” rapids. Some of them had us all gasping at how much water would come up onto the boat. One of the days, we went through so many rapids, we were freezing (believe it or not) by the end of the day. We saw many boats on this trip and would usually stop to say hi to them. The guides would have funny games to play with us and sometimes the boats would join along. This trip was also super educational. The guides knew the river very well and would tell us tones of stories about the history of the rapids and the river itself. There were stories about the “eye of oden” in the Lava Flow Rapid and a frying pan bolted to a rock during one of our rapids.
Conclusion
This was genuinely one of my favorite trips ever. I had so so much fun with my family and the new friends I met. The guides had so much knowledge to share with us and always had a way to make us laugh. I loved this trip so much that I would love to do it again in the future. While it might seem nerve wracking at times, this trip was so cool. The experiences I had with the river and the people are something I will never forget. If you are ever on the fence of going, do it!
