Floating the Lower Colorado

In July our "little" family embarked on a float trip down the lower portion of the Colorado River. It was to be a 5 day trip. For months we carefully prepared for this adventure: going on hikes to get in shape, getting the proper equipment and gear, and reading about other rafting experiences on the Colorado. We were excited about the trip (at least 2 out of the 3 were :))

We contracted with a company to have our duffel bags transported to the river by mule while we hiked the 9 miles down from the Grand Canyon's South Rim. Everything went well until the boats showed up at the the bottom of the canyon without our gear! There were 22 other people plus 4 crew members on the trip and all their bags made it. Ours were nowhere to be found. Two of the crew hiked to the nearest Ranger Station to try to determine where our bags were. Upon their return they gave us the unwelcome news that our bags were still on the South Rim and there was no possible way to get them to us. Since the launching of the rafts had already been delayed for 2 hours they gave us 5 minutes to decide if we were going to go ahead and go on the trip or if we wanted to hike back out. Neither of the choices looked appealing to us but we decided to go ahead and float the river.

To make a long story short....despite the prospects of having only the clothes on our backs for the next 5 days, ...despite getting totally soaked by 3 major rapids within the 1st mile of launching, ...and despite the first nights monsoonal rains while trying to set up camp ...we had a blast! Early on Jennifer and I were not happy campers but the miserable beginning became an enjoyable experience because of the kindness and generosity of our fellow travelers . They shared with us enough equipment and clothing that we had something to wear on the rafts by day and something dry to change into for the night. It will be a trip to remember for sure.

Over the last 24 hours the news has been reporting about a flash flood on the Colorado River in the Havasu Falls area. Even though our trip had problems at the beginning I'm glad we didn't have to endure this too. As I look at this photo I wonder if Jennifer or I would have had the guts to let us be airlifted out. Yikes! It also makes me wonder, if they can pluck people out of the canyon couldn't they have delivered our duffel bags? Hmmm ...of course then we wouldn't have a story to tell.