Canyon

From October 9th to 21st of 2010 with a group of 12 fellow traveler I rowed an 18' raft down the Grand Canyon stretch of the Colorado river. The trip was the culmination of almost two years of planning, starting in February of 2009 when my boating companions Jose Hernandez and Lisa Leondis both won permits through a lottery for the same day, a statistical anomaly and incredible turn of luck.
We put in at Lee's Ferry and floated 225 miles to Diamond Creek, where we took out at the Hualapai reservation. The Canyon starts at about 400' deep as we passed under the Navajo Bridge and descends to over a mile down, blocking out the sun and creating a world apart from the rims towering above.


The voyage was both inspirational and challenging, several times bringing me to the brink of my physical and mental limits but in the end it gave me a glimpse of a landscape that has stayed virtually untouched for the last several million years.
There is something about floating by on a raft that puts you in a unique position to enjoy the type of scenery that Canyon offers. Instead of focusing on each steep step, you glide downstream with the steady heartbeat of water, gazing up at the walls of multi-colored rock passing slowly by, appreciating your small place among the vastness.

From my journal: "Every detail is perfection, an arid landscape of minamlist rock and shrub, transfixed in the soaring vertical cliffs. Below, the river grinds away, sometimes quietly, sometimes with an earth shaking roar." Grand Canyon will always remind me of nature's power to simultaneously create and destroy-I am in awe of the place and will always remember the trials and joys of the trip.
For more info and media, go to http://www.grandcanyon2010.com/