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Part 2, The Hualapai River Runners Trip
Just as in Part 1, Tabitha's writing is in Blue, and Jared's is in Black.From the south rim of the Grand Canyon, it was about a 2 ½ hour drive to the Hualapai Indian reservation, where we had a 7:30am appointment to meet with our bus group for the "day river adventure!"
One disadvantage of the river tour company was that all tours are non-refundable. This means that if we were to have had car trouble along the way, or had not been there for any other reason, we would have lost our reservation, which had to be paid in full. Since the tour cost just a little more than $700 for the two of us, being late would have been a very expensive mistake.
We were happy for the high speed limit on most of the roads which helped make up for the mini-detour for pictures of first light at the south rim. Along the way, there were a few mule dear (no elk for us).
We got to drive part of the way along Route 66 where there were signs along the side of the road spaced apart so that you would read all five signs and that would spell out a rhyme – usually referring to slow down your speed.
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You can read more about the history of these signs in a nice Burma Shave article here: http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles/waterman37.html
The signs provided for a few laughs and helped keep us alert in the wee morning hours, as did the opportunity for a picture of two trains traveling toward each other!
Once at the Hualapai Lodge, we were able to check in for the river trip, get our things together and wait with the other 90 people to load up onto school buses for the day's adventures!
The lodge is in Peach Springs AZ, right on Route 66. It serves as a hotel and as the starting point for the river trip. We stayed in the hotel for the night after the trip, so you can read all about it later.
The check in process seemed much less organized than I would have expected. The staff needed each of us to fill out a liability release form, but they didn't have enough copies of the form for us all. It seemed like they were surprised that we were all there, contrary to our impression that they did tours of this size every day. Once we got all of that ironed out, two school busses came around and everyone piled in. The drivers were telling us that the waterwalk people should get on one bus. We had no idea what this meant, though we later learned that some people buy combined raft and skywalk tickets. I'm sure you've heard of the glass skywalk that allows you to walk out past the canyon edge. That skywalk is also operated by the Hualipai.
After all of the "water walkers" got onto the designated bus, there was still room for some of we regular boaters, so we joined them. The only seat left was in the very back. There was one broken seat, and one seat with a cooler, and all of the others had two people.
The ride down was quite bumpy – we were in the back seat of the second bus filled with people and the roads that we used were all dirt and slightly washed out – it was a bit tricky to hold the camera still for pictures out the window, but finally I came up with the strategy to just hold the camera out and shoot away!
And shoot she did!
The road to the bottom was entirely dirt, and for the last few miles, it was coincident with a flowing riverbed.
I think some of the things that have surprised me most at this point have been the various types of cacti and how they grow in multitude together! These look like little thumbs, earlier we saw little meatballs and the traditional prickly pear, later we will see Joshua tree and really big, big, tall ones that wave and hold their arms in other such postures! By "traditional," she means like the ones that she is used to seeing at home in North Carolina.
We were in the very back row of the bus, and the emergency exit door's latch was broken. It was securely closed, but with each bump and shake, the door rattled very loudly. We should have brought earplugs!
As the road got flatter, we came to where the creekbed and the road were the same.
After a long, scenic, bumpy, noisy and dusty ride, we happily arrived at the Colorado River - with sounds of excitement and a line of boats waiting for us along the shore. We were issued a lifevest and divided into groups of 8 on 12 rafts!
When we first got to the bottom, it was time for a restroom break and to get life jackets. They also provided us with a mostly waterproof ammo box that was about 5 inches by 9 inches by 12 inches or so.
There wasn't much time wasted, only enough to stow dry things, and get situated on the rafts! There were port-o-lets available and the temperature was quite a bit warmer than it had been earlier that morning! We were quickly underway and our guide had a lot of interesting information about how different areas got their names and the rapids that he planned to propel us through with his motor on our 40 mile adventure! He wasted no time to get us acquainted with the 48 degree water - it stays cold year round and it was quite a nice contrast - surprising every now and then, but very nice - compared to the heat that felt like a hair-dryer blowing on you or like opening an oven door!
All of these pictures are with a disposable underwater camera.
As you can see, Jared's thumb made it into a few of the pictures, but hopefully you can also see that we had an absolutely amazing time - all laughing the whole ride down the river!
This picture shows our two guides, the girl - slightly chilled because she just jumped into the 48 degree water to chase after Madison's bright pink sun visor! The visor was saved and the guide was soon dry and happy again!
Don't forget to ask Tabitha how it was that my thumb ended up in the picture of me...
When we stopped at Travertine falls we got out the "regular" camera that wasn't so susceptible to finger pictures. The water that flows down from the canyon walls is warm, since it has been flowing over the warm rocks at a shallow depth. The river itself is much deeper, and perhaps that is one of the reasons that it maintains its cold temperature.
Here, they let us out for a side adventure to climb up rocks and do some rope-climbing free-style with a big man often as the top anchor! It was a good break and we had fun exploring some of the terrain at the bottom of the canyon! Also, it was amazing to look around and see the beautiful scenery - truly breath-taking! We quickly dried in the sun and then it was time to climb back in for some more rapids!
The first water splash after our break was surprisingly cold, we squealed and thoroughly enjoyed it - soon we had adjusted again and encouraged our raft guide to hit them with all he could!
There was a bit of fun competition on the water to see which guide could propel through the fastest and at times who could take the rapids a second time for an extra squeal of enjoyment!
After we were soaked and dripping, we continued down to the spot they had picked for our lunch - story is this once was a very rough area of the river and that some explorers came through - not sure if they would make it back, some continued down the river and some tried their not-so-good-luck by hiking out a different way and never were heard from again...
This spot was thus called separation canyon. The river doesn't look that rough here now, and that is because of the Hoover Dam. Our guide told us that Lake Meade, which is formed by the dam, essentially has begun by that point. Back before they built the dam, the rapids were still quite extreme at this point. They had chosen the lunch stop in a place where the river would be smooth for the duration of the trip. He also pointed out a few other sites that were surveyed for potential dams. These dams were heavily protested by locals and environmentalists, and in the end they prevailed and stopped construction efforts.
It's amazing to think of what it must have been a long time ago with different Indian tribes in the area and wagons and horses as the available transport - I don't think I would try to cross the canyon!
Lunch was very tastefully done -heehee- with home-made sandwiches, chips, baby carrots, and a drink. Very satisfying! Although it didn't seem like we had done anything exerting, we were very much ready for some food!
There were interesting rock formations, cacti, and areas where some of the people (including Madison) jumped to the water below!
After an extended stop here, we were ready to continue our trek once again down the river!
Our guide tells us that water backs up all the way from the Hoover Dam to create some much smaller baby rapids in the segment we were to continue through...
Even after the rapids, we still got plenty wet from the spray of the fast-moving boat.
Once sufficiently soaked once again, we pulled into a stop where a spring met with the Colorado river. The contrast of temperature was amazing because the river was so cold and the spring water warmed on the rocks was warm like bath water! At this place we found that it made clay along the bank - as compared to earlier when the bank was more sand and rocks. We had fun playing with the clay and squeezing it, creating our own Colorado River pottery at the river-side!
As we pulled out from this stop, some people were seen floating along-side their boats and a request started building within our boat to have the opportunity to try our luck at floating in the cold Colorado...
We went down through our final bit of splashing water and were given the option to jump in and float as we approached the calm waters of our take-out point. Jared and I were the first from our boat to jump in and I was quickly chilled and ready to get back out of the water!
Because other people were still getting out and the guide couldn't come get us, enough time passed that my body was soon numb enough to not care and at that point, the water became no longer shock-cold, but actually refreshingly crisp with the warm air on our heads - we were able to relax and float with our life-vest as a pillow.
Somehow, Jared and I ended up in the slow current and weren't really going anywhere, but once in a current, it was amazing to float and watch the majestic surroundings swallow you in!
Getting back into the boat was not graceful - but we all managed and finished up our trip with smiles as the mist from the river gently sprayed in concert with the hum of the motor.
This would be the final moments on the river, gone were the gleeful giggles and shouts... it was replaced with a quiet space as we soaked the last bit in.
I really thought that the floating was one of the best parts of the trip. As she said, the cold water was something that we got used to in a few minutes. With just my head above the water, I could feel a warm breeze blowing on my face that felt about like a hair dryer. This also helped to keep me somewhat warm. After the rest of the crowd, and the boat, had floated down the river past me, I was just bobbing along and enjoying the canyon.
At this point the river trip was a matter of just enjoying the scenery on the flat water. There are two plans for getting back to the hotel. The first plan is to take a helicopter ride back to the top, and then take a bus ride back to the lodge. If the weather permits the helicopter flights, they use this option and then the guides take the boats down the river for another 2 hours to the boat take-out point. If the weather does not allow the helicopters to fly, then everyone goes down the river with the boats.
Next we left our river-guides, collected our things and climbed the steps to where our group size was quickly realized as 90 people waited in the minimal shade for the helicopter ride to the top - at this point, we were glad to be wet to help battle the heat, but I must say, I would have happily rode in the boat a bit more!
Jared and I were lucky to have grabbed some water for our wait, and also lucky to have our number called relatively quickly!
This is the first helicopter flight I can remember and Jared's first flight as well - not often he can say that!
I enjoyed watching the helicopters before us land, hover and climb alongside the cliffs - giving some relative size to the depth of the canyon - and we were at the shallower aspect of it!
Once into the helicopter, the noise, the quickness of the movements and the dials were all a quick jolt back out of nature - although the view was still quite spectacular - it seemed like it was over before we had time enough to take it all in!
What an amazing time!
The ride back was on another school bus, this one with a different color seats and a different driver! Jared got a quick nap as we waited for the rest of our bus group and we chose seats near the front which were not quite as loud!
The ride back was as I guess it should be, more quiet and less eventful as the anticipation and excitement was now satisfied.
This is where we saw the Joshua tree and other such things - like cattle gaps and yards of nothing but dirt and dust devils moving across the fields. What a happy feeling to not have to think about driving and the nostalgic memories of a school bus, including how unforgiving the seats are!
We checked into the lodge just as the sun was starting to get low in the sky. We moved our luggage in, and showered off the river water and sweat from the day. We were a little bit worried about the hotel after reading the reviews on tripadvisor.com. People had not been impressed with the quality of the rooms or the service. We found them to be not that bad considering the circumstances. The decor was certainly not as nice as something like a Fairfield or a good Holiday Inn Express, but it was better than a good Super 8 or a bad Holiday Inn.
Thanks to the Hualapai Lodge and the River Runners, also the good food at the restaurant, I would definitely recommend this to anyone who wants a one-day river adventure on the Colorado!
Everyone was very pleasant and I found the Lodge to be comfortable and clean - a little home-made, but I especially enjoyed that they had elders in the lobby to tell stories, answer questions, and pass the time with song and dance when no one had any questions!
Before we went to eat, we sat in the lobby and listened to them tell us about the Hualipai history. They told us that the people had a verbal history, instead of a written history. This has meant that they don't have handy access to information about dates and specific times in history. Instead of saying that something happened 437 years ago, they just say that it happened a long time ago. We also talked with them some about how the present day Hualipai people keep the culture alive. In some ways I found myself wanting to ask them how they were going to ensure that their culture would survive in the world that we know today, but I never could figure out how to ask. I later told Tabitha about this question and she reminded me that my culture is just as endangered. She had a good point, which is to say that really our way of life and the world as we know it is always changing, whether it be for native americans or we immigrants.
In the restaurant, we shared a bowl of beef stew and some fry bread. For desert we had a warm apple dumpling with ice cream and that was the perfect end to the day. The restaurant exceeded my expectations for a hotel, with fair prices and good food. We would have liked to have seen more options for traditional Hualipai food, but I guess we may be in the minority there.
After a shower and a meal, we had a new outlook on life and were ready to get to sleep for our next day of adventure.
Click here for Part 3
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