After being on the waiting list for almost 7 years, I have obtained a, non commercial, permit for a rafting trip on the Colorado of the Grand Canyon. (average time on wait list is ~14 years) We did a 18 day strip that was a partially combined trip with a permit held by our friend Bill Burmester. Bill's trip started 2 days later as ours. Both trips met several times between 'Pres. Harding' (mile 44) and 'Crystal' (mile99).
Our put-in at Lees Ferry took place on March 17th 2004. Lees Ferry is some 15 miles (24 km.) downstream from Glen Canyon Dam and is located just outside the Grand Canyon National Park (GCNP) territory. The trip took us along many class 1 to 10 rapids (1 to ~5 for the international classification) and also along many beautiful spots that can only be accessed via the river. After 18 days we reached the take-out at Diamond Creek, having traveled through the canyon for 226 miles (362 km.).
Click here for more details of boats we used, things to take and many more. For pictures of some of our previous trips, see our Yampa and Desolation & Gray pages. Another source for ideas may be a recipe / shoppinglist donated by Ray Cahill.
An overall map of area are shown below (from Belknap's waterproof 'Grand Canyon River Guide').
On this trip a group of Americans as well as people from the Netherlands , Turkey and France participaded. The park regulations limit us to a group with a maximum size of 16 people on the river at any time. Some people hiked-out in via the Bright Angel trail (Grand Canyon Village) and were replaced by others at that same spot. See the list below for all participants:
The Dutch that have been invited:
Nanny Snijders
Paul Schreinemakers
(Permit holder, Trip leader) Louis Strous
Patrick
Strous
Martijn Rutten
(Kayak) Derya Eker
Rieks Jager
(Bottom
part
from Phantom Ranch)
The Americans invited are:
Bob Karls
(US based organizer, assigned as 'Most experienced boater
e-mail
Ed Newville
Betty Newville (Top until
Phantom Ranch) JoAnn Gambini
(France)
(Bottom
part
from Phantom Ranch) Daryl Barnes
(Kayak) Craig Ahrens
Holly
Gardner
(Top until Phantom Ranch) John Palmer
Michael Keefe
(Bottom part from Phantom Ranch) Mark Chapin
(Top until Phantom Ranch)
For pictures and some movie-shots see the links in the table
below.
| Pictures | Movies (Realplayer) |
| Pictures of the people on the trip | Regan playing in his kayak at
Nankoweap (790 Kb) Unflipping Louis' Cat after Hermit (490 Kb) Crystal Rapid (740 Kb) View at Lava Falls from Paul's boat (sneak route on river right) (830 Kb) Same Lava run filmed from the right bank (10 Mb Avi-file by D.Eker) |
| At Crystal rapid | |
| An overview of the trip |
More pictures can be viewed at Martijn Rutten's and Derya's web album pages. We even have a 27 minute movie available on DVD.
Some interesting links with the current steam flow near put in and the average weather conditions of the entire park and Phantom Range (at river level and at the bottom of Bright Angel trail, 1/3 of our trip). For the actual weather conditions at Grand Canyon Village, but keep in mind that the temperature at river level is 18 F (10 C) higher. However, the temperatures near the put-in (Marble Canyon) are somewhat cooler to start with. During this period of the year even snow can be expected. Also take a look at an overview of general weather conditions in the GCNP!
The graph below shows the same water release scheme
as we encountered during the trip. Shown is the water level measured
at Lees Ferry; the put-in. At night 5000 cfs (185 m^3/s), Sundays:
8000 cfs (300 m^3/s) and during weekdays 20000 cfs. (740 m^3/s) is
released. This 'current' will travel like a wave through the canyon. For
the current release scheme click on this graph.
Note that the "Median Daily Streamflow" is also based on lots of pre-dam data.
You should have a look at a page made by Louis Strous, with the expected maximum flow times for all bigger rapids.