If it involves serious nature &/or adrenaline count me in!!!
Back in the early 80's I spent a week rafting the Grand Canyon with my dad. It remains one of my favorite experiences ever and I have done many excellent adventures before & since. It truly was a grand experience. Some of the staff for our group of 3 boats included a historian & a geologist so they shared their knowledge along the way. The rafts were loaded with all the food, ice, & beer for the week. The staff did all the cooking & other chores although some of us usually helped.
The rapids are incredible of course. Pictures can't begin to describe the sheer size & power of them. All those waves one sees in pictures & video are formed by rocks under the water. Big rocks. Those rapids can easily eat a person & their raft.
John Wesley Powell's first trip down must have had a huge pucker factor. There was still one boat of his stuck on a tree limb high above the water. I'm sure he had a story to tell about that. Three people left his first expedition in the middle of his first trip. Never to be seen or heard from again. Nothing but miles & miles of uncharted desert in all directions. What were they thinking?
The rafts we used were large with multiple powerful motors. The motors weren't used except to position ourselves in the right spot before entering the larger falls. I remember one particular gnarly falls where we pulled over before reaching it. Two of the staff walked out onto the rocks to observe the falls. I went out with them. They were very keen on getting that one perfect because any mistakes could be disastrous. We sat there for about an hour then some kayakers approached from upstream. Turns out they were Olympic kayakers & ultimately did go down. One or two did flip but recovered nicely.
I mentioned beer earlier because it was a factor the first night. The group included 3 Canadian high schoolers who had just graduated. City boys, first time camping but they had the beer drinking part down pat. Most nights we camped on sand bars but that first one we were all camped on solid rock. In the middle of the night it started raining. All the water from the rocky desert & the rim ultimately flowed down toward the river. Right through the low lying V shaped part of the rock those drunk kids had set their tents up on. All of a sudden we heard a big commotion. They were trying to save all their gear from being swept away. My dad & I were closest so we helped them capture their gear & get set back up again. Welcome to adulting eh?
Other memorable moments included a lunch break in a huge natural amphitheater when it rained again. Hard. All of a sudden a couple of house sized boulders were swept over the rim & crashed right in front of us. Good thing nobody was standing there. Another time after dinner I took a short hike & was sitting on a rock just watching the river. Turned around & there was a bighorn sheep staring at me from a ledge behind. That was cool. A side trip one afternoon was a hike from the river to Havasu Falls. One of the most peaceful places I've ever been.
Lee's Ferry to Lake Mead. Took a week. Incredible food. Incredible white water. Amazing views of, well, rock wall. Didn't see the horizon all week. We saw almost the entire history of the earth's geology instead. Great camping. By the end of the week the group of strangers all felt like family.
The videos are from Youtube & the pictures are from my trip. One shows a spontaneous waterfall that occurs after rains. One shows a super ancient salt mine. Several thousand years old if memory serves.
