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Path® Tour - Grand Canyon - Sample Itinerary** Back to Grand Canyon | Sample Itinerary | Picture Gallery |
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13 day Grand Canyon Trip ~ Lees Ferry to Diamond Creek (reprinted from O.A.R.S. material, this is only a sample. Every trip is different and is each day's river time is customized to the appropriate needs of the group and situation.) |
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| DAY 0 Arrive Flagstaff. Pre-trip group meeting at the Radisson Woodlands Hotel in Flagstaff. 6PM |
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| DAY 1 Early morning (7AM) bus ride to Lees Ferry. After a safety talk, we load the rafts, put on our life jackets and begin our adventure. Our apprehensions are quickly converted to exhilaration as we splash through Badger & Soap Creek Rapids. The desert's warmth quickly dries us again before we reach camp. After a delicious dinner we stretch out in our sleeping bags and drift off to sleep under a starry sky. |
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| DAY 2 The river twists and turns between rising cliffs, offering new vistas at every bend. We hike up Rider Canyon. Our afternoon of lazy drifting is enlivened by the "Mile" rapids. |
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| DAY 3 Today's attractions include the fern-fringed spring of Vasey's Paradise, Redwall Cavern and the fossils exposed in Nautiloid Canyon. |
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| DAY 4 Relaxed drifting occupies much of this day but there are also a few rapids, a visit to Nankoweap Indian ruins and a swim in the waters of the Little Colorado River. |
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| DAY 5 For a few miles the canyon opens up, revealing ancient volcanic rocks and the cliffs of the South Rim. We then go through a series of challenging rapids which drops us into the narrow, rugged trench of the Inner Gorge. We're drenched in turn by the big waves of Unkar, Nevills, Hance, Sockdolager and Grapevine rapids. We arrive at Phantom Ranch. (Where usually some people leave the trip, and new members join the group. In our case, because we are a charter, our group remains in tact for the entire 13 days!) You'll have time to shop for goodies and postcards at Phantom Ranch. Postcards mailed from Phantom Ranch bear the postmark, "Carried by mule from the bottom of Grand Canyon." |
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| DAY 6 Sensational rides and dramatic pictures are produced in Granite, Hermit and the rapids of the "Jewels" - Crystal, Sapphire, Turquoise, Ruby, and Serpentine. We camp after a refreshing swim in the pools and waterfall at Shinumo Creek. |
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| DAY 7 Those with Sharp Eyes and quick cameras may be rewarded with shots of desert bighorn sheep in this portion of the Canyon. The emerald paradise of Elves Chasm, with its chain of linked pools and waterfalls, invites us to explore and swim. |
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| DAY 8 Fluted walls of jet black schist enclose us for a few miles before Bedrock and Dubendorf rapids. We drift lazily through Granite Narrows (a mere 65' wide!!) and soon come to Deer Creek Falls, a 125' cascade that tumbles almost directly into the river. |
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| DAY 9 A few quick strokes of the oars pull us into the mouth of Matkatamiba Canyon. Wading through the warm waters we explore the beautifully carved channel and relax in the coolness of its grotto. |
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| DAY 10 Before sunrise we snack on yogurt and granola while packing sandwiches, fruit and other goodies for our lunches. An early start gives us a long day to enjoy the blue green pools and numerous waterfalls of Havasu Canyon. Some linger all day at the pools near the river while others hike to see the falls several miles away. (A day pack or fanny pack are a 'must' on this day.) After dinner the evening stars pale as our guides tell us tales (some real, and some perhaps only "tall") of the Colorado's most legendary stretch of whitewater, Lava Falls. Tomorrow comes our turn in this fabled rapid. |
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| DAY 11 Pulling our rafts to shore, we follow a short, steep trail to scout this whitewater giant. As is done at many of the picturesque rapids, three rafts run the rapid while the rest of us perch on riverside boulders with cameras poised. Each raft in turn is swept into the churning, spitting power of the largest rapid in the Grand Canyon, battered by huge waves and flushed into calmer waters. Knuckles still white, we beach below the rapid to laugh at our fears and relive each shudder. |
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| DAY 12 Today we reach Whitmore Wash. (Here again, normally there is a passenger exchange, where some would leave the trip and others would join. Ours, being a private charter trip, means that all 16 of us stay together... through the entire, magical journey!) |
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| DAY 13 Still in our sleeping bags, we watch the sunrise brighten the cliffs above our camp. 205, 209 and 217 Mile rapids discount the myth that all the good whitewater occurs above Whitmore Wash. We spend a delightful, splashing, fun-filled day discovering this. Hours have long since ceased to matter and the days blend together now as well. Rapids and side canyons stand out in our memories, but have lost their places in time. We round the last bend and reach Diamond Creek. We begin to realize that the physical river journey is coming to an end, but the inner journey, inaugurated during this past two weeks is only just beginning. After loading and de-rigging the boats, we eat lunch and board the Hualapai Indian bus which carries us across their reservation Peach Springs. Our air-conditioned coach awaits to return us to Flagstaff and 'civilization.' |
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**ITINERARY VARIATIONS: We reserve the right to alter an
itinerary as needed to accommodate conditions beyond our control. |
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