We spent 9 days rafting the Grand Canyon!!!!!! It was such an eye-opening experience full of new adventures!

In total, we rafted 127 miles of the Colorado River with 21 rafters and 7 guides!!! We had many different ages in our group, ranging from 12-to 70.

The trip had 5 oar boats, 1 paddle boat, and 2 duckies (inflatable kayaks).

Day 1

On day 1 we hiked the Bright Angel Trail to get to the bottom of the canyon and river. It was an 8-mile hike with 4,460 ft of elevation drop. We started at 5 am and got to the bottom at 9 am. Only 13 of us hiked down; the other 7 were rafting the full Grand Canyon, and we met them at the river. We were told that we were the fastest group they’d ever seen do it.

After hiking down, we rafted another 10 miles, hitting the hardest rapids of the trip (Horn Creek). Dad did the paddle boat through this rapid while we sat in oar boats.

Once we got to camp, we created a fire line and unloaded the boats. After the boats were unloaded, we were able to set up our own tents. You could sleep under the stars or in a tent.

Then we ate appetizers and dinner, burgers + brats, and were given a briefing for the next day!!

The first camp we slept at was SUPER windy. So we decided to sleep in tents, after trying to sleep under the stars but being pelted with sand.

Day 2

Day 2 was a HUGE rapids day with 21 rapids!!! We stopped at Shinumo Creek for lunch, which had a gorgeous waterfall.

After lunch, we continued rafting down to Elves Chasm, where we did a short hike to a waterfall out of a fairy tale!!!! You were able to jump out of the hole in the middle.

We stayed at Big Dune Camp, which was a huge sand dune that we all camped around. My mom and I ended up sleeping in a tent while the others slept under the stars.

Day 3

On day 3, we did our most technical rapid called Bedrock. It’s hard because there is a GIANT rock in the middle and on the right is the rapid, but if you go to the left you end up in and eddy that spins you up against the rock and will possibly flip your raft. If you go left, you can also end up getting shot out really fast from the eddy.

During this rapid, I was the 4th boat to go down. We were waiting to go down the rapid, when we saw the boat in front of us go left. At that moment, we knew something was wrong, so we headed down the ramp on the right as fast as we could.

While we went down the rapid, we saw the leader’s boat pull into a cove on the rock, and he jumped off the boat with the throw bag. We knew the boat was gonna flip at this moment, so we rafted down the rapid to create a catching mitt to catch the boat and the passengers.

We came around the end of the rock and watched the boat do its final highside against the rock and flip. Our boat leader knew three people were on the boat, and the leader. As soon as the boat flipped, we went into rescue mode. The boats and the bottom turned perpendicular to the eddy to create a wall; two boats still had to come down the rapid.

We saw someone swimming towards our boat, and we realized it was Lane and went to get him. He was the first rescue. Next, we saw the boat come down with two people holding onto it. One person was still in the water, whom the people on the rock were rescuing.

The paddle boat grabbed onto the boat and was able to get the two people onto it. They ended up getting everyone out of the water, and we all pulled over onto the beach to debrief and flip the boat.

And you should ask my mom for her experience, this was her worst nightmare come to life.

After bedrock, we rafted a little bit to get to our campsite and set up the camp.

At dinner, we did a whole debrief of our experiences. One of the funniest things to hear was when Mom explained her side. She said she wasn’t even sure if she was paddling. When others told their story, they all said they had to paddle faster because Darby and Rob were paddling so fast!!

That’s the CHAOS of day 3!!!!

Day 4

On day 4, we did a big hike and some big rapids. This was a low river mileage day.

In the morning, we did Deubendorf rapid, which we were supposed to do the day before, but due to bedrock, we decided to camp above it and do it in the morning.

After Deubendorf, we did a HUGE hike to Thunder Falls, which you can also hike to from the rim down also. This hike was very hard for me personally, since we had hiked down 8 miles a few days before, and this was all uphill since you are at the bottom of the canyon. It was a gorgeous waterfall at the end, where it came out of the rock face.

We also got to enjoy our first cold water since we were at the rim by drinking from the falls.

We rafted a few rapids after the hike to get to our camp for the night.

Day 5

Day 5 was a very chill day, which covered a good amount of miles. We covered 14 miles in total. With some good rapids in the morning and a lot of flat water in the afternoon.

We stopped for a short hike to Deer Creek Falls and a plateau at the top. I chose not to go to the falls and stayed with a friend, Rachel, at the falls.

Day 6

Day 6 was another chill day that covered plenty of miles with a few big rapids. We covered 20 miles and started off the day with Upset Rapid, which was super fun.

We enjoyed a leisurely stop at Havasupi Creek, which is home to the famous Havasupi Falls. We got to swim in the crystal blue water and enjoy a relaxing day.

At camp, we played yard games (Horshoes + Bocce Ball). We also slept under the stars and got some super cool pictures.

Day 7

Day 7 has another technical fall called lava falls that we had to do. There are plenty of people who fail on these falls and flip their boat. It is also one of the longest rapids in the Grand Canyon, with a lot of waves after the rapid.

We also slept under the stars and got pictures of the Milky Way!!!!!

Day 8

Day 8 was one of our biggest mileage days with 21 miles. This day had minimal rapids but was full of plenty of fun. Including water gun fights, jumping to other boats, and having a boat full of five people. This day might be one of my favorites cause it was full of little surprises and lots of laughter. We also got to swim through a rapid on this, which was so much fun!!!! Breton and Dad cliff jumped into the rapid, while I just swam it. (I am the little black blob)

Day 9 

Day 9 was our final day on the river. This was a chill morning on the river, except for the last rapid where I got absolutely soaked.

After rafting to Diamond Creek, we pulled the boats, unloaded, and deflated them. After we unloaded our personal bags, we had our first ICE WATER in 9 days and were treated to sandwiches and cookies. Then we hopped on the Hualapai bus and were driven to the top of the Grand Canyon (1 hour). At the top, we were moved to the company’s bus and drove 30 minutes to stop at Delgadillos Snow Cap for ice cream in the town of Seligman (inspired the Cars movie). After that, we drove to Flagstaff and said our goodbyes.

But two people we didn’t say goodbye to, and were able to meet them for dinner at a delicious Mexican restaurant

It was such an amazing experience!!!!