There are experiences wherein one person enters, and another person comes out. This is one of those experiences. I'll never be the same again.
Seeing Grand Canyon from the rim has to be a little like seeing it from an airliner or from space. You get the scale and grandeur of it - it's really BIG. You see its layers and can speculate as to how the entire thing was formed. It's breathtaking.
Seeing Grand Canyon from the water is something altogether different. The Canyon takes you in as one of its own, welcoming you into its innermost walls, surrounding you as with a warm, loving embrace. The Canyon is as honest as the stone from which it's made, revealing signs and remnants of peoples from time immemorial, exposing layers of rock that take you back millions of years, putting you face-to-face with the rush and fury of its rapids, and singing you to sleep at night with breeze and moonlight playing on the canyon walls while countless stars silently trace across the sky. The Canyon gives it all to you; it holds nothing back. On the day I left, I felt tears well up in my eyes; as I was saying goodbye to newfound friends, I found myself with arms open wide, saying goodbye and thank you to the Canyon itself. It had held me inside it and so generously showed me all its wonders. I am in awe, and in its debt.
Floating one hundred and eighty-seven miles down the River, seeing all that beauty, is enlightening in the obvious ways, and in ways many may not expect: I come away from the experience knowing so much more about myself. In showing me all its beauty, the Canyon also showed me a part of myself which had long been asleep. This is, perhaps, the best gift it could have given me.
Pictures of me shouting in joy and excitement, boats crashing through rapids, or majestic, towering canyon walls, may give you a taste of my experience, while never truly doing it justice, nor preparing you for what you'll see with your own eyes when you yourself make the trip. There are many such breathtaking images on this website for you to enjoy. Instead, I've chosen a different picture. For all I've said so far about the journey and about the Canyon itself, it's even more important to recognize those who really made this trip the special experience it was: the trip guides.
All at the same time, the Western River guides are expert boatmen, search-and-rescue personnel, caretakers, anthropologists, geologists, historians, cooks, and entertainers. They are patient and kind, all the while challenging us to truly and completely throw ourselves into the experience. They protect the Canyon so that it may maintain its clean, unspoiled beauty for years to come. They excel at what they do, and it's so easy to see that they love doing it. Even given the thousands of people touring the Canyon every year, and all the trips these guides have taken through it, they still manage to make every group they take feel as though they're the most important people in the Canyon. I learned so much about the Canyon from them. At all times I felt safe, satisfied, and very well cared for. This freed me up to get the absolute most of the experience that I possibly could, which I did. All gratitude I feel for the Canyon, I feel for them as well.
It's to them that I dedicate my review. Scott, Parker, Corey, Kristina, and Joe, you gave this trip great things it would not have had any other way. I love you all, and hope to see you when I pass that way again. Be Well!
Daniel - Central Indiana
Arizona - Grand Canyon Rafting 6 & 7 Day
There are experiences wherein one person enters, and another person comes out. This is one of those experiences. I'll never be the same again.
Seeing Grand Canyon from the rim has to be a little like seeing it from an airliner or from space. You get the scale and grandeur of it - it's really BIG. You see its layers and can speculate as to how the entire thing was formed. It's breathtaking.
Seeing Grand Canyon from the water is something altogether different. The Canyon takes you in as one of its own, welcoming you into its innermost walls, surrounding you as with a warm, loving embrace. The Canyon is as honest as the stone from which it's made, revealing signs and remnants of peoples from time immemorial, exposing layers of rock that take you back millions of years, putting you face-to-face with the rush and fury of its rapids, and singing you to sleep at night with breeze and moonlight playing on the canyon walls while countless stars silently trace across the sky. The Canyon gives it all to you; it holds nothing back. On the day I left, I felt tears well up in my eyes; as I was saying goodbye to newfound friends, I found myself with arms open wide, saying goodbye and thank you to the Canyon itself. It had held me inside it and so generously showed me all its wonders. I am in awe, and in its debt.
Floating one hundred and eighty-seven miles down the River, seeing all that beauty, is enlightening in the obvious ways, and in ways many may not expect: I come away from the experience knowing so much more about myself. In showing me all its beauty, the Canyon also showed me a part of myself which had long been asleep. This is, perhaps, the best gift it could have given me.
Pictures of me shouting in joy and excitement, boats crashing through rapids, or majestic, towering canyon walls, may give you a taste of my experience, while never truly doing it justice, nor preparing you for what you'll see with your own eyes when you yourself make the trip. There are many such breathtaking images on this website for you to enjoy. Instead, I've chosen a different picture. For all I've said so far about the journey and about the Canyon itself, it's even more important to recognize those who really made this trip the special experience it was: the trip guides.
All at the same time, the Western River guides are expert boatmen, search-and-rescue personnel, caretakers, anthropologists, geologists, historians, cooks, and entertainers. They are patient and kind, all the while challenging us to truly and completely throw ourselves into the experience. They protect the Canyon so that it may maintain its clean, unspoiled beauty for years to come. They excel at what they do, and it's so easy to see that they love doing it. Even given the thousands of people touring the Canyon every year, and all the trips these guides have taken through it, they still manage to make every group they take feel as though they're the most important people in the Canyon. I learned so much about the Canyon from them. At all times I felt safe, satisfied, and very well cared for. This freed me up to get the absolute most of the experience that I possibly could, which I did. All gratitude I feel for the Canyon, I feel for them as well.
It's to them that I dedicate my review. Scott, Parker, Corey, Kristina, and Joe, you gave this trip great things it would not have had any other way. I love you all, and hope to see you when I pass that way again. Be Well!
Daniel - Central Indiana
Arizona - Grand Canyon Rafting 6 & 7 Day
