Grand Canyon 2010 Baby!

The Grand Canyon rules! And so do all the women kayakers who joined us in 2010!

Anne K. ripping it up in some BIG water! Our flows fluctuated between 8,000 and 16,000 each day. We were lucky enough to run most of the big rapids with a flow of between 14,000 and 16,000 cfs giving everything a bit more umph!

So, I've been out of the blogging scene for a few weeks after a slow down in river festivals and then our 2-week trip on the Grand, but we are back in action now. Going through all these photos has made me really appreciate what an incredible place the Grand Canyon is. Everyone who loves the outdoors, geology, history, and rivers should put this trip on their list!

The upper reaches of Matkatamiba Canyon

The Grand is about more than just the river trip. There are some amazing side hikes in this canyon. We usually did 2 hikes per day and saw some great stuff!

Jeannine H. exploring a little slot canyon in the middle of "Sheer Wall Rapid."

In an odd, but very cool, turn of the tides, all of the kayakers on this trip were women. It was super fun to paddle with a solid crew of bad ass women! Great job ladies!

Trip leader Matt providing some evening entertainment on his dory

We also had a fun crew of rafters along--they made camp an entertaining place to hang around.

Thunder River, another amazing side hike. Here, the water pours straight out of the rock creating a 100+ foot cascading fall and fueling Tapeats Creek down below.

Helen ripping it up in 24 and 1/2 mile rapid

The Colorado River really lived up to it's name for a couple days on this trip. Mostly we had light brown water, but days 2 and 3 we had thick, chocolate mud water after 2 flash floods happened upstream of us. It was fun to get to see the Colorado in it's more "natural" state--thick and sediment laden.

The crew relaxing around camp

Jane and Helen enjoying the clear waters of Matkatamiba. Frolicking in the clear, cool waters was always a fun treat.

Don and Larry soaking in Tuck Up Canyon

Larry works full time in the Grand Canyon during the summers, and Don and I try to join him each year for the Small World Adventures trip. It was great learning new facts about the geology and history from Larry and the other seasoned Moki guides.

Darcy getting ready to take the plunge at Elve's Chasm

Don looking scenic with Deer Creek Falls in the background

Thanks to everyone for making this such a wonderful trip. We've been off the river 6 days now and I'm really missing the simplicity of life in the Canyon! We hope to see you all out the rivers somewhere else in the world. Keep on paddling:)

And, we've got one more order of business:

Glenn B. from Colorado is the winner of the Astral Willis pfd. Congrats Glenn! I hope you enjoy your new Willis.

Stay tuned as we are giving out 2 prizes on Sept. 1st--we are giving out both a Sweet Helmet and an IR drytop...good luck to everyone.

Larry is launching tomorrow on another kayaker's Grand trip. This trip he's got a dozen Irish kayakers to lead down the mighty river.
Don and I are working in Aspen through Labor Day and then are heading out to California for some fall festivals and releases. Then...hurray...back to Ecuador!

Small World Adventures