Colorado,

11. Lees Ferry to Lake Mead (The Grand Canyon)

Granite Camp , Day 8

Granite Camp , Day 8
Photo of The last sunbeams of the day light up the horizon line at Granite. by Daniel W. Webb taken Aug 28,2004 @ 18000

Gauge Information

River Description

The Grand Canyon is one of the seven Wonders of the World. Magnificent views of the geological record are on prominent display throughout a journey through this canyon. Every day that passes reveals new eras of time and new aspects of creation.

The long history and multitude of stories about the Grand Canyon have built the whitewater up to heroic proportions in the public mind. However, river running knowledge, skill, and equipment have improved tremendously in the century that boaters have been running this section. By today's standards the Grand Canyon is a very reasonable adventure. The gradient tells the tale; most of Grand Canyon is flat water. The infamous 1 to 10 rating system does not mean that these rapids are harder than class 6. The hardest rapids on the run were simply given a 10 rating and everything else was rated respectively lower. A Grand Canyon 10 corresponds approximately to a class IV rating on the international scale. The 1 to 10 rating was system developed for heavily loaded large rafts, and a 10 on this scale might not require a single stroke from a kayaker (though perhaps a lot of bracing and rolling if one wanted to try that!). Modern experienced river runners can apply their usual river-running judgment.

The skills required for a kayaker to negotiate Grand Canyon include:
1. A bomber roll. The water is cold and the river is so wide that swimming to shore is often difficult.
2. The ability to turn sideways to a big wave train and paddle out of it.
3. The ability to keep your balance and your cool in sustained funny water (whirlpools and boils occur at the bottom of many rapids and along eddy lines).
4. The ability to scout and choose a big-water line.

The skills required for an oarboatman in the Grand Canyon are in some ways much more difficult. Rafts are typically fully laden and very heavy. It takes a good understanding of the rapids, early decision making and a lot of hard work to get a raft to the right place in a rapid. The risk to a a baggage boat is much greater than for other river runners. A swimmer can flush through the biggest rapids. A kayaker can get flipped and easily roll back up. But if a baggage boat flips, it will take a long time to get it to shore and a lot of manpower to got it flipped back over, upright. A flip can cost hours of effort and important supplies can be lost or ruined.

Boatmen should have the:
1. Ability to hang on to the oars in heavy water, the ability to manuver with only one oar if needed and the ability to quickly replace an oar.
2. Ability to maintain or recover a ferry angle in heavy water.
3. Ability to catch eddies at the bottom of rapids and the ability to break out across big eddy lines.
4. Ability to keep rowing when you miss a line, straighten out and push when facing a big hole, and get back in the seat when knocked off.

Putting together an expedition that meets Park requirements and keeps a group of river runners well fed and happy for 18 or more days is a challenging task.

Put in:
The primary launch point is Lee's Ferry, which is measured as mile 0 on most maps.

Trip participants can arrange to hike in or out at a variety of trails in the mid-section of the run. The most common location to swap participants is Phantom Ranch (mile 89). The allows people to do the upper or lower half of the run even if they do not have the time to do the full trip. Park service fees are about the same whether you do a full or half trip and these arrangements must be planned out before the trip.

Take out:
The majority of private trips in Grand Canyon travel 226 miles to Diamond Creek for their takeout. Other takeouts include Pearce Ferry on Lake Mead (mile 279) which has been closed due to low lake levels since August 2001. The next access is South Cove, which is 17 miles farther on the lake.

Diamond Creek access information:

The Hualapai Tribe charges a fee for each person, vehicle and driver that goes to or from Diamond Creek. In 2008 that fee was $59. You can arrange for a shuttle service to pick you up or you can make arrangments with the tribe for shuttle between the river and Peach Springs. The $59 is in addition to any shuttle fee.

Hualapai River Runners
P.O. Box 246
Peach Springs, AZ 86434
(928) 769-2210
(800) 622-4409

Boaters may also launch at Diamond Creek and travel 71 miles to South Cove take out. The permit for doing this section is reportedly much easier to obtain than for launching at Lee's Ferry. Diamond-Down River Trip Application Grand Canyon NP: Diamond down information

Grand Canyon Weather links:
Weather Forecast for Grand Canyon Park
Page, AZ, is just upstream of the put in.
Zone Area Forecast for Marble and Glen Canyons, AZ NOAA
Zone Area Forecast for Grand Canyon Country, AZ NOAA
Phantom Ranch is about half way through.
South Cove, Lake Mead

Sunrise/ Sunset
Webcams

Other information Sources:

Grand Canyon National Park: river running information

Grand Canyon River - Audio/ Video Podcast Channel

The Grand Canyon is perennially represented among American Whitewater's Top 40 River Issues. Check out AW's articles on the fee demo program and the wilderness and access lawsuit.

Grand Canyon Private Boaters' Organization. They do excellent work for private boaters and have a very informative online discussion forum.

River Runners for Wilderness wiki

Grand Canyon River Guide's Association

Moenkopi blog

Slideshow of rapids

Colorado River NASQAN program

Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center

Time Lapse Videos of beach erosion

Grand-canyon-favorite-hikes
Packing-for-grand-canyon-trip

There are many videos on you-tube and at similar video websites. Search for grand canyon, rafting, kayaking, whitewater and similar, or by rapid names.

Outfitters and shuttle services for private trips:

PRO; professional river outfitters

Canyon REO

Moenkopi Riverworks

www.rrshuttleservice.com,

Interesting Water facts:
Lee's Ferry is the dividing point between the Upper and Lower Colorado Rivers for water rights politics.
Water for the south rim village flows through a pipe from near the north rim, down Bright Angel Canyon, across a bridge and then back up to the south rim. It is all gravity fed.

Reaches of the Colorado River:
01. Hot Sulphur Springs to Hwy 40 bridge (Byers Canyon) (CO, IV)
02. Gore Canyon (CO, IV-V)
03. Pumphouse campground to Rancho Del Rio (Pumphouse) (CO, III)
04. Hanging Lake Exit 125 (I-70) to Shoshone Power Plant Exit 123 (I-70) (Barrel Springs) (CO, IV-V [V+])
05. Shoshone Power Plant, Exit 123 (I-70) to Grizzly Creek, Exit 121 (I-70) (Shoshone) (CO, III-IV)
06. Cameo Dam (Big Sur / Lucky 7) (CO, III)
07. Loma to Westwater (Ruby / Horsethief Canyons) (CO-UT, II)
08. Westwater to Rose Ranch (Westwater Canyon) (UT, I-IV)
09. Cisco (Rose Ranch) to Moab (Professor Valley) (UT, I-III)
10. Moab to Powell Reservoir (Cataract Canyon) (UT, I-IV)
11. Lees Ferry to Lake Mead (Grand Canyon) (AZ, I-IV)
12. Black Canyon (AZ-NV, I)