Include Grand Canyon Rafting on Your List of Healthy New Year's Resolutions
Many people's New Year's resolutions include healthy eating, more exercise or more adventure. If you're hoping to participate in healthy activities and you've been dreaming about shooting the rapids, you might want to add Grand Canyon rafting down the Colorado River to your list of goals for the New Year.
Other than the fact that this breathtaking trip is the dream of many thrill-seekers around the globe, there are some other incentives to this incredible adventure:
• In the course of just one brief hour, you might have the opportunity to both stretch your physical limits and experience the total relaxation offered by calm waters
• You can enjoy nature in all its glory as you look up from the water to the massive canyon walls, or watch the crashing rapids during a hike in the canyon
• Enjoy bonding with old and new friends or family taking the trip with you
White water rafting the Grand Canyon trips range from three days to two weeks or even longer, with varying levels of white water to navigate. You can choose between oar-powered and motorized rafts, and for the more adventurous, kayaking is also available. If you choose one of the large motorized rafts, you can easily manage your exposure to the action by choosing to sit in the front or back.
And, although a basic level of agility is required to hold onto to the ropes and get in and out of the rafts, adventurers in their 70s and those with accessibility issues have taken to this sport, most often in the motorized raft tours. Taking the optional side hikes offers a higher level of physical challenge, especially in the very hot weather the canyon is known for. During the hottest months of July and August, temperatures can soar into the triple digits.
Depending on the outfitter with whom you book your adventure, your trip will likely begin with an introduction to how your raft works, safety procedures and your camping gear, which is provided by your tour operator. You will also learn that rafting the Grand Canyon involves working a "fireline." This is not enforced volunteer fireman duty, but an efficient way to load and unload the raft.
A typical day begins with a full breakfast prepared by your tour guides, followed by camp breakdown and a fireline to load the rafts. Stops are scheduled every couple of hours to allow for rest, short hikes, lunch and even swimming in hidden pools. Photography buffs have ample opportunities to record the experience and the overhanging cliffs provide a visual record of geologic time over the millenia. Some day trips also offer views of ancient petroglyphs and Native American dwellings to delight the eye and stimulate the mind.
Along the way you might be lucky enough to glimpse blue heron and eagles overhead or bighorn sheep, mule deer and coyotes on the shore. This is also the home of the few California Condor living free in the wild.
As the day comes to a close, the rafts put in for the night along sandy beaches, and the fireline is reversed to unload. Camp is set up, the fire is started and shortly thereafter, dinner is prepared. Rafters, tired yet happy often spend time around the camp fire getting to know each other before heading off to bed, thinking of a day well spent in the company of some new friends, and the adventures that await tomorrow. What better way to ring in the New Year than to promise yourself an adventure like this one?
About the Author
If you are interested in hiking the Grand Canyon or rafting down the Colorado River, Stephen Daniels, an acclaimed internet marketing specialist, highly recommends you book your trip with http://www.hatchriverexpeditions.com/ . Their guides promise to educate, pamper and entertain you during your thrilling adventure.
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