Paddling the Grand Canyon Self-Support

When I was 5 years old, my summer vacation was a trip to see one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World, The Grand Canyon. I remember peering over the edge looking nearly a mile down at the Colorado River and at the mule bridge that crosses the river at Phantom Ranch. The wheels inside my little mind were turning about getting the chance to see the bridge and the river up close. However, the trip to the bridge would include a 7 mile hike with an altitude change of over 5,000ft. This seemed like an impossible feat at the time.

A few months ago, I received a call from Adam Goshorn, who lives near Fort Payne, Alabama informing me he had won a permit to paddle the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. The permit was won through a National Park Service lottery that occurs year round to regulate the number of individuals who paddle through the Grand Canyon. Only one permit is issued per day. He invited me and three other kayaking friends on an adventure of a life time.

Most river trips through the Grand Canyon occur by raft and usually involve 18 to 30 days on the water due to the heaviness and slow speed of the rafts. This trip would be different though. Adam explained to me that the trip could be done in a much shorter time period if we only paddled kayaks since they are much faster. He explained to me that we could paddle all 226 miles of the Colorado River through The Grand Canyon in only 7 days. My initial reaction was that this is crazy to attempt without raft support and that I would freeze to death since its January. My mind further wondered about where I would find a large enough kayak to carry both me and my survival gear. After a few days, I agreed to be a part of the team. There would be 5 of us including Leigh Knudsen and Ben Karp from Washington D.C. and Mike Tavares from Chattanooga.

Over the next few months, I began to gather my gear. I purchased a Liquidlogic XP10. At 105 gallons, this boat is over 10ft long and has a dry cargo compartment in the rear. It's skegg on the back would further aid in steering the boat across flat-water. I would purchase a Kokatat GMER dry-suit to stay dry and an Immersion Research Union Suit to stay warm. Camping gear would include a light weight 2 person tent, a zero degree sleeping bag, a small camp stove, a Thermarest sleeping pad, and a water-proof closed cell sleeping pad. Food would include 10 Snickers Candy Bars, 16 Nature Valley Bars, a jar of peanut butter, pre-cooked bacon and 28 freeze-dried Mountain House back-packer meals. Drinking water would be pumped from the river through a water filter and Kool-Aid was added. A satellite phone would be our emergency line out if we needed help or just wanted to check-in with family. The last piece of gear that I must mention was a piece of 6 inch PVC water pipe that was 18 inches long with caps on both ends. What would I need this for? National Park Service regulations require that you leave no trace in The Grand Canyon and that you pack everything out that you take into the park….they mean everything…including human waste…

On the morning of January 2, 2011, Adam and I departed Northern Alabama to Chattanooga in my 4dr Nissan Titan to pick up Mike. Together, the three of us would drive 26 hours through the night to Flagstaff, Arizona with all 5 boats and gear. Leigh and Ben would fly from Washington DC to Flagstaff on the night of January 3rd. After a night of rest at one of the many Flagstaff Motel 6's, we drove to Lee's Ferry near Page, Arizona to camp for the night before our launch. This would also let us do some final boat packing. Packing my boat was where the LL XP10 really excelled. The XP10 has foot pegs...so loading the front was a breeze. I had two Watershed Futa bags of clothes up front in front of the foot pegs. I cut a chunk out of the front center pillar to install the massive poop tube. Strapped to the side of the poop tube was one shaft of a break-down paddle and four 3"X18" pieces of aluminum that was part of our fire pan. I had my water bottle and camera bag in my lap. Behind the seat was three dry bags of Mountain House meals, my bacon, and my candy bars. In the dry cargo compartment, I had more food, stove along with gas, tent, sleeping bag, Thermarest, a paddle blade to our break-down paddle, my down jacket, and all sorts of other stuff. I even had a tube of contact cement, 3ft of vinyl mastic, needle and fishing line, and straps.

Arrival in Flagstaff

Lee's Ferry Put-In at Marble Canyon

At 9am on January 5, 2011, Adam, Leigh, Ben, Mike, and I checked-in at the Lee’s Ferry ranger station for orientation. Our gear was inspected, our ID’s were verified, and we were cleared to launch at 10:30am to paddle the Colorado River 226 miles through The Grand Canyon. The first two days were the hardest. We were all learning to paddle our loaded boats through the massive whitewater. In addition to my LL XP10, Adam paddled a Pyranha Fusion, Mike and Ben both had Green Boats, and Leigh had borrowed a LL Stinger. By the end of the first day, Leigh flipped in a rapid and couldn't roll. Her boat was just too heavy and we had packed her tightly in her boat. Ben got to her and pulled her back up. I couldn't believe how long she kept trying to roll. She was a fighter. That's when we decided to call it a day and setup camp. We had paddled 25 miles.

The Cave by Mike Tavares

The next morning, we got up between 6:30am and 7am. It took us 2 hours each day to cook breakfast, take down camp, and pack our boats. After launching right into a big rapid, we began a new day to cover lots of miles while still trying to learn how to drive our boats. The 6ft to 8ft waves were knocking our bows and sterns all over the place. The Colorado River also has something I've never seen before. Once you make it through the rapids you think everything is great...until the massive whirl-pools come after you. After a few rapids, I saw Adam get swallowed whole by a whirl-pool. After resurfacing upside down, he failed to make several attempted rolls. He swam to shore with his boat only to realize he had just lost our map. So...we were at mile 27 with no map and 200 miles to go. This was also when mentally, we all were questioning ourselves..."is it possible to roll a boat this heavy?" For the remainder of the trip, we asked every group we passed what mile we were at. This left us to boat scout all the rapids since we didn't have a guide to tell us the lines. I must admit, this made the trip more fun because we never knew exactly what we were in for. We did scout, Hance, Crystal, and Lava though. I also checked in with my wife Hayley via satellite phone on a few nights to get mileage of certain landmarks and rapids. This would be valuable to us by giving us something to go by in determining our progress.

Brandon paddling flatwater and cussing the whole way.

Photo by Mike Tavares

Camp Ground on Night 2

Scouting Hance. Photo by Mike Tavares

The big day would come for me on day 3 at river mile 89. At around 12 Noon, after running some of the most challenging rapids, we paddled around the bend to find the mule bridge across the river at Phantom Ranch. This was the bridge that I had looked at from high upon the rim when I was 5 years old. This was the bridge, I though was impossible to reach some 27 years earlier. But now, my dream had become a reality. I got to see the mule bridge in the bottom of The Grand Canyon at Phantom Ranch. While visiting Phantom Ranch, I ate the best bagel in the world and mailed some postcards. Phantom Ranch is a nice place to visit.
The next few days would prove to be challenging as we paddled through the massive whitewater rapids. Some days we paddled over 40 miles. I am convinced that one rapid had 10ft waves that I somehow made it through and over the top. Each day, we started paddling at 9am and didn't stop till around 12noon for lunch. We'd setup camp between 4pm and 5pm. Advil was my friend with 2 in the morning, 1 at lunch, and 2 at bed.

Brandon posing at the Mule Bridge at Phantom Ranch

The Restaurant and Camp Store at Phantom Ranch

Adam admiring the view.

Havasu Creek. Checkout my boat back rest!

Photo by Mike Tavares.

Adam, Leigh, and Brandon trying to pack the boats.

Photo by Mike Tavares.

Brandon enjoying the flatwater.

Photo by Mike Tavares.

Brandon, Leigh, Ben, and Adam Scounting Lava Falls.

Photo by Mike Tavares.

Diamond Creek Take-Out

Mike, Ben, Leigh, Mike, and Brandon

At 12:30pm on January 11, 2011, we arrived at the Diamond Creek take-out where we loaded our boats onto my truck and began our 26 hour drive back to Tennessee. This was when we learned of the worldly events and happenings while we were somewhat cut off from society. The massive shooting had occurred in Tucson, Arizona and the Southeast had been blanketed with a heavy snow storm. We all laughed about the weather. We had 7 days of sunny skies with daytime temperatures in the 50’s…all while the Southeast was freezing to death. Kayaking the Colorado River 226 miles through the Grand Canyon was a trip that I will never forget. It was a trip of a lifetime that I’m sure I’ll share with friends and family for the rest of my life.

As for the Liquidlogic XP10, it's probably the best expedition boat on the market. At 105 gallons, it has plenty of cargo space and plenty of volume to carry everything. The Liquidlogic website states the weight limit to be 300lbs. However, I know I had nearly 350lbs in mine on this trip. It's stability is awesome in big whitewater and the skegg was a lifesaver on the flats. With the addition of knee blocks, it was a comfortable boat to sit in for nearly 7 hours a day.

BTW, I was asked by someone a few days ago about which rapids I ran and which rapids I walked. My boat was so heavy that portaging was not possible. It took two people to pull my boat out of the water and to launch it. I was committed to running everything. However, a kayak is much more maneuverable than a raft. Therefore, I had many more options of picking easier lines.

Till Next Time, Pray For Rain!