Overview

What happens when a group of keen photographers join together for a 10-day raft trip through 226-miles of mind-bending Grand Canyon scenery and two billion years of geological history?

Here are some impressions that participants on our previous Grand Canyon raft trips have shared:

Having traveled to five continents, I can honestly state the Grand Canyon river trip was the best photo trip I have ever taken!

Seeing the Grand Canyon from the bottom is a visual and spiritual experience that is not to be missed by any photographer.

My mind is still in the Canyon. Thanks to you for putting together this amazing experience. The Canyon is past wonder. I am sitting here working on the images and can’t seem to leave the river.

While I think I’ve finally gotten the sand out of all of my clothes, it will most definitely be a long time before I get the Grand Canyon out of my soul.

About two days into the trip…I realized that I should enjoy the trip because it was just about as good as it gets. It was indeed. At this point, maybe it’s enough to say that I actually miss the sand and I hope we all will continue to keep in touch.

This trip will be led by master photographers Justin Black and Jerry Dodrill, both veterans of several previous journeys down the Colorado River through Grand Canyon. The planned itinerary absolutely maximizes the photographic potential and overall quality of experience to be had during ten days on the Colorado River in the mile-deep Grand Canyon.

Applying our experience of our prior Grand Canyon raft trips, and in collaboration with our hand-picked boat crew from Arizona Raft Adventures (AZRA), we’ve developed an itinerary that takes advantage of favorable spring conditions and wildflower bloom, and sets us up for the best landings for photo excursions and camps along the river. Detailed planning and the expert skill of experienced boat crews we’ve worked with before are critical, because there’s no going back upstream on the Colorado River.

Our itinerary starts in Flagstaff, Arizona, at the Little America Hotel. The day before our departure for the river, we will convene to get to know each other (and catch up with returning friends). Justin and Jerry will make a presentation to get your creative juices flowing and prepare you for photography in the Canyon. This will be followed by an orientation by AZRA staff to go over the plan, safety, answer questions, and distribute dry bags for packing your personal gear. We’ll set off early the following morning for Lee’s Ferry, where our raft and crew will be waiting for us at our launch point.

A little about the raft: We will use a 32-foot-long raft built around a strong aluminum frame with a below-deck cargo hold for important items that tolerate getting wet, like camp chairs and cans of beer. Personal gear and camera bags will be stored in drybags strapped down on the deck above the waterline. Two expert AZRA guides will crew our raft, which is equipped with a quiet four-stroke Honda motor for steering purposes. The motor is shut off as we drift with the current down the river in stretches of calm water. We will be running a great deal of whitewater, and where you sit in the raft will determine whether you get soaked or stay dry (or dryish). In the mid-afternoon sun, getting soaked by a big splash is a great way to cool off.

Once on the Colorado River, we quickly enter Marble Canyon and from there the canyon rim towers higher and higher as we pass through ever more ancient rock strata. From the raft, we’ll marvel at the stunning mesas and rock formations as they slide by all around us, watch bighorn sheep just a few meters away at the water’s edge, look out for condors soaring and ravens playing overhead, and watch the light and shade play across the water and reflect in hues of gold and red on the canyon walls. Landings at some of our favorite side canyons, waterfalls, and rock formations along the way will provide the opportunity to stretch our legs and explore Grand Canyon’s intimate landscapes. Each afternoon, we’ll pull into riverside beaches, which will serve as our camps. These are selected in advance for group comfort and excellent photo opportunities close to camp in the evening, and to position us strategically to target the next morning’s photography location.

As we arrive in camp each afternoon, we’ll form a “bag line” as a team to unload personal gear and camp equipment from the raft to the beach. After that, we each locate our personal piece of Colorado River beach to put down our tarp, comfy sleeping pad, pillow, sheet, and sleeping bag (all provided, as are tents, though few seem to bother with them after a night or two). Then, while the boat crew prepares a fabulous and well-deserved dinner, we’ll photograph in the evening light. Otherwise, choices of camp activities are up to you. We’ll gather the camp chairs in a circle to chat over a beer or glass of wine, have a rinse in the river, or just relax and enjoy the peace, solitude, and crystal-clear night skies.

When our time on the river comes to an end, it will be too soon. We will have been away from the internet and traffic for ten days. AZRA will pick us up at Diamond Creek for the trip back to the Little America Hotel in Flagstaff, stopping off on old Route 66 at Delgadillos Snow Cap in Seligman for a well-earned milkshake. Back at the hotel in Flagstaff, after a proper shower and calls to loved ones to confirm that we’ve reemerged into civilization, we’ll meet for a final celebratory dinner with our boat crew at one of Flagstaff’s finer restaurants. After breakfast the next morning, we’ll meet for a classroom session to edit and project images for review and critique. Wrapping up by mid-afternoon, we’ll say “until we meet again,” and our merry band will part company with hard drives full of amazing images, heads full of incredible memories, spirits uplifted and rejuvenated by the experience, and hearts just a little heavy that it’s all over.

We hope you’ll join us for this trip of a lifetime!