Shorewoods Photography-Boarding Group 2 Travel Blog

We woke earlier than usual this morning as our group is the first of the day to depart. Once our group has flown out of the Canyon, other groups will arrive and end their rafting journeys here. JP wakes us with the “Coffee’s On” call around 4:30 AM. Our helicopter ride out of the Canyon arrives at 7AM, and we need to have camp packed up and loaded on the raft for Josh and JP to continue their full days journey about 90 miles further down the river where they will meet the Hatch trucks to load up the raft and gear and drive back to Marble Canyon and Cliff Dwellers.

I find this morning is an exercise in experiencing the moment; the moment that hangs between the past moment of still rolling wonder and happiness with all the experiences of these past 8 days, and the future moment of anticipated sadness at physically leaving this place and the people who have made it so special. But, it is here in that in-between moment I discover I can embrace both and be at peace, because both give deep meaning to the other.

We enjoy a simplified to-go breakfast of muffins, and pack up our duffel bags with our personal gear, and our cameras in our backpacks. We pack up our cots, sleeping bags, and camp chairs. We visit the river and the groover for a farewell moment! We take off our life vests, and it feels strange, I hadn’t appreciated all the good vibes from all the compression the vest hugging had provided! We form our fire line and load all the orange pumpkin dry bags, camp and kitchen gear onto the raft for the last time.

We head up the hill to the scales, and our personal gear is weighed, along with us and our camera gear. We are happy to see our personal gear was well under the 25 pound limit, even with our tripods stuffed into the bottom of our bags. Of course, the 6 pounds plus of camera gear is now in our backpacks we are carrying, so we have just shifted the weight around!

We Hatchlings have a bit of time to chat, and share some final Canyon hugs. We talk about how we transition back to our lives outside the Canyon, and while we are looking forward to seeing our family and friends we have been out of contact with for 8 days, we know we will be missing all this, we just don’t know how we will make that transition yet.

We catch a pic with our amazing leader, the Mighty Colleen, Queen of Bubbles.

At 7AM sharp, we hear the helicopter in the distance. It flies down the Canyon, past us, turns back and lands on the pad at the top of the campsite. Our ride out has arrived.

Art and I are called for the first ride out and given our seat assignments. As I climb into the helicopter I feel an unexpected pang of homesickness to be leaving this place that has stirred my imagination, filled me with wonder, and connected me to a phenomenal group of amazing photographers and wild adventurers. As we buckle into our seats, we have a spectacular view of the river and Canyon.

We fly along just inside the Canyon walls, and suddenly we are no longer in the Canyon. We catch glimpses of the Canyon from our windows, and in about 6 minutes, we land at Bar 10 Ranch.

We are welcomed with the opportunity for a shower, flush toilets, and chairs! While the shower was delightful, there was no comparison to showering in a waterfall. I cannot make the same analogy to the flush toilets however! After a change into clean sand free clothes, we relax on the patio of the ranch, welcoming each helicopter flight of fellow Hatchlings, and soon we are all back together.

Gathered here on the ranch, we talk about the fun we have had on this trip, what we will do when we arrive home, and anticipate reconnecting with our families and friends. Here is where we catch our next flight on Grand Canyon Airlines. This was the easiest check-in ever!

Soon, we are on a van for a few minutes drive to the single airstrip of asphalt/dirt, also known as Whitmore International Airport , to board our flights. Some of the Hatchlings will be taking a plane to the airport in Las Vegas, and the rest of the Hatchlings, including Art and I, are taking a flight back to Marble Canyon and then ride back to Cliff Dwellers to pick up our cars.

As we climbed into a DeHavilland Twin Otter aircraft, and buckled into our seats, the propellers started up. We looked across the runway and waved goodbye to our fellow Hatchlings waving to us from their plane windows. Summer camp was over.

During the flight we caught glimpses of the Grand Canyon and the rock formations we had seen from the bottom, to which we now have a bird’s eye view.

We flew over Cliff Dwellers Lodge and Hatch River Expeditions, and as we descended into the airport, A glimpse into the Canyon, were we started off 8 days ago.

We landed at the airport and Larry was waiting for us with the Hatch van, and drove us back to Cliff Dwellers.

We packed up the rental car, said our goodbyes one more time, and drove away with great reluctance.

The 5 hour drive to Las Vegas was our introduction to re-entry: we didn’t want to shift our gears and go back to how we experienced life BC. (Before Canyon). Art and I are in a new era; AD (After De-Canyoning)- and just as we discovered how to experience the Canyon and the River, we will discover how to bring that experience to bear wherever we travel.

We stopped for lunch at Jacob Lake Inn Restaurant n the Kaibab National Forest. As we walked in, I found myself thinking about things like: ‘How does this door open?’, ‘Why are all these signs around?’ and ‘None of this seems very natural anymore’ (insert *sigh*). Our waitress asked where we had been traveling, and we shared we just left the Canyon after an 8 day river rafting photography trip. She asked us more about where we stayed, where we slept, and what is was like. It was fun sharing our story. She made sure our iced tea was filled with ice cubes, which was a treat! Art and I enjoyed lunch, reminiscing about today, the helicopter ride, and how it was feeling different being around other people, none of whom are Hatchlings. We think we planned pretty well in preparing for the trip, and most everything we had gotten for the trip was useful. We talk about how we are now part of a small group of people who ever get to raft down the river in the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon National Park Visitors Center gets about 5 million visitors each year, and in comparison, about 27,000 visitors raft the river at the bottom of the Canyon each year. There are even a much smaller number of Hatchlings in the world.

We resumed our drive to Las Vegas, and made our way to our hotel. The lights and crowds made us feel like we were in a foreign, unfamiliar place. To quote Art, “This traffic [stinks] and after the last 8 days it’s even [stinkier]”. OK, it is not a direct quote, but you can imagine what he said! As we settled in to sleep, the large comfy king size bed swallowed us up and we talked about our day, and how we were feeling. We talked to the kids, and caught up enough to know everyone was ok. As we settled back into our pillows, we both agreed, we miss the stars, and the river, and the Canyon, and the Hatchlings, and all the wondrousness of the last 8 days.