What’s Provided

The raft company will provide meals and beverages (cold juices, lemonade, milk, and coffee), dishes, and eating utensils. Water and lemonade are available on the raft throughout the day.

If you want soft drinks or beer, you can bring your own. If you are bringing soft drinks or beer, please limit it to about 3 or so a day. No glass please! Label your cans so you don’t drink someone else’s. The raft will carry your beverages, putting some of them in a drift bag to keep cool during the day. If you bring wine it should be the "box" variety, once again, no bottles please.

The raft company will also provide sleeping bags, foam mattresses, cots, tents and waterproof bags at no charge. Please let me know if you would like these items from Tours West.

Boating Gear: If you bring your own canoe, it must be equipped with air bags, pedestal, thigh straps, foot braces, painters on each end, and a bailer. The air bags need to be tied in well, including a strap down the center of the bag to a D-Ring on the floor to keep them from slipping out. Paddlers must also have a life jacket, helmet, paddle (and spare), and water bottle. Kayaks need to be properly outfitted with thigh braces, back support, foot pegs and air bags. I recommend kayakers bring an extra drain plug, any specialized bolts or fittings particular to their boat and a couple of air bag valves. “Hang-Alls”, extra-large carabiners found at Home Depot are useful for securing gear, as well as some lightweight line.

Camping Gear: If you bring your own gear you'll need a tent, ground cloth, sleeping bag or bed roll, sleeping pad, dry bag (I recommend the NRS Bill's bag), pillow, and personal gear. An ammo box is a great container for your personal gear on this trip. Many people enjoy sleeping out under the stars and only use a tent if it rains. I rarely use a sleeping bag since it stays quite warm (sometimes downright hot) at night. I've found that a bedroll made up of a flannel sheet and lightweight pile blanket works quite well. 

Chairs: Feel free to bring a chair; the best type for this trip is one of the so-called "bag" chairs. These are the collapsible variety that fit into a tubular nylon bag. We use chairs from TravelChair www.travelchair.com. They make durable chairs at an affordable price. You can also find them at most any sporting goods store, Kmart, WalMart or Sears. They typically range in price from $20 to $30. They are easy to pack on the raft and beat sitting around in the hot sand.

Under no circumstances will any aluminum, folding "lawn" style chairs be allowed. They have sharp edges and corners that wreak havoc with the raft and duffle. This rule will be enforced for any other style of chair that has sharp edges and corners. 

Dress for Success

Normally around camp, shorts and T-shirt or bathing suit are sufficient. In the evening, you may need a light sweatshirt or jacket.

It’s more difficult to dress when you’re on the river. While the air temperature may exceed 100 °, the water temperature is a chilly 47 ° . On a hot day, a short swim is refreshing and you warm up fast. On an overcast, windy, or rainy day, a swim isn’t quite as enjoyable, and it can take much longer to warm up.

In the morning, I suit up according to the conditions at the time, and during the day I adjust my clothing as needed. On a normal day I wear a pair of "fuzzy rubber" style pants and booties or water shoes with a stiff sole to protect my legs and feet from cold water and friction sores. If it gets windy, I put on a paddling jacket. If it gets cool, I add a polypro top under the paddling jacket. If it’s cold, or I’m running long rapids, I wear a dry suit with polypro underneath. I do not recommend wearing cotton as part of your paddling gear. And remember, you must always wear a lifejacket and helmet when paddling. Some people wear a dry suit all the time and feel it is comfortable and easy to cool off by getting in the river. It is a little more trouble when we go on hikes to get out of and back into.

Based on your paddling skills, as general rules, you can dress as follows:

Paddle well and have a roll – Light top and bottom

Paddle well but have short swims occasionally – Wet suit

Paddle OK, but swim a lot and have long swims – Dry Suit

Bring a medium-sized dry bag in which you can carry a full range of paddling gear. I always carry both a light and heavy set of polypro in my dry bag. If you get cold easily, a wet suit or dry suit, or both is advised. 

Most of the time, rain showers and wind gusts are short in duration but be prepared. I recommend bringing a two-piece rain suit. 

Some days, we have a few small rapids, some days we have a lot of big rapids. In the morning I will let you know what to expect for the day and then you can dress accordingly.

Hands and Feet

The combination of water and dry air often result in cracked and dry hands and feet. Bring Vaseline, Bag Balm, or other moisturizers for protection. If you chap easily, bring along a pair of light cotton socks and gloves to cover well-lubricated hands and feet at bedtime.

Clothing

The water is usually muddy and everything you wear will soon have a brownish tint to it. Don’t bring your best outdoor clothes, unless you don’t mind the mud. Also, inexpensive soap and shampoo works just as well in the muddy water as the expensive ones.

Pack lightly and plan to layer your clothing.










I recommend bringing:

Rain Suit (2-piece)
Sweater or sweatshirt (pile works much better than cotton)
Windbreaker or jacket (could be from your rain suit instead of separate item)
Long pants (1 pair)
Shorts (2-3 pairs)
Shirts (3, one long-sleeved)
Swimsuits
Chacos sandals with 5:10 soles
Sneakers or lightweight hiking shoes
Socks (3 pair)
Hat (with wide brim and ties)

Also bring:

Towel (Karen recommends bringing a large bath or beach towel rather than a
small "pack" towel washcloth.  The large towel can be used as a changing wrap where
modesty is desired).
Shampoo and soap (Karen likes Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap because the peppermint
feels really good on the skin in the canyon’s dry and hot environment). 
Lip balm with sunscreen additives 
Sunscreen (high SPF value)
Moisturizer
Aloe Vera (for sunburn)
Flashlight with extra batteries
Kleenex
Comb or brush
Toothbrush and toothpaste
Wet Ones (2) or some other pre-moistened towlettes (great for cleaning up on days when you don't want to jump in the river...)
Other personal hygiene items (razor, etc)

Other Items:

Zip-Lock bags
Water bottle and fanny pack for hikes (Camelbak's are highly recommended)
Sunglasses
Glasses retainer (Croakies, Chums, etc)
Extra pair of prescription glasses
Bandanna or scarf (“Buff’s are a great alternative)
Sun shower
Notebook and pencil
River Guide
Books to read
Camera and film in dry storage box
Paddling Gloves

Suggestions on Medications on GC

Here are some suggestions on medications from a physician on one of our trips:

1. Be sure to carry any medicines with you. Don't put them in checked baggage.

2. Colds, diarrhea and constipation are common problems for travelers. Take decongestants, medicine for diarrhea, etc.

3. Skin, urinary, and sinus infections are also common. Take at least one course of antibiotic (cephalexin is a good one for all 3, and it is cheap) for 7 days. Doxycycline is another good, cheap antibiotic but it makes many people extra sensitive to the sun... not such a good choice for the GC.

4. Be prepared to be stiff and sore. Take ibuprofen or your favorite anti-inflammatory; consider some muscle relaxers in case you really pull something.