Black Canyon Colorado River Trip

October 18 was the first day that the 12-mile stretch of the Colorado River through Black Canyon (just below Hoover Dam) was re-opened for river trips since the government shut-down. Who could have predicted this months ago when my husband, Kim, booked this day for a family trip? We didn’t even realize it was part of the National Parks Service until the shutdown happened. So we spent the last couple of weeks wondering if we would drive all the way to Southern Nevada just to have our trip cancelled. But we got lucky, and the government shut-down ended at midnight the day before, just in time to get everyone back to work at the Lake Mead Recreation Area. Yay!

We met the outfitters in the parking lot of the Hacienda Hotel in Boulder, Nev., at about 7:30 a.m. (We were a little late. Our bad.). It’s about a 35-minute drive from our hotel, the Boulder Station in Las Vegas. For others thinking about taking this trip, you might want to stay at the Hacienda so you don’t have to worry about traffic. Also, make sure everyone has identification — such as a driver’s license — BEFORE you leave the hotel. And plenty of water, sunscreen, a hat for protection against the sun, water sandals or sports shoes that are good for both getting wet and hiking (flip-flops slip too much on the wet rocks).

Everyone helped get the canoes, paddles, life vests down to the water.  Then we hopped in and away we went.  There wasn’t a cloud in the bright blue sky; the pristine Colorado River is so clear you can see the rocks on the bottom. The craggy, majestic walls of Black Canyon make you feel worlds away from the frantic pace of everyday life.

It sparked a lot of familiar phrases from various family members, including:

“Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream…”

“We keep you alive to row this ship. Row well and live.” (From Ben Hur.)

“A River Runs Through It.”

“Where’s Kevin Bacon?” (The bad guy in “The River Wild.”)

“Rollin’ on a river..” (From Creedence Clearwater’s Proud Mary)

Here are some shots of our seven hours on the river.

 

This isn’t a white water rafting kind of adventure; as it’s coming out of the Hoover Dam, the Colorado River is “smooth as bathwater” as one of the outfitters reassured me. You have to paddle quite a bit just to steer in the right direction, but there are times that you can just coast and let the easy current float you down the river.