Park Junkie joins Jonny Zion and a band of brazen boatmen to explore 280 miles of the Colorado River, right through the heart of Grand Canyon National Park.
The journey took 17 days and provided an intimate introduction to the Grand Canyon’s most remote and rarely explored points of interest.
Water levels were high, as the 22/23 winter was the snowiest on record in many of the mountains whose runoff feed the Colorado, so our crew was blessed with a continuous 18,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) for the canyon’s entire length.
The rapids were big & a few were downright scary. While the canyon allowed safe passage on this voyage, we were not completely spared carnage, as Lava Falls struck with a quick but jarring uppercut that provided enough excitement for the entire journey.
We ran with 7 boats, an 18’ dory & a collection of rafts, all of which were outfitted by Brian Gillespe at Jordan River Boat Works, headquartered in Francis, Utah. Check out his lineup of boats & accessories via his Instagram page: @jordanriverboatworks
Enjoy the film, and if you’d like to learn more about the world’s Grandest Canyon, check out my guide to the park, right here at parkjunkie.com/parks/grand-ca...
Please be aware, public access to the Grand Canyon is currently under threat. Entrenched bureaucrats have teamed up with corporate interests to restrict access to the park’s entire northwestern rim, requiring rec dot gov reservations and permits to enter a remote and rarely visited section of the park known as Toroweap.
Toroweap is a beautiful area, and offers the adventurous traveler the most spectacular of Grand Canyon views. It lies at the end of a 60-mile, one-way dirt road, and receives little traffic.
Concerned citizens can write their elected officials to protest this move, and can use forms I have provided in the links below.
Those who would like to send a message to their elected representatives in the House and the Senate can now visit the Democracy IO link below, which provides a quick, painless method by which you can find and message your reps in a matter of seconds.
Just go to the link below, as well as the Google Doc linked below that, copy the FLREA Letter to Reps in Google Docs, then paste that into the comment section in the Democracy IO link. This takes less than two minutes, and you'll rest well, knowing that you took action to affect change for the benefit of future generations of our people.
Democracy.io: democracy.io/#!/
Googel Doc - FLREA - Letter to Reps: docs.google.com/document/d/1Z...
Here is Matt Stoller's November article on the Rec.gov arrangement: mattstoller.substack.com/p/wh...
Thanks for your efforts.
Be sure to check out the most comprehensive National Park guide ever conceived by the human mind, cruise on over to: parkjunkie.com/national-park-...
Also, don't neglect the opportunity to stay up to date on Park Junkie's blog: parkjunkie.com/
Oh yeah, I just created a new Substack account dedicated to Public Land Access Issues: The Park Junkie Public Land Press - publiclandpress.substack.com/...
And if you'd like to support our efforts to maintain public awareness of issues that affect our enjoyment of our public lands, consider grabbing some Park Junkie gear for yourself & don't forget your public-land-loving friends, family and associates: park-junkie.myspreadshop.com/
Thanks for the support, but most importantly, don't forget to support the future generations of our people, who will inherit our great lands. Let's make sure that these lands belong to them, and not a major corporate interest