Why we loved our Hatch River Expeditions rafting trip!
I was hosted by Hatch River Expeditions for this tour, but all opinions are my own.Keep reading for all the details. See my last blog post for some of the pressing questions you might be having in advance of a Hatch River Expeditions trip. Check out Hatch River Expeditions website here to find out all you need to know about booking your own trip.
For our second Hatch River Expeditions trip we decided to take a hiking focused adventure through the Grand Canyon. Our first experience was so awesome we didn’t hesitate to travel with Hatch again. This time however we wanted to do even more hiking and exploring in the canyon so we opted for a hiking focused trip to do some more adventuring. There is so much to see in the canyon that you really can’t get to any other way except from the river.
The hiking focused trips with Hatch River Expeditions are usually 12 days and you can do the full canyon or pick the upper or lower canyon. Since we had already done the full canyon on our first trip we decided to do the lower canyon for a week. This required us to hike to the river from the South Rim of the Canyon via the Bright Angel Trail. It’s downhill 9 miles with 4501 feet of elevation loss. Sounds easy right? It sure was during but the next day not so much.
The Bright Angel Trail was full of stunning views of the canyon, wildlife and a gorgeous sunrise since we left at 5:30 a.m. It took us 4.5 hours with a couple snack and water breaks. About 2 miles from the river we were met by our river guide who just so happened to be Josh, the same guide we had 2 years ago. We loved him. He was leading out those who just did the upper canyon portion of the trip. We continued on to the river and met up with the 2 rafts and 30 others continuing on our trip.
Bright Angel Trail drops you near Phantom Ranch and the rest of the tour had been there checking that area out. We were on the river and enjoying the day by noon. If you go on a full canyon trip you load your gear the morning you leave. Since we were joining a week in, we had shipped our bags right to Hatch River Expeditions warehouse and they had them loaded and ready for us. It was super easy. Hatch River Expeditions brings all your necessary gear including tent, chairs, cots, sleeping pads and of course all the amazing food you could need. All you need is to bring your clothes and necessities and you are good to go.
A Hatch River Expeditions river trip means you are camping each evening along the river on one of the many sandy beaches you come upon. It’s amazing how much sand you can find in the Grand Canyon. Each day the guides had an idea of where they WANTED to end up. Weather or other guided trips may change those plans and did several days of our trip but we always ended up somewhere really interesting.
Each time you stop at a campsite there is a mad dash for the perfect camp site. Everyone likes something different. For me it was a place to hang wet gear or clothes I chose to wash out in the evening. On a rainy day it was somewhere with a little bit of cover or overhang. On the days we got rain our guides tried to find the camps with the best shelter.
The first night we camped near Granite Falls which we were going to run in the morning. The camp had pretty pockets of shade, beautiful views and a great shallow pool area to wash off and clean from our hike down Bright Angel Trail.
On day two we woke up nice and early to the call for coffee and the smells of bacon. It was gorgeous out and we were excited for our day UNTIL we rolled out of our sleeping bags and off the cot and realized we could barely walk. All that 9 miles of downhill seemed really easy at the time but the muscles were having none of it in morning. We popped some Advil (thanks to Josh our guide) and pressed on for the days hike. The rafts rode through Granite Falls but I and several others walked about 1/4 mile down and took photos and videos of the rafts coming through. It was pretty impressive to watch.
After running through the falls we tied up the boats and hiked up Monument Creek for over a mile and then crossed over on to the Tonto Trail which follows the Colorado from way up. The views were amazing. We hiked all the way to Hermit Creek which was so pretty and then headed back down to the river. It was fairly strenuous and was about 8.5 miles in total.
After about the first mile our muscles stopped complaining and we embraced the journey. It’s fabulous to see the river from above and realize you were heading way back down to catch the rafts. While we were hiking and having lunch 2 of our guides took the rafts down to meet us at Hermit Creek. We hopped back on board and spent the afternoon taking on Hermit, Crystal and all the Gem rapids. It was a definite perk after all the hiking.
On day three after a great night of cots under the stars we were up and out early because rain was forecast.
We hiked up Copper Canyon to seem some fascinating rocks and great views of the river below. While we were up high we were able to watch several other rafting groups pass us which is fun to see. You pass groups back and forth on your trip and all the other guides seem to know and like the Hatch River Expeditions guides.
We continued along to get to Elves Chasm which is one of my favorite sights in the canyon and it’s so much fun to swim in and to jump from the rocks above into the pool. The hike to this spot is short but with lots of scrambles which I love and it’s so much bang for the buck. It’s especially great and refreshing on a hot day.
We stopped for a quick hike up Blacktail Canyon which was stunning and then we were off to find a dry camp because rain was forecast. Our guides found a great site and we pulled out our tents to use for the first time. The tents Hatch River Expeditions provides are great. Not a drop of rain got in and we were warm and snug. It rained all night but not before we had an amazing meal of pork tenderloin.
Be sure to check back next week for part 2 of our adventure. There is so much more to see.
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Keep exploring,
Stephanie
seymoreoftheworldwithme