River Rafting - What, When and Why?

I have been to the Grand Canyon a number of times. South rim, north rim -I've seen it all, so to speak. I read a lot about the Grand Canyon and noticed that their were trails to take you to the bottom of the canyon, and even up the other side. I read where there were mule rides to take you down into the canyon. I made up my mind that one day I would somehow journey to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and check out the view from the river and valley floor.

Around home, I'm a hiker, and I love to paddle my kayak on various rivers. When Elderhostel, the non-profit organization that offers education and travel programs for senior citizens first announced their intent to offer an eight day river rafting trip to take participants 225 miles down the Colorado River and through the Grand Canyon, challenging the 100+ rapids and camping out on the tiny beaches each night, I knew that was a trip for me. I registered immediately.

What I didn't know was that this was Elderhostel's first offering of this program. They did it in conjunction with the Northern Arizona University (NAU) which offers many other programs to the general public which enable people to experience the southwesten United States. It was a good partnership that included not only Elderhostel and NAU but an experienced rafting company known as Arizona River Adventures (AZRA). The 'boatman' from AZRA was a woman who absolutely knew the the river - its rapids, its history, its folk lore. No question about it, this was a fabulous trip.