The Bradshaw's GRAND Adventure

We're back from the Grand Canyon and it was the trip of our lives! Benj and I got to see some of the most amazing and beautiful sites in the world! We also got to experience some of the greatest rapids! Here's a look at our GRAND adventure!

Day 1 - June 26th

There were 16 of us total: my family and my dad's 2 sisters' families. To make it easy, my family are the Crofts, the next is the Waters, and the other is the Cross family. My uncle, Jerry Cross, is a river guide, so they went up early to start setting up. The Crofts and the Waters started our journey early in the morning, and reached our destination about 2 or 3 pm. We stayed at a little place called the Marble Canyon Lodge. Everyone who works there was very friendly and by gosh it was toasty! We could walk about 5 minutes and reach the Navajo Bridge, which is amazing to walk across and see the river so far below.

Day 2 - June 27th

The first day on the river! The starting point for most rafting trips begins at a place called Lee's Ferry. Dozens of commercial and private parties leave every day. We tried to get out early because of the heat but because of a lecture by a friendly ranger (he told us about every animal in the park) and the amount of stuff we had to pack on our raft, it took us a couple hours to take off. It's funny, the first little ripple of water and we'd get all excited. We hadn't seen anything yet! It was cool to pass under the Navajo bridge and to get an idea of how deep we were in the canyon. Most places in the Grand Canyon are said to be a mile deep. It was incredible to be surrounded by huge faces of rock. It was a lot cooler in the canyon because of the shadows of the rock and being on the river. We faced a few larger rapids throughout the day (6-7 on a scale of 10) and Benj caught his first few fish. We camped at a place with some nice sand for sleeping on and slept to the sound of the chirping secadas (like crickets)and the rushing river. We slept under the stars and didn't need any blankets because it was so warm.

Day 3 - June 28th

Our first site to see today is called Vasey's Paradise (see the slideshow). It is a trio of waterfalls coming right out of the side of the canyon. We traveled down to Redwall Cavern, which is a huge cave-like place where the floor is all sand. It is said to fit 50,000 people in it. There we played a friendly game of frisbee and football and my mom caught her first little fish. We passed under a couple other bridges made for mules and other tours, and then found a spot for lunch. My aunt Laurie was the most prepared person! She had this perfect waterproof box full of sandwich fixings, cookies, chips, etc and we just set up a little table and fixed our lunch right by the water. Pop and juice were kept cold by putting them in a burlap sack and hanging it over the side of the raft in the water. Oh, and for water we drank the river water! I wasn't too sure at first but it was yummy! We decided we had enough time to go to the Little Colorado river. It is the point where the Little Colorado river meets the main Colorado. It determines if the water will be muddy or not. Our luck was with us and the water was crystal blue. It was absolutely gorgeous! We hiked up a ways and floated down the river (which was about 70 degrees) with our lifejackets wrapped around our bums to protect them from rocks. A memorable moment occurred when my mom started going down when she didn't want to and both my brothers grabbed her ankles before heading down head first! After swimming for an hour we found a camp (see top picture) and enjoyed a BBQ chicken dinner.

Day 4 - June 29th

We woke up in the early morning and were covered with sand. Our faces and hair were caked with it and it was even in our ears. I washed my hair in the river and I swear I can still feel the sand everywhere! Today was RAPID DAY! We went through 10 rapids that were all over a 6 on the scale of 10. Our favorite was Hermit Rapid, rated 9, which went through 5 perfect "rollercoaster" waves with the biggest wave at the end that left everyone soaked. Other favorites included Hance, Sockdolager, Grapevine, Granite, and Crystal Rapid (10). My least favorite was ironically named Tuna Creek Rapid (for those who know me I HATE tuna). I was sitting on the side tube with both legs in the raft and a wave toppled me forward on my brother! It gave me a darn bruise on my knee too! Another highlight was a beautiful place called Elves Chasm. It was quite a hike up, but when you reach it it's all worth it. It's a little nook with a waterfall that you can jump off of. Very refreshing! Our camp this night was Benj and my favorite because we got a little spot all to ourselves! It gets annoying trying to find a place to change other than your sleeping bag. Oh, and don't even get me started about trying to use the bathroom! Boys have it so easy!

Day 5 - June 30th

We visited a couple of my favorite spots. Deer Creek Falls was a HUGE waterfall where you can see and feel the mist pretty much from the river! Benj came the closest to getting underneath or behind it was it was so strong that nobody could make it. Havasu Creek was later in the afternoon and it was a paradise. Crystal blue water with multiple waterfalls. It is surrounded by a beautiful red wall of rock that looks polished because of the sand and water. It was probably my favorite place to swim and visit. My dad took all the pictures with his camera of us swimming so I'll get those later. We came back to our raft to find a raven and gotten into one of our snack bags and stole all of our swedish fish! We enjoyed several fun rapids and found a fun camp spot where we enjoyed spaghetti and breadsticks (I ate better on this trip than I did at home)! Andy actually saw a scorpion here but luckily I didn't see it!

Day 6 - July 1st

Lava Rapid Day! This is the king of all rapids right here. It has a wall of water 37 feet high! Our raft of 16 people could easily get flipped over in that! Luckily my uncle is an experienced driver and got us through safely. We definately got soaked and it was the highlight of the day. Lava rock is embedded all over the mountain and there is a huge lava stone called Vulcan's Anvil right in the middle of the river about a mile before the rapid. It seems to say "danger ahead". We made camp at a place called Pumpkin Springs and made sandcastles and floated the river until sundown. My dad grilled us each a 9-10 oz steak for dinner. The last night on the river!

DAY 7 - July 2nd

We savored the last few rapids and sites of the Grand Canyon before reaching our exit point called Diamond Peak. It took us a couple hours to deflate the raft and get everything loaded in our cars. It was a long bumpy ride to the nearest town, called Peach Springs. How grateful we were for running water and a toilet. Seeing ourselves in the mirror was also a shock. I didn't care . . . all I wanted was a milkshake. When I got it at our table, everyone's eyes were on my milkshake. I felt kinda bad eating it in front of them, but hey, they could have ordered their own! The biggest surprise happened after lunch when my uncle Jerry and aunt Laurie announced that our trip was FREE! They gave us this trip as a gift! We were all in shock when they told us. They are the BEST!! We parted ways soon after and the Croft clan stopped in Las Vegas to enjoy a long shower and a good night's sleep.

It was a fabulous experience and I recommend everyone go!!!