How Rattlesnake Got It’s Name: A Grand Canyon Tale By Sharon Hester It was a warm and pleasant moonless July 2nd night at river mile 74, an unnamed camp back in 1981, when Kim Klapper (name changed) awoke. He had an urgent uncomfortable feeling, and knew he had to head quickly to the “Groover”. This…
The Story of the Earliest Inner Grand Canyon Painting, Discovered in a Small English Country Auction In 2021, Graham Ratcliffe, discovered a painting that had come up for sale at a small country auction, in England’s Lake District, that took him totally by surprise. It was of the stunning painting of the inner Grand Canyon, where it…
Paddling the John Wesley Powell Route: Exploring the Green and Colorado Rivers is a new guidebook that combines a condensed retelling of the dramatic 1869 Powell expedition with color photos and trip information for the entire 1000-mile river route. In this interview, author and photographer Mike Bezemek tells us about creating the book and rafting…
What do Apollo 11 and Grand Canyon have in Common? Written by Kaelin Zielinski | Featured Photo by Steve Koppel July 20th, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin did a small thing of stepping off a ladder onto a dusty, lonely land, but when they stepped off of Apollo 11 onto the lunar surface, they…
Chuckwallas in Grand Canyon by Sharon Hester. Featured Image by Sam Rodar “We saw a gila monster!” This statement is occasionally heard on river trips in Grand Canyon, but what was seen is most certainly a common chuckwalla, which is in the iguana family of lizards. Although, gila monsters have been sighted in the Diamond…
Grand Canyon Birding Tips by our in-house birder, Sharon Hester We have quite a few guests each year travel with us who are interested in birding while on their rafting adventure. The most common wildlife you’ll see in the canyon are birds. We thought it would be helpful to share just a few Grand Canyon birding…
When you see Grand Canyon bighorn sheep on a raft adventure, you’ll likely never forget it. They are amazing creatures to observe. The rams have iconic, impressive horns and the animals’ ability to run the steep cliff walls is fascinating. There are many additional impressive facts about Bighorn Sheep. Unfortunately, this symbol of the American…
Exploring the Grand Canyon by floating down the Colorado River with Arizona Raft Adventures provides the opportunity to see signs of ancient life including Grand Canyon rock art. The Ancient Puebloan people inhabited the American Southwest 800-1200 years ago. They lived, hunted and farmed in the Grand Canyon. Much of their existence remains a mystery, but…
Are you ready to identify three easy Grand Canyon spring blooms? The spring lends way to some of the most colorful displays of blooming flowers in the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon is quite diverse, despite its “desert” reputation. The environment consists of several different plant communities from riparian to desert scrub. We couldn’t even begin to…
Grand Canyon ants hustle and bustle as they salvage crumbs in the sand on the beaches in and around camp. The ants in the Grand Canyon are not Fire Ants, but rather a Red Harvester Ant. They are a little pesky but you can co-exist. First, learn to recognize nest locations and ways to avoid…
