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Drifter Smith is no stranger to the Grand
Canyon; in fact, he has been in love with the
Grand Canyon since he first saw it as a
teenager more than 50 years ago. He began
guiding in 1973 and started working for
Arizona Raft Adventures in 1979. He estimates
he has spent at least 10% of his life "below
the rim." In addition to 183 Grand Canyon
river trips to date, he has also hiked most
of the established trails and some
interesting back country routes in the Grand
Canyon as well. Besides his life-long passion
for geology, he also has a deep interest in
and extensive knowledge of all other aspects
of natural and human history, especially as
it relates to the Grand Canyon.
In addition to Drifter's Grand Canyon guiding
career, he has been a public health
inspector, excavation archaeologist, survey
archaeologist, and an art dealer. He has also
served as President
of the Grand
Canyon River Guides in 2004-2005. Grand
Canyon River guides is a non-profit group
supporting
the social, environmental, educational, and
conservation organization of guides and
others interested in the Grand Canyon. In more
recent years he has worked
for Northern Arizona University's Elderhostel
Program (now called Exploritas)
on trips in and around the Grand Canyon and
Colorado Plateau.
Drifter is the guest
interpreter on this spring's 10-day Natural
History specialty trip departing on April 26. The
Natural History trip is a motorized
rafting adventure with a special emphasis on
geology,
ecology, botany,
archeology, climate, and environmental
impacts. Strategically placed
during the month of April, you may even catch
the end of brittle bush season where the
walls of Grand Canyon are blanketed in yellow
wildflowers. In
addition to the mile-by-mile Grand Canyon
Colorado River guide, you receive three
additional Grand Canyon books on
geology, archeology, and a field guide. There are
still three spaces available if you would like an
opportunity to run the river with Drifter in
addition to Harlan, Laura, Jeff,
and David. To book, call the office at
800-786-7238 and mention this article to
receive a $100 gift certificate to Red
River Sports (sorry, available to new
bookings only). Remember to ask for the
repeat guest discount.
Photo submitted by Drifter Smith.
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Each year, Arizona Raft Adventures continues
to make greener choices company-wide. Our
retail division, Red
River Sports, is no exception and
recently added a new line of products made
out of an increasingly popular renewable
resource: bamboo.
Bamboo grows naturally, does not require irrigation, pesticides, or fertilizers, and can grow nearly 3 feet a day which makes it extremely renewable. Not only is bamboo an environmentally sound choice when it comes to purchasing clothing; it is also soft, comfortable, durable, and breathable. Bamboo clothing dries quickly, wicks moisture, and naturally regulates to keep you cooler when it's hot and warmer when it's cold. This sounds great for a Grand Canyon river trip. Another bonus of bamboo clothing is that it is naturally antibacterial and hypoallergenic. Therefore, there should be fewer odors from perspiration, mildew or mold. Now this is starting to sound like a perfect t-shirt for a Grand Canyon river trip (http://www.buyorganic.com.au/articles/bamboo-clothing.htm)! Photo submitted by Diane Ross. |
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Our new specialty adventure, the Dory and
Stories, is a classic AzRA hybrid trip (oar
boats and a paddle raft), plus the addition
of a dory boat, and staffed with a
well-versed story telling crew.
We believe the addition of a dory boat to the Stories trip enriches the trip in two ways. First, we now offer a trip with the opportunity to experience a dory boat. The dory is often considered the "classic" way to run the river. It is a rigid boat made of wood, fiberglass or aluminum, and gives an exciting and responsive ride. Secondly, adding a dory to the Stories trip is a perfect fit when talking about the history of Grand Canyon river running. First introduced to Grand Canyon by conservationist Martin Litton in the 1960s, dory boats continue to win devotees. Between the oar raft, paddle raft, and the dory, you will have the opportunity to experience it all. In addition to an all-star crew, there is
a trip historian: Mr. Brad Dimock. Brad
Dimock has spent thirty years as a guide and
leader in Grand Canyon and rivers around the
world. His college and graduate work centered
on natural history and outdoor leadership,
which results into superlative interpretation
skills on the river. Nowadays he splits his
time between the life of a writer (www.fretwater.com),
Grand Canyon river guide,
teacher/trainer, and building wooden boats (www.fretwaterboatworks.com).
Of course, stories are
told on every AzRA river trip but
the Dory & Stories offers a distinct focus on
the "stories" of the Grand Canyon featuring
historical river runners and tales of lore.
There are still a few spaces on the Dory and
Stories
trip in April of 2010. Mention The
V Wave and receive 15% off the entire
reservation plus a $100 gift certificate to
Red River Sports (sorry, available to new
bookings only). Sale prices and dates are
as follows:
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With many different types of vacation
options, and competitive pricing in a
fluctuating economy, planners have
many choices and are turning to
vacation review sites to find
out what vacation ideas exist as well as
legitimate companies to hire.
One of the more famous review sites is called TripAdvisor.com. TripAdvisor was founded in 2000 and is "a free travel guide and research website that assists customers in gathering travel information, posting opinions of travel related issues, and engaging in interactive travel forums" (TripAdvisor). Another increasingly popular review website is Yelp.com. Yelp is slightly different from TripAdvisor as it incorporates reviews of all types of services, including travel, and has quickly rose in popularity putting it in the top 100 U.S. Internet web sites (Yelp, Inc). We believe the travel reviews on these sites
are particularly important to Grand Canyon
raft trips.
AzRA has four reviews on Trip
Advisor and two on Yelp. If you have time to
submit a review to either one of these sites
about your experience with
AzRA and your Grand Canyon rafting adventure,
we will send you a logo
t-shirt as a token of our appreciation for your
time and
effort. This offer is available to the first
twenty people who email [email protected]
before submitting a review as there is a
limited supply of gifts. Thank
you for helping to increase exposure of
Arizona Raft Adventures as we strive to
remain a popular outfitter known for
providing a truly unique
and memorable Grand Canyon Colorado River
experience.
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We are available for free Skype to Skype international phone calls. Before we close this issue of The V
Wave, we
would like to remind you AzRA
has a Facebook page and a YouTube
Channel. We
recently added several new video clips
showcasing different aspects of the rafting
adventure experience. If
you get a chance, please become a Fan of AzRA
and check out the new videos.
See you downstream! Works Cited
(Arizona Raft Adventures and Grand Canyon Discovery are concessioners under contract with the U.S. Government and administered by the National Park Service.)
Arizona Raft Adventures and Grand Canyon Discovery
email:
[email protected]
phone:
toll free at 800-786-7238
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