The Emerald Mile

Nick said:
Wow wow wow. @mattvogt7 just sent me a link to this video after talking a bit about rafting and the Emerald Mile. Just incredibly well done. You're gonna like this one @Vegan.Hiker.


And this shot... damn! I'd hang that on my wall!

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That's Banff quality there, nice find. Makes me sorely wish I'd found an epic calling in life like that at an early age. I was kind of hoping this was a trailer to a full length documentary.
 
I'm well into Beyond the Hundredth Meridian now. The more I dive into this topic, the more I wonder why more people don't run wooden boats down big rivers. Yeah, it's a bit crazy. But man, if Powell could do it through so much strife... why the hell not? Spare oars, my ass. Go cut some out of driftwood ya lazy asses!

I just saw this on Facebook. 'Charlie', the first inflatable to run the Grand (~1938). Photo taken near Green River, Utah.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10207366341539588&set=p.10207366341539588&type=1&theater
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Nick said:
I'm well into Beyond the Hundredth Merdian now. The more I dive into this topic, the more I wonder why more people don't run wooden boats down big rivers. Yeah, it's a bit crazy. But man, if Powell could do it through so much strife... why the hell not?
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Have you read the complaints of the long portages yet?
 
Nick said:
Yep. I'm just past them getting done with the first full trip down the river. That would have been brutal lugging all that crap around all those rapids.
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I guess that's why you don't take a wooden boat down those rapids! :)
 
Nah... Powell was too cautious. His guys wanted to run a lot of 'em. The wooden dories are still rocking the rapids. Much larger penalty for inexperience or mistakes than in a raft, that's for sure.
 
Here in the UK about a year or so ago, the BBC aired a pretty cool 2 hour documentary on running the GC in Dories identical to Powell's. Did you guys get that in the US at all?

Trailer here;

Not sure if there's anywhere you can view the 2x one hour episodes online. I have them both on my PC in HD...
 
Well I finally finished The Emerald Mile and gave it the extremely rare, for me, five star rating.

My GoodReads review "Wow, just wow. This is a great book about an epic adventure through the Grand Canyon. Moreover it is a great history read about the cause and effect of man damming up the Glen Canyon to tame and use Mother Nature. It is also a great read about the natural history of one of my favorite places on earth and should be on every Canyon aficionado's to-read list and those armchair explorers.

I almost never rate a book as five stars but this book certainly warranted it.
- Extremely highly recommended by Austin and Nick - trailer movie looked great."

The trailer linked in above is almost as good as the book.
 
Dan_85 said:
Here in the UK about a year or so ago, the BBC aired a pretty cool 2 hour documentary on running the GC in Dories identical to Powell's. Did you guys get that in the US at all?

Trailer here;

Not sure if there's anywhere you can view the 2x one hour episodes online. I have them both on my PC in HD...
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Apparently it is not available here. The video throws an error.
 
Artemus said:
Apparently it is not available here. The video throws an error.
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I don't know that it's allowed, but I'd be happy to host both full episodes on one of my Cloud services and share the links - perhaps by PM rather than in the public forum. Maybe Nick can let us know if that's allowed...

And, I also received a copy of The Emerald Mile today as a birthday gift. Have read the first chapter and i'm loving it so far. I agree with what @ashergrey said, the writing style is great and makes it hard to put down!
 
Just bumping this thread because I found these vids online earlier today, I hope they work for you guys in the US. This is the BBC documentary I was referring to a few posts before this. I really enjoyed this and it'll be a fun watch if you have a spare 2 hours over the Christmas holiday and want to watch a bunch of guys run the canyon in replicas of Powell's boats...

Part 1:

Part 2:
 
I just want to throw in a thought or two about rafting the Grand. I have done it twice, both motorized trips. While I would love to do a dory trip, they are (obviously) more expensive, and you spend a lot of time while your guides (and you, if you wish) row downstream, often against heavy upstream winds. If you are motorized, you have fun in the rapids, but you also move fairly quickly from one hike to another, or at least that option is there. While I really enjoyed the whitewater, the things that were magical about the Grand were the side canyons and the little hikes to "surprises" along the river. Your mileage may vary, but that's something to consider.

One of my trips was with Wilderness River Adventures. They had lots of user nights, and not so many clients on my particular trip. I got a good deal by paying at the time I signed up, for a trip that I couldn't change. Then I got trip insurance that included cancellation if something happened and I couldn't make that particular date. There were only 6 clients. We had a great time, and did a good deal of hiking to splendid places. We went in late May. The water was chilly when we started and hot when we ended, but overall, it was pretty nice. You might contact them to see if a deal could be had.

Just my thoughts... Pringles
 
My wife did a 16 day trip, self guided about...oh, crap!, 8 years ago...man time flies. (I was in Peru for a month and it did not suck a lot) For us, now, it's the two little chitlins that we have (2.5 years and 9 months). We are more than interested in a self guided, 16+ day trip.

If I remember it cost each person (16 in all) about $1,000. That covered shuttle, food, raft rental, permit, gas. They did a LOT of paddling through the flat sections. 20+ miles a day. She still loved it and would do it again in a heart beat.

I like the idea of a motorized trip, if only for the increased amount of hiking. Then you could bring your duckies/kayaks for the rapids and then pull behind a boat. Not a bad option.

I'll have to read The Emerald Mile.

Salud!
 
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