We finished off our river season with two rowing/paddle hybrid trips. One was a total of 13 days, including an exchange of folks at Phantom Ranch, and Whitmore Wash, before reaching Lake Mead. The other was a charter trip of 12 days to Diamond Creek. The crew was told on both trips multiple times how awesome the trip was and that we should be marketing our use of Cots and having a Dory along.
We have taken Cots on almost all of our Grand Canyon Rafting trips for the past 5 years. We have found them to be a nice addition to trips for a couple of reasons. First off, they get our guests off the ground. This makes for a comfortable nights sleep free of sand. Secondly, they allow for air to pass around our guests for a cooler night sleep during the summer months. Finally, due to Glen Canyon Dam, the beaches of Grand Canyon are shrinking, making it harder each year to find big sand bars to camp on. In 2012, Cots will be available on all of our Grand Canyon Motorized Trips. We have had a lot of guests ask about our Cots. They are made by Roll-a-Cot. We use the wide model on our rafting expeditions.
The second thing that both trips commented on was how great it was to have along a Dory. Both of our September rafting trips included oar rafts, paddle rafts, and a Dory. The Dory was a nice addition to the trips and gave a completely different ride than the rubber rafts. Everyone really enjoyed being able to paddle one day, ride in the dory the next, and relax in a rubber raft the next.
