# Advise for Daughter on Grand Trip



## raftkat

What is she confused about? What to bring? What to expect?


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## BarryDingle

Confused? 

River only goes one way,mate...


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## Ryanrugger

The Grand Canyon is in Arizona.


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## Doubledown

If she is worried about the unknown ... well.... that's the best part of life. As long as she is going with a group that is capable of making solid decisions, she will most likely have a trip of a life time!


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## rhigh

More concerned than confused I guess, what to bring, what to expect. I'm sure she'll have a great time. She went on the Yampa a couple of years ago and had fun, this is just a lot longer trip. Any tips that will make her experience better would be appreciated.


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## hartle

how old is she?
a trip like this is once in a life time and beautiful and fun and awsome. if she doesnt like those things shes beter off in phenoix


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## lmaciag

A few things I have found to be key:

1. Take care of hands and feet every night. Get some heavy duty balms/creams. Cracks are not fun! 
2. Double bag your sleeping bag and a set of warm clothes because you never know what can happen... every flip I've seen has resulted in wet gear. 
3. Get a guidebook for just her so she can follow along and be part of the logistical process. 
4. A sarong is a great thing to bring. Makes changing/bathing more discrete and is comfy to put on after getting off the boat. 
5. A FUD (Sani-Fem Freshette Feminine Urinary Director at REI.com) is great for using 'the facilities' too. I wouldn't be caught on a trip without mine! 
6. Something to spice up room temperature water (Emergen-C, fruity herbal teas, etc.) and drink lots of water.

Hope that helps!


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## okieboater

Standard advice is take spare set of sandals to air out wet feet at camp, plenty of lotion and a couple pair of cotton socks so you can wipe feet clean with the little cleaning pads then lotion them up and put on the socks. Skin is easy to dry out and crack in the canyon. Have a easy to get to dry bag for time in the raft with granola bars, snacks, sun glasses, sun hat and spares for both. A good spray or dry top with some fleece to wear as needed. Drink a lot more water and might take along some crystal lite pkgs to spice up her water bottle. Make sure she has her own led headlamp for night groover trips. light pull on gym pants just in case the sun gets too hot on legs in the raft. And, do not forget a nice water resistant point and shoot camera with extra SD cards and batteries. (oops was writing this as laurie was posting, might be some duplication)


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## rhigh

Thank you very much, those are just the kind of things I was looking for.


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## bobbuilds

no one said anything about a photo on the home page? funny....


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## FLOWTORCH

If you cant convince them, confuse them.


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## lhowemt

Baby wipes are great for a girl to tend to personal hygiene. "Baby wipe baths" can be great. The water is frigid, so bathing in the river is often minimized.

A collapsible bucket is also nice, for night time pee breaks so you don't have to go wander down to the river and get your feet wet (yet again, after you've lotioned them up).

I heavily used "unpetroleum" on my hands a feet for crack prevention. Light socks will be on my next trip also, to prevent alligator skin.

Watch excessive intake of nutra sweet, if you are adding a lot of powdered stuff to water and you're not used to nutrasweet, it can cause all sorts of weird things to happen.

Mesh shoes can be better than sandals, as they often create fewer skin hot spots and will protect from sun. They also are great to just hop out of the boat and hike in.

A compact mirror (as in makeup-compact, but with the makeup out of it) is really useful for contacts and stuff like that. Nice and small, protected, and sort of stands up.


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## jen84

I have started a pretty awesome kit that I take on river trips, camping, and hut trips. Essentials: brush, SHAMPOO, face wipes, baby wipes, Q-tips, lotion, allergy med, advil, advil pm, eye drops, hand sanitizer, and lots of extra hair pins and ponytails. Nothing is better than "cleaning" up at the end of the day. Plus, a personal stash of Emergen-C, granola bars, gum, life savers, and water flavoring. I also bring some Pajamas that I try to keep clean and dry. And perhaps the greatest investment ever was a thermarest pillow. I totally agree with the sarong aspect or dress, some girls had them on the last trip and is looked really comfortable. 

Also add in some trashy novel. And as a Dad don't forget to bring along something she really likes for dinner or dessert.


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## Ture

If you don't have one already get a collapsible ladder so it is easy for her to get in/out of the water to take a pee in the flatwater.

Ladies like these because they don't need someone to pull them into the boat when they are ready to come aboard:

Cascade Outfitters Whitewater Rafting Equipment: Nettie's Bag Ladder

Might want to bring a solar shower too. I have never in my life showered on a river trip. I just jump in the river and that's that. I cannot even imagine why anyone would want to go through the trouble of a shower, but my wife insists on it for a trip of a week or longer. Apparently, it has to do with having hair or something like that so maybe consider that.


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## Randaddy

jen84 said:


> Also add in some trashy novel.


Perhaps "The Adventures of Jen" in paperback....

Also, how old is your daughter man? We'll be down there 3/5-3/25 and we have lots of single kayakers on our trip...


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## FLOWTORCH

Give that girl a hot shower. Girls like hot showers. I know this. 

Heat water, drop it one of these guys...

Root-Lowell : Flo-Master Pressurized Sprayer Products

Rig up your oars for a teepee at the waterline and bam hot shower.

Now get ready to be told five times how to build a better shower.


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## Rich

FLOWTORCH said:


> Give that girl a hot shower. Girls like hot showers. I know this.
> 
> Heat water, drop it one of these guys...
> 
> Root-Lowell : Flo-Master Pressurized Sprayer Products
> 
> Rig up your oars for a teepee at the waterline and bam hot shower.
> 
> Now get ready to be told five times how to build a better shower.


 
Ok, I'll be the first of the five!
Zodi makes a stainless steel version that you can put right on the blaster.
As soon as you hit camp, put a dark 5 gallon jug in the sun for preheat.


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## JCKeck1

You guys are ridiculous.... Tourists go home, leave your daughters. We'll take care of them!


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## raymo

rhigh said:


> As we get closer to our late March launch, my daughter is become more apprenesive about the trip. Does any one on this forum have some sound advice for her? She's done some research but is still confused.


You'er a great dad, to be concerned. It is a long trip, I have seen my fair share of very unhappy campers on short 3 to 5 day trips. What I have experienced that helps is when they bring a good friend they can relate with. The buzz has a lot of very experienced boaters that would be happy to anwser and address all her questions and concerns. Let her get on the buzz and explain herself, all of her concerns. That would take all the guess work out and get right to the point, March is just right around the corner.


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## slamkal

Rich said:


> Ok, I'll be the first of the five!
> Zodi makes a stainless steel version that you can put right on the blaster.
> As soon as you hit camp, put a dark 5 gallon jug in the sun for preheat.


I've got the Zodi extreme described above and it works pretty good. Except the heater they supply is only 10000btuh so it takes a long time to heat if you have a bunch of people cycling it.

You might want to preheat the water in a bucket while using the water up to temp. or use some other blaster for heating the water. Make sure you heat it with the plunger out ....


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## Rich

slamkal said:


> I've got the Zodi extreme described above and it works pretty good. Except the heater they supply is only 10000btuh so it takes a long time to heat if you have a bunch of people cycling it.
> 
> You might want to preheat the water in a bucket while using the water up to temp. or use some other blaster for heating the water. Make sure you heat it with the plunger out ....


 
Solar preheat! Anybody know how many btu a blaster is?


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## yak1

bring lots of extra batteries and memory cards for her camera. Warm bag, paco pad, dry tent, some books, sun screen. Warm dry river clothes (lots of extra) solar shower spare tp for her personal use. binoculars are nice.
tell her not to forget to have fun and laugh at the partents


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## Fallingup

lmaciag said:


> A few things I have found to be key:
> 
> 1. Take care of hands and feet every night. Get some heavy duty balms/creams. Cracks are not fun!
> 2. Double bag your sleeping bag and a set of warm clothes because you never know what can happen... every flip I've seen has resulted in wet gear.
> 3. Get a guidebook for just her so she can follow along and be part of the logistical process.
> 4. A sarong is a great thing to bring. Makes changing/bathing more discrete and is comfy to put on after getting off the boat.
> 5. A FUD (Sani-Fem Freshette Feminine Urinary Director at REI.com) is great for using 'the facilities' too. I wouldn't be caught on a trip without mine!
> 6. Something to spice up room temperature water (Emergen-C, fruity herbal teas, etc.) and drink lots of water.


Couldnt have said it better myself! Especially, the sarong! Also I suggest having her practice using the "go-girl or FUD " at home till she feel comfortable, it can be a little intimidating at first! 

Keep snacks handy, magazines & books all close at hand!

And...props to you dad for caring!


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## yakkeranna

I bet she'll have a great time, I did my first grand at 16 and it was one of the best experiences of my teenage years.


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## TakemetotheRiver

If she's going with experienced boaters, I'm sure you will make sure she has all the necessities. The two things for the Grand that I found absolutely essential were:
Lotion: pack what you think you'll need, then double it- some of us were actually trading beer for lotion by the end.
Personal time: books, magazines, crossword puzzle, journal- whatever she does when she wants to be alone, because no matter how much you love your crew, downtime for personal reflection is essential in the Canyon.
Either way, I'm sure she will love it.


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## carvedog

Well.......some good stuff in here. No age has been mentioned and that's probably safer. For my daughters and wife 6, 9 and never mind - I heat water for them to get a nice face wash ( or more ) in the morning. Doesn't take much to heat a gallon of water and grab a stainless bowl to get freshened up. 

Cotton is king. After spending days in nylon and quick dry stuff I love to put on nice, dry cotton at night. Weather depending of course. 

Bedding. I love to have a flannel sheet over my thermarest. Seems to keep the sand from puddling under my hips and shoulders. I also indulge myself with a paco pad, then an uninflated therma, then the sheet. And I take a thinner regular sized pillow. Screw those tiny ones and stuffing your fleece in a bag. I bring a raft, so I can bring these things. 

Bring moleskin for chafe spots on feet etc. I bring a hundred flexible fabric bandages too. They work almost as well as moleskin. 

Some warm slip on booties would be pretty awesome. Not river booties but thick insulated ones of some kind. Or something like Uggs for quick night time wanderings.


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## lhowemt

Ditto what the dog says. A REAL pillow, she'll be thankful. Get a small compression sack and it will be easy to pack. 

My skin hates my paco pad vinyl, I do both a pad (thin fleece blanket) and then a sheet over that if it is warm enough I won't be in a sleeping bag.


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## thunderfoot

A wetsuit and booties every day mandatory with a light rainsuit to keep the splash off. Keep comfy. You can always take it off but you can't put on if you don't have it.
Educate and engage on the geologic journey and the flora and fauna, the tides of the river,and anything else pertinent. Stars, clean camping, rigging, rowing, scouting.
Keep a small day pack available for short,quick hikes during daytime to break the boat time up. Don't sleep in- up at first light. You can enjoy the view of the inside of your tent in your back yard, so get up and see it. Get some on ya. I took mine down Cat @ 35K and had a great time @ 13 yrs old... she rowed, hiked, helped scout until the Big Drops when she went with me to #1 and turned back to the boat because she later told me "Dad, I don't like it when I can FEEL it in my feet on shore".I Don't blame her. You won't see anything like that - but likely 12- 16K at high tide. Explain that to her. And why you might wait to run Walt.,Hance, or Duebendorf till high tide. Engage, Educate, and be curious.


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## cataraftgirl

My list of must haves...... solar shower & small folding bucket for cleaning up, Gentle Rain shampoo & body wash, a small mirror, a decent pillow, lots of lotion, a good headlamp with extra batteries & a second headlamp for back-up, several books (I now take my Nook), some playing cards, my I-pod, Crocs for camp, I sleep on a roll-a-cot with a thermarest, several hats & bandanas, a sturdy camp chair, bike gloves & work gloves, some guidebooks on flora & fauna, and most important a good attitude.
KJ


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## jrice345

The pee bucket is probably one of the most essential items anyone has mentioned. 

All of my female rafting friends just pee in the front of the boat (unless you have a bucket boat!). Much easier than hanging over the tubes. You'll have plenty of water over the bow to wash the floor. 

Have fun.


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