# GC Trip Planning - Advice Needed



## jgrebe (Jan 16, 2010)

You'll get different opinions. My own is that I would always go all the way to Pearce. Lots of reasons including the road in and the treaspass fees at Diamond. Not a lot of good camps below Diamond but some cool things to see and it doesn't really take long. Definitely flow all the way


----------



## MNichols (Nov 20, 2015)

Not a lot of camps below Diamond, but pearce is totally worth the trip. You went all the way there, why would you not see the Grand Wash Cliffs, not to mention Pearce is a much better takeout, with no Hulapai fees..


----------



## Wallrat (Jan 19, 2021)

Pearce. You will get raped on the tribal fees if you take out at Diamond. We made that mistake…I’ll never do it again.
They charge for every person, and every vehicle, including shuttle drivers and their vehicle. So for us; two guys, two vehicles plus the shuttle drivers, a whopping $380 to drive 30 miles of shitty gravel road.


----------



## Blade&Shaft (May 23, 2009)

And you can run Pearce


----------



## jerseyjeff (Apr 16, 2016)

taking out at pearce you can see seperation canyon which is pretty neat, and, in addition to the fees the last time I took out at diamond I wished it was just a shitty gravel road. It can get blown out and can be really rough on vehicles. There are many stories of busted leaf springs and blown tires. It can flash too, but that is more of a summer problem


----------



## tango (Feb 1, 2006)

I did a 9 day self support to Diamond last year in March. If the added cost is not a big concern then I would recommend doing 11 days to Diamond. Your days will be casual and you might even get to plan a layover camp. The available sunlight each day and lower river flows will make 26 miles each day seem like a push. It's totally doable to do 11 days to Pearce, but if you want to maximize fun instead of covering river miles than the shorter trip will be worth it.


----------



## morbald (Mar 10, 2014)

Travertine and separation are both below diamond creek, and well worth seeing along with some other interesting features of the lower canyon. I also find the landscape of the receding lake rather interesting (although admittedly ugly). The Pierce ferry rapid is interesting to look at and the sheer volume of sediment of the lakebed is impressive. As has been mentioned, the takeout experience will also be much more pleasant. I just wish it was my permit. Have fun.


----------



## cupido76 (May 22, 2009)

Yeah there are a few Rapids and a few things to see after diamond but I personally wouldn't bother going all the way to Pearce unless I did the overnight float option.

The scenery gets pretty blah for the last day or so, often rowing into a head wind, and non stop helicopter sight seeing tours going off above your head at twilight.

You will either pay the in dollars to take out at diamond or you will Pay in other ways to float to Pearce.

My 0.02 but I'd take out at diamond next time.


----------



## MNichols (Nov 20, 2015)

Quartermaster does remind vets of viet nam, but it's there and gone in 5 minutes..

Out of all the trips I've run, never once did I say to myself, damn I wish I'd taken out at diamond, but apparently YMMV 😂🤣


----------



## KrisG (Jun 22, 2012)

I know where tango and Cupido are coming from on this issue. If you have to kill yourself to make miles every day so you can spend two days going from Diamond to Pierce it might not be worth it. Of course if you have the extra time you should do it at least once so you can see what it is like. There are about 12 miles of good river running with some rapids before the flat water, and there are some good side hikes. There is current all the way, but there could be headwinds as well. 

My strategy if I was going to do it would be to get past Diamond as early in the day as possible, then run all the way down to surprise canyon, camp there, and paddle out on a long last day. Unfortunately, you have short days and with kayaks can't really float at night. 

When you consider the cost of everything else involved in a Grand trip, the Diamond fees aren't really that big of a deal and nothing to get worked up about. It is true sometimes the road to Diamond is washed out and closed so that is something to check in advance.


----------



## Chattoogaland (Aug 19, 2021)

Thanks everyone for the input. Its a tough choice, but we've got a few more months to decide. Fortunately I have 4wd truck to take into diamond creek if needed, so the condition of the road won't be to great a concern.

As a follow up question. Anybody ever R2ed paddle raft style? Is that a bad idea?


----------



## Blade&Shaft (May 23, 2009)

Huh?


----------



## MNichols (Nov 20, 2015)

Chattoogaland said:


> Thanks everyone for the input. Its a tough choice, but we've got a few more months to decide. Fortunately I have 4wd truck to take into diamond creek if needed, so the condition of the road won't be to great a concern.
> 
> As a follow up question. Anybody ever R2ed paddle raft style? Is that a bad idea?


Diamond road doesn't care, it trashes the strongest of rigs with ease. Busted springs, busted axles, busted control arms, all common. 

As to the second part of your question, it all depends on how much swimming you want to do.


----------



## nmjohn (Jul 22, 2004)

morbald said:


> Travertine and separation are both below diamond creek, and well worth seeing along with some other interesting features of the lower canyon. I also find the landscape of the receding lake rather interesting (although admittedly ugly). The Pierce ferry rapid is interesting to look at and the sheer volume of sediment of the lakebed is impressive. As has been mentioned, the takeout experience will also be much more pleasant. I just wish it was my permit. Have fun.


You will need a Hualapai permit to stop at Travertine.


----------



## Blade&Shaft (May 23, 2009)

Nah


----------



## nmjohn (Jul 22, 2004)

If you are there at 10:00 am, most likely you will be fined by the Hualapai.


----------



## Blade&Shaft (May 23, 2009)

Then don't be there at 10:00am


----------



## porters8 (May 31, 2015)

Some of our crew ran a paddle cat on our trip and had a blast. Several folks rotated in but two folks (the shredder boys!!!) Ran all the big stuff. They did a little swimming but had big grins the whole time. You need good paddlers and a strong crew to readily rescue swimmers but it's totally doable.


----------

