Grand Canyon Rafting May 2004 - Hints, Tips & Links

Grand Canyon Rafting trip, May 2004
Other passengers' pictures and reports from our trip:

Other links for river runners:

Canyon Expeditions/Explorations is the company we used for our trip
Sam's webpage (Can-X guide on our trip)
Kelly's webpage (Can-X guide on our trip)
Grand Canyon River Outfitters Association webpage has lots of information about river trips
Michael Dooley's River Trip Page has lots of links to trip reports and pictures from various Grand Canyon river trips, by himself and others
The Unofficial Grand Canyon page has tons of useful information, and the owner, Bob Ribokas, has a trip report from his own river trip

Hints and tips:
Here's a few things I learned on the trip that might be useful to someone else...

When they tell you at orientation to "bathe" in moisturizer every night, believe them! In fact, slather it on twice a day, from day 1. Don't wait until you need it! A river trip is really, really hard on the skin and if you want to have a hope of avoiding painful chafing and irritating rashes, be nice to your skin.
It's better to bring lighterweight long underwear as the layer to wear under your splash jacket and pants. I brought the only capilene underwear I had, which was "expedition weight", and it was really too heavy to be useful. If I had brought lighterweight stuff, I probably could have worn it not only for warmth but also as a protective layer to prevent chafing, under the splash clothing. (However, you probably do want a heavy set of fleece pants & jacket for pure warmth, especially in camp, if you go during spring or fall.)
If it is windy and you wear contacts, be prepared to protect your eyes from blowing sand! And yes, sand will get everywhere. You'll still be cleaning it out of your stuff for months after the trip.
It really is a good idea to bring some cotton clothing to wear in camp!