The launch can be stressful for the Trip Leader. This is when everything that you have been organizing for the past months come together – you are finally rigging boats at Lees Ferry! You have set yourself up for success by using PRO’s Painless Private Service.
People and Gear Shuttle – Flagstaff to Lees Ferry
We will pick up your group at your hotel or agreed meeting place in Flagstaff at 11am (or earlier in wintertime) the day before your launch. PRO’s put-in shuttles head for Lee’s Ferry on the day before your launch date, to give you plenty of time to rig. In order to be sure all your participants will be present at the time of the shuttle; they need to arrive in Flagstaff two days before your launch date. Some local hotels offer free parking for the duration of your trip. When the truck arrives at your location, the foodpack, and PRO boats and gear are already on board. If you have ordered beer/wine/liquor to be delivered from Majestic Marketplace, it will be on the truck too. If you have personal rafts to load, speak with the driver about when and where to load them. Your group will participate in loading their drybags and other gear. Loading goes quickest if your group has already piled their bags where the truck will be able to pull in. Kayaks are loaded last. Before leaving town make sure everybody has their picture ID and check with your drivers about your gear. One of the drivers has a clipboard with the load list for your trip. The load list is the itemized listing of everything that is loaded on the truck. If there’s something essential that’s not on the truck – let the driver know, it is a lot easier to get in Flagstaff than in Marble Canyon. We will make a stop where you can purchase lunch to be eaten on the drive before we leave Flagstaff.
Rigging Boats at Lees Ferry
Upon arrival at Lee’s Ferry, we hit the downstream end of the ramp and immediately begin to unload the truck – the PRO group gear (foodpack boxes and coolers, porto, kitchen, etc.) – stay in the truck until the rafts are ready to receive them. Personal drybags and boxes, cases of beer and soda, fishing poles, chairs, kayaks, and other non-raft stuff get piled where they will not get in the way of rigging the boats. They will be loaded on the boats, after the essential group gear. When the raft rubber comes out the back of the truck, your group will work as a team to blow up and rig the boats. PRO provides an extension cord and electric blowers. Anyone on hand can grab a blower and start inflating the boats. The PRO Advisor will show the group how to rig the frames – refer to the Raft Rigging Primer for more info on rigging the rafts. When the boats are floating in the water with frames rigged, the truck driver will back up to the boat. The coolers and boxes are loaded directly off the back of the truck onto one boat at a time using the lift gate. This is when you will officially designate the groover boat, kitchen boat, lunch boat, and lead and sweep boats. After the boats have been loaded with the group gear – and moved away from the truck – all the personal gear can be loaded on the boats. Find spots for the beer, soda, and hard gear first. Everything will be off the ramp and the boats will be taken downstream to the Private Boater’s Camp. This is a great time to make oar adjustments.
Equipment Check with NPS Ranger
Typically, the ranger will visit during unloading and rigging to do the equipment check-out. This visit is your chance to confirm a time for the checkout and orientation. Usually, the orientation happens at 9:00am on the morning of your launch. You will need your permit, a copy of the regulations, and a roster of participants that is easily accessible. The ranger may have questions regarding cost splitting for the trip, so bring documentation. Your PRO advisor will be there to show the ranger where the strainer, signal, and firepan are (or anything else you have rented from PRO). You will also want to pay attention to where these items are. The ranger will also meticulously check through lifejackets – don’t worry, PRO has a stash in case some of yours don’t pass.
Launch Day and the Final Rig
You’re destined to wake up early, because there are a few things more exciting than launching on a wilderness expedition into one of the Seven Wonders of the world. The first thing to do is see if you can find the basic kitchen stuff to make coffee. PRO sends a simple breakfast for the morning of your launch that includes coffee (with coffee sock), orange juice, half and half, milk, cereal, danishes, fresh fruit, bagels, cream cheese and jam. This is a good time for the group to get familiar with the stove and kitchen set up. You can’t rig the boats until the kitchen is put away, so you might as well enjoy a nice sunrise breakfast before you start heaping stuff on the boats. Apply sunscreen. Drink water. People can pile drybags on your shore in front of the boats. Pile them where rising water won’t get them! Your PRO advisor will have an orientation with the group about the PRO rental gear, our systems and the foodpack. It’s imperative that the group is fully present and asks the questions. This is your chance to get information about your setup from someone who knows. Keep an eye on the time and be punctual for your 9:00am orientation with the ranger. Meanwhile, you can tinker with the boats. Before you start loading personal gear, be sure that the kitchen and group gear is all loaded into the hatches. Then strap your hatches shut, secure the tables, and look at the pile on shore. Many boatmen have a moment of terror when they see the mountain of gear that still needs to go on the boats. Where there is a will, there is a way and always rig to flip.
Orientation with the NPS
Normally the Ranger will come down to the Private Boater’s Camp at 9:00am (this will have been confirmed the day before) to check photo ID’s and give a brief (45-60 min) orientation. It is a good idea for the group to have viewed the video that the Park Service sent with your permit.
Sending Gear Back to Flagstaff
Anything you do not need on the river can be sent back to PRO. Your advisor will mark refused rental items on your Load List and you will be credited. Private items to be stored could be consolidated into as few bags as possible. All personal gear will be stored at PRO until your takeout day – when it will be loaded in the truck to arrive at your takeout.