A story of fulling one of my American dreams

The epic two days solo drifting on the Colorado river

Left photo shot on the morning of April 6, 2006 and right one on the sun setting moment of Sept 12, 2025

A Twenty Years Old Dream

The dream — the longing of one day touching the river 1,000 feet down that cliff — was planted when I crawled over sandy rocks and took my first peek at the Colorado River from the lookout at Horseshoe Bend near Page, Arizona.

That was April 4, 2006, almost twenty years ago.

We were on a 5,000-mile “drive and shoot” (photos) trip circling the Grand Canyon. Back then, Google was only two years past its IPO, and trip planning was still largely based on printed travel materials. We had never even heard of “Horseshoe Bend” or “Antelope Canyon.” I spotted it by accident in a picture hanging on the wall of a small food joint where we were having brunch near Page. I immediately went to the cashier to ask how to get there, and happily found out it was very close.

So we drove over. At that time, there was just a small sign by the highway. We parked, then walked through the desert shrubs straight to the lookout. (This time, there was a gate with a park ranger charging $10 per vehicle, two giant parking lots, strict closing after sunset, and a paved zig-zag trail leading to the lookout. No more trespassing across the fragile sandy bushes.)

I remember how, as we drew near, the full profile of the bend slowly arose before my eyes. That was my first real awe at the grandness and beauty of Mother Nature. I crawled to the cliff’s edge and looked down, marveling at the grandeur of the canyon and the silky deep-green Colorado River flowing around the bend.

From the left, I noticed a tiny boat, no bigger than a grain of rice from where I sat, slowly drifting downstream before pulling ashore. To my surprise, a few people stepped out and walked onto the riverbank. In the warm spring midday sun, their silhouettes glistened golden against the water.

I was mesmerized, gasping in wonder. I want to be like them one day! Down there, with my feet in the crystal-clear water, looking up. Back then, we didn’t even know how to “search” the internet for answers, so my dream was buried deep at the bottom of my long to-do list.

Almost nineteen years later, big data finally found me — and pushed me an Instagram account: @kayakthecolorado.Suddenly, this dream became executable.

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The Hesitation

I’m not a very adventurous person, but I decided I had to try this trip. The preparation was full of quiet anxiety. Even my husband hesitated, not to mention most of my close friends. I don’t blame them: for most of my generation in China, aquatic sports were rare. Swimming in a pool was a luxury, let alone kayaking on a wild river for two days. It sounded crazy, even reckless.

But my college best friend surprised me by immediately signing up. She and her husband had become outdoor enthusiasts in the past decade, walking almost all the world’s famous trails — Patagonia, Kilimanjaro, Kumano Kodo, the Tour du Mont Blanc, the Dolomites. Only people as brave and wilderness-savvy as them would be willing to join me on such a trip. Their only kayaking experience was two outings: one recent guide-led sea kayak in Portugal, and another at Crowley Lake, where their leader eventually had to tow them back with his motor SUP.

I planned quietly for more than six months. I researched every risk: river flow rates, wind patterns, rockfalls, wildlife along the riverbanks. The most concerning was always the wind, funneled through the canyon like a tunnel. I watched the Windy app for months. Gusts of 15–25 knots were common, never entirely comforting, but still within what I judged a manageable risk.

Slowly, but firmly, I set the plan. I bought a new Kokopelli packrarft that claimed to be the lightest (24Lb) but is up to the challenges of white water class I level. I tested it one week before the trip with another two old friends at the Shoreline Lake of Mountain View. My old friends own a two-person raft and love to paddle there time after time, and occasionally ventured into the nearby slough of Alvisio Marina County Park.

Even they cringed when I mentioned that I was bringing that new toy to drift on the Colorado River for two days.

That added more low key anxiety for me while I was getting more and more excited when the big day of launch getting closer.

My own husband soon ran into an undeniable schedule conflict (by an international organization) which brought him big relief (secretly). I was long mentally prepared to go solo and I am very grateful that my college BFF and her hubby had been cheering encouraging all along the way.

The Big Day

We flew in through Las Vegas, reserved a day before the launch to drive four hours to Lee’s Ferry, and stayed at a rustic but clean little inn nearby. After a hearty early dinner at the newly opened restaurant called Lonely Jack Rabbit, I drove my friends to Horseshoe Bend to watch the sunset. It was their first time seeing the view I had dreamed of for twenty years.

The next morning, we woke at 5:30 a.m. and drove to the Lee’s Ferry launch ramp, where I geared up my raft in time to catch the 7 a.m. backhaul ride 15 miles upstream to the foot of Glen Canyon Dam.

The morning was a pleasant 65°F/18°C, but the captain pulled out three neon waterproof blankets and handed them to us. I laughed, “Do we really need these?!” The captain, quiet and handsome with a weather-worn crimson face like the canyon itself, didn’t answer. Moments later I understood: I wrapped myself tight, shivering against the icy 20-knot wind whipped up by the speeding boat.

About 45 minutes later, we reached the base of the dam. The structure loomed, intimidating, water swirling fast at its foot. Just then, a group of lively seniors, guided and cheerful, leapt into the river. They looked to be in their seventies, yelling with delight about who would reach Lee’s Ferry first. Their energy lifted us.

And then, at last, the trip I had dreamed of for so long began.

The water near the dam looked intimidating near but this group of baby-boomers boosted our confidence

I was thrilled beyond words.

The early morning water was very calm and glassy. The big gigantic Grand Canyon walls slowly unfolded on both side in front of me like two grand curtains.

It was so vast, so far beyond normal perception, that it felt biblical. My heart filled with a pantheistic reverence for all existence — a feeling that stayed with me for two days and one night on the river.

If this is not the gate of heaven, what else could it be?!

Originally I planned to camp on the 9 Miles Camp right on the spot I saw people walked down 20 years ago. But we arrived there at 11:30 am. 3.5 hours after we started and we already paddled 6 miles! With hundreds of visitors gawking from a thousand feet above, even though they looked smaller than ants’ heads, it felt exposed. We decided to take a break to cook some lunch and then paddle down to the 4 Mile Camp so that next morning we could get back to the Lee’s Ferry Launch Ramp before 10 am and then drive four hours back to Las Vegas to catch the flight at 7 pm.

We cooked some Chinese instant noodles for lunch. Mine is my favorite 康师傅香辣牛肉面 — Shifu (Master) Kang’s spicy aromatic beef noodle. While enjoying it, I could not help raising my cup to the visitors overlooking at us from a thousand feet above.

Don’t they know my dream of 20 years finally was fulfilled at that moment? Later if anyone ask me what my American dreams are, this is definitely one on the top.

At the Horseshoe Bend, I raised my cup of Chinese spicy beef soup instant noodle to the hundreds of overlooking visitors 1000 ft above

It turned out our change of plan was a very right one. Not only Four Mile Camp was among the best camps along the way, but also offered us more peace of mind to fulfill the rest of the schedule with ease.

I insisted on bringing some firewoods along with me and even put them into a dry bag. But in the end, when we reached the camp after paddling for 11 miles that day, I was totally wasted. I abandoned the idea of setup up a camp fire when night fell and crashed on my sleeping pad fell fast asleep just right after 7:30 pm! BFF had to wake me up at midnight to turn on the tent light so that she could shoot a camping shot with stars full of the sky. But her iPhone14 could not do the trick.

Back then my energy level was already half recovered so I stepped out of the tent and used my iPhone 16 to capture the precious moment. But for starting a camp fire then forget about it! I left my $7.99 bundle of firewood bought from the Walmart supper store on the way to Lee’s Ferry there for future campers.

4Mile Camp

The Morning Glory

The next morning after some hand pulled coffee time, we took off early and we were surrounded by the golden morning glory colors. The whole world was ours to enjoy and appreciate. I was full of gratitude towards the National Parks Service to preserver such a wonderful place for us to enjoy.

This is a trip so fulfilling spiritually and I am looking forward to be back for more! BTW, my hubby already signed up for the next trip. :-)

A trip so fulfilling and we’ll be back for more!