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| - I don't even know where to start on this one. 11 of us on the2day ring bolt run on 14/15-6. 1/2the group is very outdoorsy, M. And I were sober the whole trip, so don't think the alcohol is doing the talking.
The only positive thing I will say is that the lady on the phone was extremely nice and the e mail confirmation came in right away. With that being said, she didn't mention (to any of us apparently, I asked around) to print out and sign the liability agreement forms so the departure from the Hoover dam casino parking lot would go faster. Props on her calling back the day before to confirm our party was going but she failed to mention the 20plus miles per hour winds they were expecting. A heads up would have been nice. Anyway so day of the trip, For some reason the guy was super in a rush, barely breathed while going down the list of do's and don'ts on the river and said we were running late(we showed up early). Oh and he threw in there that the wind was picking up "but don't worry, just stick to the sides of the canyon!". Now I want to mention that M. and I with 1/2 of the group go out on lake mead twice a week, we know about the wind on a speedboat, but 20miles plus winds on a canoe? During the van ride to the dam, he proceeded to say that when we got down we had to hurry and get our stuff and canoes on the water cause of other tours coming behind us. Fine, we grabbed our stuff while he stood at the top giving orders and watching us struggle w the heavy canoes and all our camping gear. Needless to say, there was an issue: the one solo girl was supposed to have a kayak for her so it would be easy. They FORGOT it. The guide told us we couldn't stay there, we could either leave and dock at the 1st beach (1/2a mile away) and wait about 1hour for them to go retrieve the kayak or take the extra canoe. The guide said"don't worry about waiting on the kayak, we'll give you a kayak paddle and it's gonna be super easy! I do it all the time!"- uhm no. DONT LISTEN TO HIM. Our group ended up taking turns tying her canoe to theirs and dragging her cause the wind kept spinning her around.
So off we go down the river..NOT! You'd think the river being north to south it would just be a breezy down hill stroll, it wasn't, the wind was against us and we kept getting either stuck in coves or whirled around in circles. Somehow we made it to the hot springs base camp. We roped our canoes to the rocks, just like they instructed us and started setting up tent. As we were relaxing in the minimal shade we can find, the ranger pulls up on his boat and tells us 1of the canoes got loose and it went 1/2 a mile up stream (again, Because of the wind and the water level was rising) AND WITH THAT, HE LEAVES. Now I know this is not DA fault but just so you know, you have no help from them out there. M and I with the help of 1other girl got into a canoe and rowed over. First we tried tying the canoe to the back, the current and the wind were so strong we got stuck in a whirlpool and almost tipped over, really scary!! Somehow managed to get out of it but the strong wind blew us back to the cove were we recovered the canoe in the first place. The girl and I decide to paddle one canoe and M will handle the other one. It took us girls almost half hour to get down to the beach, we got banged up on the rocks and the bushes multiple times. In the meanwhile M couldn't even get the canoe out of the cove. Super scary waves are coming up and going against him. I stood by shore watching him struggle till finally a speedboat with a family came along, I was able to wave them down and thankfully they went to get him and towed the canoe back to us. Your telling me the ranger couldn't have just helped us out? It was such a scary experience we moved the canoes, yes all 6of them, all the way to where the port-a-potty trail entrance was.
The day after we got a head start, we left at 8.30 am. The wind was even stronger that day. White tips everywhere and our canoes kept being spun around. We would barely get a mile in and we'd have to stop cause we were only moving sideways. There is an extra downfall on this: 2 ranger rafts and 4 of the same raft tour we were on came along going north(opposite us) at almost full speed causing the already existing waves to become bigger and to smash us up on the canyon walls. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Like we weren't struggling enough. We made it to right past willow beach(where pick up was) at 3.30 with only four 45 min stops.
As we finally reached shore, the tour van was there. The guy didn't help us get the canoes out the water nor did he inquire on why two canoes were tied together. The solo girl paid for a kayak, why did they let her struggle w the canoe instead of fixing it?
We understand they have to have cancellation policies in place but I believe our safety was at stake and they seemed more worried to have our money then have us reschedule.
We will not b using them again, nor will we be recommending them to our friends
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