If you have celiac disease or a gluten intolerance, don’t worry — you can still enjoy a multi-day whitewater raft trip in Grand Canyon! We’ll just need a little help from you, to make your experience as awesome as it can be.
First, if you do have celiac disease, we’ll need you to advise us on the severity of your disease. We will make notes for the guides regarding your dietary restriction, but please remember to be pro-active and communicate with them at meal times. We might even ask you to help out in the kitchen sometimes if your gluten-free meal is particularly time-consuming to make. Remember, the guides are responsible for feeding about 30 people on all of our trips! Special diets — especially if there are a lot of them on your trip — can be tricky to juggle. So, offer to help out and earn some brownie points with those hard-working guides!
Next, the disclaimer: It is important that you make note of your dietary restriction based on medical needs and not wants. Although our rafts are designed to carry a multitude of camping gear and food supplies for large groups on multi-day rafting expeditions, we have limited storage space for dry goods and even more limited cooler space. We will do our best to meet your dietary restriction but, the reality is that you are participating in a wilderness expedition (with limited food-preparation facilities) and not a catered tour.
So! Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way … What can we actually do for you, down there in one of the most remote wildernesses you can visit?
What we provide:
Breakfast: Fresh fruit and instant oatmeal are available. We will provide a hot rice cereal as a GF alternative to oatmeal. If your trip includes a pancake breakfast, we will provide GF pancake mix. If your trip includes a french toast morning, we will provide GF bread.
Lunch: Most days, we serve a full deli spread for lunch. We will provide a loaf of GF bread. You also will have the option of using lettuce to wrap your sandwich.
Dinner: Many dinners are naturally GF. We often serve large green salads with our main meals, and our side dishes are usually GF as well. We will provide GF veggie burgers, for nights when the main dish is not GF. If your trip includes a lasagna or spaghetti dinner, we will provide a package of GF pasta. If your trip includes a fajita night, we will provide GF tortillas and, if your trip includes a stir fry night, we will provide GF soy sauce.
If you don’t love these options, which we’re able to provide, remember — you are always welcome to supplement with your own preferred GF foods from home!
Snacks: Fresh fruit is available throughout the day, but many of the other snacks we offer are not GF. We will provide a package of GF crackers or cookies.
All GF food we provide comes from United National Foods. GF, wheat-free bread is by Rudy’s. GF, wheat-free tortillas are by Sonoma. GF oatmeal alternative is Bob’s Super Tasty hot rice cereal.
What you need to do:
- Indicate on the registration form (due to GCW at least 120 days before your trip) whether you have celiac disease or gluten intolerance. If you have celiac disease, tell us about the severity.
- Help guides understand and remember your allergy or intolerance throughout the trip.
- Offer help in the kitchen, especially if your meal requires labor- or time-intensive preparation.
- Bring your favorite GF snacks and sandwich wraps. (Tell our office in advance what you are bringing and talk to the guides about storage at the launch.)
There you have it! As always, please don’t be shy about contacting us with any specific questions.
