Not all the daily side hikes are this scrambly, but a good handful of them are!

There’s a common refrain here in the GCW office:  You will enjoy your Grand Canyon rafting trip more if you are in good physical shape and have prepared by exercising and hiking.

Does that mean you have to be super fit to do any/all of our rafting trips? Nope. But it does mean you will enjoy it more if you train a little for the trip. You’ll be able to go on all the daily side hikes, you’ll be able to explore from camp, you’ll be less likely to hurt yourself getting on and off the boats, and you’ll feel less like the walking dead at the end of the day.  Those are good goals to have!

And … I don’t want to crush anyone’s dreams, but we kind of hope you ARE super fit, if you’re booked on one of our Upper or Lower Canyon trips. These trips have a mandatory, very challenging, 8 mile hike tacked on to either the front or back end of river trip. So we REALLY want you to train for one of these trips. If you aren’t already in pretty great shape but are bound and determined to do one of these hike-intensive trips, we probably will suggest you start working with a personal trainer — it’s that tough of a hike, and we’re that serious about it.

So when should you start your training program? Right now! You want to give yourself about 6 months to build up your endurance and strength, so winter is the perfect time to start hitting the trail (or the gym, if you live in one of those snowy places).

Your trip will be here before you know it, and there’s no such thing as being too prepared! If you have questions about training for your trip, give us a call or peruse our blog.