In the early 90’s I embarked on an adventure to river raft the Grand Canyon. I wanted my first visit to be “up close and personal” and not just a view from the rim above at Bright Angel Trailhead. Never would I believe our national treasured parks would be under threat of Oligarchs.
Here are a couple of stories of the women who came before me and captured the spirit of the canyon.
Polly Mead Patraw was the first woman park ranger at Grand Canyon National Park in 1929. She was the second woman ranger-naturalist in the entire park service.
With a botany degree from the University of Chicago, she first applied to the Forest Service but was denied. Undaunted, she was accepted shortly after to be the first woman ranger-naturalist at Grand Canyon National Park.
Her uniform consisted of the standard National Park Service uniform and a soft-brim hat. Women’s uniforms were not available.
Her job as a ranger-naturalist included lectures, auto tours, nature hikes, and writing about her findings. She served two summer terms and continued on through the spring of 1931. Today, her legacy as a trailblazing ranger-naturalist lives on.
#GrandCanyon #NatureLover #Arizona #WomensHistoryMonth #Botany
Continuing our celebration of Women’s History Month, we pause to remember Georgie White.
No man, woman, or beast is more powerful than the Colorado River, but some come close. One brave and adventurous pioneer river runner was Georgie White Clark.
Born Bessie DeRoss on November 13th, 1910, in small-town Oklahoma, she adopted the name Georgie. She married young at age 17, and had a daughter, Sommona Rose.
Georgie grew very close to her daughter. They would hike, go mountain climbing, and ski in the nearby mountains. However, tragedy struck in June 1944, when a drunk driver hit and killed Sommona, age 15, while the two were bicycling.
Georgie fell into a depressive state. However, she found a new passion to uplift her spirits, the Grand Canyon, and more particularly, the Colorado River.
A year after her daughter’s death, Georgie and a friend “swam” down the Colorado River with nothing but life jackets from Diamond Creek, 60 downriver miles to the mouth of Lake Mead.
Inspired by this event, she bought a 10-man rubber inflatable raft and began to raft down the Colorado River. Georgie launched her “Royal River Rats’ rafting company in 1953, offering river trips at one-third the cost to her competitors. She became the first female river guide to operate through the Grand Canyon.
Georgie pioneered the “G-Rig”, which entailed tying three rafts and some pontoons together to greatly increase the stability and capacity of the raft. What started out as a controversial idea to most boatmen, using rubber rafts, versus traditional wooden boats, was later adopted and perfected by future river runners.
Georgie often said, “When you come down the Grand Canyon, it’s not a tour, it’s not a yacht trip. It’s an experience!”
At the end of each trip with Georgie, participants would get an egg cracked on their head, a shot of blackberry brandy, and proclaimed a “Royal River Rat”. Her last run down the river was before her 80th birthday. After nearly 40 years of guiding the River Rats down the Colorado, she sold her contract to Western River Expeditions.
Georgie died of cancer May 12th, 1992 at the age of 81. In 2001, Twenty-Four Mile Rapid, a small yet aggressive rapid, was renamed Georgie Rapid in her honor.
Georgie was a pioneer in the river guiding enterprise. She made rafting the Colorado River more affordable for the ordinary passenger.
#WomensHistoryMonth #GrandCanyon #Arizona #WhiteWater #WhiteWaterRafting
NPS Photos/Grand Canyon National Park Museum Collection
This below photo is the beginning of my voyage down through the Grand Canyon where they put in for the next 10 days, or 5 in my case, since I planned on doing the hike out from the deepest point at Phantom Ranch, where we were let off. Ten miles up and a 5000 ft elevation gain ahead. My story became “up close and personal” and one of the toughest endeavors I have ever done. Worth every step. Not for the faint of heart either. I had a willing friend on this journey with me. Another Bucket list! √ √
Georgie often said, “When you come down the Grand Canyon, it’s not a tour, it’s not a yacht trip. It’s an experience!” After doing this trip, I can’t imagine the feat Georgie accomplished, first by swimming the entire length all the way to Lake Mead, plus navigating lots of treacherous rapids. Thanks to her the rafting many groups take people on this journey. Pack in and pack out, they provided all our needs. I didn’t get an egg cracked over my head, nor a shot of blackberry brandy, but I did get a coveted Phantom Ranch T-shirt for hiking and floating the river.
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