Well, it’s the end of our 2015 rafting season, and you know what we like to do when all of our trips are safely off the water: Par. Tay. We held our annual end-of-season party with our sister company, Arizona River Runners, right here in our hometown of Flagstaff this year. We rented the back patio at a local country club; we had lawn games like giant Jenga and Connect Four, we had food that none of us had to prepare (!!!), we had a photo slide show with some of our favorite 2015 guest photos, and we even had a little raffle. It was an awesome turnout of our guides and warehouse crew, the folks who work in our respective offices, and our owners, along with a handful of other partners like our trail hiking guide.
The end-of-season party marks not just the bittersweet end of another Grand Canyon rafting season, but also the conclusion (or near-conclusion) of fall warehouse work and a transitional time for many of our boatmen. When the work is over on the river and in the warehouse, many of our guides switch tracks for the winter. Boatmen are often asked by curious guests what they do in the off-season, and their answers are as varied as the rapids in the canyon. Many of them leave town for a few months, whether it’s to work a different job out of state or to take their own vacations. So, our end-of-season bash gives all of us a chance to enjoy the good company until spring rolls around and we’re all reunited again by the river.