Lava Falls is no joke.
Considered to be one of the most challenging rapids in the Grand Canyon’s popular 277-mile long whitewater section, Lava Falls is the last major obstacle at the end of a multi-week river trip. Having run Lava Falls three times, I’ve experienced firsthand how volatile the rapid can be. One wrong move or rogue wave can easily flip a 3,000-pound raft, sending its passengers down the river in what boaters often call an “out of boat experience.”
For Joe Jackson, a veteran kayaker, the rapid presented a rare opportunity to send a first descent of sorts during his 23-day trip in October. Jackson, 57, decided to run Lava Falls on a Paco Pad, a self-inflating sleeping pad. The idea for the crazy stunt dates back more than a decade, to when Jackson was paddling the Middle Fork of Idaho’s Salmon River.
Why take a raft through one of the Grand Canyon’s largest rapids, Jackson wondered, when you could run it on a heavy-duty inflatable mattress?
Rapids are based on a class system, with Class 5 being the most challenging and hazardous, often characterized by the most technical features. But the Grand Canyon rates its rapids up to what’s called a Canyon Class 10, allowing boaters to be more descriptive across the wide variety of whitewater features.
Jackson had actually floated several rapids on his Paco Pad already. But he’d never “paco’d” any rapid bigger than a Class 3, the equivalent to a Canyon Class 6 or so.
“But I knew the line in Lava. I’ve kayaked it three times and rowed it once. There’s a path through the mayhem if you hit your line. The hardest part about Lava Falls is trusting that you’re in the right spot when you go over the lip,” Jackson told Outside.
The trip was Corinne Marzullo’s second through the Grand Canyon, and she had planned on rowing Jackson’s boat through the rapid since before the group launched.
“My nerves were going all morning while rowing up to Lava,” Marzullo said. As is typical for a river trip, the team pulled over before the rapid to scout the feature. It’s a long, hot, and rocky hike up, which helps to build anxiety.
“The Ledge Hole looked huge, and the line you wanted to take was just to kiss the right side of it, punch the large v-shaped waves below it, and hope you didn’t get kicked over to the right into another large hole just above Cheese Grater Rock and the Big Kahuna hole,” Marzullo said.
As any good river runner knows, you’re only as good as your team is safe. And Jackson’s Paco descent was no different. He had a stout safety team in place.
“A whitewater kayaker and rafter were in front of me with another rafter following. In 30 years of kayaking, two swims a year, conservatively speaking, is over 60 swims down rapids, with nothing but a PFD,” said Jackson. “Some of the swims were violent and large. Comparatively, Lava Falls, with a super buoyant floaty toy, properly dressed in a drysuit and helmet, is far less intense.”
Jackson said that when he lay down flat on his Paco Pad, it paddled like a surfboard.
“I used this technique to make my move left, to the right of the ledge hole, and into the teacup,” he said, describing his line through the rapid. “At this point, I sat up, let the pad taco around me, and held onto the front. I had pretty much no control, floating through giant waves.
“I smiled the whole way,” he added.
Joe had the best line of all nine rafts and five kayaks, Marzulla said.
For Jackson, the novelty of running one of the canyon’s biggest rapids was what made the stunt so enticing. But would he do it again?
“Honestly, I’d rather be in my kayak,” said Jackson.
Of his 16-person trip, one raft flipped in the rapid, and another boat captain was washed out of his boat. Although everyone made it through the rapid unharmed, they missed the pullout for Tequila Beach, a long sandy beach area known for its celebratory libations following a successful Lava run. But where there’s a will, there’s a way,
“Shortly downstream, we found another beach to celebrate the day,” said Jackson.
Well deserved.
The post Watch This Man Raft the Grand Canyon’s Gnarliest Rapid on a Sleeping Pad appeared first on Outside Online.
