Whitewater Rafting Trips in California

05/19/2026

03/29/2026

03/29/2026

🚨 The Anatomy of Grand Canyon Rapids: A Deep Dive 🌊
Sockdolager Rapid (Mile 79/19' Drop)

🧭 Overview
➡️ Class 5-7 rapid
➡️ Named for the large waves and hydraulics that define its character
➡️ Medium-length rapid with strong waves and hydraulics
➡️ Straight shot not really technical. T- up to entry waves and hit head on and at lower flows watch for sharp holes downstream

📜 History & Significance
➡️ Naming: Major Powell gave the name Sockdolager which was a boxing term in that era which meant "knock out blow" or "defining punch"
➡️ River Lore: This was the first large rapid that the Powell expedition was unable to portage due to impassable cliffs and lack of trespass to portage boats on the shores
➡️ Rafts are sure to take on one or more large waves here no matter what the level

🪨 Geology & Exploration
➡️ Cuts through Vishnu Schist and Zoroaster Granite deep in the inner gorge
➡️ Like most all major rapids in Grand Canyon, the rapid is formed by debris from the drainage called Hance Creek (river right). However while many rapids are named after the side canyon that creates them this rapid does not take its name from the canyon that created it.
➡️ Nearly sheer cliffs along most of this rapid right to river level on both sides.

🚣 Boating the Rapid
➡️ Lines: Two large waves in center at top of rapid combine to form a "V" shaped entry. There is a choice to hit the left wave the right wave at an angle or head right into the center of the V. There is a cheat run far far left missing these entry waves
➡️ Water Matters:
➡️ Low flows = entry waves are still big, steep and sharp, watch for rocks near surface or sharp holes in middle or bottom of rapid
➡️ High flows = waves smooth out some but still huge, hitting them square on remains essential

📷: Jeanne Eickhoff Sockdolager rapid two entry waves at top clearly visualized.

03/02/2026

IT'S TIME TO BYPASS THIS DAM and DRAIN POWELL RESERVOIR

OUR COMMENT ON THE COLORADO RIVER EIS:

(You can comment here: https://www.usbr.gov/ColoradoRiverBasin/post2026/draft-eis/Public-Review-Comment-Process.html)

Dear U.S. Bureau of Reclamation,

Please accept this letter as public comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the "Post-2026 Operational Guidelines and Strategies for Lake Powell and Lake Mead."

In the Final EIS: 1) the ecological health of the river must be placed at the center of management, 2) Reclamation must adopt solutions that are long-term, equitable, sustainable, and actually solve the problems on the Colorado River rather than kick the can down the road, and 3) the river needs to be “fixed” using Nature-Based Solutions that are also “climate action” to mitigate, and allow adaptation to, climate change that scientists argue will further decrease flows in the future.

Long-term, equitable, sustainable solutions in the EIS should include:

1. Creating a "Grand Canyon Restoration Alternative" that is a "one dam solution" that includes bypassing and decommissioning Glen Canyon Dam, and storing all of the Colorado River's water in Mead Reservoir instead of Powell.

2. Stopping all proposed new dams, diversions and pipelines in the entire basin that will further deplete the river.

3. Enacting conservation programs to save Mead Reservoir.

4. Letting 10% of the river’s total water flow into and through its Delta to the Sea of Cortez in Mexico to sequester carbon in Delta wetlands and mangroves and restore the wildlife habitat.

5. Allocating Native American water rights by subtracting that water from current diversions, or, by paying tribes to keep their water in the river.

6. Distributing water allocations to all users based on the percentage of total flow available each year, not a fixed amount.

Thank you for your work. Please contact me for any questions or comments.

--
Gary Wockner, PhD, Director
Save the Colorado: http://savethecolorado.org
2525 Arapahoe Ave., E4, #260, Boulder, CO 80302

03/02/2026

Demand a smarter future for the Colorado River.