Braving the Grand Canyon’s Rapids

01.12.2023 - 15:55 / cntraveler.com

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In 1938 two women botanists broke with convention and set off on an expedition trip along the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon that would see them risk their lives over rapids in the name of research. Two years ago, science journalist Melissa Sevigny retraced their adventure, whitewater rafting the same rapids and sleeping under the stars to learn more about who these women were—and why their work still influences the scientific landscape of America today.

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Lale Arikoglu: Hi, I'm Lale Arikoglu and welcome to a new episode of Women Who Travel, a podcast from Condé Nast Traveler. Before we begin, we're asking for your feedback on our show. We'd love to know what stories you'd like to hear, what you've enjoyed the most and the least. So go to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review.

This week's show is about two adventures along the Colorado River. The first in 1938 and the second in 2021.

Melissa Sevigny: I never imagined doing a trip like that, but I had to. I had to follow in the footsteps of these two women and find out what they experienced when they went on that journey in 1938.

LA: Science journalist Melissa Sevigny lives in Flagstaff, Arizona and grew up in Tucson, meaning the Grand Canyon was never too far away. But she'd only ever seen it like a tourist, so her decision to go down to the river level and run rapids in a two-person rubber boat was definitely not something she'd tried before.

MS: I was going to have to run the Grand Canyon. That was not on my radar. It was never on my bucket list. You just really went into that trip with a, a, a fair amount of imposter syndrome. I'd never run a river before, I'm not a botanist. I felt very intimidated by the whole concept of being able to contribute to this scientific expedition I was on and be useful and not lose my head if something went wrong.

Where I grew up in the desert, I would think of rivers as being dry riverbeds, you know, rivers of sand. And it, it never really occurred to me as a child that you could put a boat on a river and go on a boat trip. So this was the first time that I've, I've done a river trip, this trip through the Grand Canyon of Arizona.

LA: I have to admit I have lived in the US for a little over a decade now and I have still never been to the Grand Canyon, and I've never seen the Colorado River. Which I actually think is the case for also many Americans who were born here. The country is so vast and it's just feels like it's almost