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Big-time whitewater is on tap for day five, with monster rapids like Unkar, Nevills, Hance (rated as Class 7 or 8), Sockdolager and Grapevine Rapids socking you with some of that cold Colorado water and a fat adrenaline rush. This is what it’s about. Between exhilarating drops, catch your breath and check out the oldest rock layer in the canyon, which now appears at river level. The smooth, black Vishnu schist shot through with pink Zoroaster granite is some of the oldest exposed rock on the planet, and it marks your arrival to Phantom Ranch.

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ASK A LOCAL

“Rafting the canyon is like a chess game, in that there are so many moves you can make – the only difference is, you never lose. As in chess, every move affects the rest of the game, but on the river you could do 20 miles every day doing short hikes, or maybe 45 miles in a day, camp there for two nights and spend all day hiking. But whatever moves you do make, you can’t ever lose.”

Matt Fahey, Flagstaff

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If you’re just stopping off here, sip some cold lemonade in the canteen (keep your cup for cheap refills) and scratch out some postcards from the bottom of the canyon. This is also the only place on the river where you’ll find a pay phone. If you’re spending the night at Phantom, claim a comfy bunk in your air-conditioned cabin, hop in the shower, and take in a ranger talk before dinner. No one goes hungry here, and vegetarians can look forward to some killer chili.

Pre-hydrate the night before your hike out, and be sure to get started at (or before) first light to avoid hiking in the heat of midday. At the end of your six- to nine-hour haul up the Bright Angel Trail, reward yourself with a soul-soothing chocolate ice cream at the South Rim’s Bright Angel Fountain, sitting on the low, circular stone bench on the rim as you rest your legs. After your (heavenly) shower, sup on half a citrus-glazed roast duck, sip a prickly-pear margarita on the back deck and lie down for a very sound sleep at the historic El Tovar.

If, lucky you, your river time flows on, you’ll continue floating under the suspension bridges near Phantom Ranch to hit several serious rapids, beginning with Horn Creek, with the challenge of Granite soon thereafter, and finishing with the famously burly Hermit Rapid. After punching through the waves and holes of these beasts, you’ll be elated, exhausted and ready to spend a calm night between the soaring schist walls of the Upper Granite Gorge.

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RIVER PERMITS

On commercial river trips, the operator takes care of your permit. If you plan a private trip, you must apply for your own through the Grand Canyon River Permits Office ( 928-638-7843, 800-959-9164; https://npspermits.us). Entering your name in the weighted lottery system requires an application fee of $25, and if you win a spot, you’ll automatically be charged a nonrefundable $400 deposit (which goes toward the cost of the $100-per-person permit). See www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/whitewater-rafting.htm for more detailed information.

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By day six, you’re well into river mode, relishing the prospect of slamming through big whitewater like the ‘gems’ – starting with the biggest, Crystal Rapid, and followed by the midsized Sapphire, Turquoise, Ruby and Serpentine Rapids. A series of smaller rapids are strung out below these, after which some floating brings you to Elves Chasm. Hiking up this narrow canyon leads to a lush little grotto fed by small waterfalls, at the bottom of which lies an inviting pool amid moss and maidenhair ferns.

You may be on day seven or eight by the time you hit the churn of Deubendorff Rapid and make a beeline for Tapeats Creek, one of the absolute best hikes in the canyon. Even better, when made into a 10-mile loop connecting with Deer Creek, the hike takes in waterfalls, pools laced with scarlet monkeyflowers and watercress, narrows carved through Tapeats sandstone and well-preserved petroglyphs. The source of Thunder River lies along this hike, an incredible