A Message from Founders Dee & Sue Holladay

The canyons we float and ride through have been here long before Holiday River Expeditions, but in our humblest way we are celebrating our 44th year of river running, hiking and just being in the presence of such grand places and people. It’s been interesting to observe the changes in ourselves, our company, our industry, and our environment.

Back in the 60’s, on our early rafting trips the attraction was basically a floating party – a sign of the times. Even though our guides were willing to share their knowledge of the canyons with our guests, the fact was we really didn’t know that much and neither did science. Environment was beginning to hum as a buzz word, but science was just beginning to understand the importance and interrelation of ecosystems and bio-diversity. What we did know was that solitude and being in nature felt good and seemed right. We began to change the way we did things so we wouldn’t impact the places we liked to go.

Over the years, Holiday guests have also realized how precious our wild places are. Our Guests now come to the river and the trails for other reasons and that is family togetherness, escaping suburbia, or understanding our place in the bigger picture. Land management agencies and outfitters are being more proactive about managing our impact in these wild places.

Sue and I, our guides and staff, and you – our guests have a common bond that has strengthened Holiday as an entity. We are all humbled by nature’s power, strengthened by its energy, challenged by its integrity and grounded by its loftiness.

We got into the outfitting business as a way to do what we loved. Thanks to great places, our very special guests and employees we have been able to do what many people only dream of. Our lives as river and trail outfitters and friends to wild places have been fulfilling. With increased attention to our nation’s wild places, we hope that we will always be able to share and revel in the beauty of the West.

Early Spring on the Colorado River

By John Wood, Holiday River Guide

I have recently returned from five days ‘off-grid’ on one of our Colorado River Cataract trips. It was the first trip of the season with a small intimate group eager to expose themselves to all this remote canyon in the heart of Canyonlands National Park has to offer. It has been quite a while since I have made the journey down this fabled canyon in high water. My memories were there but tarnished by time and the approaching hallmark of turning fifty.

Most of us change a little every time we expose ourselves to a powerful natural place. This change was evident on the faces and in the conversations of all that were on this trip. As a group we discussed everything from art history to global warming and the inescapable reality that it is all connected. The river reminded us that the decisions we make in our kitchens and backyards can impact the riparian zones we were all floating past.

One of my favorite parts about an early spring trip is that there are fewer groups on the river. In FIVE days we were only passed once by a competing outfit that was out doing a ONE day version of our trip. As I hailed them over to coordinate camping plans the vacant look in their eyes was telling. They sat six feet above the water on a large motorized pontoon and I could only imagine the ringing in their ears from hours of a full-throttled engine. While they had all invested sizable treasure by scrimping on time they missed the experience.

The journey is one of contrasts with the early days spent floating through the eons of time that shaped the river canyons of Canyonlands, but always in the back of your mind are the rapids. In high water there is nothing like them in this country. It’s not just the SIZE of them but rather the sections that are continuous with large rhythmic breaking waves that are not predictable. As a guide it becomes harder to sleep through the night the closer you get to the BIG rapid day.

On Thursday we as a group had to find safe passage through the North Seas, Mile Long, and Big Drop rapids. The Colorado River filled our boats at least four times and sent us through multiple wash and rinse cycles. Our rafts took the hits and our oars made the pulls while we all hollered and laughed our way through the whitewater. The next day we all returned to our real lives and the daunting task of figuring out how to live in a way that leaves behind a clear future… a task with no one answer. On our trip by taking the time to ‘disconnect’ from the frenetic pace of our daily lives we had all taken a necessary first step.