What Can the Colorado River Offer Queer Communities?

OutBack

This is one in a series that uncovers the untold stories of LGBTQ+ life beyond the city, celebrating queer resilience, creativity, and community in Arizona's suburban and rural areas. Read the full series here.

Sixteen years ago, when Seneca Kristjonsdottir first started working as a Grand Canyon river guide, being queer on the job could feel isolating.

“I was not only the only queer person on the crew, but often, the only female-bodied person on the crew as well,” said Kristjonsdottir, who is from Flagstaff.

Today, the canyon feels different.

On trips with Arizona Raft Adventures, Kristjonsdottir said, guides are more likely to reflect the diversity of the people they serve. Crews are often split roughly evenly between men and women, and the company makes an effort to ensure that no one feels like a minority among their colleagues.

“When they’re scheduling us, they make an effort [so] that most folks don’t feel like a minority on the crew,” Kristjonsdottir said.

The change extends beyond the guides. Kristjonsdottir said the company's staff and guests are more diverse than at other rafting companies where they have worked, and everyone is expected to follow a strict code of conduct that emphasizes respect and inclusion.

For Kristjonsdottir, that represents a broader shift in what it means to feel safe in the wilderness.

In the past, they said, safety was largely about navigating whitewater and knowing what to do when someone got hurt in the backcountry. Now, safety includes people feeling they can be themselves.

“We need to be physically safe on these trips, which is inherent to folks, but emotional safety is important.” Kristjonsdottir said.

The company's code of conduct mandates “honoring each individual’s identity,” including race, gender identity and expression, and prohibits bullying and harassment, among other behaviors.

For LGBTQ+ travelers looking to spend days immersed in one of the country's most remote and challenging landscapes, that could make all the difference.

Allyship is key

Arizona Raft Adventures offers rafting trips of six to 16 days, running up to the full 226 miles of the Colorado River in the canyon, on paddle and oar rafts or motorized rafts. All details—including pricing—are on its website.

Fred Thevenin and his wife, Alex, bought the company in 2007 from her dad, who founded it in 1965. They value diversity, equality and inclusion, and train staff on things like removing microaggressions from daily speech and introducing themselves with their pronouns.

“It starts with understanding and allyship,” Thevenin said, who added that he’s always trying to hire more people of color as well.

Most trips have about 20 people and six crew members, he said. While you’ll be on boats with strangers if you sign up individually, Thevenin said that LGBTQ+ charter tour companies seek them out.

You don’t need to enter a lottery for the commercial trips, and a full list of concessioners licensed by the National Park Service is online.

And you won’t be rowing yourself on a commercial trip, but Thevenin suggests planning several months to a year out to get in shape. People tend to underestimate how rigorous it is, he said.

“I’m a firm believer that the more you put into something, the more you’re going to get out of it,” he said.

Rafters take a break from the rapids at Redwall Cavern in Marble Canyon near Grand Canyon National Park, Ariz., Aug. 29, 2002. The popular spot along the river is about 33 miles from Lee's Ferry. (AP Photo/Brian Witte)

Some trips require hiking in and out of the canyon, and lugging heavy bags across a beach to and from the boats can be physically challenging. The guides pack in all the food and prepare meals, sometimes with help from the clients, and everything—even solid human waste—is packed out.

Kristjonsdottir, the guide, said, “There are no immediate services: no running water, no internet, no cell service, no flushing toilets the whole time.”

Although many people now have phones with satellite connections, she added, clients can only use them inside tents or out of the view of others, and they can’t discuss news from the “outside world.”

Thevenin said, “If we can provide an opportunity for our guests to have solitude and wonder and shed the stress of the real world and just embrace the magic of the canyon, it’s a wonderful experience down there.”

Raft trips ‘fill the soul’

Kris Martin, 62, a gay woman from Brattleboro, Vermont, has been on seven Grand Canyon river trips, five of which were with Arizona Raft Adventures, and is going again next year.

Although the trips are rigorous, she said the company provides a training plan, unlike other outfitters she’s used.

“They make it clear this is not easy,” Martin said.

However, she added, the trips are well organized, with no excessive drinking, and safety is paramount.

“The guides are spectacular,” Martin said.

The strong code of conduct is “very comforting,” she added, noting that she’s never felt threatened on trips or afraid to say she has a wife. She made friends with some of the staff and other clients, with whom she’s traveled on repeated trips.

She said her work as a palliative care nurse in a cancer ward is emotionally demanding, and the trips make her whole and fill her soul.

“It’s really what I live for; it’s what heals me every time I go,” Martin said, adding, “When I go on the river, with no devices, no nothing, I am just me…. It goes so much deeper than a vacation.”

Arizona Raft Adventures
Website: azraft.com
Phone: 928-237-2704
Email: info@azraft.com

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