“Old-Timers” GTS 2002

Spring is just a bunch of snowstorms away, so start thinking about the Guides Training Seminar (gts). Get your calendar out, mark down these important dates and see below for details. You shouldn’t miss it!
Gcrg Spring Meeting—Friday, March 22, 2002 at Old Marble Canyon Lodge, Marble Canyon, az.
• 10:00 am to 2:00 pm—Food Handler’s Class. Call Marlene Gaither at Coconino County Health Department to sign up at (928) 226-2711.
• 3 pm through ??—Gcrg Spring Meeting. Nominations for board members and the new vice/president/president elect will occur so plan on attending!
Guides Training Seminar Land Session—Saturday, March 23–Sunday March 24, 2002 at the Hatch River Expeditions warehouse in Marble Canyon, az.
• 6:30 am on Saturday—Breakfast and registration
• 7:00 am on Sunday—Breakfast
• 8:00 am through ?? each day—Gts land session main program
Guides Training Seminar River Session
• Upper half (Lees Ferry to Phantom Ranch)—March 26–April 1, 2002
• Lower half (Phantom Ranch to Diamond Creek)—April 1–April 9, 2002
Have you ever wondered what river running was like 30, 40, even 50 years ago? What pre-dam conditions were? What traditional tribal river uses existed? How water law developed with the advent of dams and exploding growth in the West? Well now is your chance. Our annual Guides Training Seminar land session for 2002 will be held March 23–24, 2002 at Hatch River Expeditions warehouse in Marble Canyon, Arizona. It’s been quite a few years since we’ve done an “Old Timer’s gts”. Sadly, in the interim we’ve lost key figures such as Georgie White (the first woman to run commercial river trips through Grand Canyon) and Tad Nichols (photo journalist who documented Glen Canyon in pre-dam days and author of Glen Canyon: Images of a Lost World). Time is of the essence to capture the memories of the aging explorers of the Colorado and weave them into a living picture of the human history of this unique region. Gcrg is extending invitations to over 65 “old timers” and tribal representatives to participate in lectures, films, slide shows and interactive “campfire talks” over the course of the weekend. So, come and hear about old times from those who lived them. A truly historic event in the making!

To give us a frame of reference for some of the more complex issues we plan to explore, we are pleased to supplement our program with the expertise of several Arizona Humanities Council scholars. Robert Glennon (Morris K. Udall Professor of Law and Public Policy at the University of Arizona College of Law) and Bill Swan (gcrg member and former attorney for the Department of the Interior) will explain and make understandable the intricacies of water law and river politics. Gary Hansen (Water Resources Director for Colorado River Indian tribes) will discuss the history of tribal and non-Indian use of the river and Doug Kupel (Natural Resources Historian for the City of Phoenix Law Department) will enlighten us about the history of Lees Ferry.
As always, the gts river trip will follow fast on the heals of the land session (dates as listed above). Both trainees and more experienced guides are urged to participate in this totally cooperative training trip. This year, guides from ten companies participated with a virtual flotilla of boats—a motor rig, oar boats, paddle rafts and even a dory. We take the interpretive training of the land session and put it on the water with top-notch speakers and Park personnel for a first class training experience. It even counts as a trip credit towards your trip leader status! We may even entice a few old timers to go along. You might hear from Bob Rigg himself how different the trip was in a hard-hulled boat in the ’50s!
We’ll have more details in the next issue of the boatman’s quarterly review due out at the end of February, on the gts postcard we’ll send to guides after the first of the year, and on our website at www.gcrg.org. However, the gts land session is open to the general public and the cost will be just $25 dollars (covers all the tasty food and drink). Bring your own camp chair and mug and plan on staying for the weekend. You can camp in the vicinity surrounded by the magnificent Vermillion Cliffs, or get a room at one of the several motels in the area (Cliff Dwellers Lodge, Vermillion Cliffs or Marble Canyon Lodge). The river session is open to guides or trainees who have work on the river for the 2002 river season. Cost will be $135 per half of trip. If you’re a guide sponsored by an outfitter (for either land or river session), they’ll pick up the tab.
We are honored to announce that funding for the Guides Training Seminar land and river sessions will be provided by the Grand Canyon Conservation Fund, a non-profit grant-making program established and managed by the Grand Canyon river outfitters. The gts land session is also made possible by a grant from the Arizona Humanities Council allowing us the opportunity of professionally videotaping the oral history segments while providing us with their excellent scholars. Teva Sport Sandals also continues to support us in our endeavors. The entire gts program is a joint coordination effort by Grand Canyon River Guides, the commercial river outfitters and Grand Canyon National Park.
So, come one, come all! Hone those interpretive skills, expand your knowledge, network with other guides and outfitters, immerse yourself in river lore, and meet some of the folks you’ve only heard stories about! You shouldn’t miss this one. We’ll see you there!