The trip of a lifetime

15 years of Brand New Box!

We just got back from celebrating 15 years of Brand New Box with a river trip down the Grand Canyon. It was a great time filled with wonderful people and amazing scenery. Let's step through it.

We started by gathering in Las Vegas, where some of us hit up an escape room and Meow Wolf's new experience Omega Mart.

Escape Room
We generally look like this all the time.
Meow Wolf Meow Wolf Meow Wolf
Experiential art becoming progressively more otherworldly.

We caught the KU win 2022 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship game at a 24/7 sports bar and headed back for a short night at a hotel, we were getting picked up at 4:45AM. A quick five hour bus ride later, we got to our boats, and met our crew.

boats crew
Our boats and our amazing captains, Amanda and Matt.

We spent the next four days floating down the river, getting soaked in the rapids, learning about ancient geology, and camping under the stars every night.

Looking downriver in canyon Looking at boats downriver On the boat Looking downriver later in day Looking downriver in shadow On the boat Looking downriver with beach On the boat
A sample of the canyon views. If you ever take a trip down the river, there is a good chance there will be a geologist on the trip with you who will be excited to talk rock. We had two!

Every night we'd set up camp in full view of the water, and though we had a bright moon at the start of every night, there was never a cloud in the sky to block the stars.

A side hike A side hike A side hike A side hike A side hike Camp panoramic Final Camp Camp Fun Camp Fun Dinnertime Sunset at second to last camp Astrophotography
A few views from our campsites.

At the end most* of us hiked the entire way out of the canyon on the famous Bright Angel Trail. When we stepped off the boat the last morning, we were at an elevation of 2400' and the top of the canyon was at 6408', a vertical climb of 4404'.

A view downtrail A view from the rim at the top The trailhead
The hike out was epic!

It was a trip none of us will ever forget. We are a lucky crew.

* Two of us were evacuated by helicopter, fun story!