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A 15-year-old schoolboy has become the youngest Briton to kayak the 240-mile length of the Grand Canyon.
Dan Murphy chopped through some of the toughest white water in the world to achieve the astonishing feat.
A 15-year-old schoolboy has become the youngest Briton to kayak the 240-mile length of the Grand Canyon.
Dan Murphy chopped through some of the toughest white water in the world to achieve the astonishing feat.
The super-fit teenager slept under the stars with rattlesnakes and
packs of wolves for company as he paddled up to 20 miles-a-day through
the famous U.S. canyon.
He also conquered more than 100 terrifying rapids.
Dan, who attends Thorpe St Andrew High School, near Norwich, and
his friend and former coach Julien Pike were part of a team of 20 who
completed the 15-day US trip.
Dan was allowed time off school for the adventure.
He said: "It was an amazing experience. As well as the type of
river, which is very different to anything in the UK, the scenery was
spectacular.
"Paddling or rafting through the Grand Canyon is definitely the best way to see it.
"It can seem daunting sitting at the top of a rapid with a wall of
spray and white water below you and possibly even a waterfall.
"But once you have figured out the line, which you have to keep
in your head the entire way, you get to the bottom and it is a massive
adrenaline rush."
But the teenager had more than a watery wall
of danger to face.
He added: "We saw coyotes and snakes and even heard a pack of wolves howling in the early morning on the rim of the canyon."
Dan began canoeing when he was nine with the cubs, and then the scouts, and it soon became obvious he had a rare talent.
White-water work started when he was about 12 under Mr Pike's direction.
"I can't say I am his coach any more because he is better than me," joked Mr Pike, 35, who runs an IT business.
"The Colorado River is one of the most dramatic places in the
world, and it is also one of the top 10 rivers to paddle, with some
fairly major white water.
"Although white-water rafts run this section of the Colorado
relatively frequently, due to the logistics involved and severity of
the rapids encountered it is very rarely kayaked."
The trip, authorised by the National Parks Service, took more than two years of planning and required Dan to raise £2500.
He prepared by spending winter days in the icy waters of Wales and Scotland, plus a week in the French Alps.
"I am really pleased I was able to do it, and at a young age. It was
quite tiring, and sometimes we included four or five-hour hikes when we
were not in the water," he said.
Earlier this year, he became the youngest person ever to gain his British Canoe Union 5* award.
Now Dan, who lives with his mum Helen and a younger brother and
sister in Thorpe, is planning a follow-up trip to the white waters of
California next year.
Eventually, he wants to lead his own multi-day expeditions.
"My ambition is to paddle a classic river on every continent," he said.
Source: dailymail.co.uk
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