- Recommended Gear: Reliable portable chargers, such as those from Anker, are the easiest way to manage charging your devices.
- Conserve Energy: To maximize your battery, keep your phone in airplane mode (with bluetooth off also) to prevent it from searching for a signal and avoid the urge to review or edit photos until after your river trip.
- Avoid Solar: Solar chargers are generally not recommended for the canyon, as they are hard to keep dry and catching sun while in camp can be difficult.
The bottom of the Grand Canyon is far away from civilization and electrical outlets, so how do you charge your camera? Portable chargers are small, packable, and work great in this remote setting. There are many styles and brands available. Anker and Belkin chargers are a staff favorite. The big thing is that we’ve seen most people only really need to charge their phones once or twice at most on a 7 Day trip.
A few things to keep in mind:
Save your battery!🔋
Conserve battery by turning your camera/phone off when you can. We know it can be hard, but resist the urge to look through or edit your photos at the end of the day. Enjoy your time in the canyon and the scenery around you. Photos rarely do the beauty and scale of the canyon justice anyways.
Airplane mode 🛩️
If you are using your phone as a camera, be sure it is on airplane mode and/or power-saving mode, so it doesn’t waste precious energy running apps or searching for a non-existent signal or wi-fi connection. Make sure to turn off bluetooth as well, as that can drain your battery.
Solar Chargers 🚫
Solar chargers are not recommended. They lose efficiency in extreme heat and often only deliver a partial charge to your device.
Community Charger 🔌
We do carry a community charger, but it does not have enough power for everyone’s devices. This charger is only for cameras (or phone if you are using that as your camera) and shared with everyone, so it can only charge a few devices each night. There will be 28 people on the trip, so we ask that you use the charger sparingly. To use this charger, you’ll need either a USB or 110V wall plug. Please note that you will not be able to recharge your portable power bank using the community charger.
Want help deciding which camera to bring? Check out our camera blog or give us a call (800-477-7238).