The first of the rapids is "Brown Betty," named after a black cook who drowned in the rapid during the Stanton party river run in 1889. Then comes rapid No. 2 ... then rapids with numbers and names like Little Upset, Seven Seas and the six rapids in Mile Long. The most famous of the big rapids are the Big Drops 1, 2 and 3, with 1 and 2 being good 4-plus rides and 3 being an easy 5, with a hole appropriately called Satan's Gut off to the left.

When Lake Powell is high, the last of the big rapids is Imperial at the base of Imperial Canyon. With the lower lake levels, there's Waterhole and No. 29, named as the 29th rapid in the canyon.

The last 30 or so miles are, again, calm.

And, like the first 50 miles, the river becomes a canvas of artistic beauty. Everywhere you look — at the canyon walls, the riverside vegetation, the lazily flowing water — there are scenic wonders to behold. For those interested in geology, the canyon is a dream. The river has cut through eons of time and now exposes more than 300 million years of rock formations.

Takeout is at Hite, on the upper reaches of Lake Powell. From there river runners have the option of a three-hour drive back or a 30-minute flight to Moab.

Both have their advantages. The flight is quick and follows the river upstream, giving runners a brief aerial view of their trip. The drive offers an opportunity relax and reflect.

The overriding opinion of the Cataract trip at the end for first-time runner is that what he or she expected was a good trip, but what he or she got turned out better then expected.

Vijay Chowgule came to Utah from India to experience the "big" waves and found it "much better than I pictured."

Alex Rogers of Tennessee came to Utah "just to run a river."

The Kravitz family from Massachusetts — Joseph and Marjorie, and sons Steven and Scott — also said the river trip was much more than expected and that they would definitely do it over again.

Mike and Mary Hughes of Florida said it was everything they expected and more.

"These are very common responses from first-time customers," said Martinez.

"Everyone was excited this year. They just knew it was going to be pretty big. How big, no one knew, but every trip down the river there have been big waves and big smiles."

As Hughes alluded to, however, many of today's river runners are looking for more things to do. That is, they want to tie in other activities on their vacations, whether it's riding horseback through red-rock country or taking an ATV on a backcountry road or pedaling a bike over the famed Slickrock Trail.