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Belknap's exposure to river trips began after moving to Boulder City, Nevada in 1937. Taking photographs for Grand Canyon - Boulder Dam Tours, Inc. (in which his mother had an interest), Bill began to encounter groups ending their Colorado River trips on Lake Mead. Before long, he made a point to meet groups, enabling him to document many early river pioneers. Following a hiatus during the war years, Bill resumed this interest. Not one to stand on shore and watch the world go by, Belknap was soon going on the trips. In 1950, Bill, according to his close friend Dock Marston, was the 104th person to travel the full length of the Grand Canyon. He was also one of the few people to go up the Colorado in jetboats, in 1960. The itch to get back on the river became “incurable” and Belknap found many opportunities to travel by boats down the rivers that bisected his beloved Colorado Plateau. From 1974 to 1986, Bill and his family operated their own river company, Fastwater Expeditions, that used small plastic orange boats, dubbed Sportyaks (He traveled through the Grand Canyon in these boats on two trips during the 1960's). These sturdy, bathtub-like crafts dotted the Green River through Desolation and Gray Canyons and the San Juan and Dolores Rivers. Fastwater trips were an experience of participation full of laughter, learning, and sharing. Not long after Bill’s death, a new rapid formed in Desolation Canyon as a result of a flash flood. The rapid now bears the name of Belknap Falls.
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