In the young and energetic Bert Lauzon, W.W. Bass recognized talents he needed for his tourist business. For Bert, W.W. offered chances for new adventures and the opportunity to work with horses again. While Bass used burros for much of his packing, he also had a growing horse herd. Bass's lack of horse savvy was amply demonstrated when he purchased Percheron horses from an eastern breeder. The horses, accustomed to being pampered, did not survive the harsh northern Arizona winter. Bert's extensive experience and good sense with horses were valuable assets, and Bass hired him for his livery and guiding business around 1911.

Bert experienced a new taste of adventure after his contact with the Kolb bothers who introduced him to the Colorado River.

Emery and Ellsworth Kolb moved to the south rim of the Grand Canyon in 1903. Interested more in capturing photographs of the canyon and the tourists than capturing the tourists themselves, they conceived of the idea to make a motion picture of the Colorado and Green Rivers. Neither stretch of river had been greatly traveled, and portions were reputed to be quite hazardous. They shoved off from Green River, Wyoming in September of 1911. In hand-made wooden boats, the Edith and the Defiance, Emery and Ellsworth traveled the canyons of Lodore, Desolation and Gray, and Cataract before arriving at the Grand Canyon. After collecting a myriad of photographs, motion pictures, mishaps and adventures, the Kolbs took a break from their adventures and hiked up to the South Rim to rest, tend to business, and develop film. It was most likely at this time that they made the acquaintance of Bert Lauzon and invited him on the final leg of their river odyssey.

On December 18, 1911, Bert and the Kolbs' younger brother Ernest (who only accompanied the group to the Bass Trail) took off from the South Rim to join Emery and Ellsworth's trip. In Lauzon's notes entitled 'Trip thru Grand Canyon of the Colorado,' he wrote:

We were down at the studio [Kolb Brothers' photographic studio] getting ready to start down. After dinner Ernest and I packed a horse and started down Bright Angel trail. About a foot of snow on the rim and a couple of inches at the Indian Gardens. Raining at the river.

The water was low and the day before Christmas proved disastrous for the Kolbs when they got to what is now called Waltenberg Rapid.

Ellsworth (referred to as Ed in Bert's notebook) was overturned and Emery's boat, the Edith, suffered damage when it hit rocks, but made it to shore. Bert, who had walked below the rapid with a rope in case of trouble, ended up swimming for Ellsworth's boat, which was caught in an eddy. Ellsworth made it to shore, but was seriously chilled. Christmas Day was spent repairing the Edith. Bert, fittingly, called the rapid "Xmas Rapid."