"Wild rivers are earth's renegades, defying gravity, dancing to their own tunes, resisting the authority of humans, always chipping away, and eventually always winning."
~Richard Bangs
"The first river you paddle runs through the rest of your life.
It bubbles up in pools and eddies to remind you who you are."
~Lynn Culbreath Noel
"Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day." ~A. A. Milne, Pooh's Little Instruction Book
Going on a river rafting trip was one of the main items on my Original Bucket List. I checked this item off the list in 2005 when several friends and I rafted the Delores River. We had so much fun that I went on three trips after Delores and planned to go on my fifth trip during June of my YEAR 77. However, as June approached it became obvious that there were irreconcilable conflicts in the schedules of all the participants (particularly the knowledgeable ones that would be managing the trip) so we had to cancel, or at least defer, the trip. Because I so enjoyed the four previous trips, I decided to write this blog from the standpoint of fun memories.
Dolores River- April 2005 - Gary's son Dan was a partner in a river rafting company in Moab, Utah. Dan said that the Dolores River normally didn’t flow big enough to use for commercial trips, but that this year, because of the stormy winter they had in that area, it was flowing extra big. He said that many of their guides had never been on the Dolores, which flows into the Colorado River, and they wanted to take this opportunity to raft it. Dan said that, although the trip was being organized just for company employees and it would be of short duration, there would be room for Gary and a couple of his buddies if he were interested. So Gary, Art W and I joined them and it was an interesting experience, since none of the three of us were experienced in river rafting. Art and I drove to Moab (in what we referred to as “Mama’s Cadillac”) and met Gary there the day before the river trip was to begin.
The next morning we had a long drive into Colorado and we “put in” the river about mid-day near Gateway. We had two six-man rafts, and one large raft that carried the supplies. The river was flowing very fast, and you could tell by looking at the riverbanks that it was higher than normal. And the water was cold! This was in April, and the higher water level was because the river was being fed by melting snow and ice. As we floated along, there were many miles with nothing more exciting than looking at scenery, talking and drinking a beer. But it was my first experience of going over rapids, and it’s difficult to explain the feeling. As you approach the rapids, but before you ever see them, you can hear a tremendous roar, which can be a little frightening. In several cases when we were to go over falls, the guides would go ahead on foot to explore which side we should go over. It is very exciting as you paddle through the rapids, or over the falls, with the “captain” shouting instructions to the paddlers in order to keep the raft upright. Without some experienced guides with us, of course we would have never been able to make it through the rapids. Art was sitting in the front position in our raft, and I was right behind him. The rapids were so big, that on two occasions, once because we also bumped into a large boulder, Art went flying out of the raft into the river. The first time he was rescued by the other raft, and the second time I pulled him back into our raft, using a method they had taught us in the safety discussion at the beginning of the trip. After he was safe we all laughed about it, but it was a little scary (particularly for him) and it took hours for him to stop shaking from the cold. We camped along the river that night in a narrow canyon, with very high, almost vertical walls reaching above us. The next morning it was raining lightly, so Gary, Art and I were staying in our tent while the guides cooked breakfast. All of a sudden we heard a series of very loud booms. It sounded like cannons, or jet airplanes breaking the sound barrier. We ran out of the tent, but were too late to see what had happened. The cooks did see, however, and explained that a huge rock, about the size of a car, had broken loose high up on the canyon wall, and had come tumbling down, eventually ending in the river just a few hundred yards up-river from our camp. This answered the question about how all the rocks got into the river, but also was a little scary to think that it could have come right into our camp. This trip was just two days on the water, but it was a fun, new experience and we agreed we should try another trip the following year.
I wasn't able to take photos from our raft, but the images below remind me of the rapids we were in.
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Cataract Canyon- July 2006 - Art and I had talked so often about the fun we had on the Dolores River trip that Jarrett and Merlin decided to join us for the Cataract Canyon experience. Dan, and his girl friend Cher, also joined us, along with four tour guides, making eleven in our group. Art, Jarrett and I drove from California, Gary and Merlin drove from Park City, and we all met in Moab the afternoon before the river trip was to begin.
The launch was planned at Mineral Canyon on the Green River and the "take-out" near the Hite Marina on Lake Powell. After driving to the Moab City Airport, we were taken to the launch area in a small plane that was flown by an old WWII pilot (two separate flights to get all of us there). He landed on a narrow dirt road near the “put-in” (this landing was as exciting as the rapids) and at the end of the trip we were picked up near Hite by a large van and returned to Moab. The trip went through part of Canyonlands National Park. It included a 50-mile section of the Green River in Labyrinth and Stillwater Canyons, the confluence of the Green and Colorado Rivers, and the famous rapids of Cataract Canyon. For this trip we were on two larger rafts and none of the passengers paddled. We were on the river three days, and camped two nights. Between the rapids we had long restful periods where we just talked, enjoyed the scenery, went swimming along side the rafts as they drifted, and generally just enjoyed ourselves.
The first two photos below show us dining along the river, and Art and I on a hike. The 2nd row shows us relaxing in the early afternoon, and in the last one we're having an adult beverage as we made camp for the day. Unfortunately, when we returned to Moab I learned that Bonnie’s dad had died (July 12th) while we were on the river. A sad ending to an otherwise great trip.
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Desolation Canyon- May 2007 - Gary, through his son's company in Moab, arranged for this four-day, three-night Desolation Canyon trip. Art, Gary, Jarrett, Merlin and I went on this trip again, plus Gary had invited four of his Park City friends who turned out to be a very interesting group; Fritz, Ed, John Kl, and Tom W. We stayed in the town of Green River the night before the trip and were flown in two small planes about 100 miles up the Green River for the "put-in." This flight was terrifying! During the flight we ran into a snowstorm and significant fog. I’m sure the pilots knew what they were doing, but at one point our pilot said to the other pilot over the radio, "Where are you?" which was a little worrisome. We couldn’t see anything out of the plane windows, and the pilots changed routes several times trying to get out of the storm. When they determined that we were near the put-in area they began looking for an opening in the fog in order to get down to the river. When our pilot saw a hole in the fog he dove straight down below the fog and we flew along the river to a place where he could land. Whew!! We were all relived to be on the ground.
This canyon of the Green River was given its name by John Wesley Powell during his epic explorations of the Green and Colorado Rivers in 1869 and 1871. The river divides the 10,000-foot Tavaputs Plateau and has colorful canyon walls and beautiful foliage along the river. The trip is 85 miles long and has around 50 rapids.
There was a two-man kayak carried on one of the boats and during lunch one day a guide asked if anyone was interested in trying the next set of rapids in the kayak. No one else volunteered, so Art and I decided we should try it. The guide drew instructions in the sand with a stick regarding how we should run the upcoming rapids. He spent a lot of time explaining how we needed to avoid one killer rapid called the “Thunderous Hole,” and another big rapid just beyond the Hole. It sounded pretty easy when he was explaining it, but when we were on the water it was entirely different. The guide was on one of the large boats in front of us and waved to notify us that we were approaching the Thunderous Hole. By then the waves were coming over the small kayak and Art and I were at the mercy of the rivers current. Nothing looked like the picture the guide had drawn in the sand! In no time at all, the kayak was upside-down and Art and I were floundering around in the waves. It all happened so quick I hardly remember tipping over. Then what amazed me was how easy the guide, using his two oars, brought the large boat over to me in the middle of the raging rapids, leaned over the side grabbing my life jacket, and pulled me up onto the boat. Art was next, then the kayak, all rescued before we were out of the rapids. You really have to appreciate the experience and capabilities of the guides. When it was all over, and we were safe, we then viewed it as an exciting and fun experience. We did have to live with some ridicule from the rest of the guys for the remainder of the trip for our incompetence at handling the kayak. Of course our retort was that they were all too cowardly to even try it! As with the previous trips, we all enjoyed our time on the river. I did, however, decide that three nights sleeping on the ground was about the maximum that my old back was capable of tolerating.
The photos below from the left- The 1st row- Loading the planes and getting ready to leave from Moab City Airport. 2nd row- Posing after arriving at the "put in", and beginning the trip down the river. 3rd row- Trying to stay warm along the river, and looking for fish.
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Photos below from the left- 1st row- relaxing after lunch, then an evening cocktail party along the river. 2nd row- our cocktail waiter, and the group at the "take-out."
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Labyrinth Canyon- June 2016 - During the 2016 Park City Ski Trip, Gary asked the group if anyone was interested in a river-rafting trip the coming summer. He said his son Dan was interested in putting a trip together even though he was no longer involved with the Moab river company we had used in prior years. Over the subsequent weeks, Art, Don & Debbie, and I said we would like to do the trip. Dan developed plans over the subsequent months and the result was a really fun trip the first six days of June. Dan & Cher, and their friends Johnny & Susy (I’ll refer to them as the Kids), were the experts and managed the trip. The trip consisted of four days and three nights on the Green River through Labyrinth Canyon, with a night at each end in the town of Green River, Utah. We drove about an hour from the town to the “put-in” at Ruby Ranch along the river. The Kids had arranged for two mid-sized rafts that would hold all of us, plus our gear, food, etc. They also had four kayaks for anyone that wanted to raft the river separately and tents, sleeping bags, etc. as each of us required. And of course they brought all the adult beverages required on such an adventure. Art. Gary and I spent all three days we were on the river in the kayaks talking, enjoying the scenery and drinking a few beers. Don & Debbie spent one day in a kayak and the remaining time on the larger rafts with the Kids. This was a different type of trip from the previous trips in the sense that it was smooth water all the way; i.e. no challenge from rapids as we had on the previous trips. This cut down on the excitement, but not on the enjoyment. We saw lots of great scenery, went on a couple of hikes, had fun conversations, good food, and just enjoyed floating down the river. We traveled about 50 miles and took out at Mineral Canyon where we had put in for the Cataract Canyon trip in 2006. The nine of us had a fun dinner at Ray’s Tavern the last night, said our goodbyes, and all left for home the next morning.
Photos below from the left: 1st row- Two scenery shots along the river. 2nd row- Cher & Dan on one of the main rafts, Dan securing the cargo to leave the camp site. 3rd row- Debbie, Don, Gary and Art relaxing in the kayaks. 4th row- The group at the "take-out" and me and the Kids at Gary & Nel's ski trip party in January following the river trip - me, Susy, Johnny, Dan, and Cher.
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