Canoeing Stillwater Canyon through Canyonlands National Park
I decided to look for some spring time paddling adventures for the time between ski season and summer - mud season in the high country of Colorado - and came up with a few that sounded interesting. First up was canoeing through Canyonlands National Park on the Green River to its confluence with the Colorado River. This is flat water river canoeing through magnificent canyon country - Powell traversed this section of river on his historic 1869 travel down the Green and Colorado rivers.
I came up with the trip idea, and my friend Brad put together most of the logistics - setting up the canoe shuttle (Tex's Riverways - I recommend these guys - they do a great job), buying our "poo bucket" (you have to haul everything out, including your human waste), getting our permit from the National Park Service, etc.
We floated this 55 mile stretch of river in 7 days, but it can be done easily in 4-5 days. We took a week, making for leisurely days, and 2 hour evening hikes up side canyons every day. We generally had great weather, actually a bit warm at first with highs around 80, cooling into the 60's and 70's later in the week. We even experienced an evening and morning of thunderstorm activity, with a steady rain for a few hours, and even hail (see pictures). That did lead to us doing our impressions of the Three (2) Stooges, running around, moving the tent and gear to keep it from being washed down the river (we very unwisely camped at the mouth of a side canyon - I heard the roar of water coming down, and we just managed to get the tent and gear moved before everything got wet - not the brightest move on our part).
We had some great campsites along the way, and camped all by ourselves for 5 of our 7 nights. We basically never saw another canoe on the river while we were actually paddling. So even though April is a popular time to do this, groups get strung out along the river and you feel like you have the whole river and canyon to yourself.
The groups we did run into were a lot of fun. 2 notable groups were a group of 10 Seattle area private highschoolers led by Chip Mehring, outdoor coordinator for the school and Tom Doelger, english teacher at the school. Chip has done this trip (combined with Labyrinth canyon - the canyon just above this stretch of river on the Green) 24 times - so he is a bona fide river/desert rat. He gave us a lot of tips about our trip, including sights to see, camping options and help with obtaining additional water. Water is only available at two spots along this stretch of river, one in a spring on a hillside that we never would have found without his help - the other is a small running stream in Water canyon, near the end of the trip. We carried 12.5 gallons of water with us, and when we do it again, 15 gallons for two people for a week would be just right.
The other group of note was an Outward Bound group led by Will and Ellsworth, that were doing an epic 40 day whitewater canyon trip with a group of about 10 or so 20 somethings. They camped by us on the last night, before heading off the next day down Cataract Canyon. They had already floated Grey and Desolation Canyons on the Green River, and were going to do the lower San Juan River after Cataract Canyon, and were finishing up with the Gates of Lodore on the Green River. They ambitiously got up at 5 AM and hiked the vertical trail up to the Doll House area in Canyonlands. (I'll do that hike if I ever repeat this trip). Really enjoyed visiting with these guys.
The last morning, Tex's picked us up around 10:30 AM or so, at our campsite at upper Spanish Bottom (Spanish Bottom is the last spot on Colorado River to camp before you enter the whitewater of Cataract Canyon) along with two other groups in a jet boat and took us back up the 40 + miles of Meander Canyon on the Colorado to Potash, a river put in take out spot near Moab.
A fantastic trip, that I may repeat if I can drag friends and family to join me. Brad and I are already planning to return to do Labyrinth Canyon one of the next Aprils. Here are some select photos from the over 500 photos we took on the trip.
I came up with the trip idea, and my friend Brad put together most of the logistics - setting up the canoe shuttle (Tex's Riverways - I recommend these guys - they do a great job), buying our "poo bucket" (you have to haul everything out, including your human waste), getting our permit from the National Park Service, etc.
We floated this 55 mile stretch of river in 7 days, but it can be done easily in 4-5 days. We took a week, making for leisurely days, and 2 hour evening hikes up side canyons every day. We generally had great weather, actually a bit warm at first with highs around 80, cooling into the 60's and 70's later in the week. We even experienced an evening and morning of thunderstorm activity, with a steady rain for a few hours, and even hail (see pictures). That did lead to us doing our impressions of the Three (2) Stooges, running around, moving the tent and gear to keep it from being washed down the river (we very unwisely camped at the mouth of a side canyon - I heard the roar of water coming down, and we just managed to get the tent and gear moved before everything got wet - not the brightest move on our part).
We had some great campsites along the way, and camped all by ourselves for 5 of our 7 nights. We basically never saw another canoe on the river while we were actually paddling. So even though April is a popular time to do this, groups get strung out along the river and you feel like you have the whole river and canyon to yourself.
The groups we did run into were a lot of fun. 2 notable groups were a group of 10 Seattle area private highschoolers led by Chip Mehring, outdoor coordinator for the school and Tom Doelger, english teacher at the school. Chip has done this trip (combined with Labyrinth canyon - the canyon just above this stretch of river on the Green) 24 times - so he is a bona fide river/desert rat. He gave us a lot of tips about our trip, including sights to see, camping options and help with obtaining additional water. Water is only available at two spots along this stretch of river, one in a spring on a hillside that we never would have found without his help - the other is a small running stream in Water canyon, near the end of the trip. We carried 12.5 gallons of water with us, and when we do it again, 15 gallons for two people for a week would be just right.
The other group of note was an Outward Bound group led by Will and Ellsworth, that were doing an epic 40 day whitewater canyon trip with a group of about 10 or so 20 somethings. They camped by us on the last night, before heading off the next day down Cataract Canyon. They had already floated Grey and Desolation Canyons on the Green River, and were going to do the lower San Juan River after Cataract Canyon, and were finishing up with the Gates of Lodore on the Green River. They ambitiously got up at 5 AM and hiked the vertical trail up to the Doll House area in Canyonlands. (I'll do that hike if I ever repeat this trip). Really enjoyed visiting with these guys.
The last morning, Tex's picked us up around 10:30 AM or so, at our campsite at upper Spanish Bottom (Spanish Bottom is the last spot on Colorado River to camp before you enter the whitewater of Cataract Canyon) along with two other groups in a jet boat and took us back up the 40 + miles of Meander Canyon on the Colorado to Potash, a river put in take out spot near Moab.
A fantastic trip, that I may repeat if I can drag friends and family to join me. Brad and I are already planning to return to do Labyrinth Canyon one of the next Aprils. Here are some select photos from the over 500 photos we took on the trip.
Poorly placed campsite
After the rain - did I mention it can get a bit muddy?
Side perched canyons were running after the rain - a great sight
Side perched canyons were running after the rain - a great sight
Side perched canyons were running after the rain - a great sight
Don and Chip Mehring
Don and Chip refilling a 2.5 gallon water container at the spring on the side of the hill
Sunshowers every day - what a luxury! (A simulation)
The jet boat ferrying canoeists the day before our trip out
Will and Ellsworth (Outward Bound leaders)
Comments
Post a Comment