Green River, Utah - Kayaking

Hunter, Col, and I discussed the possibility of doing some sort of river trip in the Moab area a few months ago. There were many different options on the Green and Colorado Rivers, but we finally settled on the best option for us: a self-guided kayaking trip down the lower portion of the Green River in Labyrinth Canyon. We would put in at Ruby Ranch and travel about 45 miles to Mineral Bottom, both accessible by shuttle vehicle and eliminating the need for a jet-boat pickup or travel through any significant rapids.

We arrived at Dead Horse State Park on Thursday night with lightning flashing in the distance and obvious signs on a major storm just hours before. The air was completely saturated - an usual feeling in the desert - and my tent was soaking wet by morning despite the clear skies.


Dead Horse State Park on Friday morning

We arrived at the river touring company, Tagalong, to hear the bad news on Friday morning - the road to Mineral Bottom, along with numerous roads throughout Moab, had been washed away in Thursday's storm. It was decided that we could still go on a river trip, but we would go from Green River State Park to Ruby Ranch instead - less scenic but much better than not going at all!


The group ready to launch at Green River State Park

My first river trip in Utah begins

Heading out of Green River State Park

With a shorter trip than originally planned, we had plenty of time to cover the miles. We took an easy first day and made a few stops at some random islands and floated leisurely down the Green with little effort. Some shallow water in the beginning made for some interesting moments, but once we got going it was smooth sailing and perfectly clear weather.


Col

Hunter

Denise and Frank

Along the way we stopped at a place called Crystal Geyser - a rare cold water geyser formed when and oil well went wrong and water came out instead. The minerals deposited by the geyser were beautiful and we were lucky enough to see it erupt while we were there.


Travertine deposits near Crystal Geyser

Oil well gone wrong - now a rare cold water geyser

Eruption

Beautiful mineral deposits around the geyser

We found a great place to camp along the Green River on Friday night and I had one of the best night's sleep ever, thanks to the sound of the river and perfect nighttime temperatures. I even got to sleep in for a change. We only had to cover about 15 miles so there was no rush to get started in the morning. Very, very relaxing!


I love my new backpacking tent

Green River

Taking a nap

Our second day was a bit longer on the river. We traveled about 16 miles at a fairly leisurely pace and enjoyed a few stops along the way at various islands and shady spots. It was great to see the rock layers and formations change as we headed downstream. We found a nice sandy dune to camp on Saturday night, high above the river with great views of the river and the surrounding area. It was also full of critters like scorpions - another first for me.


Day 2

Group shot - me, Denise, Frank, Col, and Hunter

The view from our second camp site

Denise, Col, and Hunter .. Hunter is fussing with more wine

Scorpion friend (with dinner)

We exited the river on Day 3 and immediately headed to Moab Brewery for some delicious beer and food. We camped at Fisher Towers, near Castle Valley, on Sunday night before heading home to Salt Lake on Monday morning. We were treated to a spectacular sunset against the red rocks of Fisher Towers and even caught a glimpse of a rainbow from a passing storm.


Fisher Towers

Fisher Towers at sunset

Rainbow over Fisher Towers

Sunset

Hiking around Fisher Towers before returning to Salt Lake

Canyonlands National Park - Needles District, Utah - Backpacking

Jake and I took Friday off from work to spend the weekend backpacking in Canyonlands National Park near Moab. We arrived at the Needles District ranger station early enough to secure a backcountry permit for Friday night. Pickings were slim for Saturday night so we decided to deal with that issue later. I knew there were some BLM camping sites at Indian Creek outside the park so I figured we could stay there if nothing was available in the park. The weather was perfect for a backpacking trip - warm and sunny - meaning everyone else on the planet decided to spend the weekend in Moab as well. We knew backcountry permits and camping spots would be in high demand so we were thankful to have at least Friday night.

We headed off to Big Spring Canyon and reached our designated camping spot after a few miles. We dropped off our heavy packs and took some lighter gear to do more hiking. We ended up covering quite a few miles as we passed through Squaw Canyon and Elephant Canyon on our way to Chesler Park.


me near the Squaw Flat trailhead

the view near Squaw Flat trailhead

oh good we can dump the heavy water

pretty cactus flowers

Jake with the Needles in the background. Elderly are especially susceptible to heat stroke

me climbing down to Elephant Canyon

Jake points out lovely Chesler Park

We returned to our campsite that evening to find we had been robbed. By ravens! Those sneaky birds actually unzipped Jake's backpack and helped themselves to all of his dehydrated backpacking food. The ranger mentioned a serious raven problem, but she made no mention of their ability to unzip bags! They were particularly fond of ham and eggs but turned their beaks up at the curry lentil meal Jake brought for me. Jake had to settle for a sad, dry bagel. We felt horribly violated. With a significant amount of food gone, we realized we'd have to return to Moab on Saturday to get more supplies and probably just camp there Saturday night.

We hiked out to the Confluence on Saturday - the place where the Green and Colorado Rivers join forces before heading toward the Grand Canyon (sadly, they end up in that giant toilet bowl called Lake Powell first). The hike was about 11 miles round trip and took us over some open range into a few canyons before coming to an incredible overlook. It was interesting to see how the rivers merged - the Green River gets pushed to the side by the more forceful Colorado. The waters are distinctly separate for quite some distance.


me at the Confluence - Green River on the left and the Colorado River on the right

Jake at the Confluence

We got back to Moab late in the day and of course there was no camping available anywhere. We finally gave up looking and headed to the place that would make everything OK - Moab Brewery. Our beer of choice that evening, the Raven Stout.