Paddling the Yampa River

We had a permit for the Yampa River for July 22nd.  Like everyone else, I drove to Deerlodge campground on the 21st.   Shortly after I arrived, Jim and John from Idaho appeared, completing our team of seven.  The balance of the team was Roger, Steve, Sonia, and Don.

Driving through Steamboat on the way to Dinosaur National Monument brought up a lot of memories, of the many times that Marianne and I drove to Steamboat to ski, to visit Teresa, or just to be tourists. 

On the 22nd, we got on the water by 9, which was surprisingly early.  Our group was consistently on the water between 8:30 and 9 ever day, pretty impressive.  Our first camp was at Ponderosa.

The water was low, 500 cfs at launch, and the 23rd was the day where we scraped our way down the river, hitting many rocks.  We camped at Big Joe, and smelled smoke near dusk.

We saw bighorn sheep almost every day, as well as a bald eagle and an otter on the first day.

 

Having fun at Signature Cave.

On the 24th, we did not scrape as much.  We hiked up to Signature cave, and to Mather's cave (alcove), where we saw indian grain bins.  We camped at Laddie Park 1.

Grain bins at Mather's Cave

On the 25th, we got to the infamous rapid, Warm Springs.  With the low water, it looked like a minefield of rocks.  Jim ran it well, but I flipped at the top of the rapid and swam it.  After that, no one would run it, so Jim ran most of the boats down.  Much of the gear was portaged around the rapid.  The Yampa emptied into the Green River below Warm Springs; you could see the two colors of the two rivers at the confluence.  The Green was flowing about 2000 cfs, so the difference in flow was dramatic.

Richard

Jim

We stopped at Echo Park for water, and to visit Whispering Cave.  Well before we reached the cave entrance, we could feel a stream of cold air.  We could see quite a way up the crack above the entrance.  We concluded that this was a kind of reverse chimney, where the hot air entered at the top, and cooled as it went down.  On our way back to the boats, a nice couple in an RV gave us a chilled bottle of wine, a spontaneous and generous gift!

Up until the Green River, we had not seen another human being.

We were pinned down by high winds for 30 minutes, but the wind died down, and we were able to continue to Seacliff camp.

On the 26th, we paddled to Jones Hole, and hiked up the creek to Ely Falls.  Someone would sit at the top of the falls, blocking the water, and then get up and release a surge of very cold water.  Lots of fun.    We continued down the river through bumpy rollers, with a fast current.  We camped at Island Park.

John at the entrance to Split Mountain canyon

The 27th was our last day, through Split Mountain.  These were fun rolling rapids, which did not cause us any trouble.    Before long, we arrived at the takeout, where we took a photo and then headed for home.

Overall, this was a very nice trip.   This was a trip mostly for the scenery, with lots of flat water.  Since the Yampa was low, there was not a lot of current in most places.  It would be fun to do it again at higher water.

Roger and Steve

Sonia and Don

Thanks to Sonia for some of the photos, and thanks to all for a great trip.