Tuesday, Kathy and I drove to the put in via Walden. We made minimal stops, arriving at the put in around 6. Debbie had arrived well before us, while Don and Sonia were just a few minutes ahead of us. It is a primitive campground, but the sites are large. We set up camp and had dinner. The ranger is a volunteer who works seasonally on the islands of North Carolina.
Wednesday, Nick, Barry and Kathleen arrived before 10 am, wIth the raft on a trailer. They had gotten into Yampa state park late, about 11 pm. The Gates of Lodore are impressive from the put in. Most of the place names are from John Wesley Powell, the explorer. The rock is very red. We got on the water a little after noon, and arrived at Wade and Davis, a good camp, after 1 pm, a very short day. Campsites are assigned by the park service. Some folks hiked to Winnie’s grotto.
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| The forbidding entrance of Gates of Lodore |
Self supported means different things to different people. We generally do not have group dinners, or even a group porta potty. We are generally on the water by 8 or 9 am. Kathy says that we operate differently from other groups, who tend to share a group kitchen.
Thursday got off to a late start. I had requested a 9 am start, but we did not get in the water until 10. This was our big rapid day, with four major rapids. Lower disaster falls came up sooner than we expected. The raft hit some rocks, missed some strokes, and ended up in the right hand channel. They got caught under the overhang, very scary. The spare paddle was destroyed, and both of the people on the raft ended up in the water. Barry ended up bruised up, but we were lucky it was not much worse. The wind started around 11, which was very difficult for the solo canoes. We stopped about 4 pm before Triplet falls, and agreed that some folks were tired, and that it was not safe to continue. We camped at Triplet camp, and were fortunate that no other parties showed up with a reservation. The following day would include 14 miles and two major rapids, so a long day under the best of circumstances.
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| Kathy's canoe wrapped around a rock. |
Friday we got onto the water at 9 am. Triplet rapid was right after the put in. Kathy was the last paddler, and wrapped her canoe around a rock. Nick managed to attach a line from his kayak. and after various tries, we were able to pull it off with a Z-drag. I was rusty with the z-drag, but got it done. . We were able to straighten out her boat to make it paddleable. When we got to Hells half mile, the canoes portaged on river right. We got underway again around 4 pm, and camped on a sandy beach downstream of echo park, as we were running out of daylight.
Saturday was uneventful, thank God. No big rapids, no bad winds. We were on the water by 9. Most folks hiked at Jones Hole to butt-dam creek, which they enjoyed. I almost missed Big Island camp, as it looked on the map that we should have seen Cove camp first, but I dragged my canoe upstream to the correct channel. Big Island is barren, with an occasional tree. It was hot, so we were happy to have a tarp for shade. Some swam in the fast current. The night was cold, about 40F in the morning.
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| Split Mountain |
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| Richard |
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| Debbie |
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| Rock art of buffalo, look upper right |
Sunday we got on the water a little after 9 am. It was slow current and slow going through Island Park. When we entered Split Mountain Canyon things got more interesting. Another group suggested that we scout Moonshine rapid, but it was probably unnecessary. The other rapids were fun but not difficult. The canyon is spectacular. We got to the takeout about 3 PM.
Debbie, Kathy and I went to Vernal to spend the night in a hotel. We had a good dinner at Swain Brothers steakhouse, and laughed at some of the cheesy dinosaur images. The rest of the group headed back east to a hotel Craig Colorado.
A good trip, despite the “carnage” and damage. All made it out safe.
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