As part of my quest to paddle the length of the Green River, we headed for Fontenelle Reservoir and the river downstream. This is north of Green River Wyoming.
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| Mike on Fontenelle Reservoir |
We drove on Sunday. My Subaru got 20 miles per gallon, due to the headwind and the sea kayak on the roof. We drove to Slate Creek Campground, downstream of Fontenelle Reservoir. The campground was very basic, an outhouse and a few picnic tables, but it was free, and generally quiet. Mike had brought his grill; I used it to warm up burritos from home. The boat ramp was fairly busy, generally fishing guides with boats.
On Monday we dropped off a car at the boat ramp near the Fontenelle dam, and headed north. Our put in was the small campground north of the reservoir. We loaded our boats, and put in around 9am, with a good current. This current moved us well until we got to the reservoir, which was way down. The map indicated that we could paddle directly to the dam, but we ended up following the old river bed, due to the low water. As usual, the wind picked up around noon. We arrived at the boat ramp around 2 pm, and started the shuttle. We paddled about 13 miles. Dinner for me was more burritos from home.
Tuesday we planned a shorter day, 8 miles from Dodge Bottoms to Hay Farm. We got on the water about 8. We saw a river otter, a beaver, and mature and immature bald eagles. This section went through the Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge. The terrain is pretty flat.
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| Osprey nest |
Wednesday we paddled from Lombard Ferry to County road 4, about 13 miles. We took out at the historic road 4 bridge, now food traffic only. The bridge had an osprey nest, with a little one. At the takeout, the mom was there, nice to see. We did run aground some, and the current was about 1.5 miles per hour.
When we got back to camp, we decided to head to the KOA at Green River, where we could get a shower. We ate at Showgunz Pizza.
Thursday we drove home, with a bit of a tailwind.
I am close to completing the Green River. I have one day south of County road 4, and then four days south of Vernal Utah.
