Lower Fox River

We're back in the flatlands for our wedding reception!  Jordan and I eloped in May, but we still wanted to have the big ol' party back home with all our friends and family in Illinois.  I also really wanted a bachelorette party with my buddies (Although, I guess it's not a legit bachelorette party if you're already married, but whateva-i-do-what-i-want!)  Semantics asides -- we had a great time.  I'm not a big fan of bar-hopping with penis necklaces and pink martinis, so my little sister planned a fantastic canoe trip along the Lower Fox River.  Much more my scene.  :)

Obviously, a big group and tons of booze aren't conducive to super-ambitious trips, so we decided to do a short 6-mile stretch of the river.  The Lower Fox River is a pretty tributary of the Illinois River.  Its dark green waters roll by white sandstone bluffs dotted with little alcoves. Everything was covered with white pines, sassafras, Ohio buckeye, and blue beech.  We also saw a bunch of classic flatland critters -- deer, cliff swallows, and squirrels.

We rented canoes from Ayers Landing Canoe Rental ($50/canoe, includes shuttle.)  They dropped us of at the put-in at Highway 52, and we paddled right up to the take-out at their office.  Convenient.

That night, we stayed in two cabins at Mallard Bend Campground.  The campground was definitely clean and well-maintained, but it was waaaay spendy ($105 per cabin?!)  Any other night I would have opted to stay in a less-expensive IL state park, but for some inconceivable reason, IL state parks don't let you drink in their campgrounds.  Come on, it's my bachelorette party!  So we shelled out the extra money and made the most of it.

All in all, it was a great trip.  Amid all the girly details of wedding planning, it was really nice to get outside and be ornery with my best buddies.  :)

Westwater

Goblin Valley employees hit the permit lottery this year!  Between the three of us, we snagged permits for the San Juan River, Buckskin Gulch, Zion Narrows .... and Westwater!  Westwater is a 17-mile stretch of the Colorado River filled with some pretty gnarly Class IV rapids.  You can run it as a 1- or 2-day trip.  It's big, rocky, and definitely more than our Class-III ducky could handle.  Nate offered to take his Cataraft down, which was fantastic.  The river was running around 6000 cfs, which was considered a moderate flow (check river levels here,) so the five of us piled in and held on!

There are eleven rapids in Westwater Canyon.  The first two are Wild Horse and Little Dolores (a.k.a. Little D.)  The craziest rapids are found within a two-mile stretch of canyon surrounded by black pre-Cambrian Rock:  Marble Canyon, Staircase, Big Hummer, Funnel Falls, Surprise, Skull, Bowling Alley, Sock-It-To-Me, and Last Chance.  It was definitely crazy, but Nate handled the whole thing with finesse and a level-head.  We used Belknap's waterproof map as a guide.  The final stretch of river is slow-going flatwater, so we whipped out a little motor to scoot us along.

To raft Westwater, you'll need to do a shuttle.  The Westwater Ranger Station is the put-in and Cisco Landing is the take out.  To get to the Westwater Ranger Station from I-70, take exit 221.  Turn north at the stop sign. Turn right onto the road paralleling I-70. Turn left shortly after passing over Westwater Creek. Follow this road for 4.5 miles to the Ranger Station.  To drop a car at Cisco Landing from Interstate 70, take exit 214. Turn south at the stop sign. Follow this road to the ghost town of Cisco. Turn left near the "Cisco Disco," a decrepit building with an elaborate mural. Take another left shortly thereafter. After 2.5 miles, turn left toward Cisco Landing. The boat ramp is two miles down this road.  The round-trip shuttle takes about 2 hours.

map credit: blm.gov

Green River Daily

The wedding party extravaganza continues!  After a boozy BBQ Sunday night, a bunch of us woke up Monday to raft the Green River Daily.  The Green River Daily is a fun, splashy 9-mile section of river just north of town.  In general, the rapids are Class II+, although during spring run-off (flows greater than 8500 cfs) it can get pretty wild.  (Check water levels here.)  This weekend the river was at 10,200 cfs , which is definitely the highest I've ever run it!  Fun, but a little nuts.

the mighty armada

This section of river takes you through towering gray walls, past old mining cabins and some really cool rock art.  You put in at Nefertiti Rapid and immediately encounter an easy rapid -- just run it straight down the middle.  After that, relax for four miles of flat water and lazy floating.  This flatwater stretch ends at Butler Wash, and from that point on the rapids come in quick succession.  After Butler comes Sand Knoll, followed by Stone House Rapid. Stone House Rapid has large boulders to negotiate. They are easy, but be ready for a little maneuvering -- typically you want to run in the center between the boulders.  Finish up by running Short Canyon Rapid and Swasey's Rapid.  The takeout is the obvious big boat ramp on the left below this final rapid.

To get to the Green River daily, start in the town of Green River.  Take Hasting Road, on the east side of town, and drive about 9 miles north to the takeout at Swasey's boat ramp.  There's a great sandy beach here with picnic tables and cottonwood trees.  Leave a car or a bike here.  Drive another 9 miles up the sandy dirt road to Nefertit Rapid, where you'll start your float.

map credit:  utah.com

Ruby + Horsethief Canyons River Trip

First river trip of the year!  The temperature cracked 80 for the first time this season, so we loaded up the ducky and hit the Colorado River.  We've done a lot of the Colorado River closer to Moab, so this time we decided to try the 25-mile section that goes through Ruby and Horsethief Canyons.  Most of the trip is flatwater with a couple riffles.  There's one set of Class II rapids around Black Rocks, and the river winds between tall orange cliffs and takes you past rock art, outcroppings of ancient black rocks, and spectacular spires.

Pack it up!

We recruited a GV seasonal, Taylor, and made plans for a really mellow, 2-day flatwater trip.  And the first day totally worked out that way -- we drank tons of beer, barely paddled, and called it a day at the Cottonwood campground.  We knew the next day would be a solid 20 miles, but figured if we got an early start it wouldn't be a problem.

Right ...

The next morning we hit the river and got a few miles in, but then ... the wind hit.  And it blew ALL DAY.  There were times when we paddled all-out and still went backwards!  It was rough.  It was a big 9-hour day -- my arms are definitely noodles right now.  Oh well.  It was still a really pretty trip, and if the weather had cooperated it would have been way more enjoyable.  Okay, enough griping -- here are the logistics:

American Avocets

If you want to do this trip, wait until the weather looks perfect!  The river starts off as calm flatwater.  You'll paddle through Horsethief Canyon, Rattlesnake Monocline, and Ruby Canyon.  Shortly after you exit Ruby Canyon, you'll hit the only rapids on the trip:  Black Rocks.  Black Rocks is easy to recognize because it's the only place where the river makes an abrupt left turn and black metamorphic rocks appear.   These black rocks are 1.7 billion years old -- about 220 million years older than the rocks that lie directly above them.  The gap in the geological record is a great example of a 'nonconformity.'  About 1/2 way through this mile-long section, several large boulders form the obvious rapid.  Just stay to the left and you'll miss most of it.  (Too bad the wind pushed us right into it ...)

Black Rocks

Just after Black Rocks, you'll see McDonald Canyon on the right side of the river.  If you hike up the canyon for about 10 minutes, you'll see a little Fremont rock art panel.  We didn't have a chance to check it out, but the canyon looked really nice.

If you're going to do the Ruby/Horsethief Canyon river trip, there are a couple logistical things to take care of first.  First of all, you need a car shuttle.  Put in at the Loma exit (Exit 15) just inside the Colorado border.  Go south off the highway and make a left at the T.  The boat ramp and parking is less than a mile from this junction.  Unload everything here.  Stash another car at the Westwater ramp.  To get to Westwater, travel back into Utah on I-70 for about 5 miles to the Westwater exit (Exit 227.) Travel south off the highway for about 9 miles to the ranger station, picnic area, and boat ramp.  The shuttle takes about 45 minutes each way.

You don't currently need a permit to float Ruby and Horsethief Canyons as a day trip.  However, if you want to split the trip into two days and camp in the canyon, check out the BLM's website for a camping permit.  As of right now, you need to make advanced reservations and pay a small fee if you're camping between May 1 and September 30.  We got in just before the start of the busy season, so there was no fee and we just filled out a camping permit at the Loma put-in.

Like most river trips, you're required to bring some gear.  Here's the BLM's official list of required and recommended gear.  Basically, river runners need to bring either a fire pan or a camp stove.  You need a Groover or WagBag, and you need to bring PDFs.  They recommend bringing a spare paddle, first aid kit, sunscreen, etc.

Jones Hole Creek

The Jones Hole Creek trail is a wonderful 8-mile (round trip) hike located in the northwest corner of Dinosaur National Monument.  Vernal is an unapologetic mining town surrounded by flat gray desert, so a vivid green trout stream is a nice, unexpected surprise.  This 2,000-foot-deep gorge runs along the border between Utah and Colorado.  The trail starts just below the Jones Hole Fish Hatchery, and meanders pleasantly along the creek for about four miles to join the Green River.  The trail is fairly flat and easy to follow.

Jones Hole Creek

fish @ Jones Hole Fish Hatchery

This lush, green oasis is teaming with plants and wildlife.  Seriously, after living in the desert for five years, I'm pretty excited by clear water and critters!  I'm the world's worst fly fisher, but even I could tell this was a great trout stream. The water was crystal-clear, and you could see trout swimming and mayflies hatching.  A herd of five bighorn sheep let me watch them graze for a while.  I also saw deer, a pair of mergansers, and a rusty-colored marmot. 

About 1.7 miles south of the trailhead, you'll see a short spur trail that heads to the base of the western cliff.  This takes you to the Deluge Shelter rock art with a really vivid elk pictograph.  A little further south, there's a 0.5 mile side trail to the Ely Creek Falls.

Deluge Shelter pictograph

Finally, after 4 miles of hiking, I reached the Green River.  I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was really impressive.  The river was surrounded by soaring 2,000 foot cliffs and actually lived up to its name and looked green, instead of the sediment-laden brown I usually see back home.  I felt a weird sense of satisfaction knowing this same water would eventually flow by my home in Green River, UT -- a 4-hour drive and 226 river miles away.  I feel an epic whitewater trip brewing ...

The Green River -- 226 miles from home.

bighorn sheep

To get to the Jones Hole Creek trail, drive east out of Vernal on 500 North Street.  When the road forks, go left and follow the signs that say Jones Hole.  Follow the paved road for another 33 miles to the Jones Hole Fish Hatchery.  The trail starts at the south end of the hatchery, about two hundred yards from the visitor parking lot.

Dinosaur National Monument

After over four years in Utah and loads of epic weekends, I feel like I’ve at least done a cursory exploration of most of the major geographic regions in the state.  One of my favorite nerdy pleasures is unfolding a map and re-tracing roads and trails in my mind.  But there are still some big blank spots I haven't explored, including the area around Dinosaur National Monument.  Coincidentally, I had a work thing up in Vernal this week (the opening of the new Field House curational facility!) so I jumped at the chance to check out Dinosaur NM and the surrounding area.  Jordan had to go back to work, so this trip did double duty as my last solo weekend before we get married (one month -- holy sh*t!)

For as much as I knock National Park "windshield tours," that's always what I end up doing the first time I visit one.  I guess it's just a good way to get an overview of the place, knock out all the cheeseball sites, and scope out good places to dig a little deeper.  So the first thing I did at Dinosaur was visit the Quarry Exhibit Hall, which showcases a wall of 1,500 embedded dinosaur bones.  The entire back wall of the building is a quarry site full of fossils.  These bones are in such great condition -- many of the skeletons are nearly complete and arranged in the correct anatomical position.  Jordan and I get pretty excited finding tiny little bone shards when we're out hiking, so I can't imagine finding something like this!

camarasaurus skull

quarry wall

The Quarry Hall is what drew me to Dinosaur National Monument in the first place, but of course there's a lot more to see.  The landscape is a contorted rainbow of uplifted rock carved into steep canyons by the Green and Yampa Rivers.  Whitewater rafting is a big deal in Dinosaur NM, and I can see why.  From origins high in the Rocky Mountains, the Green and Yampa Rivers wind across sagebrush plains, then squeeze into tight canyons surrounding by soaring cliffs.  The wild Yampa is the last un-dammed river in the Colorado River system, and it has some crazy Class V rapids.  The Green is little more manageable with Class II-IV rapids.  Of course, it's tough to get your hands on a permit, but I'm definitely going to try!

Green River from the Split Mountain overlook

Green River from Jones Hole

Echo Park Overlook

Dinosaur NM is also full of incredible petroglyphs and pictographs.  I've seen a lot of rock art in Utah, but the classic Vernal style is really distinct.  These images were created by the Fremont people around 800-1,200 years ago.  The figures tend to be trapezoid-shaped anthropomorphs with elaborate headdresses, necklaces, and earrings.  It's impossible to know exactly what rock art represents, but to me these figures seem a lot more war-like and foreboding.  Many of them are carrying shields and what look like decapitated human heads.  Spooky, but really cool.

McKee Spring Petroglyphs

lizard rock art along Cub Creek

map credit:  nps.gov