Desolation Canyon at low water

I was the motive power on a single raft three person trip just
recently completed on the Green River through Desolation Canyon. We
put in on July 4th. The river was running 2200 cfs. This was our
third trip through Deso in the last 15 years, the others being run at
22000 cfs and 8000 cfs. We spent a full week on the water.

The low water made it interesting. In the first 20 miles, Sandbars
were the biggest obstacle. We ran into several situations where the
river widened and the water was only a single oar blade deep. This
made picking ones course a more focused task. But at 8 inches deep,
one could jump in and play in the relatively warm water just about
anywhere. And we discovered that nearly all of the river has a nice
sand bottom.

All camps offered much more beach front and it was interesting to see
what was under all of those nice Class III rapids whose rollercoaster
rides were so enjoyable at higher flow. Chandler Falls, Wire Fence and
Three Fords remained good rapids. Coal Creek and Rattlesnake were
rocky and technical. (No rocks were hit during the running of these
rapids). We used an 11 ft oar in the flat water upper reaches and
then switched to a 10 ft oar for the remainder of trip.

The weather was wonderful. A full 100+ degrees and bright sun
everyday day. Dry thunderstorms appeared in late afternoon after the
4th day. After a tough afternoon of battling strong upsteam winds
and gaining only 8 miles, we modified our shedule for early starts.
This worked well and put us at next camp well before any winds came
up.

Being from the Northwoods, we had always been skeptical of warnings of
Desert Bears. Well, I can tell you first hand that they do exist.
At our first camp, I awoke to the sound of splashings in the river and
got up to witness a medium sized black bear and cub emerge from the
river and stroll across the beach opposite from us. A second cub
spent the better part of 5 minutes swimming back and forth in the
river before joining the others. Later we learned from the BLM ranger
that bears had been problematic at Cow Swim as well. One had climbed
into a boat down there looking for food.

We also saw two elk along the way. They were down along the river
much earlier in the season than what would be normal. And we observed
a Mountain Goat posing for us. And finally, a swimming Rattlesnake.

Special thanks to the BLM rangers Skip and Jim for their hospitality
and guidance. I would easily surrender a valuable body part (or two)
to have a job like that.

One thing that was very noticable however was the increase in oil/gas
exploration. The road into Sand Wash was much improved over previous
years. Drilling rigs and pipelines were every where on the first
half of the drive in. We were told that they are right along the
river in the upper Unita Basin. And on the drive back on I70 out of
Grand Junction, we did see many drilling rigs right along the banks of
the Colorado as well.

In summary, I can tell you that Deso at low water is still a wondeful
experience. While much changes, you discover new things to
appreciate. We hope there is a lot of snow next year, but if not, we
will still be in the lottery trying for a slot.

Blakely
---
Blakely LaCroix
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

"The best adventure is yet to come"

Thanks for the TR, Blakely.

Railtramp <Railtramp.RemoveThis@aol.com> wrote:
> We used an 11 ft oar in the flat water upper reaches and then
> switched to a 10 ft oar for the remainder of trip.

What size raft did you row?

Also, how far below put-in did you camp to avoid mosquitos?
Rumor has it they're very bad at Sand Wash put-in.