Colorado River – BOOTS on the TRAIL

Rafting the Yampa River (5) 03-Jun-2022

2022-06-032022-06-10Posted in Colorado, Rafting, U.S. National Parks & Monuments, U.S. Rivers, UtahTagged Colorado River, Green River, Jones Hole Utah, Rafting, Rainbow Park Utah, Split Mountain Utah, Yampa River10 Comments

Day 5: Jones Hole #1 Camp to Split Mountain

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Rafting the Yampa River (3) 01-Jun-2022

2022-06-012022-06-09Posted in Colorado, Rafting, U.S. National Parks & Monuments, U.S. Rivers, UtahTagged Colorado River, Dinosaur National Monument, Green River, Jones Hole Utah, OARS, Rafting, Vernal Utah, Warm Springs Rapid Utah, Yampa River3 Comments

Day 3: Mathers Hole to Box Elder #2 Camp

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2019 ~ Adventures with The LovedOne

2019-12-312022-01-31Posted in Eastern Oregon, Hiking, Nevada, New England, North Dakota, Northern California, Oregon Coast, Other Stuff, Rafting, South Dakota, Texas, U.S. National Parks & Monuments, U.S. Rivers, UtahTagged Badlands National Park, Big Bend National Park, Colorado River, Day Hiking, Green River, Hiking, John Wesley Powell, Oregon Coast, Owyhee River, Rafting, Southern Oregon, Theodore Roosevelt National Park6 Comments

Another year passes and The LovedOne remains unconvinced as to her photogenicity. Her attempts to out-hike the camera were working…until…I bought a telephoto lens! Ha! Another (probably temporary) victory for technology!

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In John Wesley Powell’s Wake: Cataract Canyon and Home (June 2019)

2019-07-022022-01-31Posted in Colorado, Rafting, U.S. National Parks & Monuments, U.S. Rivers, UtahTagged Canyonlands National Park, Cataract Canyon, Colorado River, Desolation Canyon, Green River, John Wesley Powell, Labyrinth Canyon, Lodore Canyon, OARS, Rafting, Spilt Mountain Canyon, Stillwater Canyon, Whirlpool Canyon6 Comments

Day 25: At the Confluence

We were able to leave camp at River Mile 7 while it was still in shade and make the short float to the confluence in the relative cool of the morning. We’d reached the Colorado! We stopped at the register to check river conditions and campsite availability. Here Lars was able to determine that we could have Lower Brown Betty and Lower Ten Cent as our camps, which were his preferences. We bounced around Rapid 1 and pulled in to the beach at Betty. Although sandy beaches are common at lower water, Brown Betty was the first (and only) time on this trip that we were able to camp on such a beach. It was a joy not to have to hack our way through tamarisk or scramble up a slope to reach camp. We were laying over here so those who wanted to could hike up to The Doll House – a unique collection of rock spires on the plateau above – the next day.

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In John Wesley Powell’s Wake: Labyrinth & Stillwater Canyons (June 2019)

2019-06-282022-01-31Posted in Colorado, Rafting, U.S. National Parks & Monuments, U.S. Rivers, UtahTagged Canyonlands National Park, Cataract Canyon, Colorado River, Desolation Canyon, Green River, John Wesley Powell, Labyrinth Canyon, Lodore Canyon, OARS, Rafting, Spilt Mountain Canyon, Stillwater Canyon, Whirlpool Canyon

Day 19: Past the Crystal Geyser

The pleasures of Green River were delightful, but we had a river to run, so first thing in the morning it was back to the boats. Our first stop below Green River was at Crystal Geyser where a failed 1930s attempt at an oil well resulted in an on-going eruption of mineral and carbon dioxide rich water. After an day on flat water, we pulled into a campsite at Anvil Bottom. The site itself was good but we had to cut a path through the tamarisk (an invasive shrub) to reach it. We were camped below a feature known locally as The Anvil (or Inkwell). Despite these existing local appellations, Powell went ahead and named it Dellenbaugh’s Butte in 1871.

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