Desolation and Grey canyons (or Deso/Grey) are two back-to-back canyons of the Green River, the largest tributary of the Colorado River. The canyon was first rafted by John Wesley Powell and crew during their 1869 expedition of the Colorado River system. He named it Desolation because the stretches of river upstream were much greener. Downstream, Grey Canyon is even more desolate! Since the river does not really have any major dams upstream, it remains one of the least changed stretches of the Colorado River corridor since Powell's time. The river itself is an opaque muddy brown, half debris flow and half river. On the plus side the water is a very comfortable temperature and we tried to spend as much time in it as possible. The Deso/Grey is the deepest (up to 5000ft) and longest (120 miles) of the canyons on the Green. The canyon has many Class II-III rapids, but most of the trip is flat water. We saw lots of wildlife on the trip- big horn sheep, wild horses, snakes, lizards, toads. The area has a rich history- Fremont people in AD 600-1200 followed by Shosone and Ute, Spanish explorers, trapping parties, miners, moonshiners, Mormons and then ranchers. Many of the stops we made along the river were to appreciate evidence of those that came before us (petroglyphs, abandoned boats, ranch buildings, etc.). Although not the action-packed excitement and kill-me-now-I'm-in-heaven beauty of the Grand Canyon, it is nonetheless a wild and remote stretch of river perfect for a relaxing river trip with friends.
After meeting up with Ben and the others in Duchesne, UT, Ryan kind drove Jeff, Aaron and I to the put in. The Sand Wash put-in is at the end of a very long mess of bumpy oil well access roads. We dropped gear down by the water. Things were slow to organize so I tried out my packraft for the first time...and instantly became jealous of Jeff's more capable Alpaca. For sunset I followed a trail up the hill above the campsite. The view was pleasant but I severely hoped the canyon would get deeper and more interesting, fortunately in a couple days time it would. The campground had "cabins" made of screen, which did not bode well for the bugginess of the trip. The bugs certainly could have been worse, but by the end of the trip my ankles were torn up from bites.
Day 1 things slowly kicked into start. I would expect no less from a raft trip with 15 people. We eventually left around noon, I piloted the inflatable kayak the first couple days. Since it was way less effort than rowing the rafts, I frequently was sent out ahead to scout for lunch spots. I found a good one with shade the first day- even found a clean 15 ft cliff jump, one of the few good ones of the trip. The murkiness of the water took some getting used to but the water temperature was instantly adaptable. In fact the temperature might have quite possibly been perfect. The river in this upper part of Desolation canyon was very slow. We worked hard to gain 10 miles. I noted in my journal that the canyon was just a bunch of low and boring shale walls. I took some night photos of camp once the moon rose.
Day 2 we pushed hard to get to the start of the rapids, 17 miles this day. An inflatable shark and dolphin appeared out of packs and faithfully followed one of the boats. The water toys also came out, refreshing in the mid-day's heat. We stopped at Rock House canyon to view some petroglyphs on a big rock panel. As the canyon began to deepen we also passed some hoodoos. There was a long corridor of straight river near Lighthouse Rock (named by Powell), which seemed to take forever. We reached our desired camp late in the day. This put us in a good position to enjoy the next few days of rapids, riffles and side hikes.
Day 3 we only gained 6 miles but saw some great sights. Our first stop was Mushroom Rock, a bizarre remnant hoodoo with even more bizarre and psychedelic petroglyphs at its base. We had a particularly awesome stop at an unnamed canyon just north of Firewater Canyon. About a mile up there is an old moonshiner's cabin built under a travertine overhang and 50 ft further, a very fresh spring. We replenished our water supply, about an hour at 6 L/min and Nalgene by Nalgene. Also just before our camp we stopped to view one of the best petroglyph panels I have seen anywhere. Today I ran most of the rapids in an innertube with rowing in between.
Day 4 I pulled out my packraft for some experimentation and hopefully confidence boosting. Although my Supai raft looks like little more than a toy compared to Jeff's Alpaca, mine weighs only 1.5 lbs compared to Jeff's 5 lbs. I quickly became impressed with my little boat, especially in the rapids. There were two main issues I had to contend with: (1) I found it tricky to avoid water entering the boat in big rapids and (2) the floor of the raft seems quite thin and delicate so I had to be careful not to drag the bottom on rocks. The former I dealt with using an improvised spray skirt made of a trash bag (which helped a bit) and by borrowing a hand bailing pump and sponge from one of the rafts. The latter there was no way of avoiding other than careful navigation and distributing my weight as much as I could onto the raft tubes and off the floor. Otherwise I found the boat incredibly maneuverable in rapids- I could thread my way through complicated rock gardens and position myself how I wanted every time. I was also pleasantly surprised that it was not too much trouble to keep up with the big rafts in flatwater when it was not windy. All in all I was feeling better about using this boat for a long trip down a portion of the Grand Canyon.
Anyway we made good time now that the river was actually moving and decided to have a pseudo-rest day by camping at our late lunch spot. I napped my way through the afternoon in a nice shady spot beneath a rock overhang at the river's edge. This was one of the more fun camps we had- easily a highlight. Our neighbors a few hundred meters downstream had a full-on string quartet so we sat on the beach and listened to them play. As we did a troop of big horn sheep crested the hill immediately behind, drawn by what I suspect were noises they had never heard before. Then afterwards back at our camp the boys played some more bluegrass and folk with guitar, mandolin, banjo and harmonica. Once dark, out came the light up bocce balls for a tour around camp. Easily one of the best days of the trip.
Anyway we made good time now that the river was actually moving and decided to have a pseudo-rest day by camping at our late lunch spot. I napped my way through the afternoon in a nice shady spot beneath a rock overhang at the river's edge. This was one of the more fun camps we had- easily a highlight. Our neighbors a few hundred meters downstream had a full-on string quartet so we sat on the beach and listened to them play. As we did a troop of big horn sheep crested the hill immediately behind, drawn by what I suspect were noises they had never heard before. Then afterwards back at our camp the boys played some more bluegrass and folk with guitar, mandolin, banjo and harmonica. Once dark, out came the light up bocce balls for a tour around camp. Easily one of the best days of the trip.
Day 5 was my second day of rowing the packraft all day. I had a slightly improved trash bag spray guard this time. The river was moving fast with some great rapids including the first couple Class IIIs of the trip. I also experimented with adding pack weight to the front of the raft and found that it tracked better and punched through waves better. We hiked to some petroglyphs up Rock Creek and stayed at the best campsite of the trip.
A typical view of camp
Day 6 was the best day rapid-wise with several rapids we had to scout and some waves and holes that were downright enormous for a packraft! First up was Joe Hutch Canyon Rapid, probably the biggest rapid of the trip. Scouting it was terrifying. As soon as I saw the rapid I was convinced I would not run it. Then Ben and a few others coaxed me on and encouraged me. Not feeling 100% about the idea I nevertheless thought I might regret it if I didn't try and the rapid turned out to be fine. The two other small boats (the kayak and Alpaca) and I all queued up between the rafts for safety. First up was Michelle in the capable inflatable kayak- she flipped. Uh oh. Next up was Jeff's Alpaca- flip! Shit!! My chances were not looking good! I lined up, hit the first wave and forward paddled with fervor. Up and down I went, surrounded by raging water. Over a wave and then a terrifying view straight into the first big hole. Aggressively paddling, I barely was freed from its grasp, only to start into the second big hole. Once again I barely scraped through and then rode out the rest of the wave train. Although heavily swamped, I made it through upright and intact. A good adrenaline rush!
The skies turned grey and we got the only rain of the trip. We stopped at McPherson Ranch where there were a bunch of neat old buildings and a fantastic spring where we re-stocked our water. Wire Fence and Three Fords rapids were similarly exciting. Three Fords in particular took some strong paddling to avoid several large hydraulics. Because the rest of the day was flatwater and small riffles I packed up my boat and jumped into one of the rafts. One of the best highlights of the trip was when two of the guys pulled out instruments and started jamming as we floated down the calm river. So glad I at least have one short video to remind me how awesome it was. More light-up bocce at camp that night.
The skies turned grey and we got the only rain of the trip. We stopped at McPherson Ranch where there were a bunch of neat old buildings and a fantastic spring where we re-stocked our water. Wire Fence and Three Fords rapids were similarly exciting. Three Fords in particular took some strong paddling to avoid several large hydraulics. Because the rest of the day was flatwater and small riffles I packed up my boat and jumped into one of the rafts. One of the best highlights of the trip was when two of the guys pulled out instruments and started jamming as we floated down the calm river. So glad I at least have one short video to remind me how awesome it was. More light-up bocce at camp that night.
Day 7 had lots of wind which made it hard going. I few minor rapids and ripples but nothing to really write home about. We did stop and visit an old dam camp, complete with rock cabins, dating to when geologists and engneers were examining the site for a proposed dam. The day was long and I rowed much of it. We camped near a fun little rapid and almost everyone took laps down it on innertubes, Paco pads, or sharks. We were camped opposite the road which felt pretty bizarre. All of a sudden after days of wilderness we were seeing cars pass regularly. Some would even stop to take out picture and I felt a bit like an animal at a zoo, separated only by a moat, the river. It was the last night so the boys went all out with their instruments as lightning illuminated the far canyon wall.
Day 8. Take out day, everyone's least favorite. A few hours rowing brought us to the take out. There was then a flurry of activity. Gear and boats being de-rigged, washed, deflated, dried, packed. There was much to do and it took us at least 3 hours to do it. Nevertheless everyone was helping out and things did progress so that eventually we were all packed and ready to leave. We all met up in Green River for a meal before we parted ways. It was a great river trip, made all the better by the awesome people on the trip. Thanks especially to Tricia, Glenn, Mark, Jessie and Ben. It was such a pleasant treat to not have to do any of the planning upfront and just show up with a good time in mind. Jeff and I were planning to check out some canyons in the San Raf Swell but between the poor weather forecast, me kind of needing to get back to NM to help Sara move, and Jeff deciding to lock his keys in his truck in the middle of nowhere, Utah (where his canyoning gear was), we ended up camping the night and then parting ways.
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