Lots of driving but I managed to sneak in two new-to-me Colorado River runs in a long weekend. Unusual for this time of year the Colorado here was still flowing at a healthy 4700 cfs. First up was the 25 mile Class I-II Ruby-Horsethief run (which probably should be called the Horsethief-Ruby run since Horsethief Canyon comes first). We drove for broke Thursday, arriving to a dusty roadside camping spot near the UT-CO border at about 2am. Chilly!
We slept as long as we could then drove to the boat launch. We readied ourselves relatively efficiently, the sun a welcome heat source for an otherwise brisk morning. At about 10am we set off, almost immediately having a bald eagle fly low overhead which we took for a good omen. Though even the riffles were very minor the River was consistently moving to our satisfaction such that we easily made the first 3 miles to Rattlesnake Canyon in less than an hour. Being one of the few sidehike options we beaches for a short walk. Keith and I walked about 1.5 miles up to where several forks of the canyon joined while Heather and David lagged behind.
We continued on, the canyon walls gradually growing skyward. I spotted a group of 18 bighorn sheep and pulled into the eddy in front of them to watch them for 5 minutes before paddling back into the current. Before too much longer riverside railroad tracks joined our run which would stay with us until the end of the run. At a location called Faultline we stopped for lunch on a cobble bar between two impressive outcrops of a ~100m monocline. Paddling on we continued to make good time.
Our camp spot was 15 miles in at a place called Black Rock supposedly because the Vishnu schist is exposed at the river which I found hard to believe. Sure enough another monocline appeared just before camp with just enough buckling to barely expose the basement here. The River cuts through the Mesozoic sandstone and shale stratigraphy of the Morrison, Entrada, Kayenta, Wingate, and Chinle to hit its 2 billion year old basement black Vishnu Schist. The Great Unconformity in the Grand Canyon is actually greater here with closer to 1.5 billion years of time missing.
We pulled into our assigned camp Black Rock 5 with a comfortable amount of daylight left. After unloading my packraft and pitching my tent, Keith and I went for a short hike to try to scramble up the the canyon rim. We picked up a good trail used by people and bighorn sheep alike which got us to the rim in about 20 minutes. We continued along to the prow at the corner of Moore Canyon for a commanding view before heading back down to camp. We ran into the same group of sheep on the way up and down which held us with only mild interest. After an early dinner we all turned in to bed in short order, tired and too cold to have a reason to stay awake.
Thankfully I slept warmer than the previous night. We had a somewhat leisurely morning, only needing to paddle 10 miles before 2pm on a river that generously kept moving. Within about a mile the river left its window into its black basement and cut back through the sedimentary layers.
Shortly we arrived at McDonald Creek where I had a pictograph side hike marked so we got out of the boats and hiked across slickrock benches to a prominent alcove. The pictographs were about the least impressive I’ve ever seen- a faded red and a faded white figurine next to each other- but the alcove and sandstone detail was quite nice.
Back on the river the canyon began to widen and the walls abated. A few more long sweeping bends and we were at the Westwater put-in/Ruby takeout. Keith hitched a ride to close the first of three shuttle runs. Daniel and Caleb eventually showed up to help complete the other two. I made a long lived fire at our riverside camp. Ruby-Horsethief has some nice scenic moments (especially the geological ones) and it was one of the most steadily moving Class I-II runs I’ve been on which was overall relaxing. Kudos to Keith for arranging the permits.
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