A rare week to do something together and Heather and I somehow managed to drift back to the call of the Colorado Plateau for Thanksgiving break. Early discussions involved warm and tropical suggestions but somehow we settled into the familiar frigid cold of off-season canyon country like several Thanksgivings before, the lack of people partially offsetting the short days and low temperatures. To help ease the sting we were getting used to getting cozy in the rooftop tent and I invested further this trip in a battery bank and electric blanket. We both were eager to get in some river miles this year and considered the San Juan River to be one of the few reliable options for the time of year. Two years previous we did a slushy pre-New Year's overnight on the Sand Island to Mexican Hat section of the river so we thought we could survive a longer 57 mile two-night trip on the lower San Juan from Mexican Hat to Clay Hills in slightly warmer temperatures. I had seen the middle 26 miles of this stretch of river previously on a Honaker to Grand Gulch packraft trip but the rest would be new to me. To this San Juan River trip I added a few other possible days of excursions including Cedar Mesa, Capitol Reef, Hanksville, and San Rafael Swell areas. We ended up having 900 cfs when we started on the river and peak flows of 1400 cfs, which was great overall.
I convinced Heather to rally for a 5am departure with the hope that there would be just enough daylight left on the end of the day to fly a drone over the San Juan Goosenecks and find a suitable campspot. The drive was long but otherwise without incident. Recent storm puddles in the Mojave, snow in the San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff, and some sticky muddy mud as we crossed the Navajo Nation. The forecast was calling for rain overnight and in the morning, which was going to be an additional plot complication for us to contend with. I had nice calm conditions at the canyon rim above the Goosenecks and enjoyed flying my drone over this ridiculous stretch of river. We had the whole place to ourselves other than a couple campers. Due to the highly sinuous nature of the river canyon here the river takes about 6.5 miles to end up about 1.5 miles away from where it started. It was even sillier to float through. With concerns over muddy conditions overnight and having a covered shelter to get organized under in the morning rain, we decided to check out the Mexican Hat boat launch, and finding it completely empty, decided it would be the best option for us as we could literally park feet away from the shelter there without having any impact on anyone (key advantage of being off-season). We gassed up, detoured behind the Inn to look at Gypsum Creek Rapid (straightforward, no worries), then drove to the San Juan Cafe with dashed hopes of Navajo tacos (they were closed so it was dehydrated meals on the boat ramp for us). We settled in for the night, cozy, but several times waking to the patter of rain in the morning.
We got up around 7:30am with plans to be ready by 9am when the shuttle driver should have arrived. The rain was more persistent than forecast so the shelters were a godsend for us to hide under and get organized. We were ready at 9am but the shuttle driver did not appear until 9:30am...when the rain was worse. The shuttle driver took the car and we were left trying to decide if we could wait out the river or should jump on the river. We waited fully until 11:15am to push off (shivering with all my warm layers packed away); in hindsight we would have been better off just starting right away as I was warmer paddling on the water despite the rain. Gypsum Rapid was a breeze and we quickly passed the last signs of town into the canyon. We had lots of miles to try to make up for our later start and the weather was not really conducive to side hikes so we largely just carried on other than me needing to stop every 20 minutes to reinflate my seat. With moderate paddling we averaged about 4 miles per hour the first two days. Through several twisty bends we paddled until an overhang provided a nice spot for a quick snack. From here we got our first of many views of the Gooseneck State Park lookout on the canyon's rim as we paddled towards it, then away, then towards, then away, a thoroughly silly way to spend an hour. Along the way we enjoyed ephemeral waterfalls and saw four beavers and a raccoon.
At Mile 18 I pointed out the Honaker Trail on river right, at first and second glances an impossible set of cliffs but after we could pick out the series of ledges and stacked rocks connecting them that switchbacked from the rim to the river. We never did see the sun but the rain did stop at least. The day was getting on and it was getting clear it would be a hard and unpleasant push to try to make it to Ross Rapids Camp at Mile 26 so Heather managed to convince me to stop at Twin Canyon Camp at Mile 22 at 4pm. Just before was the first little rapid with a dramatic horizonline that made for a engaging read-and-run. This camp had an awkward climb out of the banks at this water level, but after that we had a nice spot to leave our boats and a short distance upward to a nice sandy tent spot. Although this was only about 25 feet vertical above the river, it was many degrees warmer. We got changed into warm dry clothes, pitched the tent, and settled into dinner and canned margaritas. I brought us each a pair of down booties, Heather with plastic overshoes and me with gallon plastic bags and hairties, certainly luxury over fashion. Even before dark the dew was horrendous and moisture began to material on every exposed object. We settled in to watch a show on a phone in the tent and slept warm if not completely comfortable due to a slow leaking air mattress. We paddled 21.7 miles over 4.8 hours, averaging about 4.5 mph.
Day 2 we awoke with every wet that was left out, which slowed us down a bit. The river was up quite noticeably at the banks, now swelling to about 1400 cfs as the result of the passed storm. We hoped for a sunny start but the sun did not appear until 11am. At the first reliable sun I stopped to repair my seat with UV curing AquaSeal, truly a marvel considering the short time it took and that it held for the remainder of the trip. Overall this was the most interesting day of the trip with a couple named rapids and many other riffles. The canyon had more variety and we both enjoyed the riffles that cut tight against a cliff. Ross Rapid was straightforward and overall probably less spicy than some of the unnamed riffles. We both enjoyed the corridors of sun. When we hit the shade again our paddling pace would inevitably increase in search of the next sun patch.
The mouth of Johns Canyon (Mile 32) was a great surprise with a very picturesque freefalling waterfall plunging directly into a grotto on the river. It was too much to pass up so we stopped to walk a loop behind the falls before continuing on. From here on down virtually all the side canyons had flowing water, which was a rare treat. We continued to pass on through patches of sun and shade with turns of the canyon.
Government Rapid at Mile 37 had a quite obvious horizonline that was worth pulling over and scouting. Though there was a clean near-splashless line through it, this was arguably the only notable rapid on the run with some holes to avoid. Heather wasn't feeling it so I got to run it twice. About 2:30pm we reached Slickhorn Canyon, having left the last of the sunlight behind us. The last 4 miles to Grand Gulch the river was particularly slow without riffles, a style and pace that unfortunately persisted for the rest of the trip.
As we approached the mouth of Grand Gulch at about 3:30pm we could see we weren't alone, a group of three in inflatable kayaks that were the only other people we would see in the three days on the river. We were cold and ready to be done despite having more daylight. Fortunately they were quite friendly and willing to give us a portion of the camp (furthest from the cool air at the mouth of Grand Gulch so no complaints from me). Before setting up camp we walked into the mouth of Grand Gulch which had a series of very nice muddy ledge waterfalls cascading down the canyon right into the river. This was quite different than I had seen Grand Gulch on my last trip and I was particularly glad that we packed sufficient water that we did not need to attempt filtering. Again we got situated and set into our camp routine. Once again the dew was aggressive. Day 2 we paddled 22 miles in 5 active hours for a 4.4 mph average.
Day 3 we awoke to clear skies but sun that would arrive too late to our camp to benefit us. We were both impressed that despite lots of gear the IKs got packed up about 40 minutes earlier than us, sufficient that we would not see them again. Almost immediately downstream of Grand Gulch was the first of many sandbars we would encounter. With the opaque waters we had to take care to not beach ourselves in the shallow waters, looking closely at the ripple patterns on the water to try to identify the deepwater channel. A few times we guessed wrong but generally we were able to feel our way down without having to get out of our boats. We stopped briefly at the mouth of Olijeto Wash for a brief hike. We crossed some deep sticky mud and turned the first corner to enjoy a nice sunny patio as a rumbling falls tumbled. On the way back down my eyes were attracted to some of the cobbles and pebbles at the stream's edge, several of which were identifiable pieces of petrified wood.
From Olijeto the canyon walls began to shrink as the bedrock layers sunk below the river. This section had some nice overhanging sandstone cliffs but avoiding the sandbars remained our key concern. After hours of steady paddling we finally rounded the last turn in the canyon and could see the dramatically different geology of the Clay Hills towering in front of us. The last 3 miles were the longest and straightest stretch of the river. Finally at 1:30pm we reached the takeout, a muddy bank with some gravel more than a boat ramp. The last day our pace definitely slowed as a result of the lower gradient sandbar-ridden river, covering the last 13.5 miles in 3.7 hours for a 3.6 mph.
The sun was feeling mighty so we took the opportunity to go full garage sale in drying gear on the lonely boat ramp. Retrieving the car a few hundred feet up, Heather and I were both impressed to see the extensive mud splatters up to the roof of the car and thick cakes on the wheel wells. We spent close to 1.5 hours cleaning and organizing before starting the drive. The 11 mile long Clay Hills Road had clearly seen a lot of rain recently, leaving us an exciting 45 minutes of wet wash crossings and one deep mud pit I half slid through, spraying mud to the top of the windshield.
When we finally reached the pavement we were short on daylight but decided to detour west a few miles over Clay Hill Pass to check out Castle Ruin, a multi-room cliff dwelling in a near-roadside alcove. It was certainly worth a quick stop.
We then circumnavigated nearly the entirety of Grand Gulch's canyon network to drive down the spine of Cedar Mesa, then turn off onto Cigarette Springs Road for 7 miles to a Road Canyon trailhead. The road had a few wet spots, ruts, and slickrock crawl sections, but thankfully less intimidating than the Clay Hills Road and easy enough to tackle by headlights. We selected a nice level spot to park and set up our rooftop tent. When it was time we cranked the heated blanket to the max and enjoyed the coziness.
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