Spectacular scenery and solitude – the Green and Colorado Rivers form magnificent Utah canyonlands. We’d made a one-night trip through Labyrinth Canyon as a SUP camp-touring intro in May.
Now we were eager to return and continue through Stillwater Canyon in Canyonlands National Park to the confluence of the Green with the Colorado River. Back to Utah June 5-9!
The map below shows our route and campsite locations. We scheduled a jetboat from Tag-a-Long Expeditions to pick us up below the confluence for the return to Moab.
Day 1 – Upper Labyrinth CanyonFewer pics the first two days because we previously posted several from our May trip (
http://www.standupzone.com/forum/index.php?topic=20607.0).
As before we launched from Ruby Ranch. After about a mile or so you leave the open valleys, and the river begins to carve the canyon while meandering back and forth.
After about 25 miles (near the end of the first loop of Bowknot Bend) we spotted a nice place to camp on a sandy shelf with a good view of the river.
Day 2 –Lower Laby & Upper StillwaterMorning paddling is sublime! The air is cooler (60-70s), the river is usually glassy in the still air, and the low light adds contrast to the majestic canyon walls.
We reached Mineral Bottom just before noon and were greeted by a Park Ranger. They check with the river outfitters to keep track of things and were curious as to how (and whether)
we had met Utah’s river regulations for an unsupported standup paddle trip. We’d checked with them before our Labyrinth trip so we had our ducks in a row:
permit, spare PFD, spare paddle/propulsion device, first aid kit, a toilet system (we took “wag bags”) and a “fire pan”.
For the latter we were allowed to take an aluminum basting pan for emergency use since we did not plan on building fires.
Ranger Jake was super friendly and even offered advice on places to camp.
A few miles below Mineral Bottom Stillwater Canyon opens up in places offering great views of cliffs and distant mesas.
Started heating up on day 2, probably 90-100°. Soaking our shorts and shirts helped as did dragging our arms or legs in the water (which was about 70°).
Jill even prone paddled her board to cool off.
Mid-afternoon we spied a nice sandbar that looked like a great place to camp, “chill” in the river, and enjoy the sunset.
One daily chore was water purification. The fine silt in the river will clog filters, so we used Alum (potassium-aluminum-sulfate) to aggregate and precipitate it: add ½ teaspoon of Alum to 3 gal,
stir 1-2 min, allow to settle 20-60 min, then filter. Simple and effective. We pumped about 4 gal a day for four days and our filter was still working fine at the end.
Bocce Ball provided some of the evening entertainment. (Ummm, if the games were “non-competitive”, why is she measuring distances so carefully?)
Day 3 – lower Stillwater CanyonPerhaps the most spectacular day. There were fabulous views of mesas and spires with Canyonlands Natl Park to the east and The Maze to the west.
The hard layer of White Rim sandstone gave interesting rock formations.
Still hot day 3, so we looked for a campsite with sun protection and picked a small slot canyon that provided afternoon shade. Bats came out in force in the evening so we called it “Bat Canyon”.
Here’s our “kitchen”. Two PFDs strapped together provide a stool, and we used the “fire pan” as an organizer.
The Platypus water containers hold 4 and 6 L, and the four plastic bottles hold 1 L each for a total capacity of 14 L (3+ gal) – we went through almost 2 gal a day each.
Day 4 – Stillwater to the Colorado ConfluenceThe geology changed as we headed further down river with the exposed walls towering ~1000 ft above us.
… just another day of blissful paddling. Here Jill sings and strums along to Darius Rucker’s “Wagon Wheel” on her iPod.
At the confluence with the Colorado we found the large beach and campsite recommended by Ranger Jake – sweet!
Since we arrived before noon, Jill thought she’d see if anyone heading back up river might give is a lift. No one came by that day – we had it to ourselves.
(note PFD requirement on the lower Colorado)
Turned out to be a wonderful place to camp... at the confluence of two of the main rivers of the southwest. Water is life in the desert, and we were visited by deer in the evening.
(We’d seen antelope, beaver, and lots of migratory birds – geese, ducks, heron - along the way.)
Colorado River Take-outThe next morning was almost bittersweet because it was just a few miles down river to our pick up area.
We savored morning coffee and the last paddle strokes before pulling in to the river register.
A final view down river to the start of Cataract Canyon – the rapids there are way above our pay grade!
The jetboat met us for the ride back to Moab. Turns out that Meander Canyon on the Colorado is also beautiful… maybe this fall?
