|
Sign up for a
Free Membership |
|
Rafting the Dolores River
Blog entry locations
A 3 day rafting trip down the Dolores River, from Bradfield Bridge to Slick Rock. Class III-IV, mostly II+-III. Excellent canyon country, fun rafting, and little danger. Note that the class IV rapid can be portaged around, if you're a pansy.
- 2008-05-24 - Setup and Put-in (5 photos)
- 2008-05-25 - Snaggletooth - Class IV fun (3 photos)
- 2008-05-26 - Take-out and homeward! (2 photos)
Setup and Put-in (5 photos)
(?) Whitewater Boating Sponsors
Whitewater Boating
Additional Information
On May 23rd, we (Abraham, Sonja, and myself) left Salt Lake City for the camping at Bradfield Bridge put-in. Due to work schedules, we left in the early afternoon, and expected to reach camp after dark. We did not expect to have US 6 closed due to an accident shortly after Soldier Summit. Hence, we ended up taking a couple hour detour to the south to find a new route to Cahone, CO.
Upon reaching camp in the dark and light snow, we crashed in tents and bivies. Our two other expedition members (Penny and Zack) were already asleep when we arrived (at 11pm), so we knew exactly where to camp. The next morning, we made a quick hot breakfast while the snow melted, and began our preparations. We has the rented raft and gear, so we first drove the car over to the put-in to unload. Then came assembly and inflation. Inflation went smoothly, particularly since a friendly rafter from another group loaned us a much larger pump; combined with our issued little pump, we were able to inflate the raft from scratch in less than 30 minutes.
After inflation, we had to rig the oar frame, dry box, coolers, and gear. 
As none of us were really experienced rafters, and this was a rented, unfamiliar raft, this took more than 10 minutes. Rental gear is always a gamble, but the setup we got from the U of Utah Outdoor Recreation Program was excellent. We got a 19' raft, oar frame, 3 fiberglass oars, a dry box (that fit perfectly in the frame), a watertight cooler (which fit perfectly in the front of the frame), and all the straps and emergency gear we could use. While we only had a handful of extra straps after rigging, we did end up with a nice selection of extra rigging straps.
While we were rigging the raft, half our group setup the shuttle to the take-out (Slick Rock). The round-trip shuttle of almost 1.5 hours gave the inflaters/riggers (Zack and Paul) time to setup the raft. When we got to the heavy lifting of packing all the gear, everyone was back to help in gear sorting and packing. Since our team was meeting in two groups, one from Salt Lake and one from Grand Junction, we didn't get a chance to sort and choose gear before packing at the put-in. Thus, we all brought extra gear so we could choose the best set of gear for the trip, once we had it all together. In the end, we only left a handful of pots, shoes, and other assorted items in the car. The rest we packed into dry bags, the dry box, and the cooler. When it came time to strap down the dry bags, we were fortunate to have extra rope we brought. Finally, around 10am on the 24th, we were ready to shove off and start the adventure. 
The first few hours were a learning experience for all of us, as everyone but Penny (still recovering from a back strain) took turns oaring the boat. Each of us got experience bouncing the raft off the shore; we looked like we were playing pinball down the river. Even so, we made good time downriver.
After a few hours, we stopped for lunch on the shore. Due to the remains of the storm, the day was still cool; we all added a couple of layers to keep warm while off the river. After lunch, we kept going down river. In the afternoon, we stopped again to take a short hike up to some ruins in the cliffs above the river. 
The ruins were well-preserved, but relatively small. The views from the ruins were worth the hike, so the ruins themselves were a bonus. Back onto the river, and heading towards more rapids.
Fortunately, we only encountered class II and III- rapids during the day. This was an excellent introduction to oaring with a bit of excitement, but little danger of flipping the raft. After an exciting, but tiring, day we made camp in a nice clearing.
Photo Album for Setup and Put-in
(Whitewater Boating)
Snaggletooth - Class IV fun (3 photos)
(?) Whitewater Boating Sponsors
Whitewater Boating
Day two started warmer than day one, with a beautiful sky. We had a nice breakfast, broke camp, and started down the river. We knew that today we would meet the hardest section of the trip; the Class IV Snaggletooth rapid. All morning, Sonja kept a careful eye on the river map, to know when we would approach Snaggletooth. After yesterday's training session, we decided that I would oar Snaggletooth and the Class IV slightly afterwards, and would then swap out with someone else. So, I got to start on the oars, and warm up with Little Snag (III/III+). Sonja's careful map watching paid off when we reached the portage/scout put-in. With a bit of work, we tied up at the scout point just above Snaggletooth, and walked down the road to scout the rapid.
Little Snag had been easy, with little chance for concern. Snaggletooth looked way bigger, with large standing waves, large rocks (including Wrap Rock), and big drops (6-10' or more, wider than our raft is long!). While we were scouting, and debating whether to run it empty, or full of people and gear, we got to watch a boat run the rapid, and thus learn from their attempt. The team dropped off all but two (oarsmen and ballast) but kept the gear in the raft. It appeared the team tried to take the line I had picked, but were unable to back upriver in the rapid to hit their mid-rapid line to avoid the big drop. We were expecting a rescue, but the oarsmen pulled it out and hit the big drop to the left of Wrap Rock head one, so they shot through with nothing more than a drenching and some terror.
After watching the other team, we decided (1) that we can run this rapid, and (2) we will run it fully stocked, all people in the raft. Unlike the previous parts of the trip, all people but the oarsman (me) would be sitting on the bottom of the raft, holding on to the frame or rope, and ready to be totally drenched (which happened). We put Abraham and Sonja in the front (they had full wetsuits), and Penny and Zack in the back (they had varying levels of waterproofing). I would stand in the center, manning the oars for all I'm worth.
From the scout, the proper line starts right down the center of the river, through the teeth of the standing waves. The flow lines then drag you to river right, to the danger of wrap rock; backing hard pulls you to the left, into a flow that avoids the big drops and rocks. So, it's all on the oars to get the boat from the main flow to Wrap Rock to the secondary flow around the big drops. With a bit of previsualization, and many checks that everything was tied down and ready for a soaking, we pushed off from the shore.
Our run, which has no photos (all our people were in the boat without waterproof cameras), went almost exactly as planned from the scout. I backed off the shore to the center of the stream, hitting my line within a quarter of a boat width. Light forward oaring kept us punching through the standing waves (drenching the front of the boat with neck-high splashing!), and then we hit the flow to the left. Backing with all my strength, I actually over-corrected (due to inexperience and terror) and bounced the raft off the rocks on the left. We went down the (smaller) drops forward, but with some bouncing off rocks on the left side. We even did some running backwards due to the rock bouncing. We pulled off at the eddy below Snaggletooth, and calmed down. The previous team, which was repacking and having lunch, offered us some whiskey to take the edge off the adrenaline rush and to toast a successful run.
While we repacked, dried out, and rested before launching, we watched a large group of ~10 boats run in groups of 2, mostly empty. We watched a paddle boat show us how it should be done (despite being a guided trip), and a guide-manned equipment boat lose and then recover an oar in the middle of the river just after the big drop!
We pushed off back into the Dolores, and lazily floated down, waiting for the other Class IV section, which is a single undercut wall. As the river guide claimed, if you pay attention and back early, it is easy to stay off the undercut, raft-eating wall. Shortly after the wall, we swapped off on the oars, and I got to relax for the rest of the day.
A nice, gentle, enjoyable set of II/III- rapids finished out the day before we put in at the last campsite before the shore becomes all private land. We found an empty, amazing camp site with nice tree cover, gentle breezes, and plenty of places to string up wet gear to dry. Later in the day, we had another group stop by and camp next to us (after politely asking, and donating beers in thanks). They were polite, quiet, and unnoticed.
Take-out and homeward! (2 photos)
(?) Whitewater Boating Sponsors
Whitewater Boating
We woke up to excellent weather. After a small snack, we hiked up behind camp to see some nice canyons and slick rock. 
An evening hike by Zack last night revealed a set of pools in a canyon with frogs. We all followed up Zack's path of last night to find the pools, frogs, and plants. Further hiking led us to some incipient arches with fresh rock fall!
We hiked up to the top of a deep oxbow in the Dolores, and we could see some of the rapids of the previous day, and some slower, gentler river to come. Other than the fear of falling down the steep, very tall cliffs, we had no troubles getting up to the high points. Some nice photography was had by Abraham and Sonja, while Zack, Penny, and I were wandering around. Upon return to camp, we packed up and reloaded the boat. We only had 10 or so miles to our take out at Slick Rock, so we were in no particular hurry.
After a gentle float down the river, watching the surroundings change from deep, steep canyons to gentle open desert, we reached the take out. We found a crowded location with at least 2 groups of more than 4 boats each! We found ourselves a small bit of shore to pull in, and managed to hit it by jumping out of the raft and walking it in. After nearly knocking an unmoored (silly rafter) raft out into the river, we took extra care in working around the other rafts. While Zack, Sonja, and I stayed to unpack and clean the raft, the others headed back to Bradfield Bridge to get our other car.
Unpacking was uneventful, and the cleaning went smoothly. We were able to separate the Salt Lake gear from the Grand Junction gear, and then got the raft unrigged, cleaned, and refolded. We weren't able to refold the raft as tightly as the Outdoor Rec people, but they know what they are doing.
After we packed the Salt Lake car, we discovered that the Grand Junction car had its' keys locked inside. With all the windows closed, and no unlocked doors, the Grand Junction team was in a bit of a spot. We drove to the nearest town (Slick Rock) to discover that they didn't have a phone with long distance. So, we tried cell phones, but no joy on coverage. While Zack and Penny searched the car for a hidden key, we headed for Salt Lake and cell coverage. About an hour out of Slick Rock, we were able to get coverage, contact people in Junction that might know of a key, and determine that they didn't remember if there was a key, or where it might be. So, we left the problem in the capable hands of the Junction crew, and headed back to Salt Lake.
It turns out there was a hidden key, but it was well hidden and took nearly an hour to find. Once found, the Junction crew at Slick Rock finished packing and headed back to Grand Junction.
We arrived in Salt Lake City happy, but tired. Another great trip finished, with no injuries!
Member Comments