Westwater Canyon Trip (10/11 October 1999, ~6000 cfs)

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I flew down on Friday evening and we began our way across the desert to head out for a day of moutain biking before hitting the river. My friend Mike just bought a used Land Cruiser (over 100k miles) for trips through the desert. The alternator died at about 11 pm, but luckily we were only 20 miles out beyond the limits of urban sprawl and a state trooper came by after only a five minute wait.

We stayed in a hotel in Spanish Fork and spent all day Saturday trying to replace the alternator. Getting parts turned into a bit of a fiasco (the nearest parts store was about 20 miles and they gave us the wrong alternator), but we finally got the right alternator and were at the put-in for Westwater Canyon nearly 24 hours later. Luckily we were planning to launch on Sunday morning so we only missed out on a day of mountain biking.

The ranger runs through the regulations at the put-in and makes sure everyone has spare paddles, first aid kit, fire pan, groover (shit can), and lifejackets. He warned us that the body from a trip last week had not yet been recovered (the second fatality on Westwater this year) and if we found it we were to inform one of the rangers who would take care of the situation. The accident sounded a bit grim and made for a somber introduction. A raft flipped in Skull Rapid and guy ended up with a rope tangled around his ankle. Those present tried to rescue him, but without success.

Our trip was composed of 7 kayakers and 8 people in two rafts. I borrowed a boat from Tom who was rowing one of the rafts. Tom's dad came on the trip and we turned out to have a really neat mix of people.

The first day was somewhat mellow. The river runs through Utah redrock for several miles before entering Westwater Canyon. Barry had managed to get us one of the campsites just above the start of the canyon at Little D. In the canyon, the river cuts through a layer of Vishnu Schist which at 1.9 billion years is the oldest exposed rock in North America. The dark rock contrasts with the redrock upstream and downstream. Just off the beach from our campsite was a great surfing wave at Little D so Mike, Tom, and I went out to surf it until our arms ached. You could tell we were the kind of guys who were the last one's out of the pool as little kids. I remember Tom saying, "OK just one more surf," after which he proceeded to hop on the wave a couple dozen more times. Raft trips are fun as you can bring just about anything and we had a pile of food. Mike enjoyed telling everyone the story of my first self-support kayak trip where I decided that the sleeping bag just didn't fit (it turned out to be a rather cold night -- Mike will gladly tell you the story).

The morning was a little slow as we somehow only managed to bring one two-burner Coleman stove to cook breakfast. I've been on multiday trips before where there was confusion over who was supposed to bring the second stove. I think I'll make sure to check on this detail even if I'm not the trip leader the next time I go on one of these adventures. It turned out fine though because the desert morning is a bit cold and it takes a bit for the sun to reach down into the canyon. By noon we were on our way and the kayaks were out on the wave in front of camp surfing as the rafts prepared to launch.

 

We were soon in the canyon and the rapids came in quick succession. There was much anticipation for Skull Rapid which was about halfway through but it proved to have more bark that bite. In the words of Ed, "class II if you're on your line..."

There is a must-make move for rafts but our boatmen negotiated it with ease and in a kayak you could negotiate it without any problem. We passed through a few more rapids mostly with big crashing waves, surging eddies, and random whirlpools that would occasionally grab the tail of your kayak. It was incredibly fun, but all too soon it was over. For the last few miles to the takeout we tied all our kayaks together and joined the two rafts with all 15 of us aboard. It was time to enjoy lunch, beer, and the beautiful scenery (and take a couple leaps off the cliffs into the Colorado River).

We thanked the gods once again for the fine weather, packed up the rafts, and went our separate ways. Several of us stopped at Ray's for dinner (the local bar/boater hang out in Green River). What a great trip.