Originally posted September 20, 2014
San Juan River Trip – from Mexican Hat to Clay Hills Crossing
By Karen Amundson
August 31 to September 5, 2014
Water was 700cfs to start – low enough to cause a few people to ditch the trip. Broken ankles and bad shoulders were also used to drop out. So it was 6 of us that set off to explore the river and its side canyons, and to eat wonderful double Dutch Oven dinners.
Everyone left Boulder, Denver, or Frisco early on Saturday, except for Carol
who was picked up by Bill A. in Grand Junction and they proceeded down to
Monument Valley to get a Navajo hiking permit since we did not go online early
enough to make it work the standard way.
Marsha and I were approaching Palisade, when what should appear but a canoe on
an SUV with Louisiana plates. It was Wes and Chris, and we quickly arranged to
have lunch with them at a rest area in Fruita. As luck would have it, we ran
into them again at the Twin Rocks Cafe in Bluff, UT, and then swam with them at
their Hat Rock Inn motel in Mexican Hat. It was a brand new pool, with a hot
tub area, modern pool chairs, and a view down to the river a few hundred feet
below.
Day 1: We had a leisurely start
at the Mexican Hat boat ramp (mile 27) Sunday morning, and gave Jim Hardin (San
Juan Shuttles) our money and car keys. After only 1/3 of a mile, we got to Gypsum
Creek Rapid (Class II), and it proceeded to flip 1 tandem and fill the other
tandem to the gunnels. Later we stopped and hiked to the Mendenhall Cabin on a
low spot between meanders. Wind became a problem for Bill A. in the inflatable
kayak, so we stopped a little earlier than planned at Mile 35.4 to camp. We
used a 12″ and a 10″ Dutch Oven to cook my Greek Halibut with garden veggies
and brownies. Wes serenaded us on his 2 Indian flutes. (8.4 miles)
Day 2: An earlier start got us almost 9 miles downstream to the Honaker Trail (44) before 11am. 4 of us climbed 2/3 of the way to the top to a spectacular peninsula with huge exposure. Back on the water, we went 3.5 miles until we reached an unmarked III- rapid at upper Twin Canyon (48.4) and watched Bill almost disappear from sight. We took on ¼ of a boat of water, and while I bailed, Carol made a perfect toss of the throw rope to the other tandem. The first of several big horn sheep was near the river in here. We pulled over at a nice un-marked camp at mile 50.2, so the 14.6 miles put us back on track. Chris and Wes treated us to chicken curry and rice and baked apples. Yum.
Day 3: In 2.5 miles, we reached Ross Rapid where Marsha made the prettiest run and 1 boat lined it; no flips this time. We stopped at Lower John’s Canyon (59) to camp and set up 3 tarps for shade to beat the heat. After the sun dropped behind the canyon wall, we took off to do the technical hike into the upper John’s Canyon pool area. But the 2 best spots to climb up to the next terrace were looking dicey so we went back to camp and helped Carol cook a great southwestern chicken stew along with a lovely Palisade peach cobbler. (8.4 miles)
Day 4: We paddled 5 miles and
pulled over above Government Rapid. With the very low water, the row of
boulders at the bottom of the rapid looked like a barricade and we all decided
to line it. Bill and Carol took stationary positions out on different
hard-to-access rocks, and the rest of us moved around to different spots,
passing the boats by their painters and eventually getting all 4 to the bottom
without mishap. We hiked .2 miles up the Government Canyon to a wonderful, cool
pool at the bottom of a usually-dry waterfall. It was bliss. 2.5 miles of
paddling brought us to Slickhorn Camp B in time for a late lunch with shade
tarps again. Soon we were off exploring a dozen or so pools, interesting rocks
and plant life, and taking siestas in the shady sections. The best pool was
100’ long and over our heads. Marsha fixed a salmon loaf with loads of veggies;
much better than it sounds. (7.4 miles)
Day 5: We paddled extra low water (400-410 cfs) so had to get out of the boats a dozen times to traverse shallow sand bars. The mud approach to Grand Gulch kept us from landing there, and we pretty much slogged our way to the Oljeto camp without any interesting stops. The huge beach/bar at Oljeto had to be crossed to access the only elevated area that was safe (from flash floods) for camping. A windy rain/sprinkle moved in, followed by a dust storm that literally put ¼” of silt on everything. Chris/Wes and I were sorry that we had rushed to get our tents up. 4 of us took off for an extended hike up the wash-canyon and it was beautiful. Bill returned to cook and Carol started late but caught up. Best footing was following the deer tracks; otherwise you could sink up to your knees in something that appeared firm. Chris and Wes spotted the deer and he had a nice rack of antlers. The final feast was Bill’s luscious tuna-rice-greenbean casserole with wonderful Indian spices along with brownies. Wes played a haunting flute with nice echo from up the canyon. (9.5 miles)
Day 6: Water levels remained low, and we got out of the boats 6 or 8 times on the last 7.5 miles. Weather had been good until Oljeto and bugs had been minimal until the last evening. Mosquitoes sometimes were thick on the paddle out, causing us to avoid shorelines and paddle quickly to escape them. We got to the takeout about 11:30 and loaded up the muddy mess. Then we all drove to a steakhouse café in Blanding to celebrate a good trip and parted ways from there. Carol and Chris/Wes made it home that day and Bill joined a family function SW of Aspen. Marsha and I spread our return journey over 2 days across the south route, with stops at Hovenweep, Chimney Rock, Joyful Journey hot springs, and 2 craft fairs. This trip was led and story written by Karen A.
