By K. Tanner
Four of us (Janet & Tracy, Jay, & Karla) launched our single kayaks from the CO state park in Fruita on May 6. From the state park to the Westwater take-out is about 29 miles. The trip was 3 days of approximately 10 miles paddling each day. The first camp was at Cottonwood 3 in Horsethief Canyon, the second night at Split Rock in Ruby Canyon. Although the river flows ranged from 2000 to 2240 cfs, we were still traveling about 3.5 mph, for about 3 hours of paddling each day. Black Rocks was a 1+ rapid. Since we were off the water by early afternoon each day, wind had minimal impact. Along the way we enjoyed seeing numerous great blue herons & bald eagles, including two adult bald eagles in their nests with young present, many ducks with their broods & a few river otters (or maybe it was the same otter several times). Blooming cactus & desert wildflowers along the hikes above the Cottonwood campsite, between Split Rock campsite & Black Rocks & to the McDonald Creek petroglyphs added color. A delightful few days!
One item of note: the Fault Line campsites are still charred from last year’s fire. Only the tamarisk have returned. Fault Line 1 has one remaining live cottonwood. Fault Line 2 is in slightly better shape. Both would be rather dismal camps.
One lesson learned: if you load your kayak at the top of a steep cobblestone beach don’t expect to control it’s rapid descent to the river once it’s untied. Thanks go to Jay for jumping in after my kayak self-launched, swimming for a line, & tugging the boat back to shore before the current could sweep it downstream.
After paddling Ruby-Horsethief, Janet, Tracy, & Karla moved downstream for an encore one-day paddle from Cisco to Dewey Bridge: 16 miles in 4 hours of paddling with much more wind than we’d experienced during the preceeding three days. Recent upstream rain increased the river flow to 2760 cfs. Among numerous wildlife sightings, we saw 8 or 9 white pelicans within the first river mile, while further downstream there were unmistakable bear & cougar prints in the mud at our lunch stop. The total lack of other boaters on the river provided a feeling of remoteness.