San Rafael River: north of I-70 or Dolores, Utah

(THIS TRIP IS FULL AND A WAITING LIST HAS BEEN STARTED.)

The San Rafael Class II (due to possible strainers/obstacles and remoteness) section of just 18 miles will be spread across 3 days to maximize hiking to petroglyphs, ruins, and petrified logs; also to finish in time to return to the Front Range on Sunday. Note that this river only runs once 5 reservoirs fill up and that is hard to predict, but watch  http://www.ewcd.org/reservoirs/teacup-diagram/ ; I figure a 30% chance for this date/year.

Low/high/no water backup plan will be to do the Dolores River from Gateway to Dewey Bridge – 30 miles with several class III’s, or 21  with only 2 class II’s if we put in below the State Line Rapid which is a mile long portage.  We’d arrange to have 1 car there to help with the big portage.  There are 3 nice hikes (Grand Canyon caliber per the guide) in this unpopulated canyon with 80% chance of flow for this date/year.  Limit is 5 drivers due to a 5+ hour shuttle with Carol/Werner offering to bring 2 cars and do the after-shuttle a day after the trip. To get on the waiting list for this trip contact Karen Amundson at canoekarena@msn.com.