Gathering storm – Desolation Canyon

The first adventure in any river trip down Desolation and Gray Canyons of the Green River is getting to the put-in at Sand Wash, on a pretty rough route through Uinta Basin gas fields that often results in flat tires even if you’re careful. We pulled over to let a couple of trucks from Wyoming pass, one emblazoned with “Deso or Bust.” They took off in a cloud of dust, but guess who we saw again later putting on a spare by the side of the road?

Rumor has it that some scientist once declared Sand Wash to be one of the five most mosquito-infested places on the planet. Fortunately, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) provides screen shelters for those staying overnight. Each is named for a member of the 1869 John Wesley Powell expedition- we stayed in “Bradley,” (after George Bradley, a soldier at Fort Bridger who agreed to accompany Powell in an exchange for a discharge from the United States Army that Powell arranged for him). Light rain sprinkled the shelter roof after dark, a reminder the weather forecast wasn’t that good.

In the morning, the BLM ranger on hand to inspect our boat and gear turned out to be Paul LaFontaine, who I first met back in 1984 when he was the river ranger at Westwater Canyon and I was a Student Conservation Association volunteer. He gave us a thorough rundown on the rapids ahead, several of which have become a lot bigger since I last saw them 22 years ago. I wish I asked more questions about campsites, because it turned out a couple of the ones I had in mind were impossible to land at during high water. And the Green was running high at 20,000 cfs (cubic feet per second).

I traded my permit papers for a boat tag, and we were off. Fast. My planned 14-mile day turned into 18, because that’s how far we had to go to find a campsite that wasn’t under water. The river flowed quietly, and the buzzing of millions of mosquitoes could be heard. Caught a glimpse of four wild horses, before landing opposite Stampede Flat. We barbecued a steak, partly to justify the required (and heavy) fire pan. More light rain overnight.

The second day we made it to Mushroom Rock, one of the rock art sites I remembered well from before. It was a nice lunch spot under a gnarled old cottonwood tree. In the afternoon clouds rolled in, but we spotted a deer in the trees close to the left bank of the river, and a group of bighorn sheep scrambling down a rock slide– dislodging some small boulders that clattered down the steep slope. We found a nice beach to camp on at the foot of a minor rapid.

On our way to the next day’s first stop at Flat Canyon, we spotted an elk among the trees. The Flat Canyon area apparently experience a wildfire a few years ago, which replaced sagebrush with bunch grasses that make good elk winter range. Hiked over to see the petroglyphs, probably the most artistic panel in Desolation Canyon. Then we ran Steer Ridge Rapid, which at high water has a fairly awesome wave train. An unavoidable big wave broke over the raft, which I’m happy to say is self-bailing (and everything was tied down). The sun came out in the afternoon, but there was more rain at dinner time. Our umbrella was pressed into service as a rain shelter.

Day four began with a stop at Rock Creek Ranch, and a hike up the creek to another petroglyph panel with scenic views of the canyon. The American flag at the ranch marks the halfway point of Desolation/Gray. It reminds me of the flag that waves proudly at Phantom Ranch in the Grand Canyon. After days of comparative solitude we caught up with quite a few other groups, including one from Outward Bound. Now we started seeing some really dark, menacing clouds that made us break out the rain gear. The storm caught up with us at Snap Canyon Rapid and delivered high winds and a stinging barrage of pea-sized hail. Ouch. Found a good camp after some searching, because all the landing spots were taken for miles. Hard rain overnight.

Next up– Joe Hutch Canyon Rapid, which became a big deal in 2008 when the canyon delivered a huge flash flood that chucked house-sized rocks into the river. This one involved a mandatory scouting, landing on the right and going down to see the waves from below. But we got through just fine, then ran Wire Fence and Three Fords Rapids in quick succession. The latter has to be scouted at low water, but now all the rocks are inundated.

Below Three Fords, there were lots of normally tame rapids (and some riffles) that turned into roller-coaster waves. We made good time, only to discover that the landing at the camp below Coal Creek Rapid was impossible. And the rest of the camps were either drowned out or taken. The beach at Nefertiti was the only option, with three groups already there.

The run to Swasey’s Beach was easy except for some powerful eddies that almost qualified as whirlpools, sending the boat upstream until we could punch through the eddy line again and regain the main current. For some reason, this last stretch of Gray Canyon was a terrific place to spot Great Blue Herons. And that was Deso/Gray, June 2010.

See the continuation for more pictures.


Lighthouse Rock, named by the Powell Expedition

Flat Canyon petroglyphs (detail)

Traffic jam at Rock Creek landing

View from Rock Creek

Gray Canyon

Journey’s end – Swasey’s Beach with Gunnison Butte in background