Trip Report
Solo trip on the San Rafael River
Tuesday February 28, 2017 7:19am
Supertacoistas, just to show that I can do more than merely sit in my rocking chair and reminisce about the hero I once pretended to be, here is a little dittie I did just a couple of years ago (and might do again soon with the current snowpack in the Price River drainage being what it is). Since I was unable to “round up twice the usual number of suspects” I had to venture into the state of Deseret by myself.

Back in the 1980’s I had mapped and assessed mineral resources in the San Rafael Swell for the USGS, which was little more than getting paid to do what I would have been doing anyway. I can see no higher calling for man such as myself than to walk around out in the desert drawing lines on paper, but I digress. Since those halcyon days of yore I have been back many times for canyoneering and general back country tomfoolery with a variety of partners in crime. This time, however, I would be doing my own solo biathlon of peddling and paddling.

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This is why we do what we do.
This is why we do what we do.
Credit: Nick Danger
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More of why we do what we do.
More of why we do what we do.
Credit: Nick Danger
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The plan was to paddle the San Rafael River through the Little Grand Canyon of the San Rafael, eddying out and side canyoneering as much as possible. Since a second vehicle to run the shuttle was not available I took my mtn. bike to ride the shuttle from put-in to take-out, then break it down and stuff it into my canoe. An abundance of dirt roads throughout the Swell made this plan imminently practical, and also quite fun. First night was spent in a grove of tamarisks and cottonwoods near the put-in northeast of the Swell, assuring that I was well hydrated for the daunting task ahead.

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The beer in the camping chair cup holder is for Emergency Purposes Onl...
The beer in the camping chair cup holder is for Emergency Purposes Only. Do not try this without proper adult supervision.
Credit: Nick Danger
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The following morning I unloaded my canoe at river’s edge and loaded it up with gear before driving to the takeout with my bike in the back of the pickup. The ride from the swinging bridge at the mouth of Buckhorn Wash to the put-in at Fuller Bottom was probably around 30 miles on good dirt roads. I was fortunate that the Anasazi had been here before me and left valuable beta along the way.

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Shuttle vehicle of choice by 1 out of 1 back country buffoonists.
Shuttle vehicle of choice by 1 out of 1 back country buffoonists.
Credit: Nick Danger
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Valuable beta left by previous travelers.
Valuable beta left by previous travelers.
Credit: Nick Danger
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Nothing is more valuable than information from those who have trod the...
Nothing is more valuable than information from those who have trod these paths before.
Credit: Nick Danger
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With shuttle ride complete, and a truly great ride it was, I broke down the bike, put it into my boat, and shoved off. Now in the past, I have backpacked the San Rafael River when it was flowing at about 10 cfs, which is actually pretty nice on those triple digit days in July and August. When it gets too hot you just lay down, roll around, and Bob’s your uncle. The San Rafael River is usually only boatable for a week or two in the spring, and only in a fat run-off spring at that, so timing is everything. This particular spring it was flowing at around 500 cfs when I put on, which is pretty phat for this river.

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Bike packed up and we are on our way.
Bike packed up and we are on our way.
Credit: Nick Danger
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The gradient may be low, but the water she is high and the current is ...
The gradient may be low, but the water she is high and the current is trucking right along.
Credit: Nick Danger
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By and by, a flotilla of other boats had eddied out and their crews had ascended a trail leading up to a pictograph panel. No doubt the Ancient Ones had been recording valuable hydrographic information and these wise boaters wanted to see what they might be getting into.

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Eddying out to check conditions.
Eddying out to check conditions.
Credit: Nick Danger
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Conditions are good.
Conditions are good.
Credit: Nick Danger
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Wiser for the knowledge gained, these boaters proceed down river.
Wiser for the knowledge gained, these boaters proceed down river.
Credit: Nick Danger
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More paddlers going with the flow.
More paddlers going with the flow.
Credit: Nick Danger
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As the day wore on the clouds dissipated somewhat and the temps rose nicely. Once past the outer portions of the Swell I got further into the upper reaches of the Little Grand Canyon, and side canyons beckoned. Actually that’s not completely true, the side canyons were begging, actually pleading, to be explored. Eddying out and checking them out was the only merciful thing to do, under the circumstances.

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A side canyon begging to be explored.
A side canyon begging to be explored.
Credit: Nick Danger
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More shameless side canyon pleading.
More shameless side canyon pleading.
Credit: Nick Danger
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On one of these side canyon treks I met a charming couple from Boulder who were paddling a tandem rubber duckie. They had limited cargo carrying capacity in their duckie and thus were bereft of the necessary beer provisions to survive a night out in the desert. Being the gentleman that I am, I rescued this poor couple from a terrible fate. After a full day of side canyoneering we eddied out near Virgin Spring Canyon to set up camp.

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A two person rubber duckie with dry bags does not carry enough beer.  ...
A two person rubber duckie with dry bags does not carry enough beer. Gentle reader, do not make this mistake when venturing into the desert!
Credit: Nick Danger
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The charming couple from Boulder.
The charming couple from Boulder.
Credit: Nick Danger
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Camping near the mouth of Virgin spring Canyon.
Camping near the mouth of Virgin spring Canyon.
Credit: Nick Danger
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The views from our camp site did not suck.
The views from our camp site did not suck.
Credit: Nick Danger
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More not sucking.
More not sucking.
Credit: Nick Danger
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The following morning, we diligently applied ourselves to a leisurely start with many cups of coffee. One does not want to rush these things, as there is a very delicate balance in the natural order of things in the desert that the wise are loathe to upset. Upon achieving said balance, we paddled a short distance downstream to the next side canyon demanding an exploration.

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A short paddle takes us to the next side canyon.
A short paddle takes us to the next side canyon.
Credit: Nick Danger
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Side canyon explorations.
Side canyon explorations.
Credit: Nick Danger
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More side canyon explorations.
More side canyon explorations.
Credit: Nick Danger
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Surely that delicate balance in the natural order of things is around ...
Surely that delicate balance in the natural order of things is around here someplace.
Credit: Nick Danger
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Ah, found it!
Ah, found it!
Credit: Nick Danger
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The charming couple from Boulder elected to camp early and explore more side canyons while I paddled out to the bridge at Buckhorn Wash. They didn’t have any more beer! God I hope they made it out OK. On the paddle out the current seemed a bit faster and USGS flow data would later reveal that the San Rafael River was flowing at 600 cfs that day. At that flow there were no convenient eddies near the take out so I did my best Admiral Farragut imitation, damned the torpedoes, and rammed the bank at full speed ahead to get my bow up and over the lip. Although it had been my intention to camp out in Buckhorn Wash, God’s own wind storm blew in and deposited sand EVERYWHERE! I booked it for home.

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The San Rafael River was flowing about 20% higher on the second day.
The San Rafael River was flowing about 20% higher on the second day.
Credit: Nick Danger
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Paddling out to the bridge at Buckhorn Wash.
Paddling out to the bridge at Buckhorn Wash.
Credit: Nick Danger
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Some notes on the San Rafael River: Typically a flow of 200 cfs is considered minimum for reasonable paddling. Normal flow for about 11 ½ months out of the year varies from 5 to 40 cfs, so a week or two in May in a normal year is about all you get. Many years are not normal. This site will give you real-time flow data, as well as various parameters of water quality (temp, conductivity) https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/rt Bear in mind that if the river is frozen over the hydrograph will be flat-lining. When I paddled the San Rafael River it was running from 400 to 650 cfs for over a month, which is very unusual. A week after I got off the river on this trip it peaked at 1100 cfs, which would have made the run through the upper and lower Black Box downstream from the Little Grand Canyon an epic run. If you survived you’d probably feel like brave Ulysses. Additionally, if it flows high like this again then paddling the Muddy River through the Chutes in the southern part of the Swell is highly recommended. It takes an unusually high run-off year for Muddy Creek to be boatable at all, and it is class 1 above and below the Chutes, and class 3 through the Chutes. However, a more wonderful desert river run through the slot canyon of the Chutes likely does not exist.


  Trip Report Views: 3,892
Nick Danger
About the Author
Nick Danger is a ice climber from Arvada, CO.

Comments
Friend

climber
  Feb 28, 2017 - 07:25am PT
Bitchin!
ground_up

Trad climber
mt. hood /baja
  Feb 28, 2017 - 07:30am PT
That looks awesome ! River camps are some of the best.
Nick Danger

Ice climber
Arvada, CO
Author's Reply  Feb 28, 2017 - 07:40am PT
"Nothing is quite so wonderful as just messing around in boats" - The Wind in the Willows. Truer words were never spoken. BTW, the delicate balance in the natural order of things I was looking for looks more like this:
and this:
cheers
thebravecowboy

climber
The Good Places
  Feb 28, 2017 - 08:02am PT
real desert ephemeral creekin' starts at 1 CFS. thanks for sharing the stoke.
Inner City

Trad climber
Portland, OR
  Feb 28, 2017 - 08:57am PT
Great report thank you!

The canyon country is marvelous...
StahlBro

Trad climber
San Diego, CA
  Feb 28, 2017 - 09:19am PT
Totally dig it! Pedal, paddle, shuttle.
SC seagoat

Trad climber
Santa Cruz, Moab, Bozeman, the ocean, or ?
  Feb 28, 2017 - 09:24am PT
What an absolutely wild trip! Loved it!

Susan
Phil_B

Social climber
CHC, en zed
  Feb 28, 2017 - 09:34am PT
Sweet!

Thanks for posting this report. I know that Cleo has been trying to get me to commit to this sort of thing for years. However, the Class III section sounded much more interesting to me.
le_bruce

climber
Oakland, CA
  Feb 28, 2017 - 09:38am PT
Righteous
thebravecowboy

climber
The Good Places
  Feb 28, 2017 - 10:38am PT
I've got that Huck Finn itch too!
Ezra Ellis

Trad climber
North wet, and Da souf
  Mar 5, 2017 - 03:54am PT
Stellar!
survival

Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
  Mar 5, 2017 - 07:30am PT
Most excellent!!

Took a trip and never left the farm. Thanks for putting this together!
Ghost

climber
A long way from where I started
  Mar 5, 2017 - 07:43am PT
Now that brings back some memories!

I wasted my youth as a wilderness paddle guide. Vastly different geologic and climatic environment, but all the same feelings.

Thanks for posting this.
i-b-goB

Big Wall climber
Nutty
  Mar 5, 2017 - 08:50am PT
Boatdacious!
SteveW

Trad climber
The state of confusion
  Mar 5, 2017 - 10:52am PT

Awesome!
donini

Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
  Mar 5, 2017 - 02:29pm PT
Nice!!! Looks like a good place to pack raft!
Oldfattradguy2

Trad climber
Here and there
  Mar 5, 2017 - 03:23pm PT
Moab is a much better place.
LuckyPink

climber
the last bivy
  Mar 5, 2017 - 08:36pm PT
Nice. giving me some ideas for the upcoming rager of a season
Toker Villain

Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
  Mar 7, 2017 - 03:11pm PT
This year that river will be high.
Fritz

Social climber
Choss Creek, ID
  Mar 7, 2017 - 08:08pm PT
A fun report. Thanks for taking the time to post it.
Gnome Ofthe Diabase

climber
Out Of Bed
  Mar 8, 2017 - 04:10pm PT



[Click to View YouTube Video]
Water and sand sky and rock
Every nook and crany, a wonder filled spot
So why not some lazy river blues? Because I didn't find those!
Still,l this maybe you, right? - if you like the scratchy old blues.[Click to View YouTube Video]
I was really lookin' for Big River Blues, when these two kept showing up,
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Grippa

Trad climber
Salt Lake City, UT
  Mar 8, 2017 - 06:43pm PT
A most excellent adventure. Was this recent?
Nick Danger

Ice climber
Arvada, CO
Author's Reply  Mar 9, 2017 - 06:03am PT
Timid, The Wedge overlook is totally a righteous place to party (don't slip).

Gnome, "the blues will heal ya"

Grippin, 2014, I think; the flows have been too low to paddle the last 2 years.
10b4me

Social climber
Lida Junction
  Mar 9, 2017 - 07:51am PT
Looks like a hella fun trip.
hamersorethumb

Trad climber
Menlo Park, CA
  Mar 9, 2017 - 11:16am PT
awesome
neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
  Mar 9, 2017 - 12:15pm PT
hey there say, nick... wow, wonderful stuff...


thought i had seen it and tried to post, once...
wow, i must not have...


i just love this, thanks... very nicely done... :)
cleo

Social climber
wherever you go, there you are
  Mar 10, 2017 - 08:07am PT
Love it! Great adventure!
feralfae

Boulder climber
Montana, on the Divide and around.
  Mar 16, 2017 - 07:13am PT
Great TR, thank you.
Brought back memories . . .
ff
hobo_dan

Social climber
Minnesota
  Mar 16, 2017 - 07:24am PT
That was great! Beer On!
BASE104

Social climber
An Oil Field
  Mar 16, 2017 - 08:44am PT
Cool. I didn't know that there was enough water to float anything over on the west side of the River.

As for summer, the biting deer flies keep me out of the area. I normally spend a few weeks exploring the canyons every winter, when it can get down to single digits, and people stay the hell out.

Last year I came out 30 miles from my truck with only a liter of water. Luckily it snowed a good 6 inches every night, and I was able to make water by melting snow.

Southeast Utah is one of my utmost favorite places on the planet. It is quite a drive for me, though.
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