In May 2023, we went on a seven-day rafting trip in Stillwater Canyon (Green River) and Cataract Canyon (Colorado River) with O.A.R.S. Our trip started with a pre-trip meeting in Moab, UT the night before our put-in, when we got to meet our trip leader, Davide Ippolito, and the other guests. The next morning started way too early, with a 6 AM meeting time at the OARS warehouse to load our gear into a trailer and make the 2+ hour drive to the put-in at Mineral Bottom. The last 15 miles are on a bouncy dirt road with some crazy switchbacks as you get close to the river.

On this trip, there were three oared rafts, a dory, and a motorized rig (snout). On Day 1, we rode on trip leader Davide’s raft and covered about 27 miles on the Green River, including the tail end of Labyrinth Canyon and getting well into Stillwater Canyon. As per its name, the water moves pretty slowly in Stillwater, as the river is only dropping about 1 foot every mile. We stopped at Fort Bottom for lunch and a hike up to the watchtower with a great view of the oxbow. After lunch, we packaged the three rafts and the dory up to the motorized rig so that we could get to our camp at Upper Cabin Creek at a reasonable time.

Day 2 started with a hike to a large boulder covered in petroglyphs. Then we boarded Russell’s dory, the Flaming Gorge, and headed down the river for four miles to Turks Head, to check out some Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings. After lunch we continued downstream for another 13 miles to Stove camp, situated at a beautiful U in the river. On Day 3, we rode with Nate in his raft as we travelled to what river guides call “the center of the universe” — the confluence of the Green and Colorado Rivers. As we entered Cataract Canyon, we had to stop and consult “the oracle”, which is where we find out what campsites are available and see if we get the ones we want. The oracle was kind to us and we got to camp at Lower Spanish Bottom for two nights, which set us up perfectly for a hike into the Maze District to see the Doll House.

One of the main reasons we did this river trip was to be able to hike to the Doll House in Canyonlands National Park. I got up early on Day 4 to walk to Upper Spanish Bottom to try to catch the early morning light hitting the Doll House, but unfortunately, I didn’t quite wait long enough. The hike up to the Doll House didn’t disappoint, with amazing views walking among the cool rock formations. And as an added bonus, we also hiked to Beehive Arch.

Day 5 was the day everyone was waiting for – rapid day! The other main reason we did this trip in the spring was for the possibility of running Cataract Canyon during high water. And boy did we time it well! Cat was running at about 40,000 cfs on the day we ran the rapid corridor. Before we got on the river, we got an extensive safety briefing and Nate read the Boatman’s Prayer (video). I was in Davide’s raft for the most intense portion, while Sue rode on the snout to have a less wild ride. I wasn’t able to take very many pictures, as I had to hold on and high side to keep myself in the raft and keep the raft upright. But I did get a few pictures of the dory going through the first rapid, Brown Betty, and Rapid 21, aka Big Drop I. The Colorado River drops over 30 feet in less than three-quarters of a mile through the Big Drops and it was a wild ride! Our guides did a fantastic job — all of our boats made it through without incident — and they each had a least one exciting story to tell, like Davide hitting the “button” in Rapid 19 and Nate taking an interesting line in Big Drop I. The elation and relief was obvious when we arrived at Lower Ten Cent camp and settled in for a night of celebration.

On Day 6, we started out by floating just downstream from Lower Ten Cent camp to Imperial Canyon, where we did a cool hike up to a pool. After lunch, we ran the last rapids of the trip in Cam’s raft. These are called the “returned rapids”, as they have reappeared as the water level in Lake Powell has dropped and flash floods have scoured out the sediment that had accumulated in the original river channel. We had a fun ride and saw some huge waves in The Chute. We set up our final camp on a small sandy beach just below Clearwater Canyon (where it was clear that the rising water in the eddy was slowly eroding the beach, but our tent was 30 feet from the water when we set it up). We were treated to a great steak dinner on our last night in the wilderness.

We woke up at 6 AM on Day 7 to find that the river was now within a few feet of our tent! For our final day on the river, we opted to ride on the snout, so that we could hang out with the amazing Adelaine. As we motored the final 22 miles to the takeout, we enjoyed the beautiful scenery and could only imagine how amazing Cataract Canyon must have been before the Glen Canyon Dam was built. The takeout at North Wash was one of the more challenging parts of the trip for the guides, as the boat ramp is unusable and landing the boats downstream of the ramp involves getting in a ripping current and then rowing like mad to catch the eddy (video). After disembarking, we took a short van ride to the Hite Airport and then enjoyed a scenic flight back to Moab, where we got to fly over the entire route that we had floated down the previous six days.

After getting off the river, we opted to spend an extra day in Moab before heading home. While Sue spent the day in bed with a cold, I headed off on a short hike to Longbow Arch. As an added bonus, I saw some great desert wildflowers, including a spectacular mound cactus below the arch.