We were all a little nervous about meeting the outfitter’s 11 o’clock pick up time, so got up early and were on the river by 9:45 after a breakfast of bacon and eggs and oatmeal.
Tex’s Riverways had told us that we could take out anywhere along the five mile stretch of the Colorado River before Cataract Canyon, but we needed to find a place that had at least four feet of water for the airboat. The airboat would go the full five miles past the confluence and then pick up everyone from there on back.
To be ready, we had to take apart the T-Cat, clean the two canoes (so the wind and airboat would not blow water and sand on us as they were to be transported overhead), and organize our gear for loading onto the airboat.
Well, we had only 3.5 miles to the confluence and then another 5 on the Colorado to the Spanish Bottom take-out. Before we knew it we were at the confluence of the Colorado and Green. The Colorado’s water is darker brown than the Green’s and it was interesting where the two met. We hung a right and paddled for another 4 or 5 miles, all the while looking for an appropriate place to take out. There were several other groups at different places already organized and waiting to be picked up.
We paddled to the far side of the river to investigate a likely spot, albeit sloped and awkward, but the water was too shallow we thought to allow the airboat to pick us up.
Finally we had gone as far as we could without entering Cataract Canyon (which I certainly did NOT want to do). The last possible place for take-out was a very high bank, and it already had three canoes and two parties on it. We paddled to it and those on the bank got ready to help us land. Most of those, that is. There was one sour couple who didn’t want us to clutter up their existence. The woman looked at her watch and clucked, “Well I guess you will have to take out here. It is already 10:30 and they’re to pick us up at 11! Why didn’t you take-out on the other side up the river where we saw you?”
Since there was no place to tie off the T-cat, we threw two of the men up above on the bank our ropes. They then tied a length of rope to ours (including a piece from the sour couple) and secured the T-cat to the trees above. Three, three-foot high steps had been cut into the sandy bank in two places. We climbed them and then Jess and Peter handed up the stuff to us. After all was out of the canoes and above, Jess took the T-cat boards off one canoe and we hauled it vertically up the bank. Then she handed the T-cat boards up and came up herself and we hauled the second canoe up. It was quite a process, and we were hurrying.
Once everything was up, Peter and Kim cleaned out the canoes.
The airboat arrived almost as we finished. Our friend Ken (a newbie at Tex’s and learning) was on the airboat as well as one of the two brothers who run Tex’s. They had a tidy system for loading the canoes, water canisters, Groovers, trash bags, dry bags, coolers, and food lockers, as well as us. It took only about thirty minutes to get all six canoes and all the gear stashed and secure. Then we 12 ran upriver at 25 mph to pick up other Tex’s clients. I think there were about 23 or 24 of us in all.
The natural wind and the wind created by the speed of the airboat made for a cold ride (we’d been warned of this) so we tightened our hats and hoods. I wore my rain pants as a wind barrier and gave Jess my fingered biking gloves. We had worn half-fingered biking gloves to paddle to prevent blisters.
We talked with the other paddlers and of course found common ground. One guy had biked Virginia and the Blue Ridge Parkway with his daughter. Another of the men was familiar with Kim & Jess’s and Peter’s area. The up-tight couple didn’t socialize. The second group we picked up had been on the river for 9 days. They must have done Labyrinth Canyon as well as Stillwater Canyon.
The rock formations and cliffs along the Colorado were not as impressive or sheer as those along the Green, but wonderful nonetheless. We saw a flock of white-eyed ibis on the river and I shook awake Peter who was snoozing in front of me. He was a bit bewildered at first but claimed to be appreciative. Neither he nor Kim had seen an ibis before. I understand that these birds spend some time at Great Salt Lake while migrating. We strained our eyes trying to catch a glimpse of mountain sheep, but they were too well camouflaged for us.
After about an hour of roaring upstream, we stopped at a rest area that had picnic tables and toilets. We had to climb up some steps in the bank to get to this area, and I was reminded of our stops along the Tambopata River in Peru. We took about a 20-minute break here and all ate lunch or snacked from their coolers. We had the usual elaborate mix of crackers and cheese, hummus, salsa, olives, etc.
When we arrived at the take-out place, we all got off the airboat and got into two vans for the ride back to Moab. The large airboat —still full of our gear and loaded with all the canoes, was loaded onto a very large trailer and trucked back to Tex’s for unloading (below).
Kim and I and our gear were the first to shuttle back to the hotel (a Best Western) where we unloaded gear to make room for the rest. Jess then drove back for Peter and the rest of the kit. I was almost immediately in the shower. While Kim was showering, I started three washers full of wash — needed my black pants for dinner that evening.
After everyone was clean and sorted, we chose Eddie McStiff’s for dinner. Bad choice. They had a live band which was pretty good, but we were put in a dreary back room. Jess ordered a medium-rare steak. It came well done, and she sent it back. Eventually ended up with a hamburger. I had meatloaf and mud pie; Kim & Peter had a chicken/steak combo. The server was either very new or very inept. We tipped but were not overly generous.
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