Our 53* Mile, 10 Day, Canyonlands NTL Park Canoe Trip - Part 1

We are back in civilization! And by civilization, I mean regular phone and internet coverage. Now I can blog about our river trip which was April 27th - May 6th.

The first time Bob and I did the 53 mile Stillwater Canyon wilderness canoe/camping trip through Canyonlands National Park was 29 years ago, and it was also our first ever time camping. How hard could it be?

We set up our newly purchased tent for the first time in our living room before we left just to make sure we could do it.

We arranged for each of the three kids to stay with a different family from Motzei Shabbos to the following Friday, and boy, was that a logistical accomplishment.  

We got up at 3am Sunday morning and caught a flight at 5am.

We flew to Denver, then on to Grand Junction, Colorado, rented a car, and drove to Tex’s Riverways in Moab, Utah.

We were loaded into a truck, driven for about an hour on a 4 wheel drive road, with the last bit a stretch of very scary switchbacks down a cliff, and were dropped off with a canoe, our gear, 3 life jackets, 3 paddles, and a camping toilet at Mineral Bottom on the shore of the Green River.

Tex’s told us we would be picked up on Thursday morning at about 10 am by their jetboat, 53 miles downstream at Spanish Bottom on the Colorado River after it merged with the Green. (Motors are allowed on the Colorado.)

There was no other way out and, pardon the expression, no way to bail, before then. No roads, no motorized boats allowed on the Green, and unclimbable cliffs. Even if we managed to climb the cliffs we would be in the middle of nowhere, miles from any road, in the desert with no water to be found. 

Also, we were told, be sure to go no further than Spanish Bottom; there are extremely dangerous rapids shortly thereafter.

What if we didn’t show up Thursday morning? Then they would send out a search party. If there was a problem before then, a ranger usually canoed down the river every few days.   

What could go wrong?

And, in defiance of every expectation per murphys law, nothing did! We had an amazing time and made it home in time for Shabbos as planned. And we did the same trip 3 more times over the years, each time going for more days, once taking our boys.

This time we opted to canoe down Meander Canyon on the Colorado River instead of the Green, still in Canyonlands. Partly because we had never done it; partly because there is daily traffic on the Colorado, and we are old enough to be a little more cautious doing this sort of thing on our own. We had no trouble imagining the headlines, “Two elderly canoeists disappear in Canyonlands National Park…” 

Thankfully, we made it back, and in one piece. Two pieces, actually-one for each of us. It was a fantastic trip. (All is not well with the world though, as we are just finding out about now.)

*Technically, this trip is only 50 miles, but I figure we did at least 53. “Now, all the way over to the right bank! Now hard to the left! Back to right!“

You would probably like to see some pictures. The challenge is selecting which ones. (To say I took a lot of pictures would be a huge understatement.) It is quite amazing I never dropped my camera or phone into the water!

Here Are a Few Photos to Give You an Idea

Our Photogenic Canoe

It Would Be Hard to Choose a Bad Campsite

Views from the Water

Coming next: Views from Land, Misc, and Flowers!