In The Shadow of Longs Peak
Colorado River, Ruby Horsethief Canyon
28 October 2016 thru 30 October 2016
Friday, 28 October 2016
It has been a few years since we’ve paddled Ruby Horsethief Canyon – The Colorado River from Fruita, CO to Westwater, UT – distance about 30 miles.
This trip came about because in the spring I started making inquiries about doing a Hite Marina to Bullfrog Marina. Steve, an old friend from my CMC days emailed back, mentioning that he had gotten a sea kayak and had paddled at Powell and had a ranger contact that he shared with me.
Our mutual friends Lori & Wes had gotten sea kayaks and we had done Ruby Horsethief with them a few years ago. Steve had not done this route so I floated the idea of doing Ruby Horsethief. He seemed game so I kept this in mind.
So, in late summer, early fall, I floated the idea of a Ruby Horsethief float amongst the 5 of us (Steve, Wes, Lori, Gary, myself)
Fall of 2016 has been unusually mild, so we targeted the weekend of October 28 – October 30.
I easily obtained both a reservation at the state park in Fruita as well as a camping permit for Mee Canyon, which is about 18 miles from Fruita, at around the half-way point between Fruita and Westwater. Plans are in place.
Gary and I had the afternoon off on Friday. We were on the road by 1:15 and arrived in Fruita by 6:30 PM, about 5 hours which is normal. We unloaded and a shuttle was run. Wes, Lori and Steve took off for a Chinese dinner while Gary and I had sushi and sake in camp, our usual first night meal.
Saturday, 29 October 2016
Lately on our outings, Gary & I have been bivying on the first night. Well, as it turns out, my bivy sack has not been packed so I relied on the extra tarps. This would have been fine except it started to seriously rain about 5 AM. Despite the extra tarps, my sleeping bag and pad were quite damp once I woke up.
Oh well. Its not cold and the forecast is for daytime temps in the 70s on Saturday so I hope I can dry things out once we arrive at our river camp. Only the outside of the bag is wet. I have enough warm clothes if it turns out to be unusable tonight.
7 AM seems to be really dark. So I hunker down for a few more minutes then get up and find a restroom. Already several people are getting ready for the day. I am surprised, but this is Colorado.
I hike back to camp and start water for coffee. Everyone else stirs and our group comes to life. But coffee is first.
I have brought the wheels, intending to load my boat and then hauling it to the launch. I load the boat but run out of room for today’s boating gear which is in 2 different bags. Next time: use the good gear bag that I can wear as a backpack to the put-in. This worked to haul the loaded boat to the launch. It would have been hard though to have only 1 set of wheels and multiple boats to walk over.
Eventually we are all ready. A short safety talk: “Only point to the danger” and “pat on the head – you ok? A pat back – I’m ok”
We are off. The first five miles to Loma includes a stretch close to the I-70 with its accompanying traffic but it is not long before we are out of sight and ear-shot.
Now below Loma:
Rattlesnake Canyon: Pretty smooth water, good company. We approach Salt Creek and share the canyon with the railroad. At Salt Creek, the guys wander up and investigate but are back in no time.
A few years back we stayed at Cottonwood Canyon which was nice since it is above where the railroad enters the canyon at Salt Creek. There is another place with a camp where the rock had a very striking fold. I have often though that would be a place to stay one night to explore…then 2 nights at Knowles and hike that canyon again.
Downward we paddle and soon come across fold-in-the-rock campsite. It is down below both Cottonwood and Salt Creek. Its name is Fault Line.
We continue down. There are more small standing wave rapids than I remember. We go down one side of an island then the opposite side at the next island. These islands are not very long so we don’t feel the need to keep the group all on one side or the other.
Now, it seems like a larger set of standing waves are near. We veer to the right and I am convinced this is the spot of BIG WAVES just above Mee. We negotiate without a problem and after a curve or 2 and mile or 2, we are at Mee corner, the first of the Mee Camping Sites. It is a nice site, secluded from the others and seems to have a nice landing.
We continue on, past Mee 1, Mee 2 and Mee 3 and approach Mee Canyon. The canyon is a bit steep. Wes and Steve move down and find a good landing spot tucked amongst some rocks. I wonder what it will be like to get back on the river here in the morning but for this afternoon, it is a good landing.
We have stayed in this vicinity before but I thought I remembered a wide wash to land in and I wonder if there is a better landing below the rocks. I intend to check in the morning but forget.
We all get out and find good camping places. The tents are spread apart but our kitchen area is handy, close to the landing. We have a nice supper, sip a beer and then I turn in and sleep really well, a nice change from the previous evening.
Sunday, 30 October 2016
I hear only one train overnight, then another around 5 AM then fall back asleep till 7 or so. Its really light out…but later at the take out I find out my watch is 45 minutes slow.
We make breakfast and pack and are on our way, perhaps about 10. At this point we are only a couple of miles above the Black Rock Rapid but it seems that almost immediate there is lots of water noise. We go right around an island and I realize this is the BIG WAVE near Mee. So it is below Mee Canyon, not above. There are some nice standing waves and I focus on paddling and soon we all pop out at the bottom. Onward!
There are more islands, then the black rocks of Black Rock Rapid appear and things are tame at first. From the last outing, I remember a huge rock about mid-river where some folks went left and others went right. Today though there does not seem to be a mid-river rock though there is a pour-over on river right. We are to the left of that pour-over. I also remember from previous trips that being left of river center is the place to be.
Once past the busyness of the upper rapid, the next part is flat but quite swirly. The lower rapid is quite a bit more straightforward. We pick a line straight down the center and then we are beyond!
I would really like to camp here for a day or two and capturing the beauty of this area: drawing, taking photos, and writing.
We regroup at the bottom and turn downstream. It does not take long at all to bypass Knowles and McDonald Canyon. There Is a new campground on the island between the two.
The canyon is widening as we approach the Utah border. One of the guidebooks talks about “UTAH” written on one of the walls at the border but I have never seen it. I should see if I can find a waypoint for it.
We continue on to May Flat, now also a designated camp site and I think just short of where we’ve seen cars parked. There are none today but we do stop for a quick break below the sign. There a fire-ring and a spot that looks good for catching fish.
We approach another island. The guys go left. At the last minute, Lori and I join them. This is a nice route, narrower than the main channel with tall growth on the north side. We paddle along with hardly any obstacles.
After a time we pop out at the bottom and just around the corner we see the cars at Westwater. We paddle across and line up at the take out doing 4-man carries of the boats to the top of the ramp.
We pack up, head back to the state park in Fruita, resort gear and are on our way. The last stop is at Grand Junction for gas at about 3:30 and arrive at my place about 8, so again about 5 hours drive.