In The Shadow of Longs Peak
Colorado River, Ruby Horsethief Canyon
06 October 2007 - 09 October 2007
06 October 2007
This is our third float of Ruby Horsethief Canyon. We left Lyons at 1:30, dropped Jessie off at Cottonwood Kennel in Boulder, then out to Wild Wasser to pick up Prion Demos – a Motion and a Kodiak; Passed through South Boulder at around 3 PM; Arrived in Fruita at about 7:30 PM. We reserved a campsite at the Colorado River State Park (there were no reservations available at High Line for Friday evening); Our site number was 44, which was in the trailer area, a much nicer site than the tent area (the tent area backs up to an industrial / mall area and had lots of bright lights all night. The site was more expensive but that was not an issue.
We setup camp and headed into Fruita for supper – Mexican at Pauncho Villa’s, hardy Mexican food and basic marguaritas. Headed back to camp, no company yet, so we settled down for an early night. Our trip mates arrived, probably around 10 PM. During the night a howling wind came up accompanied by rain.
07 October 2007
Our trips mates were Julia and Bill as well as a young couple, Abby and Eric. Abby and Eric rented a canoe in Grand Junction, so they got up pretty early on Saturday morning to get that rental. Upon their return, about 9 AM or so, we headed back to Fruita, this time for coffee and Burritos at the Coffee Express Place. Then, on to the put-in at Loma maybe by 10 AM. We all did lots of packing, then the guys ran the shuttle, which, as always, seemed to take forever. According to the sign, the shuttle takes 1 ½ hours, which is probably pretty realistic.
Seems like we were putting on at about 12:30 or 1 PM; The sky is overcast, and the it’s sprinkled off and on. Gary takes a swim right away, it turns out that the motion is a bit too small for him. I will try it tomorrow. I am in the Kodiak. It’s definitely less stable than the Carolina that we rented last year, but I get use to it. Overall, it tracks really well but is basically a barge when trying to turn. But this is expected.
Anyway, we put on, it’s raining slightly, but luckily the wind has not picked up, at least not yet. Seems like it’s 1:30 before we actually start moving down the river. The foliage is turning – not only yellow but also some reds and oranges.
08 October 2007
Now it’s Sunday morning. Did I mention how windy it was Friday night in Fruita? For the most part, Saturday on the river was not windy till afternoon – then it was very windy – the kayak did pretty well and I was actually quite able to make forward progress quite efficiently, so I am quite sold on the idea of a sea kayak. This morning there was frost on the tent. And, for breakfast, we sit and watch the sun climb up the wall across the river.
We were up at 7:30, put the finishing touches on packing at 10:30; Gary and I switch boats…now I am in the Motion. It is definitely not as stable as the Kodiak, but neither are as stable as the Carolina we rented last year. I really wanted to buy a kayak this fall, but now I am quite undecided…
Anyway, we head down-river, only 4 miles today. We pass the rapid that swamped Gary last year…despite having the spray skirt, I wienie out and stay right. Then on to Black Rock Rapid. This is not anything like what I remember – much easier, though I do wienie out again, this time staying to the left. Much anticipation was spent on these, and they ended up being fairly anti-climatic. There really are not any rocks to avoid …large rocks do line both banks but there are not rocks strewn in the rapid itself. Seems like we were at Knowles Canyon by 1 PM. The day has been sunny, though a bit cooler. We set up camp at the same place, nearly across from MacDonald Canyon.
We unload, unpack, and set up camp. Grab the pack and head over to the mouth of Knowles Canyon. And hike up. This canyon is very much like those on the west side of the San Rafael Swell – a sandy bottom with steep sheer red walls. The route of the walls is quite circuitous, curving around and back again. There are many lovely pinnacles. I note that all the pinnacles seem to be leaning to the east, as though the uplift started in the east and the highest is in the west – though that is how the San Rafael Swell is. We hike up, close to 2 ½ hours and have traversed only a minuscule amount of this canyon. I guess we need to look into exploring this one from the top as well.
Back down we go, and back to camp. Prepare supper. The stove seems to be out of fuel, but there is enough to boil water for one meal. Tonight, we’ll look at stars. The sky is immense! It’s easy to pick out the constellations early. As more and more stars show up, the bright stars of the constellations are more difficult to discern. I drink a bit of wine and a bit of port. Turn in. My air mattress has sprung a leak. I sleep well for awhile, but once I wake up I toss and turn. I have another dream about Lori – mostly likely because I know they are interested in sea kayaking as well.
09 October 2007
Now it’s Monday. The weather is great, though the morning a bit chilly. We are on the cusp of winter. We get up and walk, again looking for the ‘real’ campsite of Knowles Canyon. We do finally see a sign for ‘Knowles 2’ buried in the willows which does not have a place to easily park the boats and get out as the bank here is pretty steep. We can also see an ‘A’ frame structure which, we can now see, is part of a cross river cable system though it’s hard to say what it was used for. There was a fire here this summer, but it did not seem to make much of a dent in the tamerisk. Everything is coming back, including the tamerisk. I am not convinced that this can be eradicated, not, at least, without a massive effort. On the way back, we dip into a wash, thinking it will take us back to camp. But it turns out that it is the outlet of Knowles Canyon and ends in ankle deep water at river’s edge. We back track, climb up and out of the wash, thrash thru more tamerisk and head back to camp.
We are nearly ready at 10:30; probably put on the river at 11. Once we turn downstream, I can see that our camp is only about 100 ft above the Knowles outlet. We have a bit of a tail wind, and are at the Westwater Takeout at 12:20. It’s a beautiful, sunny day. We passed out of canyons and end at open stretches. The railroad curves north, away from the river.
I do not have photos of this outing