Stillwater Canyon planning

Hey all, I am thinking of throwing together a Stillwater float for 2014 with two people. We have a three person sit on top and a canoe/kayak. Looking at a 4-5 day trip. Anyone who had done this, would you recommend simply renting a larger raft in Moab and then using Big Tex's for the shuttle? We are driving from Florida, so I'm not too keen in lugging the kayaks all that way. What do you recommend for water supplies? Packing in and filtering? I know about the fire pan and potty. Just need advice from someone who has done this before and have input on the logistics. Just thought about taking this on the other day. I have never been on a self supported kayak trip of this length before. Thanks..


Sent from my iPhone4S using Tapatalk

Stillwater can be done in a raft, but a kayak or canoe is better. The river is pretty slow for a raft.

Water supplies defend on what kind of boat you have. It wouldn't be a problem in a raft, but a canoe might be a bit crowded with 4-5 days of water. It would be almost impossible in a kayak to get away without purifying.

There are some clear water sources along the river that aren't river water. You should find out where they are and plan accordingly. River water is OK, but will clog most filters fairly quickly. Boiling, iodine, or other methods may be better, but for sure use one as a backup in case you clog your filter.

We did a 5 day canoe trip down Labyrinth several years ago. There were 4 of us and 2 canoes. The canoes easily had space for plenty of water and camp supplies, (we went pretty luxirious too!). Tex's is where we rented everything except personal gear.

Thank you! Is there a particular water filter system everyone recommends? I plan on collecting and letting the silt settle overnight before using the filter. Also, does a detailed topo map show ideal fresh water sources, or is that something best obtained through local outfitters?


Sent from my iPhone4S using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bo_Beck

We did a 5 day canoe trip down Labyrinth several years ago. There were 4 of us and 2 canoes. The canoes easily had space for plenty of water and camp supplies, (we went pretty luxirious too!). Tex's is where we rented everything except personal gear.

---

Awesome..You guys looked packed! Lol. I'm definitely leaning towards using Tex's also. Thanks for the pics!


Sent from my iPhone4S using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Also, does a detailed topo map show ideal fresh water sources, or is that something best obtained through local outfitters?

---

I wouldn't trust either to indicate permanent water, but you can use the map to identify different springs.

As far as I know, these are the permanent sources:

Tangrens Spring and Water Canyon. You may have to walk a little up Water Canyon, but not much.

Stove Spring usually has water, but Water Canyon would be a better source.

We did Labyrinth and Stillwater in a canoe last August. We put in at Ruby Ranch and took out at the confluence. We have our own canoe but rented water containers and a toilet from Tex's. We also used their jet boat transport to go back up the Colorado. The 2 six gallon water containers that we took along easily lasted the 5 day trip (2 of us) and cost $5 each to rent. They were easy to transport in a canoe and are well designed for the purpose. The Green is very silty and it would have been a lot of work to settle and then filter enough water for coffee, cooking and drinking....I wouldn't recommend it if you have an alternative. If you have any questions about the trip or logistics the people at Tex's are very knowledgeable.

Excellent info. Thanks guys..


Sent from my iPhone4S using Tapatalk

Don't take a raft, unless you have a motor, which I doubt you do. It will be very slow going. Lake kayaks or canoes are much better suited for Stillwater.

The silty river is easily settled by use of Alum spice. Sprinkle a little bit of Alum into the bucket of murky/silty river water and then within 30 minutes you have clean water to filter with a regular filter. Camp gravity filters work great for overnight filtering of large water volume. Bring a couple of collapsible buckets and you will have unlimited water supply, no need to rely on clean water stream.

I have been using Alum for quite a few years with great success. If you are hesitant about Alum, buy one of these: http://gcpba.org/store-2/#!/~/produc...01&id=10431514 which suppose to work faster than Alum. Alum is cheap though.

PS: You can buy alum at any grocery store in the spice department

Alex is right on -- Alum is easy and effective. We paddled from Ruby Ranch to the confluence on our SUP boards, so we couldn't carry much water.

The river silt will clog filters and just letting it settle overnight doesn't help much. We used 1/2 tsp of Alum in 3 gal water, stir 1-2 min, settle 20-60 min, then filter.
We went through ~4 gal a day for the two of us.

Tour description and photos here: http://www.bogley.com/forum/showthre...days-100-miles

http://levity.smugmug.com/SUP/Canyon...P1000268-L.jpg

Thanks- I saw a Youtube vid about the Alum the other day and was very intrigued.