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Thread: Yet Another Gates of Lodore Trip!

  1. #1

    Yet Another Gates of Lodore Trip!

    This trip was organized by my friend Jon who some of you met in Zion in June. It was a family trip of 15 people with 3 teenage boys (my son Aaron, Jon's son Jack and Jack's cousin Ben), a family with 4 kids of ages 6, 8, 10 and 12 and a Dad with his 25-year-old son. Rounding out the group was a single guy who was a 5th grade teacher. A few of the adults were very experienced rafter/kayakers, but several of us were not. This would be my first non-commercial river trip, for example.

    We all met the night before at the put-in at the Gates of Lodore campground. There was some tentativeness as we met each other and tried to imagine what the trip would bring. A little wind and rain, a forecast for more weather events and the high flow of the river added to the trepidation.





    Morning dawned clear with some fog dissipating over the Gates of Lodore. As we talked to the ranger though the concern of the more than 9000 cfs flow of the river came to the forefront. Chuck and Mary (the parents of the 4 kids) were worried that their two youngest would not be able to hold on to the rafts in the most violent rapids. It was decided that Chuck would take the two youngest kids and rejoin us at Echo Park. He wanted Mary to have a chance to experience the full river which he had done without her last year. But, this put us down one boatman. Scott, the father of the 25-year-old asked me if was up to taking control of a raft for the whole trip. Of course I said, "Sure, sign me up"! It would be a bit of a trial by fire but how could I pass up on the chance especially when the trip needed the help to succeed.





    Our first camp was at Pot Creek 2 which is past Disaster Falls. So my learning curve would involve taking on Disaster Falls on my first day of rowing. Robin wisely decided to ride with another more experienced rower. Jon rowed another boat, Scott and his son Kyle each had one and Bob (the teacher) was in a kayak as a sweep. At Disaster Falls Bob decided to switch to a raft and Jon rode with me. While scouting Disaster we met a commercial trip and the guides offered to wait for us to finish our run and watch for any swimmers. It was also nice to get to see them run it and help know what to expect. But in the end it was great! The water was big but not too hard and after an exhilerating day we reached Pot Creek.

    Pot Creek has a short scramble up to a look out back up river which gave some great views in the evening.









    The next day was the big rapids day with Triplet and Hell's Half mile weighing on my mind. While scouting Triplet another private trip caught up to us. Triplet had a tricky feature which would tend to pull you towards a big rock/hole. We discussed our plans on how to enter itand set out. I entered where I wanted but the speed of the water caught me by surprise and soon I could see I had not started pulling away from the hole soon enough. Jon yelled at me, "you're going exactly where you don't want to be!" put I also still had my front pointed too straight to pull away. I finally got the raft pointed properly and started pulling as hard and fast as I could. But the rock/hole was looming and it wasn't looking good! Also my pulling was twisting the raft past perpendicular and my stern was now more forward. There was no time left. I pivoted the nose away from the hole and hit the drop beside the hole backwards with the wave crashing over my stern. I kept the boat even, but backwards for a few more waves and then found a spot to spin around. Then, I had to pull like crazy to make the eddy. I was spent by the time we got in to the eddy, but I had survived it.

    Jon asked if I wanted to row Hell's. I wanted to redeem myself and wouldn't give up the oars. Hell's went great and I felt in the zone again.

    Our camp that night was at Rippling Brook. There was a great short hike up to 3 waterfalls. It was such a relief to be at camp and know we'd survived the hardest parts. Rippling Brook's beach was completely underwater with the flow still around 9K. But the group was really gelling and we had a great night of good food and drink. The submerged beach at Rippling Brook made for a great practice place for the kayakers. We let the boys try it out and get ready for kayaking the next day. Our camp also had a Lazuli Bunting singing on his territory right over our kitchen. The little guy kept perched and showing off his brilliant purple and red colors (sorry my lens is not long enough to capture that though).





















    The next day we floated through the most scenic parts upstream of Echo Park and then at lunch in Echo Park we picked up Chuck and the two youngest kids. It was just grand floating past all the amazing geology of the park. But the high flow made it all go by too fast! It was quite fascinating to see all of the faulting and anticlines which have been cut by the river. The group was kind to humor me as I gushed over the amazing geology.









    Chuck's wife Mary rode with Scott's son Kyle. She was enjoying rowing on the easy parts of the river. But, the eddies were still tricky. As we approached Echo Park and I was pulling to get over I noticed that they were still quite far on the wrong side. By the time Kyle took over it was too late to make the eddy! Our chance for a nice group lunch all together was dashed. We split the group up to allow most of us to hike up the canyon but Scott took Chuck to meet up with Mary. Echo Park is a great spot. We enjoyed the cave and the petroglyphs and then finally the whole group was together on the river.

















    Our camp tonight was Jones Hole 2. But we were worried about making the eddy so we pulled in to Jones Hole 1 and walked down to check out what it would be like. We found someone camped at Jones Hole 2. We asked them why they were there and they said they had missed the eddy at Jones 1. Perfect! We just switched sites with them. Jones 1 is a great camp, private yet scenic. It also had a great bathing situation where you could wash and remove soapin the Green River and then swim upstream the creek for your final rinse. The fishing is said to be good in the creek as well. Scott had a great tradition for Lodore family rafting trips: he brought paints and stencils and we all made commemorative T-shirts. At first the teenagers didn't seem in to it, but in the end they spent as much time as anyone perfecting their designs.

    We only had to make The Cove on the following day. So we saved The hike up the creek for the morning. We visisted "Butt Dam Falls" where you can block the flow by sitting in the rock and then sitting up and letting a big wave hit the folks down below. We also got lucky to see a few big horn sheep on the way.































    By the time we got back to Jones 1 it was later than we wanted and we were sorry to find that a commercial trip had arrived wanting to set up camp. Bob, who had skipped the morning's hike had got all of our final gear moved aside. But still the guides were a little miffed at us and said that "normally we would report you to the park service". Afterwards Scott remarked that if they did, our trip was actually scheduled to be in Jones 2! But, a few donated beers and I think the guides were happy again.

    It was supposed to be an easy float down to The Cove. But, the river was still fast and very wide now that the Yampa had joined. Chuck took a raft now and as we were passing a very wide section I noticed he was too far to the right. His oar had slipped and he wasn't getting any pull from one side. I tried to move over to help him but there was no time and floated past him just as he hung up on some rocks. It took a little while to find an eddy downstream and we all waited, and waited. We organized some inflatable kayaks to try to head upstream and they set off. Just as the kayaks were starting to disappear around a bend, Chuck came down. I guess he had to pull the raft alone quite a ways but finally succeeded in getting unstuck.

    We now headed down the The Cove, but when we got there we found it occupied. The boats docked there threw off Kyle and he missed the eddy. We pulled in and talked to the other boaters. They claimed that their site, Compromise, was under water. We hadn't noticed but regardless they couldn't stay there now. We tried to find something we could improvise somewhere closer to Kyle's raft but there really was no other good options. In the end, the other group, which was luckily only 5 people moved further inland and gave us the prime spots near the eddy. A storm gathered and dumped rain on us as we scrambled to get camp set up and keep the young kids dry. It was a bit hectic, but as soon as we were settled the sun started to peak out from under the edge of the storm creating the most magical light. A small hill behind the Cove was the perfect viewing point and several of us ran up the very steep drainage to the top. We had a lovely evening there, once the mosquitoes went to bed! We stayed up pretty late telling stories and trying finish off the large beer stash we still had.

    On the last day, Aaron decided to try several of the rapids in the inflatable kayak. I was very proud of how well he did. It was also very heartening to hear some nice complements about how helpful he had been to everyone on the trip. All too soon it was over and we were de-rigging at Split Mountain. A lot of smiles and high fives all around as we thought back on the great trip. Bob told me that I should feel quite good about tackling the full length of the river in high flow conditions for my very first river. I guess I'll have to wait until I have some more rivers under my belt to know exactly what he meant. But I'm starting to plot my permit application strategy for next year...















    It is good that warriors such as we meet in the struggle of life... or death. It shall be life. - Ten Bears, "The Outlaw Josie Wales"

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  3. #2
    Awesome TR man! Jones 1 is a lot better than 2 anyways, so you guys lucked out. Also your pics are a lot better looking than what we took... wow!

  4. #3
    Thanks Alex! Looks like you guys had an awesome trip too. What a great place! I can't believe it had taken me so long to visit there.
    It is good that warriors such as we meet in the struggle of life... or death. It shall be life. - Ten Bears, "The Outlaw Josie Wales"

  5. #4
    Great pictures! Looks like you guys had an awesome trip.

  6. #5
    Love those first two pics of the gates. And beautiful all around. Sounds like everybody had safe and enjoyable trips.
    Now you have rowed your own boat you will never want to just sit back and ride through the rapids. Good Job.

  7. #6
    Excellent TR and pics, Paul. Looks like a fantastic trip.

  8. #7
    Very nice! I can't wait for my trip out there in September!

  9. #8
    Thanks everyone.

    Quote Originally Posted by middlefork View Post
    Love those first two pics of the gates. And beautiful all around. Sounds like everybody had safe and enjoyable trips.
    Now you have rowed your own boat you will never want to just sit back and ride through the rapids. Good Job.
    Yeah the mist that morning was magical but fleeting. We were very focused with the logistics of the trip, coming to the decision to split the group up because of the youngest kids when I looked around and said, "Uh, sorry but I need to go get my camera RIGHT NOW"! Some things take precedence you know...
    It is good that warriors such as we meet in the struggle of life... or death. It shall be life. - Ten Bears, "The Outlaw Josie Wales"

  10. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by ststephen View Post
    I looked around and said, "Uh, sorry but I need to go get my camera RIGHT NOW"! Some things take precedence you know...
    Nobody respects the cameraman until after the trip And then some still don't

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