Stillwater Canyon - Day Seven

September 29. 2015 - With nothing to keep us on the sandbar island, we loaded up and said goodbye. While the island has a reputation for a layer (sometimes a very deep layer) of mud, on this visit even this section of the shore was firm. The weather forecast suggested the potential for afternoon winds so a 9 a.m. start was our target.

The canyon narrows, the closer you get to the confluence. With walls on both sides and glassy water, we had reflections everywhere we looked.

A couple in a canoe had passed us late in the afternoon a couple days ago. We caught them this morning and were so impressed with their accomplished skill at letting the river carry them. I tend to get in a rhythm and want to keep paddling, but their pace was certainly appropriate for the day. They passed us again while we were setting up camp.

We've seen these dry falls flowing during a storm. While beautiful when running, I'd lots rather see them like this. By this time in the trip, we were all expressing amazement about the blue skies, unusually warm temperatures, and nearly dead calm conditions that we'd experienced for the past week.

Reflections - what can I say?

We stopped at Jasper Canyon and walked up to take a group photo at the dwelling. This year the trees had grown enough that we couldn't see it from the river. This was one of only two pictures from the trip that had all of us in it.

Alan managed to get a picture of the remains of the structure on the upstream side of the wash. Sometimes it is really nice to have that long zoom!

Like all sandbars, they change from year to year. We stayed here last year on the upper shelf which now has a crop of tammies about 3 foot high. This sandbar was really nice - everyone was able to pitch their tent directly in front of their boat, minimizing the carry.

As usual, the area around the mouth of Horse Canyon was buggy when we went by. It seems that bugs are standard equipment for that section of river. Nearly eight miles plus at stop at Jasper in 3 hours. We obviously get failing grades for going slow even though we tried.

As had been the case throughout the trip, the shade was very popular. It was the primary reason for selecting this camp. All the chairs and lunch snacks ended up in a row in the shade.

After lunch, Alan elected to test his Therm-a-rest. It looked like a good idea to most everyone, then it was floating in PFDs, and then floating without PFDs, and then just napping along the shore. Not bad for a "do nothing" day in paradise!

Stillwater Canyon - Day Six

September 28, 2015 - We departed Turks Head at 9:45 heading down river. The high clouds were obscurring most of the blue sky, muting the colors.

We passed a gaggle of rafts at the high water camp on river right at RM21.2. They had launched from Mineral Bottom and drifted through the night to get here so they could have 3 days to hike in the area. Turns out, they were the source of the banjo music some heard at 3 a.m. at Anderson Bottom.

In spite of the cloud cover, the reflections on the water were nice.

The parrot started drooping. By this point in the trip he's got his head almost resting on the top of the groover. I wonder if he got into something?

One of the challenges of the Green River is reading the channel. The river is muddy enough that you can't see anything below the surface. I ended up walking about 20 feet before the water got deep enough again. Most of those that weren't laughing managed to pick a different line and not run aground. I considered it a public service to show the others where NOT to go.

The left side of the sandbar island at RM15.5 was home for the night. We could have gone much further, but we were trying to stretch our time in the canyon. This was the view looking back upriver.

Alan demonstrated his preferred cool-off technique. Walk out more than knee deep and then fall in.

Others took advantage of our scratch-built shade structure to work on their notes.

Before long, all the gals were in the river for their afternoon cool down.

Alan and Julene demonstrated their experience with tent site selection, insuring they had a view and could take advantage of early morning light.

I must report that Ascot wasn't able to find our camp this evening. He must have been tired of Kathy's flirting with him.

Here's Alan's RunKeeper graphic of our progress for the day.

Stillwater Canyon, Day Five

September 27, 2015 - Morning light started painting the bluffs  across from our lower Cabin Bottom campsite. I always enjoy the mornings and evenings as the light marches across the faces of rock.

Suzanne is loaded and ready to go while the butt in the background is still loading the canoe. One of the disadvantages of wood boats is that you get a bit picky about where you load and unload, avoiding the rocks when possible. Plastic, on the other hand, can be safely cradled by the rocks.

Originally, we'd considered a stop at the lower Turks Head access and then continuing on to Dead Horse Canyon at Mile 19 for a layover day. With the heat and the lunar eclipse, we decided to take a pass on Dead Horse for lack of shade and potential shadowing of the lunar path. Someday I'll get back to Dead Horse.

With Dead Horse off the list, we set our hopes on a sandbar at the north corner of the Turks Head loop. We've stayed there before, but we've also seen years when there wasn't any sandbar there. With less than 3 miles to travel, it became a study in "how slow can you go?"

Interesting clouds and glassy water made for great drifting conditions. It we're lucky, home for the night will be just around the next corner.

The sandbar was in much better condition than last year when it was topped with a layer of mud. At nice shelf with a good sand bottom made for lots of space to unload the boats.

The reason for staying here was to access the area hiding behind the river's fringe of tammies. The trail we found last year was even in better condition this year, albeit well hidden from the beach.

Once we got through the tammies and the head-high grass, the rest of the walk was through the desert scrub that has overtaken the field once farmed by Ancestral Puebloans. Craig Childs says this area was the northern edge of Chaco culture.

Some of the structures are in very poor condition, but some still show the various styles of construction - everything from dry stack to small rock chinking to mud mortar.

By the time the sun started disappearing, the sky had cleared.

For the past several years, we've made pizza at some point during the trip. It's amazingly easy. It can be done in a frying pan with the lid, but it's easier in our 10" Backpacker's Pantry Outback Oven. Boboli crust, pizza sauce, olives, pepperoni, and Babybel Mozzarella all keeps well enough for the 5th day of a warm trip.

We never pay any attention to moon phases when planning a trip. It was months after the reservations were made that Suzanne mentioned there would be a lunar eclipse. Five people on the trip with cameras but none with a working tripod. Braced on a box, fired with the timer, Alan had the best shots of the "blood moon."

After some attempts at lunar photography, I spread out a tarp so we could take the appropriate position to watch the moon slowly morph back to it's normal white. It didn't last long for thin clouds to start obscuring the view. Eventually we all wandered off to our tents to dream the night away.