Day Two - Green River

Friday, September 26 - The sun was just starting to tint the rocks with pink light when I looked out of my tent to check the weather. Looks like John and Alan are already starting to get ready for our second day.

We wanted to be on the river relatively early because the forecast was calling for thunderstorms starting this evening so we were targeting one of my favorite high-water camps. The canoe load included 30 liters of fresh water, our kitchen gear plus some of our shared food, my personal gear, as well as the group first-aid bag and groover. The only things that stuck above the gunnels was the groover and the fire pan.

Alan and John had their boats nearly loaded when I got this photo. This was their first kayak trip over 3 days in length, but all their gear fit nicely. Later in the trip we would see some folks that had a different theory regarding kayak and canoe loading.

I'm a sucker for reflections and loved the way the water flowed along the sides of Kathy's kayak. It took a couple days to figure out weight distribution. The first couple days were too nose heavy for easy heading changes.

As we passed Tenmile Canyon (River Mile 80.4), the reflections were calling me again. I've learned that the glassy water, clear sky reflections of the cliffs is one of the things that I most enjoy about our Green River trips.

We stopped at the "River Register" (River Mile 77.6) to show our first time visitors. Some of the major artwork (or is it graffiti?) dates back over 100 years.

It always amazes me when people (LL 79, who are you?) feel the need to deface earlier markings. If you look closely (click for larger version) you'll see the dark markings of Nevills Expedition in 1940 under the hip of the sleeping person. Nevill ran the Green and Glen Canyons before becoming one of the very first commercial river runners in the Grand Canyon.

With the timing right, we dug out BJ's snack bag for some lunch. Buried in the next layer is peanut butter, tuna packets, and untold other goodies. In another small, soft-sided cooler was carrots, celery, apples, etc.

I was watching closely for the Launch Marguerite inscription (river left about mile 73.3) because I missed it last year when we went by. It is painted under an overhang and is in amazingly good condition. The Launch Marguerite was a power boat used in the early 1900's to support settlers, miners, and projects on the Green River below Green River, Utah.

I even managed to get a picture of the brothers taking pictures of the Launch Marguerite inscription while BJ looks on.

We were very fortunate to find no one at either of the more easily accessible high water camps at Bowknot Bend when we arrived about 3 p.m. We set up a bucket brigade to get our gear from the boats up onto the high shelf for camp. The three plastic boats were tied to a tree while the two lighter wood boats were carried up to the shelf and tied down.

The view from my tent looking northeast. From this picture, you'd never guess that the forecast was for thunderstorms. They did arrive about midnight.

We traveled about 16.7 river miles today with the river flowing about 3000 cubic feet per second. Skies were clear and breezes were light and variable.

We did spot an inflatable kayak with a woman and two dogs breaking camp at the high water camp at 79.6, and two canoes and three kayaks camped at another high water camp about 71.7 or so. The woman passed our camp about 4 pm continuing downstream around Bowknot bend.

Dinner was Campbell's creamy Thai style chicken with rice soup with extra minute rice added. Mmm Mmm Good.