Green River, Day 7

We weren't on the water until after 10 a.m. on our seventh day. The mud slowed down loading but it didn't matter - it was going to be another beautiful day.  The cliffs were changing with the White Rim cap becoming more prominent.

With the river continuing it's slow and steady flow towards the confluence with the Colorado, we didn't need to work hard to make progress.

It didn't take too long before we spotted our first view of Turk's Head. It took longer to find an access route through the tammies so that some of the first timers could see that special place. Some of the rest of us floated in the shade, eating lunch version 1.0.

Once everyone was back in their boats we continued downstream past Dead Horse Canyon

eventually arriving at the remains of the sandbar in the center of the river at about mile 15.5. We had quite a conversation and decided that while it wasn't wonderful, many of the typical sandbars were much smaller this year so we decided to settle for the "bird in the hand."

The mud was dry enough to walk on and there were enough good spots scattered around to get the tents up just as some relatively stiff afternoon breezes started adding interest. There was a lot of wood on this sandbar, unlike most of them.

Later, we gathered around to look at the stars, watching for satellites and shooting stars. A great way to end the evening.

Water flow today was approximately 2,080 cfs.

Green River, Day 6

We were slow getting on the water on Sunday morning. Our home the night before was low and damp. That dampness along with the cooler night temperatures led to lots of condensation on the inside and the outside of the tent rainfly. We waited awhile so some of that moisture could dry off.

Once we were on the water we were treated to wonderful, smooth reflections as we started the loop around Fort Bottom,

and continued along Potato Bottom, successfully reading the river and avoiding the several shoals along the way.

The Buttes of the Cross, named by John Wesley Powell during his early exploration of the area, showed up as we made the corner between Potato Bottom and Beaver Bottom.

With the water flow relatively low, I expected more action at the Millard Canyon riffle. We all ran it just left of the wave train - should have run just right of the wave train for a little deeper water.

We stopped at Anderson Bottom so the first timers could see the petroglyphs. The takeout was a bit better than usual, but still had a very muddy first step.

The campsite at the cottonwood tree now has some addition logs placed for seating. One looked like a dragon.

Rather than stay at or near Anderson Bottom as we have in the past, we continued past Unknown Bottom towards Valentine Bottom. The hope was to save an extra day for Spanish Bottom at the end of the trip.

Home for the night was the remnants of a sandbar at the north end of Valentine Bottom, about river mile 27.9 or so. While the takeout was muddy,

the light on the walls across the river was beautiful!

Water flow for the day was approximately 2200 cfs and the breezes were light and variable.

Green River, Day 5

The launch ramp was still bottled up Saturday morning as the last cataraft went in the water. The fifth person in our party arrived as did another party with two canoes. It was about 11:30 before we got away from Mineral Bottom

but the weather and the scenery were beautiful. It was warm enough that it was a "dip your hat in the water" day.

We played hopscotch with the rafts a couple times today, catching them both before and after our lunch break.

We entered Canyonlands National Park about river mile 46.7 on Saturday, September 28th, aware that if the situation in Washington continued we could very likely be one of the last groups to enjoy this section of the river this year.

Home for the night was a sandbar across from the north side of Fort Bottom. We would have liked to have camped at Fort Bottom, but the sandbar there was very small and mostly muddy.

Although this spot seems to often be colder than others on the river, it's a favorite because of the way the sunset plays on the cliffs. Once again we were treated to wonderful colors.

Water flows for the day were about 2200 cfs. Weather was warm with light breezes.