Just got off a 6 day Cataract Canyon trip in Moab, with Tour West. I love Moab rafting for the small crowds and warm water.

Great guides, great guests, great weather and a decent water level. The combined flow of the Colorado River and Green River below the confluence was 6400 CFS. That means I still can run left to right in Big Drop II, but one could also run right to left, like Joe Bennion did.

I only whacked the motor once – in Satan’s Gut (Big Drop III) which is kind of standard operating procedure at this water level. I didn’t get stuck in Waterhole, and the newest rapid below that one (have we named that one yet?) forced me to do some serious moves to avoid the rocks, but we never got hung up or hit the motor. 

We had partial clouds for the run down to Dark Canyon, and, as usual, I was reminded what a gorgeous section of canyon that stretch along the Colorado River is. I can’t help but hope Lake Powell stays low and all those rapids come back in my lifetime. One of the guests (Justin) asked if seeing Dark Canyon rapid was sort of my “White Whale.” I’d never thought about that before and it’s stuck with me. I’m a pretty conservative boater when it comes to rapids, I’m kind of in it more for the camping and general outdoors experience than I am for the adrenaline and the rapids. If I have a life-long dream for something I’ll probably never get to chase down, it’s the dream of good camps and less mud below Gypsum Canyon. More rapids is always better, but I’d trade big rapids for small ones and better camps. Perhaps more rapids could lengthen the trip and make it worth spending a few days getting to Hite instead of 8 hours of slogging across flat water. I’ve always said I understand not draining Lake Powell, but I wouldn’t lose any sleep if they did. 

All in all a pretty good trip. A private group stole our camp at Lower Red Lake, but we ended up with a great camp just below Rapid 2. Video and stills below. 

Thanks for looking…