Tue 6/7 - An (in)Auspicious Beginning

     Today was the first day of our 5-day whitewater rafting trip down Cataract Canyon with Worldwide River expeditions.  Brad had done a bit of research on Cataract Canyon yesterday, and found the following tidbit on what to expect based on the water level.

• 25K CFS and lower - Class III rock dodgy I can tell my Mom I did 'Cat' and survived.  
• 25K to 35K CFS - Class III to IV things are serious now and I hope my gear stays in my boat when I flip.
• 35K to 40K CFS - Class III to IV cat is running in the dirty 30's and chances of getting worked are realistic.
• 40K to 100K CFS - Class IV+ I hope my life insurance is paid up and bring a change of pants for when you scout the big drops.  

     Our forecast was about 50K CFS, so we knew we were in for a good time.   Since we didn't have to be at the outfitters until 10:00am we headed over to the Moab Diner for breakfast.  After a good meal, we drove over to the outfitters headquarters and loaded up our gear onto the van for the ride to the Potash boat ramp where we would begin our journey.  Since the Prius will be at the outfitters shop for the next five days, I scheduled a glass repair company to replace the cracked windshield while we are away.  It will be nice to have it taken care of by the time we return.

     We were the only guests on the 5-day trip, so it was just us and our guide Dana on the small rubber raft for today.  The 4 day trip departing tomorrow was using a motorized S-Rig and will catch up to us tomorrow, and the 3-day trip will catch up to us the day after that so that we can all tackle the rapids together.  The Colorado river is placid and slow moving for the first half of the trip, so today is just a relaxing float through the amazing landscape that erosion has carved out of the surrounding rock.



      In what was hopefully not an omen of days to come, the trip started out with Andrew (our shuttle driver and guide traveling with the 4 day trip) nearly falling off the trailer into the river at the boat ramp.  In an impressive feat of balance he barely managed to jump across the water onto the raft and stick the landing.  Once all of our equipment was loaded onto the boat Andrew departed with the shuttle vehicle and we began floating downriver.  One of the first orders of business for Dana was to setup a large umbrella to shield us from the desert sun.  Our (in)auspicious beginning was complete when he accidentally dropped the umbrella pole into the river, where is floated just long enough for Dana to reach towards it before it sunk out of sight.  Fortunately, we all had good hats and plenty of sunblock as well as the option to swim whenever it got too hot, so no harm done.

     Along the way we saw a large pack of goats along one of the cliffs alongside the river.  Dana seemed surprised to see so many, and told us that it was pretty rare to see any at all much less such a large number.   Along the way Dana pointed out the various sites of interest along the riverbank and canyon rim, such as Dead Horse Point and the spot where the end of Thelma & Louis was filmed.

     Eventually we pulled over to the left side of the river for lunch where Dana setup a table of cold cuts, cheese, bread and snacks for lunch.  It was a satisfying lunch, after which we continued on down river.  As the day started to get hotter, we finally decided to "Join the swim team" as Dana would say jumped into the river.  Since the Colorado is fed by snow melt from the LaSalle mountains, it was COLD!





     Eventually it was time to stop for the night so we pulled over into our camp site for tonight.  It was the first time that Dana has stopped at this particular spot and he knew that there was supposed to be fossils so we headed down an obvious trail to go looking for them.  We spotted a few pieces of petrified wood, but nothing significant until we came upon a flat rock where previous rafters had collected many interesting pieces of fossilized wood.  There were also rocks with fossil imprints, and other miscellaneous types of rocks on display.  One even had a Geode forming inside.  Since the trail died out after this spot, we headed back and began to setup camp while Dana setup the kitchen and cooked dinner.  Much like Wall St. the other day, the flies and mosquitoes were everywhere.  We had brought insect repellent around, but it did not seem to have a huge effect.  We quickly abandoned our hope of sleeping under the stars and pitched the tents.  Dinner was an excellent meal of cheese tortellini in our choice of Marinara or Alfredo sauces with a side of Garlic Bread and strawberry shortcake for dessert.  After dinner, we wound up retreating into our tents and spending a few minutes killing all of the little flies that had followed us in.

     Since numerous flies would sneak into the tent every time we opened the flap, we decided to call it a night and go to sleep.  The heat from the day stuck around much longer than expected so it was very warm and difficult to fall asleep.  The temperature did finally fall to comfortable level by the middle of the night, but I hope that it is cooler tomorrow night.