Colorado River

4 Days of Paddling and Sailing in Canyonlands

Here is a short summary of my paddling with Rob Bean using two Kruger canoes in Canyonlands from the town of Green River down the Green River to the confluence and upstream the Colorado River to Potash near Moab.

May 2-5, 2012. 4 days of paddling with some downwind sailing. 168 miles. These were 4 long paddling days up to 15 hours per day. 53:18 hours total on the water including short stops during day, but without camping time. Green River flow: 5000-6000cfs, Colorado River flow 4000-5000cfs.

We had a great weather, but with a lot of strong wind – more headwind in the downriver section, then downwind when going upstream. Nevertheless, the wind was very helpful when paddling up the Colorado River. Our downwind sails were a good idea. Calm mornings and nights. A great paddling at the full moon every night. No flash lights needed.

Typical paddling speed in the upstream section: ~2.5 mph. No problems with the Slide (a narrow spot just above the confluence), but, further upstream, there were two more difficult wider fast sections or “rapids” from our perspective. First, we managed to paddle through with the aid of our sails. We ended up walking the second after a good paddling fight with a jet boat audience. These two sections could be easier with higher and deeper water, but the Slide would be more challenging.

I will post more pictures soon, but I didn’t have too much time for shooting except around sunrise. I did some shooting around Moab before paddling and in northeastern Utah and northwestern Colorado (9 Mile Canyon, Green River below Flaming Gorge Dam at Brown Park). Rob produced some nice video clips for the MooCanoe.com: day 0, day 1, day 3, day 4.

Canyonlands Intense Paddling Therapy

Prescription:

4+ days, 120 miles downriver, 64 miles upstream.

Next week, I am going with Rob Bean for some paddling in Canyonlands in our Kruger canoes (Sea Wind and Sawyer Loon). We are going to launch at Green River, UT and paddle 120 miles downstream of Green River through Labyrinth and Stillwater Canyons to the confluence. Then, we are paddling 64 miles upstream the Colorado River to Moab. We have 4 days with a half day in a reserve. It looks to me as a good paddling prescription for any troubles and stress of a land life.

Spot Live Track

. The trace will be activated on Wednesday morning (May, 2) at Green River. You are welcome to check our progress online (before Wednesday you can see only some results of testing from my backyard).

We are planning to use downwind sails – a little bit of sail/paddling in a WaterTribe style. It must a downwind somewhere in those canyons! I am taking my Pacific Action sail which I used in WaterTribes challenges in Florida. Rob produced a sail of similar design at home. Above, we are testing these sails still in Fort Collins on a local pond.

Related posts and resources:
Green River – Labyrinth Canyon, Utah
River Guide to Canyonlands National Park and Vicinity
Belknap’s Waterproof Canyonlands River Guide
Jerry’s Local River Guide

Colorado River 2011 Race in Glenwood Canyon Dominated by Stand-up-Paddlers

Yesterday, I paddled the Colorado River Race in the Glenwood Canyon – 10 miles on the Colorado River from Dotsero to Hanging Lake Area. The race is organized by Jerry Nyre from Canoe Colorado. At the same time it was also Regional Open Canoe Downriver Championships and Wildwater Race setup by Nate Lord.

I missed a couple of previous races. Last year at that time I was paddling in postponed Missouri River 340 race. This year the MR340 was canceled due to flooding. So, I took my Sea Wind canoe to the Colorado River instead.

The weather was beautiful and water level pretty high at 2400 cfs. The race was dominated by stand-up paddlers (SUP). There were about dozen of them. Certainly SUP is getting popular in Colorado. There were also two tandem canoes, two solo canoes (including my Sea Wind), a wild water racing kayak (Jeremy Rodgers), Huki surfski and one recreational kayak. I could miss somebody.

I took some pictures with Pentax Optio W30 at the start and a few at the finish. It was the staggered start. SUPs went first.

I finished the race in 1:21h more than 1 minute behind Nate. It was a great workout for me. I managed to keep a pretty even heart rate (142-146) over the entire race. See the race results below pictures.

Do I need to switch to SUP if I want to do some paddle racing in Colorado?

2010 Dotsero to Hanging Lake Race – Colorado River in Glenwood Canyon

10 miles
class I
divisions for canoes & sea kayaks

The Dotsero to Hanging Lake Race will be on Sunday August 22nd.
Registration will begin at 6:30 at the put-in, shuttle leaving 7:00, races start 8:00

Entry fee is $10 per person CASH!

The Dotsero launch is on the SE corner of the old hwy 6/ Green Bridge over the Colorado River at Dotsero. Take I-70 west to exit 133 and follow the frontage road.

Hanging Lake is a rest area inside Glenwood Canyon. It’s currently closed, but will re-open around August 1st.

Prizes for each division are all entry fees + $100, split 50-30-20 for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place

There is also a prize drawing with over $500 worth of paddling goodies, with all race participants names drawn out of the hat for that drawing. Prizes often include good paddles, PFD’s, guidebooks, drybags, throwbags, and assorted odds and ends. Even if you don’t win a cash prize, you’ll probably win something in the drawing (lots of prizes, first name pulled chooses first and we keep pulling names until we run out of prizes or names).

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