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5 Years of Missouri River 340 Race in Reports, Pictures and GPS Tracks

The 7th Missouri River 340 (MR340) Race starts on July 31, 2012 with a record number of boats and paddlers – see roster. I paddled the first 5 races missing the last one postponed till October 2011 due to flooding. I used different boats from my fleet: 2006 Spencer Xtreme canoe 2007 WSBS Thunderbolt Kayak …

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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

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